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Weather Channel Founder Disses Weather Channel
By Tommy Christopher (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 3:20:00 AM
Filed under: John McCain, Featured
Stories, Environment, Media, Al GoreThe
Business & Media Institute reports that
Weather Channel founder John Coleman, a
well-known global warming skeptic, has
come out swinging against his creation,
and against the movement to mitigate the
effects of climate change:"The Weather
Channel had great promise, and that's all
gone now because they've made every
mistake in the book on what they've done
and how they've done it and it's very sad,"
Coleman said. "It's now for sale and there's
a new owner of The Weather Channel will
be announced - several billion dollars
having changed hands in the near future.
Let's hope the new owners can recapture
the vision and stop reporting the traffic,
telling us what to think and start giving us
useful weather information."
Setting aside the tornado of grammatical
problems here, I'm inclined to agree with
him on one count. Unfortunately, if The
Weather Channel restricted itself to giving
"useful weather information", its
programming would consist of a 5-minute
bloc, repeated all day long.
Dems Want Clinton to Hang In There
By Faye Anderson (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 2:03:00 AM
Filed under: DemocratsPolls show the race
is close in the delegate-rich states of Ohio
and Texas. While Barack Obama
supporters want Hillary Clinton to "exit
After the jump, a few more nuggets from
Coleman, a little bit of analysis, a rebuttal
by John McCain(?), and maybe a 5-day
forecast.
First, a little more Coleman: Coleman also
told the audience his strategy for exposing
what he called "the fraud of global
warming." He advocated suing those who
sell carbon credits, which would force
global warming alarmists to give a more
honest account of the policies they
propose.
"[I] have a feeling this is the opening,"
Coleman said. "If the lawyers will take the
case - sue the people who sell carbon
credits. That includes Al Gore. That
lawsuit would get so much publicity, so
much media attention. And as the experts
went to the media stand to testify, I feel
like that could become the vehicle to
finally put some light on the fraud of
global warming."
Now, the fact that Coleman is only slightly
more qualified than Willard Scott to go up
against the 928 peer-reviewed scientific
studies that agree, to varying degrees, that
gracefully," she respectfully demurs: "I'm
just getting warmed up."
If Clinton has a chance to win the
nomination, Democratic voters believe that
she should stay in. According to a
Washington Post-ABC News poll, two-
thirds of Democrats said a win in either
03/03/08 - 04/03/08
global warming is a scientifically
observable phenomenon, and that man-
made activities are a major contributor to
it. Sure, the eggheads have been wrong
before, and flat-globe salesmen paid the
price.
Texas or Ohio is good enough for
government work.
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LibertyNewsprint.com U.S.
This, however, cannot be your entire
argument. Coleman has published many
briefs "debunking" global warming, but a
common theme here is that the guys with
the fancy "degrees" and "credentials" have
a vested interest in causing a global panic,
and he has colorful charts that wouldn't
make it past USA Today's Lifestyle editor.
The notion that most scientists in the world
are in this for the research grants is
ludicrous, since it stands to reason that
there would be plenty of dough around to
fund debunkers.
Coleman's case depends heavily on
science's inherent limitations. Global
Warming is provable, but once proven, its
effects on us will be irreversible. He also
relies on those limitations, including
historical climate data that predates our
ability to reliably measure or record it.
Really, we're using climate measurements
from the "Viking" period?
Many of his charts rely on a layman's
ignorance of science. I'm a l ayman, but I
know that if you chart solar activity against
Earth's temperature, they're going to
CrouchGear Live at CeBIT 2008
By John Biggs (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 6:14:16 AM
Check out CrouchGear for the latest news
from Europe’s greatest IT and technology
show, CeBIT. We’re live in Hanover and if
you’re in the area drop us a line at tips @
crunchgear.com. Why are we now
CrouchGear? Visit the site to find out and
largely agree, and if you stand far enough
away, they'll look identical. Global
warming isn't about huge divergences in
temperature.
The strategy he recommends is interesting,
too. He's suggesting that conservatives use
"trial lawyers" to circumvent the legislative
process with "frivolous lawsuits."
I hate to kick a guy when he's old and out
of touch, but Coleman seems to me to be a
guy who has been passed by, and he wants
people to listen to him again. The fact that
"Billions of dollars will change hands", but
none of it into his, likely has a great deal to
do with his embittered position.
There is definitely room to debate how
much of global warming is in our control,
but as John McCain said in the last GOP
debate, if global warming turns out not to
have been as large a threat as we thought,
then we're only leaving our children a
cleaner planet. What a scam.
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win a 4GB Sandisk Cruzer flash drive.
Incidentally, we also met a guy who was
on the flight into Hamburg that touched the
runway with its wing. Needless to say he
was pretty quiet during our meeting.
Crunch Network: CrunchGeardrool over
the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
2 Politics * Business *
New Sanctions for Iran Over Nuke
Program
By Mark Impomeni (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 3/3/2008 11:30:00 PM
Filed under: Bush Administration, Iran
In a victory for the Bush Administration's
international diplomatic effort, the U.N.
Security Council voted unanimously to
impose a new round of sanctions on Iran
for failing to comply with past Security
Council resolutions ordering Iran to halt
uranium enrichment. The Bush
Administration had been pushing for the
sanctions despite the conclusions of a
controversial National Intelligence
Estimate released late last year that
concluded Iran had suspended its nuclear
weapons program in 2003. The vote in the
Security Council was 14-0 with only
Indonesia abstaining.
The sanctions prohibit trade with Iran in so
-called "dual use" goods, those which have
both a civilian and military purpose,
authorize cargo inspections of Iranian state
-owned shipping companies, freeze the
assets of 12 companies and 13 individuals
with links to Iran's ballistic missile
programs, impose financial monitoring on
two international banks with suspected
close ties to the programs, and ban the
travel of five individuals believed to be
heavily involved in the nuclear effort. The
financial sanctions issued by the U.N.
resemble unilateral sanctions placed on
Iran by the Bush Administration last
October.
The Administration countered the NIE's
conclusion by arguing that the report
confirmed for the first time that Iran had an
illicit nuclear weapons program. It
challenged Iran, which pounced on the
favorable conclusions of the NIE, to own
up to its past activities. The Administration
pressed Europeans to see its line of
thinking on Iran, and recognize that the
report, at first thought a deathblow to the
Administration's efforts at reigning in Iran,
was actually a justification for further
sanctions. That line of reasoning appeared
to have won out at the U.N. yesterday, as
even Russia and China, Iran's two biggest
backers on the international stage each
with veto power on the Security Council,
voted in favor of the new sanctions.
Iran's ambassador to the U.N., Mohammad
Khazee, dismissed the vote, saying that the
Security Council had been reduced to, "a
mere tool of the national foreign policy of
just a few countries."
"Iran cannot and will not accept a
requirement which is legally defective and
politically coercive. History tells us that no
amount of pressure, intimidation and threat
will be able to coerce our nation to give up
its basic and legal rights."The foreign
ministers of the six nations leading the
effort against Iran's nuclear weapons, the
United States, France, Britain, China,
Russia, and Germany, issued a joint
statement calling the sanctions "a strong
message of international resolve" against
Iran's nuclear program.
The Bush Administration will likely leave
the Iranian problem to its successor.
Previous rounds of sanctions have been
ineffective at getting Iran to fully declare
and halt all of its nuclear programs, and it
is doubtful that this new round will meet
with any more success. But the mere fact
that the Administration, with the help of its
newly strengthened alliance with France,
was able to get this sanctions vote through
the Security Council shows that the United
States is still a respected international
diplomatic force. The results of the
sanctions regime will show whether Iran
wishes to be a respected international
player as well.
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Sitting Here in Limbaugh
By David Knowles (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 1:00:00 AM
Filed under: Hillary Clinton, Democrats,
MediaThe quasi-conservative entertainer
Rush Limbaugh has a plan. He's been
urging his Texas radio audience, who
proudly call themselves "ditto-heads," to
place a vote in today's primary election for
none other than Hillary Clinton. His aim is
to hand the New York Senator a victory in
the Lone Star state, and thus prolong the
Democratic contest.
As my colleague Tommy Christopher
reported yesterday, the theory is that the
longer Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama
go at it, the better chance John McCain has
of winning. Ever creative in his choice of
words, Rush's flourish was especially
priceless:
"We need Barack Obama bloodied up
politically. It's obvious the Republicans are
not going to do it, they don't have the
stomach for it."
So, here comes Limbaugh and his
legendary stomach to the rescue. This is, of
course, not the first time that Rush has
Astec Industries (ASTE): Share
price cycles in bullish 'flag'
formation
By Larry Schutts (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 3:44:00 AM
Filed under: Earnings reports, Caterpillar
(CAT), Technical Analysis, Stocks to Buy
Astec Industries (NASDAQ: ASTE)
manufactures specialized equipment for
building and restoring infrastructure. The
firm provides aggregate processing and
mining equipment; asphalt production
equipment; mobile asphalt paving
equipment; and underground boring,
directional drilling and trenching
equipment. It also has a unit in the wood
grinding and processing industry.
Your Click and Print Newspaper
advocated a tactical vote for Clinton, but
he does seem to have softened on the idea
of a McCain presidency. Back when Mitt
Romney was still hanging on by a thread,
Limbaugh put the choice this way:
"If I believe the country will suffer with
either Hillary, Obama or McCain, I would
just as soon that the Democrats take the hit
. . . rather than a Republican causing the
debacle."
In other words, vote for a Democrat so that
he or she will be saddled with all of the
crappy stuff that's going to happen because
of the preceding Republican president's
incompetence so that another Republican
can be elected later.
So will this electoral three-card-monte
actually work? Texas is an open primary,
so Republican "ditto-heads" are free to
follow their fearless leader in whatever
manner prescribed. His show is a big deal
in Texas, McCain has things sealed up, so
why not keep things festering in the rival
camp?
Maybe that's why Barack Obama has been
advertising on Rush's show.
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Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) is a major
competitor.
The Street was surprised last week, when
Astec reported Q4 EPS of 50 cents and
revenues of $221 million. Analysts had
been expecting 41 cents and $200.9
million. Management also guided FY08
EPS to $2.80-$2.95 ($2.77 consensus) and
FY08 revenues to $1 billion ($930.05
million consensus).
Continue reading Astec Industries (ASTE):
Share price cycles in bullish 'flag'
formationPermalink | Email this |
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Your Click and Print Newspaper Politics * Business * 3

The Honeymoon is Over

By Justin Paulette (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 3:55:00 AM
Filed under: Barack Obama, Media
Barack Obama's coddling by a fawning
media has seemingly waned as the rock-
star politician has settled into the
frontrunner's seat in the Democratic race.
Said a different way, the candidate has
peaked - and now we're preparing to
witness his descent.
For months, Barack Obama was the "other
guy," the charming underdog of the out-of-
office party, striving against all odds (and
all predictions) to bring forth a message of
change. Though the media loved Hillary
Clinton, there was little new to be said
about the presumptive candidate which had
not been repeated ad nauseum. Thus, the
most interesting story story about Clinton
was the potential that she might have a
rival.
Obama basked in the uncritical attention.
The media recognized that as Obama's star
rose, the conflict for the nomination would
intensify - and the fodder for political news
would explode. It's common wisdom that
Americans love nothing more than to see
an underdog succeed. . .
. . . except, perhaps, to then watch a hero
fall.
Obama is now the guy out in front, and
Hillary is firing on all cylinders in hopes of
reclaiming her stolen glory. According to
the Daily News, "An exasperated Barack
Obama scurried away Monday from the
toughest news conference of his campaign,
telling reporters who kept shouting
questions that he'd spent enough time on
the grill."
If Clinton survives today (which she likely
will), she has a month to recoup as the
media sets its sights upon Obama and
recognizes that the most sought after story
is the one that strikes first blood against the
untarnished champion. Obama's numbers
will fall after tonight ... and the media will
have a new story to tell. And wouldn't a
photo finish, with a dash of scandal and
suspense, at the Democratic National
Convention just serve as prime time media
sensationalism...?
Just wait and see.
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Obama's Superdelegate Surprise? Hostile takeovers on the

By Liza Porteus Viana (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 1:49:00 AM
Filed under: Hillary Clinton, Democrats,
Barack Obama, 2008 President, Ed
MorrisseyBarack Obama's campaign has
apparently identified 50 superdelegates
who are ready to go public with their
support for him over Hillary Clinton.
Veteran newsman Tom Brokaw said
Tuesday that sources very close to the
Democratic presidential hopeful's camp
told him that those superdelegates would
announce their support for Obama "before
too long."
"That's a lot. That's a big number," Brokaw
said on MSNBC this morning.
Clinton is currently ahead in the
superdelegate count but Obama's new
support would propel his count to just
beyond Clinton's. An AP count has Clinton
with 241 superdelegates and Obama with
199. Clinton is behind in the regular
delegate count.
But Clinton adviser Terry McAuliffe said
that with 400 delegates at stake in races
today in Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode
Island, Clinton in no way should be
counted out. "You can feel the excitement,
Hillary's going to win Ohio" and Texas,
McAuliffe said from the Buckeye State.
Even though Bill Clinton has said his wife
is out of the race if she doesn't win Texas,
McAuliffe reminded viewers that Bill
didn't win the Democratic nomination in
his White House bid until June 1992.
"She's going to do what she thinks is in the
best interest of the country," he said.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll out
today shows that two-thirds of Democrats
think that even if Clinton wins either Texas
or Ohio today, she should stay in the race -
no matter what her husband says. But 51
percent say she should drop out of she
loses both states. Meanwhile, a Reuters-
CSPAN-Houston Chronicle poll also
released today shows that Clinton has
retaken a small lead over Obama in Texas
and has deadlocked the Ohio race.
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rise -- more to come?
By Zac Bissonnette
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 3:55:00 AM
Filed under: Deals, Electronic Arts
(ERTS)As an observer of markets, I'm a
huge fan of hostile takeovers. Like
accounting frauds, activist campaigns and
battles with short-sellers, they add some
drama and conflict to a world that can
sometimes seem a little too clubbish.
Thomson Financial's Richard Peterson told
the USA Today that there have been 13
hostile and unsolicited takeover bids so far
this year -- double last year and the most
hostile bids this early in a year since the 19
in 1991. Hurrah!
You have to admit that watching Take-
Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) and
Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) trade
barbs in the media is a lot more fun than a
press releas announcing that two
companies are "thrilled" to have combined
their businesses after a few weeks of
boardroom negotiations. Where's the fun in
that?
Matt Krantz writes that there are three
factors that should lead to a continued
increase in the number of hostile
takeovers: beaten down stock prices make
target companies more attractive, an
increase in the number of 13-D filings
shareholder activists pushing for changes
at companies, and the difficulty many
small/poorly-capitalized companies will
likely face in raising capital in a tough debt
market.
How can investors capitalize? There's
probably no good shortcut for predicting
which stocks are about to receive takeover
bids -- corporate espionage aside -- but
buying undervalued companies with
reasonable certainty of future profitability
is probably a good place to start. Good
companies at good prices are the most
likely takeover candidates.Read |
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4 Politics * Business *
Huckabee Gets Cloak & Jaggered
By Brandon Barker (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 12:01:00 AM
Filed under: Mike Huckabee, Gaffes,
LOLectionJust when you thought Mike
Huckabee was through having run-ins with
rock legends, he jumps right back in. This
time, it's not with BOSTON guitarist Tom
Scholz--who recently asked the former
Arkansas governor to stop playing his
songs on the campaign trail--but with Mick
Jagger of the Rolling Stones. Or, someone
who looked like Mick Jagger. But didn't
really look like him. Or, who was related
to him. Anyway, check it:
According to The New York Post,
Huckabee--a longtime Rolling Stones fan--
ordered his campaign bus to an abrupt halt
when he saw Mick Jagger standing at a
Miami taco stand. Now, the majority of us
know perfectly well that when you see a
member of the Stones, the Beatles or Led
Zeppelin standing in line for a $3
chimichanga, it's best to leave them be.
They have a right to personal space.
Instead, Huckabee approached Mr. Jagger
and told him how much he had always
loved the Rolling Stones. Mr. Jagger, who
O, Canada!
By David Knowles (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 12:07:00 AM
Filed under: Democrats, Barack Obama,
MediaYesterday, I wrote about the
allegations that Barack Obama adviser
Austan Goolsbee assured Canadian
Embassy officials that all the anti-NAFTA
talk on the campaign trail was just that.
Well, today the story takes an interesting
twist. From the IHT:
In Ottawa, Conservative Prime Minister
Stephen Harper disputed the contention of
his political opposition that his right-
leaning government leaked word of the
meeting to complicate Obama's chances to
favor Republican Sen. John McCain, who
strongly supports NAFTA...
had been serving himself some salsa from
a pump dispenser, seemed delighted to
hear this. After briefly talking politics,
Huckabee invited Mr. Jagger to a
campaign rally that evening, during which
Mr. Huckabee's band would be playing.
Jagger accepted the invitation and, later at
the rally, the crowd went "wild" when he
hit the stage.
The only problem is, this was not Mick
Jagger. It was his younger brother Chris.
...Analysts in Canada believe Harper does
not want a Democrat in the White House, a
development that could encourage
Canadian voters to cast their ballots for a
more liberal government in an election that
will be held before 2010.
Who, as you can see from the photo above,
looks nothing like his famous older sibling.
You can almost hear Chuck Norris
sharpening his Chinese throwing stars in
the background...
B. Brandon Barker is the author of the
novel Operation EMU.
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While this angle may seem far-fecthed, we
might consider the person who stands
accused of leaking this story to CTV in the
first place. That would be one Ian Brodie,
the Canadian Prime Minister's Chief of
Staff.
Countrywide concerned
about pay-option loans
By Zac Bissonnette
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 4:22:00 AM
Filed under: Bank of America (BAC),
Countrywide Financial (CFC),
HousingDuring the days when subprime
lending wasn't widely seen as a quagmire,
pay-options mortgages were popular.
Here's how it worked: "homeowners" (I
will hence forth put "'homeowners" in
quotes when I'm referring to situation
where the borrower owes more on the
home than it's worth) could choose to
make a smaller monthly payment than
normal, and then tack the difference on at
the back-end of the loan. This came in very
handy for borrowers looking to travel to
Cancun or invest in plasma-screen
televisions.
Now, Countrywide Financial (NYSE:
CFC) is worried about these negative
amortization loans. At the end of
December, the company had $29 billion in
Whether or not the initial claim is true--
that Goolsbee worked the back channels to
reassure Canada of Obama's actual
intentions--the question that needs to be
asked is why Brodie would want to leak
the story to the press. Have a gander at
yesterday's session of parliament.
Given these new developments, you be
certain that this story will continue to
grow, and that's very bad news for Camp
Obama. Stay tuned.
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Your Click and Print Newspaper
pay-option loans, with $26 billion of that
amount having increased beyond the
original loan amount. People with pay-
option loans are exercising that option and
will likely continue to do so -- the housing
downturn means that you have to think that
the increased loan balances are leaving a
huge chunk of those subprime borrowers
upside down.
Here's the best part: 81% of those loans
were made to borrowers who provided
little or no documentation of income.
I wonder how much of this carnage Bank
of America (NYSE: BAC) was aware
when it decided to buy into the company.
Obviously it sees value but I can't help
being skeptical: Given its status as a poster
child of pathological stupidity, does the
Countrywide brand really have any value
at all?Read | Permalink | Email this |
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Who Hates
NAFTA
Most?
By Justin Paulette (Political
Machine)
Filed under: Barack Obama, Trade
Submitted at 3/3/2008 7:41:00 PM
In the wake of WHO
the "NAFTA-Gate"
page 5 scandal,
Your Click and Print Newspaper
WHO
continued from page 4
in which Obama's campaign may have
assured Canadian diplomats that the
candidate's harsh words on NAFTA were
mere "political positioning," an Obama
mailer proliferated in Ohio is seeking to
disparage NAFTA and Clinton in one fell
swoop. However, as is common with
Democrats campaigning on such complex
issues as free-trade, Obama's faithfulness
to the facts is somewhat wanting.
First, Obama exaggerates that "one million
jobs have been lost because of NAFTA."
Most responsible sources cite a far lower
number of actual lost jobs (at least half of
Obama's number, if any loss occurred at
all) - and also recount that NAFTA caused
a "displacement" of many American jobs
(rather than an actual "loss" of jobs in the
U.S.). Also, any loss of jobs were likely
offset by newly created positions.
Further, Obama attempts to bludgeon
Clinton by quoting her as saying, "I think
Analyst upgrades: LLNW,
DBD and CTHR
By Eric Buscemi (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 3:20:00 AM
Filed under: Analyst upgrades and
downgrades, United Technologies (UTX),
Akamai Technologies (AKAM), Eaton
Corp (ETN)
MOST NOTEWORTHY:Limelight
Networks, Diebold and Charles & Colvard
were today's noteworthy upgrades:
• Jefferies upgraded shares of Limelight
Networks (NASDAQ: LLNW) to Hold
from Underperform on valuation and
believes it impossible to know what will
happen to the company from here. On the
downside, Jefferies notes a permanent
injunction means the business is nearly
worthless, but on the upside, is the
possibility of sale to Akamai (NASDAQ:
AKAM) or a large telecomm service
provider.
• Baird raised Diebold (NYSE: DBD) to
on balance NAFTA has been good for
New York and America." Of course,
politicians trade in subtle manipulations,
and taking an opponent's words out of
context is prime stock. Clinton hedged her
support of NAFTA by calling for a
reevaluation in light of environmental,
health and labor standards.
Of course, Clinton is not without sin - she
has also littered the campaign trail with
pamphlets scolding Obama's praise for
NAFTA ... without the benefit of his full
remarks, which criticized several
deficiencies of the agreement. The
campaign stakes are at their highest right
now - and the means of campaigning are
being adjusted accordingly. McCain is
smiling.
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Outperform from Neutral citing
expectations of a higher bid from United
Technologies (NYSE: UTX).
• Merriman upgraded shares of Charles &
Colvard (NASDAQ: CTHR) to Buy from
Neutral on valuation, as they believe the
current share price does not account for the
potential wholesale value of the company's
manufactured inventory and method
patent. They believe Charles & Colvard is
a potential acquisition target.
OTHER UPGRADES:
• Goldman raised Eaton (NYSE: ETN) to
Conviction Buy from Neutral and added
Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL) to its
Conviction Buy List.
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Psychological Illness in Congress
By Justin Paulette (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 3/3/2008 9:53:00 PM
Filed under: Senate, House, Healthcare
Congress is presently set to consider H.R.
1424, the Paul Wellstone Mental Health
and Addiction Equity Act. The Democrat-
sponsored bill would compel private
employers to provide health care coverage
for mental illnesses. No problem there, it
would seem - but, the devil is in the
details.
In a typical show of liberal all-
inclusiveness, the act would have the
absurd effect of covering such "mental
disorders" as:
• - Caffeine intoxication;
• - Sibling relational problem;
• - Substance-induced sexual dysfunction;
• - Gender identity disorder;
• - Necrophilia;
• - Transvestic fetishism; and
• - Pedophilia.
I wonder which end of the spectrum is
likely to be most offended by, say, the
sexual orientation classifications:
Conservatives who object to being forced
to pay the therapy bills for blokes who like
to dress up as women, or liberals who
object to having a "normal" lifestyle-
choice branded as a disorder! You just
can't make this stuff up.
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Politics * Business * 5
Saudi Arabia's al-
Naimi sees permanent
$60 oil floor price
By Joseph Lazzaro
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 3:33:00 AM
Filed under: International markets, Other
issues, Middle East, Canada, Commodities,
OilSaudi Arabia's Oil Minister Ali al-
Naimi said Monday oil prices are unlikely
to fall below $60 per barrel, Bloomberg
News reported Monday.
Ali al-Naimi, head of the nation with the
world's largest oil reserves and highest oil
exports, did not indicate whether OPEC
was leaning toward maintaining current
production quotas in the face of oil's most-
recent price rise. Oil has increased about
$15 in the past two weeks to more than
$100 per barrel, as concerns about
underperforming U.S. stocks due to the
sluggish U.S. economy, and inflation fears,
have prompted investors to pile into oil as
an investment and as an inflation hedge.
Oil closed Wednesday up 61 cents to
$102.45 per barrel.
Last week, OPEC President and Algerian
Oil Minister Chakib Khelil told reporters
in Algiers that "we don't expect to put
more oil in the market."
New oil floor: $60?
Al-Naimi told Bloomberg News yesterday
that obtaining energy from harder-to-refine
sources, such as tar sands and alternative
fuels, costs about $60-70 per barrel "and,
therefore, a line has been drawn below
which the price cannot fall."
Continue reading Saudi Arabia's al-Naimi
sees permanent $60 oil floor priceRead |
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6 Business *
Analyst initiations: ASIA,
WAL and GLAD
By Eric Buscemi (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 4:02:00 AM
Filed under: Analyst initiations
MOST NOTEWORTHY: AsiaInfo
Holdings, Western Alliance Bancorp and
Gladstone Capital were today's noteworthy
initiations:
• Kaufman Bros. believes AsiaInfo
Holdings (NASDAQ: ASIA) is the leading
provider of software to Chinese
telecommunications firms, which they note
are in the midst of a spending increase to
upgrade legacy billing and CRM software
systems. The firm initiated shares with a
Buy rating and $15 target.
• Keefe Bruyette resumed coverage of
Western Alliance Bancorp (NYSE: WAL)
with a Market Perform rating and $14
target and sees the potential for short-term
real estate headline risk.
Porsche profit jumps 44% on Andrew Cuomo breaks up lender-appraiser
strong Cayenne sales connections
By Eliza Popescu (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 4:12:00 AM
Filed under: International markets,
Earnings reports, Forecasts, Deals,
Consumer experience, Competitive
strategyDespite a tumbling economy where
recession fears gain ground each day, car
demand is rising for at least one auto
maker. It looks like even in a recession
people continue to need cars, and the good
times are rolling for carmaker Porsche SE
which reported that its first-half profit rose
44%. For this period, the sports car maker
counted strong sales for its Cayenne sport-
utility vehicles.
Porsche's profit climbed to 1.3 billion
euros ($1.97 billion), compared with 897
million euros in the same period last year.
A stake increase in Europe's biggest
carmaker Volkswagen over the past two
years made Porsche post a strong gain in
its earnings numbers during the six months
ended January 31.
• Gladstone Capital (NASDAQ: GLAD)
was assumed with a Perform rating at
Oppenheimer. The firm believes the
increasingly challenging macroeconomic
environment raises the risk of deteriorating
credit quality and finds shares fairly priced
at current levels.
OTHER INITIATIONS:
• JMP Securities initiated TheStreet.com
(NASDAQ: TSCM) with an Outperform
rating and $13 target.
• Baird initiated Buffalo Wild Wings
(NASDAQ: BWLD) with a Neutral rating
and $26 target.
• Informatica (NASDAQ: INFA) was
initiated with a Buy rating at Broadpoint.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Taking a look at the company's first-half
revenue, we see a growth of 14% to 3.49
billion euros as Cayenne's first-half sales
doubled to 20,340 SUVs, despite surging
gasoline prices. The increase in Cayenne
sales resulted in a 19% gain in overall
deliveries. Thus, first half deliveries
climbed up to 46,600 vehicles. The strong
gains in Cayenne sales offset lower
demand for the popular Porsche 911,
whose sales fell 5.6% to 16,360.
Continue reading Porsche profit jumps
44% on strong Cayenne salesRead |
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Analyst downgrades: BBY, COP,
DBD, EOG and BKS
By Eric Buscemi (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 3:26:00 AM
Filed under: Analyst upgrades and
downgrades, Best Buy (BBY),
ConocoPhillips (COP), United
Technologies (UTX), EOG Resources
(EOG)
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Diebold, EOG
Resources and Barnes & Noble were
today's noteworthy downgrades:
• Jefferies downgraded shares of Diebold
(NYSE: DBD) to Hold from Buy on
valuation following United Tech's (NYSE:
UTX) offer, as they do not see enough
upside over the near-term to maintain a
Buy rating.
• Oppenheimer cut EOG Resources
(NYSE: EOG) to Underperform from
Perform on valuation, as they think the
20% run-up post analyst meeting was
By Zac Bissonnette
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 3:00:00 AM
Filed under: Law, HousingNew York
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has
reached an agreement with Federal Home
Loan Mortgage Corp. (NYSE: FRE) and
Federal National Mortgage Association
(NYSE: FNM) in the midst of the office's
year-long investigation into the mortgage
industry.
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae will no
longer buy mortgages from lenders that use
in-house appraisers. Many observers
believe that the use of independent
appraisers -- who don't work for a
Your Click and Print Newspaper
unjustified.
• Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) was
lowered to Underweight from Neutral at JP
Morgan, as they believe Street SSS
expectations are too high given slowing
sales and secular margin pressure.
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
• Lehman downgraded ConocoPhillips
(NYSE: COP) to Equal Weight from
Overweight. Credit Suisse downgraded
Deerfield Triarc Capital (NYSE: DFR) to
Neutral from Outperform.
• Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) was
downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Banc
of America.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
The move will force lenders like
Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC) to
sell their appraisal operations. The New
York Timesreported that "As defaults and
foreclosures have surged in the last year,
regulators and industry analysts have
raised pointed questions about the
independence of appraisers. Because they
rely on banks and brokers to give them
additional business, appraisers often feel
pressured to value a home at prices that
match or exceed loan amounts."
company that has the goal of making loans
Continue reading Andrew Cuomo breaks
--would have resulted in fewer of the up lender-appraiser connectionsRead |
ebulliently optimistic appraisals that Permalink | Email this | Comments
contributed to a run-up in home prices that
was destined to come crashing down.
Your Click and Print Newspaper
America's big companies have
a lot of cash
By Douglas McIntyre
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 3:11:00 AM
Filed under: Deals, Google (GOOG),
Boston Scientific (BSX)
Recent data suggests that America's largest
industrial companies are piling up cash.
The New York Times reports: "According
to S.& P., the total cash held by companies
in its industrial index exceeded $600
billion in February, up from about $203
billion in 1998."
That is good news if the money does
something other than sit in the bank. A
number of very large companies like
Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) don't need
anywhere near the tons of greenbacks in
their accounts and they add more every
Garmin launches nuvi 2x5 series, Nintendo launches TV Guide
complete with MSN Direct Channel in Japan, enables
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 2:10:00 AM
Filed under: GPS
If you thought Garmin had exhausted all
possible options at CES, you thought
wrong. Here at CeBIT, the outfit has rolled
out four new navigators for your routing
pleasure, starting with the nüvi 205 (3.5-
inch) and 205W (4.3-inch). These siblings
both feature a 333MHz processor,
Garmin's own HotFix technology to get
your position on the double, the famed
"Where Am I?" feature and the ability to
snatch traffic information via MSN Direct
when used with an optional receiver.
Additionally, these two are set to include
map choices such as the contiguous United
States, Canada or regional sections of
Europe. As for the higher-end 255 and
255W (pictured), they'll be all too similar
save for the maps, which promise
"comprehensive coverage of North
quarter.
The money probably has two potential
uses. One is to buy other companies -- as
the market falls, there are going to be more
deals at lower prices. Of course, many
deals don't work. Some of these will fail to
find economies of scale and lead to write-
offs like the Boston Scientific (NYSE:
BSX) buyout of Guidant. Everyone lost as
the BSX shares fell apart.
The second option is that companies could
just do the simple thing and turn the cash
back to shareholders. Everyone wins and it
is hard to screw up a big one-time
dividend.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at
247wallst.com Read | Permalink | Email
this | Comments
America, Europe, Australia or New
Zealand." For pricing and availability
information, click on after the jump.
[Via GPSReview]
Continue reading Garmin launches nuvi
2x5 series, complete with MSN Direct
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Wiimote to control TV
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 3:05:00 AM
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment
For Wii owners not located in Japan, get
ready to weep. Why? Because users in the
aforementioned nation now have access to
an incredibly fascinating new channel and
you, well, don't. Details on the TV Guide
Channel are still a bit fuzzy (read: lost in
machine translation), but based on what
we've pieced together, users can surf
through shows on the EPG, share their
favorites with friends, see how popular a
program is (using demographic data, too)
and even receive an e-mail / SMS alert 30
minutes prior to a flagged show's start
time. Best of all, however, is the ability to
use your Wiimote as a television remote.
Business * Tech Gadgets *
You heard right -- owners can use their
Wii controller (via the sensor bar) to
dictate volume, switch channels and flip
back and forth between their shows and the
TV Guide Channel. Now, how long must
the rest of the free world wait? Check out
the gallery for a few more looks at what
you're (probably) missing out on.
[Via NintendoWiiFanboy]
Gallery: Nintendo launches TV Guide
Channel in Japan, enables Wiimote to
control TV
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
7
Dell's rugged Latitude
XFR D630 wants a piece
of your Toughbook
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 2:21:00 AM
Filed under: Laptops
While Dell's tame Latitude D630 just got
Penryn-ized, the XFR edition comes ready
for operation in seriously extreme
scenarios. Built to meet MIL-STD 810F
standards from the Department of Defense,
this beast not only handles just about
anything you throw at it, on it or inside it,
but it also promises to provide "23-percent
better system performance than the
Panasonic CF-30." Furthermore, it boasts a
14.1-inch outdoor readable display (with
optional touchscreen technology), a
2.0GHz T7250 or 2.2GHz T7500 CPU, up
to 4GB of DDR2 RAM, a shock-mounted
80GB HDD (or a 32GB / 64GB SSD, if
you prefer), integrated DVD burner, Intel's
GMA X3100 graphics set, WiFi /
Bluetooth and optional WWAN for good
measure. You'll also find a 6-cell battery
with ExpressCharge, a magnesium handle,
a smorgasbord of ports and a starting
weight of 8.9-pounds. Heck, Dell even
gives you a choice of Black / Charcoal and
Desert Tan color schemes, but you'll be
handing over a minimum of $3,899 to pick
up either.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
8 Tech Gadgets *
Navigon's new 2100 Max and 2120
Max do GPS widescreen
By Paul Miller (Engadget)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 2:32:00 AM
Filed under: GPS
That 8110 flagship isn't the only new GPS
device Navigon brought to CeBIT, and
lucky for us the 2100 Max and 2120 Max
are North America-bound. The "Max"
aspect of these units refers to the new 4.3-
inch widescreen touch displays -- the
regular old 2100 only had a 3.5-inch
screen. You'll still have to look further up
Navigon's product line for perks like traffic
info and Bluetooth, but 4.3-inches of GPS
for $299 is nothing to sneeze at. The 2120
adds Canadian maps and sells for $329
CAD. Both devices can also work with
Navigon's new FreshMaps subscription
service, which updates your maps quarterly
for the next three years for $79, and you
can also pick up an add-on accessory for
live traffic updates for $99. No word yet
on when these will be shipping.
[Via GPS Review]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Rock officially offering Blu-ray (and
HD DVD, still) drives on laptops
By Darren Murph (Engadget) "disappointed that HD DVD didn't make
Submitted at 3/4/2008 3:51:00 AM
Filed under: HDTV, Laptops
Although Rock began offering a Blu-ray
option on its pricey gaming rigs soon after
Toshiba threw in the HD DVD towel,
prospective buyers were forced to
specifically inquire in order to get one.
Now, however, the company has finally bit
the bullet and began offering internal BD
drives as an option on its gamut of gaming
laptops. Reportedly, Rock's CEO Nick
Boardman proclaimed that he was
Everex's $400 VA1500V laptop now available
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 1:55:00 AM
Filed under: Laptops
If the bargain priced Cloudbook was just a
touch too small for your tastes, open wide
for Everex's 15.4-inch VA1500V.
Available now at NewEgg, this 5.3-pound
rig features a 1.5GHz VIA C7-M
processor, WXGA+ (1,440 x 900)
resolution panel, half a gig of DDR2
ASUS does DisplayLink with VW223B 22-inch LCD
By Paul Miller (Engadget)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 2:49:00 AM
Filed under: Displays, Features
Hard to go wrong with a little bit of
DisplayLink, and ASUS giving its
VW223B the full USB treatment. The
1680 x 1050 display can accept a VGA
plug, but the real magic happens over
USB. You can plug up to six of these
monitors into your PC and run them at full
AMD demonstrates
it," but noted that even if you have a
machine on order right now, you can "stick
with HD DVD, downgrade to DVD-RW or
upgrade to Blu-ray" sans issue.
Interestingly, the company is still offering
up HD DVD drives as "standard," but we
suppose it has to move that suddenly
worthless inventory somehow, eh?
[Via Tech Digest]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
RAM, a 60GB 5400RPM hard drive, DVD
combo drive and a lackluster integrated
graphics set. As expected, you'll also find
resolution, and the VW223B even includes
a few USB plugs to help with the daisy-
chain. The 5ms response time and 3000:1
Your Click and Print Newspaper
45nm quad-core
processors at CeBIT
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 3:29:00 AM
Filed under: Desktops
In a woefully unstimulating press release,
AMD has meekly trumpeted the fact that
it's demonstrating its "first 45nm quad-core
the firm's gOS v2 "Rocket" operating
system, an Ethernet port, 802.11b/g WiFi,
three USB ports, VGA out, audio in / out
and a 3-cell Li-ion sure to last an eternity.
Still, you can't kvetch too loudly for
$399.99, now can you?
[Via Laptoping]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
sweeten the deal. No word on price or
availability just yet, but we're starting to
get a serious DisplayPort hankering up in
here.
Gallery: ASUS does DisplayLink with
VW223B 22-inch LCD
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Your Click and Print Newspaper
SanDisk Sansa Fuze leaked?
By Ryan Block (Engadget)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 4:11:00 AM
Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable
Video
Accessory maker HandStands appears to
have a Sansa Fuze 3-in-1 accessory kit --
but SanDisk doesn't yet have a Sansa Fuze,
you feeling us? We don't know much more
than that at this point, but from what we
can see it's either a big mix-up, a not-half-
bad photoshop, or a forthcoming player
that looks to take on the iPod classic with
flash, not drive. Full-size ad version after
the break.
[Thanks, Josh]
Continue reading SanDisk Sansa Fuze
leaked?
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Rock Band drum kit modded for pencil
use
By Donald Melanson (Engadget)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 4:22:00 AM
Filed under: GamingWe've already seen a
real drum kit modded for use with Rock
Band, but that's unsurprisingly not the only
bit of customization going on, as
evidenced by this considerably scaled
down kit created by David Yoon. While he
hasn't provided a complete how-to, we're
guessing quite a few folks out there will be
able to follow his lead, with the mod
consisting primarily of some felt covered
tin lids, a pair of CDs and some foam for
the foot pedal, and a couple of new piezo
transducers from Radio Shack that replace
the stock ones. Put that all together and
you'll be reliving your desk-tapping days
AMD
continued from page 8
chips running multiple operating systems
and a range of processing intensive
applications" at CeBIT. Unfortunately,
little is known beyond that -- aside from
the fact that the processors showcased
("Shanghai" for servers, "Deneb" for
desktops) were produced in Germany at
the firm's Fab 36 300mm manufacturing
facility, that is. Still, AMD managed to
Steven Spielberg’s Ghost Town
By Michael Arrington (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 3/3/2008 11:06:00 PM
Hollywood super producer Steven
Spielberg is preparing to launch a new
social network, we’ve heard from multiple
sources. The focus will be on users who’ve
had or who are interested in sharing
paranormal and extraterrestrial
experiences. The new social network may
also have original video content
investigating alleged ghost and UFO
stories.
Spielberg has always had a love for ghost
and UFO stories. His movies include Close
Encounters of the Third Kind (1977),
Poltergeist (1982), E.T.: The Extra-
Terrestrial (1982), Casper (1995), Men in
Black (1997), The Haunting (1999), War
of the Worlds (2005) and the upcoming
Interstellar (2009). His first movie, at 16,
Tech Gadgets * Technology * Social Net *
from high school in no time.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
reiterate that "this milestone" would be
"the first of many" as it moves toward the
release of 45-nanometer products later this
year. Huzzah?
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
was a 140-minute science fiction adventure
called Firelight (which later inspired Close
Encounters). Add to those titles a score of
other sci-fi movies.
Spielberg has apparently had at least one
paranormal experience himself. There are
stories of him staying in a hotel called
Excelsior House and being so frightened
by ghosts that he fled the room and moved
20 miles away. We’ve also heard
anecdotes about Spielberg seeing the ghost
of a dead relative repeatedly as a child.
Whether based in reality or the product of
9
LiveStream:
Developing Mobile
Software Applications
By Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins
(Mashable!)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 4:02:58 AM
Live video from the “Developing Mobile
Social Software Applications” from the
Politics Online Conference in Washington
DC.
Social software is an increasingly popular
way for people to conect with each other
and bring context to a mobil campaign.
Which kinds of programs work? Which
don’t? How can your organization
incorporate MoMoSo into its program?
The panelists explore these questions:
Justin Oberman from Digitisms, Katrin
Verclas from MobileActive.org, James
Eberhard from Motellus and Doug Busk
from Singlepoint.
ShareThis
an exceptional imagination, these
experiences may have had an impact on his
life’s work and this upcoming social
network.
The project may have originally been
associated with Yahoo but the project was
killed off before launch. But if our sources
are right, the idea has lived on and a team
in Los Angeles is working to launch it in
the next few months.Do You Believe In
• Neither
• Both
• UFOs
• Ghosts
View Results
Crunch Network: MobileCrunchMobile
Gadgets and Applications, Delivered
Daily.
10 Technology *
Fanbox Is The New Plaxo
By Duncan Riley (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 9:33:37 AM
San Diego based Fanbox from mobile
solutions company SMS.ac offers a variety
of services. From its front page it offers a
reasonable web desktop package, complete
with wordprocessing, IM and online
storage. A social networking service is
included, and the holding company sms.ac
offers premium SMS services.
It sounds like a run of the mill package,
except that like Plaxo in the past, Fanbox
spams potential signups by accessing the
address books of its registered users. At
least that’s what others have said, however
I don’t recognize any of the names in the
spam I’m now regularly receiving from the
service, so it may well just be broad scale
spamming of anyone and everyone.
I couldn’t find a lot of history on the
company (in particular who bankrolled it).
According to Wikipedia, Sms.ac was
founded in 2001 and has over 50 million
registered users worldwide. As an SMS
provider the company has been accused of
spamming people in the past, and a search
of our archives found mention of the
AOL: Up To 30 New Sites By The End Of 2008
By Duncan Riley (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 3/3/2008 7:09:36 PM
AOL is to launch at least 12 new sites in
the next six months, and between 20 and
30 new sites by the end of the year.
Bill Wilson, AOL Executive Vice
President of Programming told Bloomberg
that AOL wants “to be sure we are
appealing to as many consumers as we
company in the comment threads on the
Plaxo spam posts.
Fanbox has been spamming people from at
least the middle of last year. A search for
“Fanbox spam” in Google gives 5710 hits.
The spam from Fanbox comes in a number
of forms:
Registration Spam
You receive an email informing you that
you’ve signed up for Fanbox and to click
on the link to retrieve your password
Fan spam
[name]@Fanbox wants to be your loyal
fan
Hi [name from your email] I’d note in my
case it’s always my gmail account name,
which isn’t my actual name but my
company name
Yvonna@ FanBox wants to be your loyal
fan!
Automatically sign in to view Yvonna@
FanBox’s profile and/or photo, and accept
or reject her fan request.
Question spam
Subject: Karen has asked you a question
on FanBox
can.” Ultimately it’s all about numbers;
more web properties should equal more
traffic and more advertising revenue.
Erick has askedtwice when AOL is going
to be spun off in what he calls an
“advertising IPO.” The continued mass
rollout of new sites, combined with the
spinoff of AOL’s dying dialup business,
would suggest that the company is beefing
itself up for that very purpose.
Karen asked you a question. View the
question and answer it.
Following the link usually takes you to a
really vague and random question, like
“Would you tell a lie if you knew it would
not hurt anyone?”
Others have recommended that you should
not click on Fanbox links and most
definitely not give them log in details for
your email service. It’s wise advice.
To be fair though they are not the only
people spamming my inbox at the moment,
I still haven’t got around to blocking
emails from Facebook apps, but at least
there you now have a reasonable path to
block the emails. Instead of offering a
simple unsubscribe method, clicking on
unsubscribe from Fanbox gives you a full
page of options, and no easy path to
unsubscribing. I’d be concerned that
clicking on any link from Fanbox may
simply result in confirming your email
address to them as well.
Crunch Network: MobileCrunchMobile
Gadgets and Applications, Delivered
Daily.
MG Siegler at VentureBeat does ask an
important question though: is this a
You’re Now Free to Book
Really Expensive Flights
Online
By Mark Hendrickson (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 3/3/2008 8:59:00 PM
So it took longer than originally planned,
but Virgin Charter - the site where well-
heeled travelers can find and book
(expensive) charter flights - has officially
opened its doors to the public after almost
a year-long closed beta period.
We first covered Virgin Charter this past
June when it launched into private beta.
The company began as an independent
startup but was picked up by Richard
Branson who funded it and brought it
under the Virgin brand.
The site intends to make it just as easy to
book charter flights as it is to book
standard commercial ones. There are
currently 1,000 aircraft in the system,
which will be cross-promoted on Virgin
America’s website and other Virgin
properties in the future.
Since charter flights usually cost thousands
and thousands of dollars each, and since
Virgin Charter takes a cut of each ticket
sold, no one should be able to blame the
company for failing to identify a viable
source of revenue.
But there is also the possibility that Virgin
Charter will make charter flights more
affordable by filling up seats that now go
empty. About half of all charter flights fly
with no passengers because planes need to
be flown back to their base after dropping
off passengers. Those empty legs are
strategy of quantity over quality?
While certainly there is a logic to that
strategy, it’s hard to feel excited about a
company that hopes to succeed simply by
putting more of its product on the web
rather than focusing on improving the sites
they already have.
AOL sites still sit in a fairly healthy fourth
place behind Google, Yahoo and
Microsoft; if improving their lot means
Your Click and Print Newspaper
priced into the current cost of charter air
travel. Earlier this evening, Virgin founder
Richard Branson told a group of reporters
at a media dinner in Manhattan (attended
by Erick):
I wanted to call the company Empty Legs.
We can put all of these empty legs on the
site and people can bid on them. It will
bring down the price of flying privately.
When the next stage of million-dollar
planes comes in, there will be hundreds of
thousands of people chartering flights.
Every single bum in the seat is extra
revenue.
In a way, Virgin Charter is coming back
full circle for Branson. Twenty-five years
ago, stuck in Puerto Rico after a canceled
flight to the Virgin Islands, Branson found
a charter plane and went around the airport
with a blackboard that advertised a charter
flight for $39 per person. He filled all 50
seats, and that is how he started Virgin
Atlantic. Now he is using the Web to do
the same thing.
Crunch Network: CrunchBoardbecause it’s
time for you to find a new Job2.0
going wide and niche to draw more people
to AOL in an endeavor to sell more ads, it
has the potential of working.CrunchBase
InformationAOLInformation provided by
CrunchBase
Crunch Network: MobileCrunchMobile
Gadgets and Applications, Delivered
Daily.
Your Click and Print Newspaper
Google Gears Goes Mobile Spot Runner Acquires Weblistic,
By Erick Schonfeld (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 3/3/2008 10:33:20 PM
Google is bringing offline apps to mobile
phones - and this has nothing to do with
Android.
Google Gears, which allows developers to
create apps that run on Firefox and Internet
Explorer when offline, is supposed to
launch later today under the name Google
Gears for mobile. (Information for
developers is already available here). It
will support only Pocket IE running on
Windows Mobile devices to start
(Windows Mobile 5 and 6), but will
expand to other mobile browsers
eventually. (Presumably, that includes
Safari on the iPhone and Opera Mobile).
At launch, several partners, including Zoho
and Buxfer, will introduce mobile apps
that can run on Pocket IE even when not
connected to the network. Zoho Writer
(which first went offline with Google
Gears in August) will now be available for
Windows Mobile 6, and it will have an
offline capability as well thanks to Google
Gears. (Here is a video demo). The offline
mobile version is a read-only version.
Zoho Writer already has a mobile online
GigaOm Launches Ostatic Resource For Open Source Community
By Michael Arrington (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 3/3/2008 9:00:04 PM
GigaOm (Om Malik’s blog network) just
launched a new open source software
focused blog called Ostatic. The goal,
Malik said today in an interview, is to
track news around the world’s 150,000+
open source projects.
Malik quotes IDC, saying that 71% of the
worlds developers have used open source
software, and that 50% of organizations
have some open source software in
version for the iPhone, and was the first
word processor to go offline with the
desktop version of Google Gears.
Google itself has yet to offer a Google
Gears version of Google Docs. But we
understand that it’s coming soon, as are
offline desktop versions of Gmail and
Google Calendar.
This announcement also means that it’s
game time for Adobe and Microsoft. They
either need to come out with mobile
versions of AIR and Silverlight or risk
being left in the dust. Update: That was
fast. Silverlight countermoves with a
mobile version for Nokia phones.
Update: Google Mobile post here, Google
Gears API post here. And here’s a video:
Crunch Network: MobileCrunchMobile
Gadgets and Applications, Delivered
Daily.
production. This is, of course, big business
- MySQL was recently acquired by Sun for
$1 billion, for example.
The Ostatic blog is really just a wrapper
for additional services. The site will also
have a directory with key information on
each project, including alternatives and
links to documentation, forums, mailings
lists and the source code itself. Initial data
in the director has been added from
outsourced writers in India. Going
forward, projects can send updates and
new content to the site, or add it
Seeks Synergies Between TV
and Online Advertisements
By Mark Hendrickson (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 3/3/2008 8:58:37 PM
Spot Runner, an online service that helps
local businesses develop and run
professional-looking advertisements for
TV and radio, has acquired Weblistic, a
company that helps these same businesses
run online advertising campaigns.
The all-stock deal intends to produce
profitable synergies between traditional
and new media. As part of the
announcement, Spot Runner is citing a
Jupiter Research study claiming that TV
advertising is the “number one impetus for
people to search for a particular company
or product online.” So the idea is that the
acquisition of Weblistic will allow Spot
Runner to set up more complete
advertising campaigns for local businesses,
ones that don’t overlook the Jupiter
findings but rather ensure that TV and
radio advertisement audiences find the
follow-up information they seek online.
The team behind Weblistic has been
working in the local online advertising
space since the late 1990s and was actually
responsible for YellowPages.com. Spot
Runner co-founder David Waxman is
confident that the company’s acquisition of
Weblistic will give it a unique opportunity
to serve local businesses. As he puts it:
themselves.
The directory portion of Ostatic is
We are going to be the first one to be able
to offer an integrated marketing campaign
to these local guys. When you marry
television with online, television can
substantially increase lift online.
Given Google’s predominance in the
online advertising space, and its interest in
television advertising, this acquisition
should make Spot Runner an even more
attractive acquisition target for
them.CrunchBase InformationSpot
RunnerWeblisticInformation provided by
CrunchBase
Crunch Network: MobileCrunchMobile
Gadgets and Applications, Delivered
Daily.
competitive with a number of existing
services, including SourceForge, which
tracks 170,000 or so projects.
Ostatic also has a “questions and answers”
area, similar to Yahoo Answers, where
readers can ask questions and get
responses from experts.
So is Ostatic built on open source? Yes,
say Malik. The platform is built on open
source Drupal, and licensed from Vox
Holdings.
If you’re interested in open source, there
are a number of other good blogs covering
Technology * 11
RingCentral Gets $12
Million More To Help You
“Look Like A Bigger
Company”
By Michael Arrington (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 9:19:14 AM
Silicon Valley based RingCentral offers
businesses a virtual telephone system (they
say “Sound more professional, look like a
bigger company”). It’s sort of a super-
Vonage, but targeted to businesses first.
And they have a lot more features,
including a virtual PBX to manage
multiple lines and “greetings recorded by
professional voice talent.”
The company took $12 million in late 2007
from Sequoia Capital and Khosla
Ventures. Today they announced a second
round, also $12 million. The round was led
by DAG Ventures, which often follows
Sequoia and other well known venture
capitalists in second, more expensive
r o u n d s . C r u n c h B a s e
InformationRingCentralInformation
provided by CrunchBase
Crunch Network: CrunchGeardrool over
the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
the topic as well: TheOpenForce,
Tecosystems, CBR Open Source Weblog,
rand($thoughts);, Mitchell’s Blog, Law &
Life: Silicon Valley, and The Open
Road.CrunchBase InformationGiga Omni
MediaOStaticOm MalikInformation
provided by CrunchBase
Crunch Network: MobileCrunchMobile
Gadgets and Applications, Delivered
Daily.
12 Technology * Social Net *
Yahoo! onePlace: Mobile Content
Collection
By John Biggs (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 8:32:57 AM
Yahoo’s onePlace is a new service from
Yahoo! which allows you to dump
bookmarks into dedicated folders where
you can view and arrange them on the fly.
The example they give is a trip: you add
your flight info, the weather, your hotel,
and some things you’d like to see. You can
also drop in video, audio, and pictures and
view it all from your WinMo or
BlackBerry phone.
You can group items as “Collections,”
“Favorites,” and “Pulse.” Pulse is a system
for streaming new information to your
mobile i.e. flight time updates or news
posts about a subject. It also has a mobile
RSS reader built-in. Think of it as a
del.icio.us that’s not del.icio.us and is
mobile
Nokia Bringing Silverlight to Symbian Phones
By Stan Schroeder (Mashable!)
Submitted at 3/3/2008 9:58:19 PM
Nokia and Microsoft are working together
to bring Silverlight to Symbian S60 mobile
phones, as well as Series 40 devices and
Nokia Internet tablets. Silverlight will be
available to S60 developers later this year,
with initial service delivery following
shortly.
It will launch in the Spring 2008 and will
be bundled with Yahoo! Go 3.0 and
Yahoo! oneSearch.
Crunch Network: CrunchBoardbecause it’s
time for you to find a new Job2.0
Scoble, perhaps accurately, calls the move
unexpected; however, Nokia has been
working together with Microsoft quite a lot
before. “Nokia’s software strategy is based
on cross-platform development
environments, enabling the creation of rich
applications across the Nokia device range.
Nokia aims to support market leading and
content rich internet application
environments and to embrace and
Microsoft Office Live
Workspace Now Available
to Everyone
By Adam Ostrow (Mashable!)
Submitted at 3/3/2008 4:48:16 PM
Microsoft Office Live Workspace,
previously available by invitation only, has
just announced the worldwide launch of its
public beta (in English). Anyone can now
sign up for the service, which allows
Microsoft Office users to access and share
their documents online.
Additionally, Microsoft is rolling out
several new features to Live Workspace,
which I got a sneak peek at last week from
Product Manager Eric Gilmore. Here are
the highlights:
Activity panel. A new activity panel shows
all the activity in a workspace at a
glance.Notifications. People can now
receive e-mail notifications about changes
made to their workspaces or
documents.Direct links. People can now
bookmark their workspace or a workspace
item via a unique URL in a browser
window.Multi-file upload. People can now
upload several files simultaneously by
simply dragging and dropping from their
desktop.Improved sharing. New sharing
functionality includes an easier user
interface and auto-completion of e-mail
addresses.
If you haven’t yet seen Office Live
Workspace, the basic premise is that once
you’ve installed the Office Add-In, all of
your Office programs (Word, Excel,
Powerpoint, etc.) have a built-in
encourage open innovation. By working
with Microsoft, we are creating terrific
opportunities and additional choices for the
development community, S60 licensees
and the industry as a whole,” said Lee
Williams, Senior Vice President in Nokia’s
Devices software organization.
This is an important development for
Silverlight which hasn’t really caught on
the way Microsoft intended. With this deal,
connection to your Live Workspaces
account. Thus, you can save files directly
to the Web, and then use your Live
Workspace account to access them from
anywhere and share them with others. It’s
a similar concept to Google Docs, but with
the huge advantage of being integrated
directly into Microsoft Office’s dominant
desktop applications.
Gilmore told me that his product does have
a platform strategy that will allow for
integration with third-party services,
though he was sparse on details for the
time being. I certainly wouldn’t expect
them to be in any kind of hurry to allow
Google Docs to offer a similar integration
into Office, but the platform strategy for
Live Workspace will be interesting to
watch in light of Microsoft’s
announcements around more open business
practices.
In addition to launching publicly and
offering the service for free, Microsoft is
putting some serious marketing money
behind the product. The company is
offering more than 30,000 prizes,
including free Microsoft wares like Xbox
360’s, Zune’s, and software, plus $100,000
in college education funds for a grand
prize winner.
ShareThis
Silverlight will spread to millions of
devices worldwide (remember, Nokia is
still the market leader with Symbian OS
having a 67% share of the smartphone
market. On the other hand, it’s going to
meet tough competition in the form of
iPhone SDK (which might come alongside
with support for Adobe’s ubiquitous Flash,
a direct Silverlight competitor); those who
have tried both the iPhone and a Symbian
Your Click and Print Newspaper
Podcast: A Conversation
with UStream’s Chuck
Wallace
By Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins
(Mashable!)
Submitted at 3/3/2008 11:33:38 PM
If you don’t know what UStream is, you
likely don’t read this blog very often.
Brad Hunstable, founder of UStream.TV
and guest host for the OWA edition of the
Mashable Conversations podcast,
somehow landed an exclusive interview
with CEO of UStream Chuck Wallace
towards the end of the interview portion of
the Open Web Awards this year.
They chat a bit about their service, where
it’s been and where it’s going. If ever you
wanted an inside look at the folks from
UStream, this is it.
The embed is available below, or you can
download the MP4 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.
ShareThis
S60 device can testify that the application
deployment on the iPhone is a far more
pleasant experience, and with a real SDK
and a big fanbase, I expect thousands of
great iPhone apps to show up early this
year. Nokia and Microsoft might want to
hurry on this one.
ShareThis
Your Click and Print Newspaper
VideoEgg Gets Rid of
Hosting, to Focus on Ad
Network
By Kristen Nicole (Mashable!)
Submitted at 3/3/2008 2:42:25 PM
VideoEgg had stopped accepting new
clients for hosted video services some time
ago, and the company is shifting yet again
to further distance itself from the hosting
end of the business. As of May 31,
VideoEgg will no longer be servicing its
publisher and player service at all,
according to AlleyInsider.
Less than a month ago, VideoEgg
announced its new engagement-based
model for its video advertising network,
which set off a number of discussions in
regards to the way in which advertising
should be considered for the online sector.
A good amount of experimentation has of
course been going on with online video
advertising, and in that time, VideoEgg has
become rather prominent for this very
purpose.
So in focusing the company’s efforts
towards improving, growing and
cultivating its advertising sector, VideoEgg
is getting rid of the hosting side of things
all together. Given Google’s recent push
for its own expanded video ad network, it
may be in VideoEgg’s bes interest to focus
on the ad network, given the saturated
stance of video hosting, even as VideoEgg
is in fact participating in Google’s
expanded ad network as well. Below is the
letter that VideoEgg is sending out to its
clients:
Hope this email finds you well.
Our business is changing, and I wanted to
send you a personal note to let you know.
On May 31, 2008, we will be shutting
down the VideoEgg Publisher and Player
service. As such, we will be sending a
termination notice to you early next week.
As you know, over the past twelve months,
VideoEgg has become a leading video
advertising network. We have decided to
focus on video and rich media
monetization technologies, and therefore
are no longer investing in the video
platform side of the business. We are
trying to consolidate our relationships with
profitable large partners and continue our
focus on creating higher value ad solutions
for brand advertisers.
Please be assured that, until May 31, 2008,
all videos uploaded to our servers using the
VideoEgg Publisher will be available for
playback on your site.
Pursuant to our contract with you, we will
provide you with access to your uploaded
videos for the next 90 days. If you wish to
work with us to allow you to access your
videos, please email us at
partners@videoegg.com, and we will
assign an engineer to work with your team
to provide you with access.
ShareThis
Netvibes Ginger Launches
to the Public
By Kristen Nicole (Mashable!)
Submitted at 3/3/2008 4:43:23 PM
Netvibes has finally released Ginger to the
public. The personalized start page set out
to layer in more social integration in hopes
of centralizing all things digital when it
comes to individual users. Ginger has been
testing for some time, in limited and
private beta. We first mentioned Ginger
here. You may recall that Ginger lets you
add social widgets to keep you updated on
your major social networking activity, with
other ways in which to incorporate your
social experience into your personalized
start page.
Given the development that’s been going
on in the space, nearly all social
aggregation tools have been working to
find better ways to centralize one’s social
web, and that doesn’t exclude Netvibes.
Personal start pages like Netvibes,
Pageflakes, and other services, have been
Vocal Nation Releases Version 2, with Anti-
Digg Voting System
By Kristen Nicole (Mashable!)
Submitted at 3/3/2008 3:54:07 PM
Vocal Nation is a personalized feed reader
that we mentioned a few months back in
our Mashable list featuring online political
resources. As a dual-purposed site for
aggregating news and discussing various
topics, Vocal Nation is now launching the
second version of its site, with a focus on
its newly implemented voting system.
In an effort to differentiate itself from
Digg, Digg clones and the Digg voting
system all together, Vocal Nation’s new
feature helps set it apart in two primary
Social Net * 13
working at this for a while, with Netvibes
Universe and the like. If you’ve had a
chance to try out Netvibes Ginger, you
may be of the impression that there’s still
some work yet to do in order to provide a
compelling, all-encompassing social media
hub that’s tailored to each individual.
I think start pages may have it a bit more
difficult than another entity, such as a
social network, because of the existing
patterns and general adoption for accessing
social communications as we know it, but
I’m glad to see start pages moving in this
direction, especially with so many
integrated options. Be sure to check it out
and let us know what you think of
Netvibes Ginger.
ShareThis
feed reader, and probably looks to
minimize the amount of self-promotion
available for individuals on the site.
There’s also a manual submission option,
which would be for the creation of an
article directly within Vocal Nation’s site,
similar to creating a blog post. Feeds and
users each get their own profile pages,
ways: an automated submission process which can be helpful for filtering options
and a sliding scale used for voting. While and recommendations, though I imagine
the slider isn’t as straight forward as a that recommendations will eventually
thumbs up/down approach to voting, it become a promoted and somewhat
nevertheless aims to bring a more complex automated process on Vocal Nation as
approach to community feedback. well.
The automated submission process is ShareThis
actually an extension of Voting Nation’s
14 Social Net * TV *
Google Gears Now Works on
Mobiles
By Stan Schroeder (Mashable!)
Submitted at 3/3/2008 8:10:13 PM
Now this is where Google Gears starts
making real sense. Sure, it’s handy to be
able to launch your web application when
you don’t have internet connectivity, but
how often that happens? However, your
mobile is probably offline most of the time
(well, mine isn’t, but I’m not what you’d
call a regular user). Now, Google Gears
work on mobile devices - not Android
devices, mind you, but Windows Mobile 5
or 6 devices - enabling you to fire up your
favorite web app even when you’re offline.
The partners for the launch are Zoho and
Buxfer. Zoho Writer, which now works
with Windows Mobile 6.0 devices, offers
offline viewing of documents, while
editing will come at a later stage. Buxfer,
whose mobile version is available at
Mochila Teams with BIM for Content The Sarah Connor Chronicles:
Distribution What He Beheld (season finale)
By Kristen Nicole (Mashable!)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 12:03:47 AM
Mochila has added another partner for its
publishing widget service. This time it’s
Broadcast Interactive Media (BIM), a
media company primarily involved in local
web solutions for television and radio
broadcasters. Through this agreement,
BIM will provide rights-managed content
directly to TV and radio clients, through
Mochila.
In leveraging Mochila’s API, BIM will be
offering its stations direct access to
relevant news from Mochila’s 350+ media
m.buxfer.com, now enables you to access
your bank account balances, transactions,
and analysis charts in read only mode
without internet access.
In the video below, Andrei Popescu and
Dave Burke describe talk about working
on the Google Gears mobile project.
You can read about the technical details,
DOM, and limitations of Windows Mobile
5 and 6 here at the official Google Gears
mobile page.
ShareThis
partners. BIM will also be customizing the
feeds through Mochila’s API based on
keyword, category, byline, and source, in
addition to other parameters. What’s
helpful about this partnership is that BIM
is a network itself, and will be offering
Mochila’s service to its entire network of
clients.
ShareThis
Redmond To Bring Silverlight
Off The Web…Eventually
By Paul Glazowski (Mashable!)
Submitted at 3/3/2008 3:49:26 PM
Quite a lot of buzz grew over latter half of
this past weekend about a supposed
Microsoft ploy to bring Silverlight onto the
desktop to compete with Adobe’s AIR
platform. Well, today a representative from
Redmond has spoken up on about the
purported plan…and confirmed it! Only to
add a big whopping “eventually” for all
well-wishers to chew on, according to
Martin LaMonica of CNET News.
I speak with a fair amount of ignorance
here, but I suspect that the world will see
Microsoft launch a Silverlight bridge to the
desktop sooner rather than later, as it
would be utterly illogical for the company
to allow Adobe much headway without a
challenge from its own up-and-coming
By Brad Trechak (TV Squad)
Submitted at 3/3/2008 3:47:00 PM
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, The
Sarah Connor Chronicles(S01E09) This is
continued from the "Vick's Chip" episode
post.
Finally, everything comes together. There
are references to several episodes (if not
every episode) throughout the season and
there is something of a climax (albeit a
disappointing one). Agent Ellison finally
reappears after sitting the last episode out
and he comes to the conclusion that killer
robots from the future are after the
Connors. What's he smoking?
For some reason, I thought Derek was the
younger Reese. Obviously, I was mistaken.
One of the comments in previous reviews
pointed out that Kyle and Derek were alive
in the current timeframe. Obviously, this
plot point hadn't escaped the writers. Good
thing Skynet doesn't know who John's
daddy is.
brand.
Will MSFT splurge with some deets on a
nifty Silverlight extension to coincide with
the MIX08 conference, taking place March
5-7? Who’s to know. If Ballmer and
company want to speak, they’ll speak. If
not then, there’s always the future. Big,
vague, mysterious future. Want to wager
when we’ll see the likes of this proposal in
the dimensions of a real product?
ShareThis
I'll make some commentary about this
episode than wrap it up with my thoughts
for the entire season.
Continue reading The Sarah Connor
Chronicles: What He Beheld (season
finale)
Permalink | Email this | | Comments
Your Click and Print Newspaper
Fine ladies of
comedy in
Vanity Fair
By Annie Wu (TV Squad)
Submitted at 3/3/2008 12:03:00 PM
Filed under: OpEd, CelebritiesJenna
Fischer: This is one of those "I've arrived!"
moments. Seriously. There's, like, little
milestones... Like, being on David
Letterman for the first time and then, like,
being in Vanity Fair.
Chelsea Handler: ... I knew I arrived when
I got my period.
Everyone: [groans and laughter]
Yeah, I know how most of our male
readers are. They like their ladies funny,
smart, and painfully out of their league.
Well, start lurking around the magazine
stands, boys, because the upcoming Vanity
Fair has a new Annie Leibovitz photo
spread featuring some of the funniest
ladies on the scene. The impressive list
boasts Sandra Bernhard, Susie Essman,
Tina Fey, Jenna Fischer, Chelsea Handler,
Leslie Mann, Amy Poehler, Maya
Rudolph, Amy Sedaris, Sarah Silverman,
Wanda Sykes, and Kristen Wiig, each of
them doing very typical "Hollywood bad
girl" things. I especially love Maya
Rudolph's hair and how Silverman
manages to do Amy Winehouse better than
Amy Winehouse.
Continue reading Fine ladies of comedy in
Vanity Fair
Permalink | Email this | | Comments
Your Click and Print Newspaper TV * 15

The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Dexter finally comes to the Xbox

Vick's Chip 360
By Brad Trechak (TV Squad) By Annie Wu (TV Squad)
Submitted at 3/3/2008 3:44:00 PM Submitted at 3/3/2008 12:58:00 PM

Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, The
Sarah Connor Chronicles(S01E08) Fox has
decided to show the final two episodes of
The Sarah Connor Chronicles (which is
still on the bubble for a second season) in
one night and treat it as a two-parter. I, on
the other hand, will be treating them as two
separate episodes for the purpose of these
reviews. I will link to the second one at the
end of the first so it's sort of like two-Two-
TWO reviews in one.
As always, I'm amazed at the
sophistication of the television
Terminators. One of the reasons Arnold
was so great at the role was that he acted
stiff naturally. A young William Shatner or
David Hasselhoff might have similarly
been able to pull off the role. Now that
better actors are available, some subtlety
The Daily Show: March 3, 2008 -
VIDEOS
and nuance is required in the performance.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Continue reading The Sarah Connor
Chronicles: Vick's Chip
Permalink | Email this | | Comments
Filed under: Industry, OpEd, DexterToo
many anguished nights have I spent
watching Showtime's Dexter, wondering
aloud, "Why can't I control Dexter's
actions through my Xbox like so much
Lara Croft?", and I know you have too.
Believe it or not, we freaks are in luck,
because it looks like there's going to be a
Dexter video game. Finally! Another few
months without it and I would have killed
someone.
self-tortured deception, and internal
Okay, I think I have reached my sarcasm monologue.
quota of the day, so let's get serious here. Continue reading Dexter finally comes to
Dexter is a fantastic show and I have
watched it faithfully through its run so far.
the Xbox 360 In the Limelight:
However much I enjoy it, I cannot imagine
it becoming a video game, let alone
Permalink | Email this | | Comments Andrew McCarthy
playing it. The show is built around blood, By Allison Waldman (TV Squad)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 2:27:00 AM
Chef Irvine gets axed
By Allison Waldman (TV Squad)
Filed under: OpEd, In the Limelight,
Celebrities, Lipstick JungleWhile the
casting for the ladies to play the power
Submitted at 3/4/2008 12:03:00 AM

Filed under: Food/Home/DIY,

By Annie Wu (TV Squad)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 12:43:00 AM
Filed under: OpEd, The Daily Show,
Episode Reviews"The Ultimate Last Final
Showdown": Super Tuesday was highly
anticipated but it turned out to mean
almost nothing in matters of being a
deciding factor. Apparently, this Tuesday
is what's truly important. We'll finally get
to see the results of the extreme passive-
aggressiveness of Barack Obama and
Hillary Clinton's back-and-forths.
Seriously, they're one step away from
leaving bitter Post-It notes. I should also
note that I chose that tiny mariachi photo
to accompany this post before I even
watched this episode, because I thought it
was hilarious. Everyone should have a tiny
mariachi buddy. John McCain, on the other
hand, has been working hard on wooing
the media with BBQ. He's good, McCain.
He's finger-lickin' good.
Continue reading The Daily Show: March
3, 2008 - VIDEOS
Permalink | Email this | | Comments
Cable/SatelliteRemember when you were
young and your parents told you things
like "cheaters never prosper"? Well, it's
true. (All right, not all the time, but at least
this time!) As TV Squad reported recently,
Chef Robert Irvine, star of Food Network's
Dinner: Impossible, has been hoist on his
own petard. Now that the truth is out -- that
he lied and padded his resume -- the
network has dumped him. His fire has been
extinguished. Dinner: Impossible will go
on, but not with Chef Irvine as chief cook
and chef extraordinaire.
Food Network president Brooke Johnson
said in a statement, "We appreciate
Robert's remorse about his actions, and we
can revisit this decision at the end of the
production cycle, but for now we will be
looking for a replacement host."
Continue reading Chef Irvine gets axed
Permalink | Email this | | Comments
brokers on NBC's Lipstick Jungle was
imperative, no less attention was paid for
the men with whom those women would
be romantically entwined. For the
character of Joe Bennett, the enigmatic,
high-powered, complicated Prince
Charming with a dark side, producers had
to be looking for just the right combination
of sexual appeal and sensitive
undercurrent. They found the right guy
when Andrew McCarthy was cast. The
former Brat Packer could be the find of the
TV season; the new McDreamy.
%Gallery-17397%
Continue reading In the Limelight:
Andrew McCarthy
Permalink | Email this | | Comments
16 TV * Movies
Big Brother 9: Live feeds report - March Good news and bad news for Spaced
3 By Annie Wu (TV Squad)
By Jackie Schnoop (TV Squad)
Submitted at 3/3/2008 1:21:00 PM
Filed under: OpEd, Big Brother (US)It's a
beautiful day in the Big Brother house, a
beautiful day for Big Brother. Wouldn't
you? Couldn't you? Wouldn't you like to
be a hamster?
No! Don't do it! They talk about the
psychological tests the hamster wannabes
must go through and I think they might just
take the ones who fail the test! But, when
you think about it, what person in their
right mind would go into this sort of
situation?
I definitely wouldn't, although mocking
them sure can be fun! For show spoilers
from the 24/7 live feed cameras, read on
Medium: Aftertaste
By Paul Goebel (TV Squad)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 12:19:00 AM
Filed under: Medium, Episode Reviews
(S04E06) "Cop Comedy!" - Allison
Dubois
Yet another reason I try to stay away from
red meat. You never know when you might
end up eating one of your own limbs. It's
nice to see Allison being startled by a
dream that is actually disturbing.
I figured it was only a matter of time
before Devalos makes his way back to his
old office and, to be honest, I like the way
the show is going about it. I would be
insulted if they dragged it out by having
him ponder the decision of going back.
There's no reason he shouldn't want his old
past the jump.
Continue reading Big Brother 9: Live feeds
report - March 3
Permalink | Email this | | Comments
job back and I say the sooner he does, the
better.
Continue reading Medium: Aftertaste
Permalink | Email this | | Comments
Submitted at 3/3/2008 11:00:00 AM
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows,
Industry, TV on DVD, OpEd,
CelebritiesLet's start with the good news,
because I like ending on a downer.
American fans of the British comedy
Spaced, starring Simon Pegg, Jessica
Hynes (nee Stevenson), and Nick Frost, are
in for a treat because theSpaced Region 1
DVD finally has a release date! Expect the
good stuff to come out July 23 of this year.
I'm tempted to buy it just because it's
something new, shiny, and Spaced-related,
but I already splurged on the 3-Disc
Collectors' Set and a region-free player that
I got just so that I could watch the series.
Wow, Nobody's Remade 'Rosemary's
Baby' Yet?
By Scott Weinberg (Cinematical)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 4:32:00 AM
Filed under: Horror, Thrillers, Remakes
and SequelsWell, hell, that just won't do!
Apparently someone at remake factory
Platinum Dunes just realized ... Hey, what
the hell, nobody's done a Rosemary's Baby
remake?!? And to have an old, popular,
influential horror movie with NO remake?
Like I said, that just won't do.
We don't have any news on directors,
writers or actors, but according to Shock,
Platinum producers Andrew Form and
Brad Fuller are presently scouting
screenwriters for the remake. For those
keeping score, Platinum Dunes has already
remade The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,
The Amityville Horror and The Hitcher,
plus they've got The Birds, Friday the 13th
and A Nightmare on Elm Street in the
percolation stage. Dang those guys work
hard.
Why, yes, I am a sad little person.
Continue reading Good news and bad news
for Spaced
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So, since the Dunes boys don't have an
adapter yet, allow me to apply for the gig.
I've seen all of Platinum's movies AND I
own the Rosemary's Baby DVD, so I think
I'm more than qualified. Here's my pitch:
Jessica Alba and Ryan Reynolds move into
a mega-slick new apartment building that's
Your Click and Print Newspaper
run by computer, only to discover that the
old couple who live next-door are actually
Satanic Robots from the Future! Oh wait,
here's an easier idea: Just take the original
screenplay, modernize with bikinis,
computers and cell phones, and then make
the exact same movie. It'll make the same
amount of cash anyway.
Dubbed "the scariest movie I've ever seen
because I was pregnant when I saw it" by
Scott Weinberg's mom, Rosemary's Baby
was based on the Ira Levin novel of the
same name, it featured some stellar work
from Mia Farrow and Ruth Gordon, and is
(easily) one of Roman Polanski's finest
achievements. And now a stinkin' remake.
Sorry for being so snotty, especially
because I actually really LIKE the
Plantnum Dunes re-do of Texas Chainsaw,
but when I see a production company
loading up on remakes and nothing else, I
can't help but think "LAZY!!!"Read |
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Your Click and Print Newspaper
Indies on DVD: 'Things
We Lost,' 'My Kid Could
Paint That,' 'En La Cama'
By Peter Martin (Cinematical)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 2:02:00 AM
Filed under: Documentary, Drama, Foreign
Language, Independent, New Releases,
Paramount, Sony Classics, New on DVD,
Home Entertainment, Cinematical
IndieThe big indie DVD release this week
is Sean Penn's cinematic version of the true
-life adventure story Into the Wild, starring
Emile Hirsch and Hal Holbrook. But there
are several other intriguing new titles that
you might have missed during their
theatrical engagements, starting with
Susanne Bier'sThings We Lost in the Fire.
By our usual definitions, it's not really an
"indie," since it was released by a big
Hollywood studio (Paramount Pictures),
but I think Bier's distinctive directorial
vision is the very definition of
"independent." It's certainly not an easy
film to watch or to like, yet the
performance by Benicio del Toro is a
knock out and I think a rental is justified.
The DVD includes deleted scenes and a
discussion about the film.
When he saw My Kid Could Paint That at
Sundance, Scott Weinberg wrote: "I love a
documentary that doles out both sides of
an interesting story and then forces you to
decide for yourself where the truth actually
lies." Directed by Amir Bar-Lev, the
documentary tells the story of a four-year-
old girl who may -- or may not -- be an
immensely talented artist. Sony Pictures
Alison Lohman Replaces Ellen Page in Raimi's New 'Hell' Flick
By Scott Weinberg (Cinematical)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 3:32:00 AM
Filed under: Horror, Casting,
UniversalFirst we reported that Ellen Page
would be starring in Sam Raimi's first
horror flick in many a moon: Drag Me to
Hell is what it's called. Then a few days
ago, we learned that Ms. Page's schedule
Classics' DVD includes an audio
commentary and two behind-the-scenes
features.
An intimate drama that divided festival
audiences, Chilean filmmaker Matías
Bize'sEn La Cama (In Bed) sets all the
action in a single motel room as a man and
a woman alternately have passionate sex
and engage in spirited debates. This sounds
like a couples film -- as long as the couple
is comfortable watching softcore porn
together. Koch Lorber's DVD includes
deleted scenes, a bonus interview,
rehearsals, TV spots, and a short film by
the director.Permalink | Email this |
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was way too booked with other stuff, so
the horror flick is what had to go. Oh well,
Page's loss looks to be Alison Lohman's
gain.
According to Variety, production on Drag
Me to Hell will be delayed only two
weeks, which gives Ms. Lohman a little
time to learn her lines. Alison's actually 28
New DVD Picks of the Week:
'101 Dalmatians' & 'Mr.
Magorium's Wonder Emporium'
By Monika Bartyzel (Cinematical)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 12:02:00 AM
Filed under: Animation, Comedy, New
Releases, DVD Reviews, New on DVD,
Family Films, Home EntertainmentAfter
20 pages of new DVD releases over at
Amazon, I forced myself to unclench my
desperate fingers and remove them from
my mouse. I need to face facts. This won't
be an amazing week of DVD
recommendations for you, or excited
suggestions (on my part). This is a movie
blog, so I can't suggest How Clean is Your
House?, which I sort of love, Peter picked
up all the good indie pics, Erik is
reviewing Into the Wild's DVD, so I'm left
with two options, which I'll discuss briefly.
101 Dalmatians
Rejoice! If you haven't picked it up during
one of Disney's previous releases, you can
now score the Two-Disc Platinum Edition
of the 47-year-old, classic, dog-laden film,
101 Dalmatians. Just in case you forgot --
it's the story of two cute canines who have
a litter of 15 puppies, and the sadistic
Cruella De Vil who wants to steal them all
on her quest to make a dalmatian coat. The
realist in me figures that there will
probably be another release in 3 years,
when the flick turns 50, but c'mon, who
ever wants to wait that long for a disc?
As for the film, two discs means lots of
features. There are two pop-up tracks
(family and fan), a new music video,
informational guide, games, music (which
features deleted songs, alternates and the
years old, but dang she looks a lot younger
than that -- which is good since she'll soon
like), backstage (which gives fans a
documentary on the film's creation, some
screen time for the evil Cruella, a bit on ol'
Walt), and even a little more for eager
fans.
Buy the DVD
*Spelling corrected, thanks to Greg.
Continue reading New DVD Picks of the
Week: '101 Dalmatians' & 'Mr.
Magorium's Wonder Emporium'Permalink
| Email this | Comments
be playing a high school student. (Or
maybe Mr. Raimi will move his story to
college?) The good news is that not only is
she very pretty, but Alison Lohman has
proven to be quite the fine actor. (You'll
remember her stuff from White Oleander,
Matchstick Men, Big Fish, Where the
Truth Lies, and Beowulf.)
Movies 17
Rose Byrne Joins
Nicholas Cage in
'Knowing' the Future
By Elisabeth Rappe (Cinematical)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 4:02:00 AM
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers,
CastingNicholas Cage has landed another
Troy girl as a co-star -- this time it is Rose
Byrne, who will be taking the lead in the
sci-fi thriller Knowing.
According to The Hollywood Reporter,
Byrne will play a young woman whose
mother buried a time capsule in 1962
which, when uncovered, predicts
assassinations, the death of a professor's
wife, and an imminent world apocalypse.
Cage will be playing the professor, who
discovers the contents and alerts Byrne.
Initially skeptical, she begins remembering
strange incidents from her childhood.
The movie will be directed by Alex
Proyas, and the script has seen numerous
revisions already. We all know what that
can mean!
The last time Nicholas Cage tried to
predict the future (and avert the end of the
world), it didn't go so well. I would tell
him he should study the past for his script
mistakes -- but whenever he gets into the
past, he makes another National Treasure.
Can't he just stick with Charlie Kaufman?
Permalink | Email this | Comments
So while I definitely look forward to Ellen
Page's new flicks, it's cool to see Alison
Lohman snag a starring role ... in a horror
flick. Production begins in L.A. at the end
of the month.Read | Permalink | Email this
| Comments
18 Movies
New Fedora-Styled 'Nim's
Island' Stills
By Elisabeth Rappe (Cinematical)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 2:32:00 AM
Filed under: Family Films, Movie
Marketing, ImagesGerard Butler. I always
knew that some day you'd come walking
back through my door. I never doubted
that. Something made it inevitable.
Gerard Butler's "officially unofficial"
fansite is hosting a bunch of high-
resolution stills of Butler and Jodie Foster
from the upcoming Nim's Island. I was
going to post a bigger version of Butler
and his bullwhip here, but my computer is
protesting, so it's better if you head on over
there to view them. (I cannot find where
they originated from -- and the site is
mum, so if I am slighting someone, I
apologize.)
I have to say, Butler looks less than thrilled
in most of these. I guess he has more poise
than I do, and wasn't running around
yelling "You betrayed Shiva!" the entire
shoot. Or maybe he was, and just wore
himself out. I dig the costume though,
especially the boots.
In other Island news, the film is reaching
out to children with the Nim's Island: Our
World, A Reel Thinking Event. Hosted by
Jeff Corwin, the special will be aired on
Animal Planet on April 2nd at 10am
PST/EST, as well as in schools across the
country. It will go behind the scenes of the
film, while educating about environmental
issues, and encouraging students to come
up with solutions. Animal Planet and
Walden Media are also sponsoring a
contest to implement one classroom's best
earth-saving idea.
I really love that this film is avoiding the
McDonalds and merchandising route, and
is instead educating children on coral reefs
and living green. What a lovely idea! I
hope a similar marketing scheme
accompanies Wall*E.Permalink | Email
this | Comments
DVD Review: Into the
Wild
By Erik Davis (Cinematical)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 3:02:00 AM
Filed under: Drama, New Releases, DVD
Reviews, Home Entertainment
I'm sorry I never had the chance to see Into
the Wild when it was originally released in
theaters, because it probably would've
been a nice experience to watch up on the
big screen. Needless to say, it's still one of
the best films from 2007, and one that was
kind of overlooked once flicks like No
Country for Old Men, There Will Be
Blood and Juno hit the streets. Into the
Wild isn't the kind of film you watch for
set pieces, story points or character arcs --
it's an "experience" film; whether or not
we like Christopher McCandless (Emile
Hirsch) as a person or believe in whatever
it is he's trying to achieve, we're stuck with
him -- forced to join him on this journey
across the country.
And we feel for him; we feel for his
friends, we feel for his family -- but we
can't help but get sucked up in the beauty
of life, of nature. I don't fully agree with
James' review of this film when it
premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last
year, though I completely understand how
McCandless, as a character and a person,
might not be the most likable guy. He
makes choices we don't understand, and
while he may appear as if he's out to
intentionally hurt the ones he loves -- all
he's really hurting is himself. But
McCandless never saw it that way. This is
what he wanted. This is the road he chose
to walk down. Based on the best-selling
book by Jon Krakauer, and directed by
Sean Penn, this is a story that's magnificent
and heartbreaking all at once. Yet that's
exactly the way McCandless lived his life,
and I imagine it's the way he'll always be
remembered.
Continue reading DVD Review: Into the
WildPermalink | Email this | Comments
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New Stills from
"The Life Before
Her Eyes"
By Kim Voynar (Cinematical)
Submitted at 3/3/2008 12:02:00 PM
Filed under: Drama, New Releases,
Magnolia, Movie Marketing, Images
We have a new set of stills for you from
the upcoming film The Life Before Her
Eyes, starring Uma Thurman and Evan
Rachel Wood. The film, directed by Vadim
Perelman and based on the best-selling
novel by Laura Kasischke, is a dramatic
thriller about Diana (Thurman), a suburban
wife and mother who begins to question
her seemingly perfect life--and perhaps her
sanity--on the fifteenth anniversary of a
tragic high school shooting that took the
life of her best friend.
The film flashes back-and-forth between
the younger Diana (played by Wood) and
her best friend Maureen (played by Eva
Amurri, daughter of Susan Sarandon), and
the older Diana, who is haunted by the
increasingly strained relationship she had
with Maureen as day of the school
shooting approached. As older Diana's life
begins to unravel and younger Diana gets
closer and closer to the fatal day, a deeper
mystery slowly unravels.
You can see more stills from the film in
the gallery below. The film is set to open
in limited release on April 18.
Gallery: "The Life Before Her Eyes"
StillsPermalink | Email this | Comments
Your Click and Print Newspaper
Film Clips: Why Aren't You
Going to See
Documentaries?
By Kim Voynar (Cinematical)
Submitted at 3/4/2008 1:02:00 AM
Filed under: Documentary, Distribution,
Exhibition, DIY/Filmmaking, Movie
Marketing, Columns, Film Clips,
Cinematical Indie, Polls
Over at indieWIRE, Anthony Kaufman has
an excellent piece up on Michael Moore's
proposal that theaters across America
designate a night each week at "Doc Night
at the Movies." Citing the dismal box
office returns for docs in the past year
(only Moore's Sicko, No End in Sight, and
In the Shadow of the Moon grossed over a
million dollars), Kaufman seems intrigued
by Moore's proposal, if somewhat
skeptical it would work. Kaufman raises
some interesting points about the
feasibility of a "Doc Night," including
these questions:
• Who will select the documentaries that
are chosen? And on what basis will they be
chosen?
• Will the documentaries already have
distributors or not? Or will there be a mix?
• Will participating filmmakers pay a fee?
Or conversely, will they get a split of the
ticket sales?
• If most multiplexes are film-only, and
the majority of documentaries are finished
in a high-definition digital format, how
will they be screened? Will expensive
projectors be rented? Or will filmmakers
need to pay for costly film transfers?
... and perhaps the most interesting
question: Will Moore's next film also go
out through the program?
Continue reading Film Clips: Why Aren't
Y o u G o i n g t o S e e
Documentaries?Permalink | Email this |
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Movies 19
Discuss: This Millennium's
Movie Misogyny
By Monika Bartyzel (Cinematical)
Submitted at 3/3/2008 1:02:00 PM
Filed under: Fandom, ListsThere are two
main reasons that I love movies. One --
they offer creative, fluffy, informative,
and/or intellectual enjoyment and
stimulation. Two -- they offer a brief
vacation from reality with a handy serving
of inspiration. If I'm feeling sluggish, I'll
pop in an energetic film. If my work lags,
I'll pop in something with professional
women. Or rather, I'll try. I came to realize
over the years that to pick a film with any
sort of female-centric inspiration usually
meant that I'd have to forgive something
else.
with, others you probably won't. But it's
The female star may be professionally interesting once you start laying out the
successful, but she's neurotic. Or she is films that have popped up on the big
obsessed with beauty and fashion. Or she
wants to have a family. The lady butt-
kicker might be tough, but she's also half-
screen over recent years. Do you agree
with this list of alleged offenders? Which
ones are they forgetting? What do you
naked, or doomed, or... Each female
protagonist might have modern aspects,
but there's almost always a stereotypical
think of the state of women in film as a
whole? What cinematic stereotypes are
you sick to death of? Discuss!
aspect tacked along with it.
Over at Radar, they've compiled a list of
[via IFC]Permalink | Email this |
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what they call the most misogynistic
movies since 2000. Some you might agree