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Obama's 'Yes, We Can' Trend and
Swift Boating
By Liza Porteus Viana (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 2:33:00 AM
Filed under: Democrats, Barack
Obama, 2008 PresidentNot only has
Barack Obama's "Yes, We Can"
theme caught on like wildfire on the
Internet but it apparently has created
some commonalities between the
Democratic presidential hopeful and
some foreign leaders, as well.
Tatarstan President Mintimer
Shaimiyev's favorite catchphrase, in
Tatar, is Bez Buldyrabyz!" That has
the same meaning as "Yes, We Can."
Media in Tatarstan (which, by the
way, is a Russian republic located in
the East European Plain,) picked up
on the similarities between the two
men after they saw the "Yes, We
Can" music video on YouTube that
features Will.i.am of the Black Eyed
Peas and a slew of other famous faces
like Scarlett Johansson, Kate Walsh
of ABC's "Private Practice" (formerly
of "Grey's Anatomy), and that guy
who plays "Sucre" on FOX's "Prison
Break" (Amaury Nolasco). Internet
portal E-Kazan.ru alleged Obama
borrowed the phrase, but Shaimiyev's
spokesman said it's probably just a
coincidence.
Elsewhere, The Politicker notes that
Walter Veltroni, who quit his job as
Rome's (Italy) mayor to run for prime
minister with the new Democratic
Party, is now using the slogan as his
campaign motto. In his campaign
V.P. Choices for the Dems
By David Knowles (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 12:49:00 AM
Filed under: Democrats, 2008
PresidentThough the question of who
the Democrats will pick as their
nominee for president has not yet
been settled, there has been much
speculation as to who might fill out
the respective V.P. slots on each
ticket. Hillary Clinton and Barack
Obama have different needs when it
comes to a running mate, but each
will try to find that perfect someone
to compliment, augment, bolster, or
compensate for their own relative
strengths and weaknesses. Let's
handicap a few of the possible line-
ups.
First, there's the tantalizing idea of
the "Dream Ticket." which CNN's
18/02/08 - 19/02/08
videos on YouTube - which feature
U2 singing "One"in the background -
all of the video text shown is in
Italian, except for the very last phrase
- "Yes, We Can" - which is in
English.
After the jump, Michelle Obama is
"finally" proud of her country and her
husband says he's already seen signs
of "swift boating."
Meanwhile, Obama's wife, Michelle,
has had an apparent slip of the tongue
that has some of the right wingers in a
frenzy. Apparently, while speaking
before a Milwaukee crowd Monday,
Michelle Obama said: "For the first
time in my adult lifetime, I am really
proud of my country...and not just
because Barack has done well, but
because I think people are hungry for
change." (You can watch the video
here)
Blogs like Redstate.com are in a
tizzy, saying an "African-American,
Princeton-and-Harvard educated
attorney , who has achieved a great
deal in her life ... and who is married
to an African-American man who is a
U.S. Senator, has never been proud of
her country before?" The Weekly
Standard also analyzes her comments.
Jill Zuckman of the Chicago Tribune,
said on MSNBC Tuesday Michelle
Obama's remarks are nothing to get
all riled up over, saying she's not used
to speaking to huge audiences at such
public events before, and didn't mean
Wolf Blitzer aired at the Democrats'
first one-on-one debate. Clinton-
Obama, or Obama-Clinton.
While many relish the idea breaking
history twice in the same bill, I just
don't see it happening. The longer this
race goes, the less each candidate
really likes the other.
The next long shot for the V.P. slot is
John Edwards. Though Clinton and
Obama crave his endorsement above
all others, the man who already ran
for the veep slot will most likely be
offered another position in an Obama
or Clinton administration. The words
"Attorney General Edwards" have a
more fitting ring to them. Edwards
pulls either candidate to the left,
where support is already guaranteed.
LibertyNewsprint.
anything by it. "I don't think she was
saying she was ashamed of the
country before," Zuckman said.
And in other Obama news (because
we just can't seem to get enough of
him these days), the White House
hopeful told NBC's Matt Lauer in an
interview that he's already
experienced some of this year's "swift
boating" by his opponents. That's the
phrase which has become mainstream
political jargon after the Swift Boat
Veterans for Truth clobbered John
Kerry in his 2004 White House bid.
"First of all, I've had to go up against
the Clinton machine," Obama told
Lauer (an oft-used phrase by the
senator from Illinois when he tries to
convince voters he's one tough cookie
who can successfully fight against
well-oiled Washington competitors).
"We've been battle tested over the
course of this primary."
Obama again brought up the
"scurrilous" e-mails that have
circulated about him, including ones
saying he's a Muslim and that he
doesn't pledge allegiance to the
American flag. "That may not come
explicitly from the Republican
National Committee but I think we'll
probably see some of that coming
from the underground."
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So who are the serious contenders?
While there are numerous
possibilities for each candidate, I'll
stick to the top two. First let's look at
Clinton.
Nothing is rewarded in Clintonian
circles like loyalty. And two men
who have stayed with Hillary from
the very beginning are former Iowa
governor Tom Vilsack, and former
Indiana governor turned Senator Evan
Bayh. Each is young, energetic, smart
and capable. Bayh's numerous Senate
posts have given him ample foreign
policy experience,and Vilsack can
tout the outside of Washington angle.
As for Obama, two choices jump out.
John McCain has already made it
clear that he, like Hillary Clinton,
plans to hit Obama on the experience
Target stores to be
larger and greener as
prototypes rolled out
By Brian White
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 2:47:00 AM
Filed under: Launches, Target Corp.
(TGT)Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) is
set to deploy two larger-store
prototypes in 2008 that will
apparently be bigger than current
Target locations and green certified
as the company promotes a more
environmentally conscious shopping
experience to its customers.
In terms of more greener stores,
Target joins larger competitor Wal-
Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT),
which recently held a company-wide
meeting where 'being green' was the
central theme of the show. One of the
prototype locations will be a general
merchandise store and one will be a
SuperTarget location -- and both are
scheduled to open in October. Both
will feature added space for consumer
electronics as well as grocery items.
If all goes well with the new Target
prototypes, the discount retailer plans
to deploy the prototype designs at
more than 100 locations in 2009.
Target rolls out prototype designs
every four to five years to keep the
consumer shopping experience fresh.
There's a competitive edge: there are
not too many (if any) national
retailers I know of that change store
designs on a large scale on such a
frequent basis.Read | Permalink |
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question. On that front he should
consider Bill Richardson. The man
who, on paper, had the best-looking
resume in the Dem race, would
instantly calm jitters about Obama's
foreign policy weakness. Another guy
who has proven he can stand toe-to-
toe with Republicans on the question
of defense is Virginia Senator Jim
Webb.
Though we've been considering the
Democrats, I must say that John
McCain has a much more easy
decision. Forget about short-lists, just
pick up the phone and call
Condoleeza Rice.
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2 Politics * Business *
Pakistan Elections Sweep Out
Ruling Party
By Mark Impomeni (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 2/18/2008 1:00:00 PM
Filed under: Bush Administration,
TerrorParliamentary elections were
held in Pakistan today, with President
Pervez Musharraf's ruling Muslim
League-Q Party suffering badly at the
polls. Opposition paties, one led by
the son of assassinated former prime
minister Benazir Bhutto, and the
other led by former prime minister
Nawaz Sharif, were each able to
claim over 100 seats in the 272 seat
parliament. Musharraf's party, by
contrast, was able to hold on to only
20 to 30 seats. The Pakistan Peoples
Party, Bhutto's party, won the most
seats and will be tasked with forming
a government.
It is unclear at this time whether
Sharif's Muslim League-N Party will
join the PPP in forming a coalition
government. Sharif was said to be
suspicious of Bhutto and is reported
to have close ties to Islamist extremist
groups in Pakistan. Taliban and al-
Qaeda linked extremists claimed
responsibility for the Bhutto
assassination. Sharif was the prime
minister oused from power during the
coup that brought Musharraf to
power. He may now feel that the
election results have renewed his
special claim on the office.
Hillary's Delegate Endgame
By David Knowles (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 12:03:00 AM
Filed under: Hillary Clinton,
Democrats, Featured StoriesHow far
will Hillary Clinton go to make sure
she gets the Democratic nomination?
Readers of this column have already
learned of her intention to try to seat
Michigan and Florida delegates in her
without a fair re-vote. The courtship
of Super Delegates, too, has been a
focal point for both Clinton and
Obama, with many party insiders
fearing an outcome in which Obama
would win the pledged delegates,
only to have that total overturned by
the "Supers" at the convention.
Well, today comes word of yet
another wrinkle in Clinton's
increasingly uphill quest for the
White House. The Politico reports
that Hillary is prepared to enact a
strategy to attempt to siphon away
Obama's pledgeddelegates. Roger
Simon:
Another Dem Has Plagiarism Problem
By Dave (Political Machine)
Submitted at 2/18/2008 11:06:00 AM
Filed under: Hillary Clinton, Barack
Obama, 2008 President
The Clinton campaign just undercut
themselves on the plagiarism front:
Jake Tapper writes:
I asked Clinton communications
director Howard Wolfson and Rep.
Jim McGovern, D-Mass, if they could
assure the public that neither Clinton
Regardless of the outcome of the
power sharing negotiations, it is clear
that Musharraf's party was soundly
rejected in the elections, and that will
have an effect on U.S. policy in the
region. Pakistan is a key ally of the
U.S. in the war on terror, and the
United States needs its efforts against
the Taliban and al-Qaeda to be
continued, even stepped up, if it is to
achieve a long lasting success in
neighboring Afghanistan. Taliban and
a-Qaeda elements use the border with
Pakistan to seek refuge from U.S. and
Hillary Clinton's presidential
campaign intends to go after
delegates whom Barack Obama has
already won in the caucuses and
primaries if she needs them to win the
nomination. This strategy was
confirmed to me by a high-ranking
Clinton official on Monday. And I am
not talking about superdelegates,
those 795 party big shots who are not
pledged to anybody. I am talking
about getting pledged delegates to
switch sides.
So you see, if you thought that your
vote actually mattered, you were
mistaken. Turns out it was nothing
more than a symbolic gesture. One
that could be overturned in an instant
depending on the whimsy of long-
standing party alliances.
Pledged delegates are not really
pledged at all, not even on the first
ballot. This has been an open secret in
the party for years, but it has never
really mattered because there has
always been a clear victor by the time
nor McGovern has ever done what
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, did
when he used the rhetoric of Gov.
Deval Patrick without footnoting him.
They would not.
In fact, Wolfson seemed to say it
wouldn't be as big a deal if it were
discovered that Clinton had "lifted"
such language.
"Sen. Clinton is not running on the
strength of her rhetoric," Wolfson
said.
Your Click and Print Newspaper
Afghan troops. The Pentagon recently
announced that it was committing
3,200 more Marines to southern
Afghanistan in an effort to help
Afghan troops put down a stubborn
Taliban insurgency. The Pentagon
was certainly counting on help from
the Pakistani Army on its side of the
mountainous border.
But the events in Pakistan over the
past year: the Red Mosque standoff
where over 100 "students" were
killed in a Pakistani commando raid,
the dismissal of the Chief Justice of
Pakistan's Supreme Court by
Musharraf, numerous bombings and
assassination attempts, and the Bhuto
assassination; were too much for
Musharraf to survive. He will remain
as president for the next five years,
and his crackdown against the
Taliban and al-Qaeda in the
Northwest Frontier Provinces is likely
to continue for a while, but his
position has been badly
compromised. Some policy makers in
the United States have wondered,
during times that he was somewhat
less active, what a war on terror
without Musharraf would look like. It
apears that they may now get to find
out.
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the convention convened.
So how will the residents of a state
like Virginia feel if their pledged
delegates suddenly break for Hillary
Clinton? While former Virginia
Plagiarism isn't even the right word
for it of course. Borrowing terms and
phrases and well worn bits of rhetoric
is not illegal or even uncommon. No
one has a trademark on hope, or
change, or whatever. It isn't bad that
Obama borrowed, it might be lame,
but it isn't evil. And in fact it is
indeed a high compliment. if Obama
uses your stuff!
But the last part is incredible. If
Clinton did the same, it's ok for her,
Medtronic (MDT)
higher on
optimistic outlook
By Eliza Popescu
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 3:11:00 AM
Filed under: Earnings reports,
Forecasts, Launches, Management,
Competitive strategyShares of
medical devices maker Medtronic
Inc. (NYSE: MDT) were higher in
morning trading after the company
reported third-quarter profit that beat
analysts' estimates.
For the quarter, Medtronic reported
that its profit plunged 89% to $77
million, or 7 cents per share, down
from $710 million, or 61 cents per
share, in the same period a year ago.
Included in the company's earnings
numbers, however, was a $275
million, or 24 cents per share charge
related to lawsuit settlements from its
recalled Marquis line of implantable
defibrillators. Excluding that,
Medtronic posted earnings of 63
cents a share. Analysts, on average,
expected the company to show
earnings of 61cents per share.
Continue reading Medtronic (MDT)
higher on optimistic outlookRead |
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mayor, Doug Wilder, predicted riots
in the street should the Super
Delegates trump the pledged variety,
the question of what would happen if
pledged delegates magically changed
sides remains unclear.
But one neutral Democratic
operative said to me: "If you are
Hillary Clinton , you know you can't
get the nomination just with
superdelegates without splitting the
party. You have to go after the
pledged delegates."
By now it is clear that Clinton, ever
the fighter, will play every last card in
her deck before allowing Obama to
wrest the nomination away from her.
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but not for Obama? That's the kind of
stuff that gets you laughed out of the
room. Another unforced error from
Team Clinton as the team aims and
fires at their own big toe.
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Your Click and Print Newspaper Politics * 3

Did Obama Plagiarize Patrick?

By Jay Allbritton (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 2/18/2008 7:25:00 AM
Filed under: Hillary Clinton, Barack
Obama, Breaking News, 2008
PresidentDid Barack Obama lift
material from his close friend,
Massachusetts Governor Deval
Patrick? Depends on what your
definition of plagiarize is. Patrick
says it's not plagiarism because he
and Obama share ideas all the time.
The Clinton campaign claims he did.
Wisconsin.Patrick said: But her
dismissive point, and I hear it a lot
from her staff, is that all I have to
offer is words - just words. "We hold
created equal." Just words! "We have
nothing to fear but fear itself." Just
words - just speeches! Patrick issued
a statement defending Obama:
Senator Obama and I are longtime
friends and allies. We often share
ideas about politics, policy and
language. The argument in question,
on the value of words in the public
square, is one about which he and I
have spoken frequently before. Given
the recent attacks from Sen. Clinton, I
applaud him [for] responding in just
the way he did.Obama's campaign
shot back with a release showing "a

Clinton communications director

Howard Wolfson told Politico,
"When an author plagiarizes from
another author there is damage done
to two different parties. One is to the
person he plagiarized from. The other
is to the reader."
A video circulating on the web shows
Patrick speaking at a campaign rally
in 2006, followed by a clip of Obama
speaking Saturday night in
these truths to be self-evident,
[applause and cheers] that all men are
created equal." [Sustained applause
and cheers.] Just words - just words!
"We have nothing to fear but fear
itself." Just words! "Ask not what
your country can do for you, ask what
you can do for your country." Just
words! "I have a dream." Just
words!Obama said: Don't tell me
words don't matter! "I have a dream."
Just words. "We hold these truths to
be self-evident, that all men are
couple of places Clinton freely
borrowed rhetoric from Obama..."
Castro Resigns,
Obama's campaign also pointed to Musharref
this video of Hillary Clinton using
Obama's phrase "Fired up and ready
to go".
Ousted
By Justin Paulette (Political
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Blogs | Comments
Submitted at 2/19/2008 1:23:00 AM
It was a bad day for petty tyrants.
Following half of a decade as a

Clinton's 'Cult' of Action communist dictator and constant

By Greg McNeilly (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 2/18/2008 11:07:00 AM
Filed under: Hillary Clinton, 2008
PresidentOver and over, Hillary
Clinton, in press release and on the
stump continues to pound the theme -
action is more important than words -
deeds over sentiment. Clinton has
said, in different forms, this refrain:
How will we bring about change by
making sure we nominate and elect a
doer, not a talker?Remember, it was
this message, that got her into a
troublesome historical example when
she claimed that President Lyndon
Johnson was a "doer" versus that
talker Martin Luther King, Jr.
It is true, we Americans, typically see
ourselves as "doers." We cherish the
action-figure over the orator.
But when you hear nearly every
campaign speech from Hillary
Clinton mention this demand for
deeds and action over vision and
words, it's reminiscent of the "cult of
action;" a perspective the world
witnessed disquietly in 1930's
German nihilism.
Is action quo action really what
America needs?
In times passed, when the street chant
called for action not words, nations
fell and people were enslaved.
Change happened, but not the kind
we call progress. This call for action
was for its own sake. Action, making
the program happen, implementing
the system, is to be taken without
reflection or thought. Action, to those
with this perspective, is a value itself.
But words do matter. And clearly,
ideas matter.
As has been quipped, small minds
discuss people, average minds discuss
events, great minds discuss ideas.
Voters deserve a vigorous discussion
about ideas and not impulsive
platitudes or slogans about action.
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thorn in the side of the United States,
Cuban leader Fidel Castro has
announced he will resign. The
announcement was met with subtle
indifference among Cubans, and
hopeful applause from the U.S. "I
believe that the change from Fidel
Castro ought to begin a period of a
democratic transition," stated
President Bush. However, as Castro's
brother Raul (who has been ruling in
his stead since mid-2006) is
presumed to ascend as the next
president, significant change is highly
unlikely.
As Mark Impomeni has thoughtfully
covered, it seems Pakistan's Perves
Musharref has suffered a devastating
electoral loss. These events, and the
events to follow, will speak to the
world's tolerance of heavy-handed
rulership. Pakistan has chosen a new
path following the over-reaching of
Mr. Musharref, and Cuba now has an
opportunity to dissent from the
dictatorship of Castro's regime.
I hope the U.S. will not shy from
supporting the efforts of democratic

A 'Sweet' Endorsement movements in these nations. The

By Denise Williams (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 2/18/2008 1:34:00 PM
Filed under: Endorsements, Barack
Obama, Featured Stories, Humor
Ice Cream maker Ben and Jerry's has
a new flavor just for this campaign
season - Cherries for Change.
Ben and Jerry's founders Ben Cohen
and Jerry Greenfield (former Edwards
supporters) joined Senator Patrick
Leahy (D-VT) to endorse Senator
Barack Obama for president as a lead
up to this insignificant[TM] state's
Democratic Primary on March 4th.
Via Politico
Leahy, drove to American Flatbread
in Burlington in "ObamaMobiles"
which they designed to help get out
the vote for Vermont's March 4th
liberty and security of people in those
countries, as well as here in our own
change. There's a lot at stake in this nation, could depend upon our
election. All Vermonters need to faithful assistance.
make their voices heard and vote."
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The ice cream makers have offered
the Obama campaign use of the
ObamaMobiles until the state's
primary. This move may get this
bucolic New England state more
attention than it might have otherwise
having to compete for media time
with significant(C) states like Texas
and Ohio.
Sounds like good eatin' to me!
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Ben and Jerry, along with Senator

primary. Said Cohen, "The
ObamaMobiles are true vehicles for
Blogs | Comments Obama
Closing Gap In
Filed under: Hillary Clinton, Barack
Obama, Breaking
OBAMA page News,
4 2008
By Dave (Political
President, Polls at 2/18/2008
Machine)Submitted
The latest poll in TX shows clear
4 Business * Your Click and Print Newspaper
OBAMA
continued from page 3
movement toward Obama. Since this • Find one single winning issue that
is Hillary's firewall state, this isn't works against Obama: and no rhetoric
good news at all at Clinton versus experience is not it.
headquarters. • Win in Wisconsin to generate some
(any!) positive news.
In OH, movement toward Obama is • Deflect negative attention to
slower, slow enough that she might McCain and off of her.
keep the state, but she has to keep it • Raise some money from outside her
up over the next two weeks. The own checkbook.
trend is clearly in Obama's favor on
both counts. Even more since this is a
big opportunity for a huge knockout
blow. Permalink | Email this | Linking
What about your
Tasks for Hillary for the next two
Blogs | Comments Delta/Northwest
weeks: frequent flyer
experience,WHAT
Delta Air miles?
Filed under: Deals, Consumer
pageLines
5 (DAL)
By Tom
With theBarlow
rumored Delta (NYSE:

OfficeMax (OMX) on the move DAL) / Northwest (NYSE: NWA)

after Q4 earnings
By Brent Archer
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 3:35:00 AM
Filed under: Major movement,
Earnings reports, Good news,
OfficeMax Inc (OMX), Options,
Technical AnalysisOfficeMax Inc.
(NYSE: OMX) shares are trading
higher this morning after the
company reported a 24% rise in
fourth-quarter profit, helped by lower
costs and expenses. Excluding one-
time items, OMX earned 65 cents per
share, well above Wall Street
forecasts of 52 cents per share. If you
think that the company won't fall by
too much in the coming months, then
now could be a good time to look at a
bullish hedged trade on OMX.
After hitting a one-year high of
$55.40 in last February, the stock hit
a one-year low of $17.12 in January.
Analyst upgrades: NICE,
OMX opened this morning at $23.87.
So far today the stock has hit a low of
$23.25 and a high of $24.90. As of
10:30, OMX is trading at $23.75, up
$1.61 (7.3%). The chart for OMX
looks bullish but deteriorating
slightly, while S&P gives the stock a
positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy
rating.
For a bullish hedged play on this
stock, I would consider an April bull-
put credit spread below the $17.50
range. A bull-put credit spread is an
options position that combines the
purchase and sale of put options to
hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do
what you think but still leverage nice
returns. This particular trade will
make a 4.2% return in just two
months as long as OMX is above
$17.50 at April expiration. OfficeMax
would have to fall by more than 26%
before we would start to lose money.
OMX hasn't been below $17.50 by
more than a few cents in the past year
and has shown support around $23
recently. This trade could be risky if
the US economy continues to worsen,
but even if that happens, this position
could be protected by the support the
stock might find at its 50-day moving
average, which is around $23.
Brent Archer is an options analyst
and writer at Investors Observer. At
publication time, Brent neither owns
nor controls positions in
OMX.Permalink | Email this |
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Martha Stewart
Living Omnimedia set
to buy Emeril empire
By Zac Bissonnette
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 3:00:00 AM
Filed under: Deals, Marketing and
advertisingLast month, I reported that
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
(NYSE: MSO) was actively seeking
an acquisition to diversify beyond its
core Martha Stewart brand.
Now the company has found what it
hopes is it's missing piece, and is set
to acquire superstar chef Emeril
Lagasse's [subscription required]
media and licensing empire for $45
million in cash and $5 million in
stock, according to the Wall Street
Journal.
The purchase price will include the
rights to Emeril's television programs,
syndicated episodes of the "Emeril
Live" show on the Food Network,
cookbooks and Emeril's websites, and
licensing deals from All-Clad
cookware, Wüsthof cutlery,

WPI and MU Wedgwood tableware and T-fal

By Eric Buscemi
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 3:15:00 AM
Filed under: Analyst upgrades and
downgrades, Watson Pharmaceuticals
(WPI)MOST NOTEWORTHY:
NICE Systems, Watson
Pharmaceuticals and Micron Tech
were today's noteworthy upgrades:
• NICE Systems (NASDAQ: NICE)
was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at
UBS, as they believe NICE is well-
positioned to leverage its offerings in
VoIP recording, call centre analytics,
and other applications with its
extensive enterprise customer base.
• Hambrecht upgraded shares of
Watson Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:
WPI) to Buy from Hold ahead of the
company's Q4 results to reflect
valuation and low expectations.
• Thomas Weisel upgraded Micron
Tech (NYSE: MU) to Overweight
from Market Weight citing
expectations DRAM pricing will
stabilize in 2008, potential upside
from high growth DRAM segments
such as mobile, and notes cost cutting
efforts and valuation.
OTHER UPGRADES:
• JP Morgan added Wabtec (NYSE:
WAB) to its Focus List.
• Keefe Bruyette raised Franklin
Bank (NASDAQ: FBTX) to Market
Perform from Underperform.
• Morgan Stanley upgraded Wyeth
(NYSE: WYE) to Overweight from
Equal Weight.
• Citigroup upgraded Mentor
Graphics (NASDAQ: MENT) to Buy
from Hold and added shares to its
Top Picks List.
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Has the market
discounted all the bad
news on Wall Street
write-downs?
By Peter Cohan
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 2:35:00 AM
Filed under: Other issues, Market
matters, Economic data, Recession
With this morning's market rising in
spite of news of Credit Suisse
(NYSE: CS)'s $2.8 billion write-
HAS page 5
appliances. The acquisition also
includes Emeril-branded spices,
marinades, coffee, Bam! B-Q sauce
and other food products, according to
the Journal. Emeril's restaurants and
corporate office are not part of the
deal.
It seems likely that the market will
react positively to this development,
but I wouldn't be buying here. Martha
Stewart Living Omnimedia hasn't
been able to make much money from
the Martha Stewart brand and adding
another brand to a failing company
hardly seems like a recipe for
success.Read | Permalink | Email this
| Comments

Analyst initiations: SPSN, AUY and CRXX

By Eric Buscemi
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 3:45:00 AM
Filed under: Yamana Gold (AUY),
Analyst initiationsMOST
NOTEWORTHY: Spansion, Yamana
Gold and Combinatrox were today's
noteworthy initiations:
• Spansion (NASDAQ: SPSN) was
initiated with a Buy rating and $5
target at CRT Capital. The firm
expects a stable pricing environment
and seasonal demand to improve
financial and credit metrics towards
the back half of this year. The firm started shares with a Buy
• Yamana Gold (NYSE: AUY) was rating and $7.50.
initiated with a Neutral rating at
HSBC. Permalink | Email this | Comments
• Punk Ziegel views shares of
Combinatrox (NASDAQ: CRXX) as
undervalued given its broad pipeline
of drugs with significant potential.
Your Click and Print Newspaper
Analyst downgrades: SIGM,
SKYW and UBS
By Eric Buscemi
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 3:25:00 AM
Filed under: Analyst upgrades and
downgrades, Bed Bath and Beyond
(BBBY)MOST NOTEWORTHY:
Sigma Designs, Sky West and UBS
AG were today's noteworthy
downgrades:
• Sigma Designs (NASDAQ: SIGM)
was lowered to Neutral from
Outperform at Baird citing checks
that indicate a more muted revenue
outlook in 1H08 vs. 2H07.
• Soleil downgraded shares of Sky
West (NASDAQ: SKYW) to Hold
from Buy to reflect the high-fuel-
price environment and headwinds
HAS
continued from page 4
down and the potential for $203
billion worth of additional Wall
Street write-downs on various
"structured investments", I began to
wonder whether investors have
already discounted all the bad news
and the market will start to rise.
The Credit Suisse write-downs drew
praise from analysts for their
reflection of the strength of its risk
management but they also shocked
investors who sliced 9% of its stock.
Credit Suisse took "fair-value"
reductions -- an estimated price when
no market price is readily available --
of its "structured credit trading
positions" of about $2.85 billion. I am
not sure why analysts praised Credit
Suisse because it's not all that
WHAT
continued from page 4
merger hanging fire [subscription
required], customers of both
companies may well wonder what the
impact will be on their hard-earned
frequent flyer miles. The answer
seems to be both good and bad.
The good side is that traditionally
when airlines have merged, the
frequent flier miles were carried over,
allowing customers to select among
an increased number of flights and
destinations. There is no reason to
believe this merger will be any
different.
However, as travel guru Peter
Greenberg cautions in his blog,
airlines merge in part to take
advantage of more efficient
Paramount and Universal to publish films on Blu-ray
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 3:19:00 AM
Not a whole lot to go on right now,
but German site HDTV Praxis has it
that both Paramount and Universal
will now make the obvious choice
and publish their films on Blu-ray.
Notably, this follows hints seen in
certain Circuit City databases as well
from the legacy carrier consolidation.
• Bear Stearns downgraded UBS
(NYSE: UBS) to Peer Perform from
Outperform on concerns of further
subprime write-downs.
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
• Dresdner Kleinwort downgraded
Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) to Hold
from Buy.
• Morgan Joseph lowered Superior
Essex (NASDAQ: SPSX) to Hold
from Buy.
• Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ:
BBBY) was downgraded to
Underperform from Market Perform
at Morgan Keegan.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
different from any firm struggling
with how to value illiquid securities.
Meanwhile, UBS estimated that the
world's largest banks could ultimately
take $123 billion to $203 billion of
additional write-downs on subprime-
related securities, structured
investment vehicles (SIVs), leveraged
loans and commercial mortgage
lending. The higher estimate assumes
that the troubled bond insurance
companies fail -- and this assumption
will soon be tested.
Continue reading Has the market
discounted all the bad news on Wall
Street write-downs?Read | Permalink
| Email this | Comments
operations; i.e., fuller flights. Fuller
flights mean a diminution of available
seats for frequent flyers. He suggests,
and I concur, that you not wait to
redeem what you can.
I also suspect it's not a coincidence
that United is going to start charging
for a second checked bag, a trend I
expect to quickly become the industry
standard. Might airlines next allow
customers to redeem frequent flyer
miles to cover baggage costs in order
to sop up frequent flyer miles at a
bargain price??Read | Permalink |
Email this | Comments
as word that we've received noting
that both studios would indeed make
things easy on everyone and simply
support the one format still standing.
Interestingly, DreamWorks isn't
mentioned in the linked article per se,
but we've all ideas it'll be following
suit shortly.
[Thanks, Khattab]
Business * Tech Gadgets *
Dolby Laboratories (DLB):
Shares moving in bullish
'flag'
By Larry Schutts
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 3:58:00 AM
Filed under: Earnings reports, Sony
Corp ADR (SNE), Dolby
Laboratories'A' (DLB), Technical
Analysis, Stocks to Buy
Dolby Laboratories (NYSE: DLB) is
engaged in the development and
delivery of sound processing and
noise reduction systems for the
entertainment industry. The firm
makes its own products and licenses
its technology to other manufacturers.
It has about 1000 patents and 870
trademarks worldwide. In film, the
Dolby Digital format has become an
audio standard, being employed in
more than 42,000 movie theaters.
Verizon's unlimited plans get
official, not as stellar as
previously assumed
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 1:48:00 AM
Filed under: Cellphones
We had a sneaking suspicion that the
lineup of unlimited plans we got wind
of earlier this week was just a bit too
good to be true, and sure enough, it
was. Now that Verizon's Unlimited
Plans have gone official right on cue,
we're left with three general plans that
can each have additional lines tacked
on for more dough. The $99 / month
Basic Plan seems to include limitless
calling only (read: messaging of all
types and data still cost extra), while
Update: Universal's president Craig
5
American engineer and physicist Ray
Dolby founded the firm in London in
1965 and moved it to San Francisco
in 1977. Sony (NYSE: SNE) is a
major competitor.
The company surprised the Street late
last month, when it reported fiscal Q1
EPS of 42 cents and revenues of
$150.2 million. Analysts had been
looking for 32 cents and $134.4
million. Management also guided
FY08 EPS to $1.34-$1.44 ($1.37
consensus) and FY08 revenues to
$575-$615 million ($588.94M
consensus).
Continue reading Dolby Laboratories
(DLB): Shares moving in bullish
'flag'Permalink | Email this |
Comments
the Select Plan ($119.99 per month)
throws in messaging but still
demands $1.99 per MB of data. The
Premium Plan is the one that's really
attractive, offering up unlimited
everything (for all intents and
purposes) for $139.99 per month or
$269.99 for two lines. Needless to
say, we're a bit let down, but you can
hit up the read link for more details
on what's offered.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Read | Permalink | Email this |
Comments
Kornblau had this to say: "While
Universal values the close partnership
we have shared with Toshiba, it is
time to turn our focus to releasing
new and catalog titles on Blu-ray."
Thanks, Kiwi616!
Read | Permalink | Email this |
Comments
6 Tech Gadgets *
Top ten things to do with your now-
defunct HD DVD player
By Ryan Block (Engadget)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 4:04:00 AM
Filed under: Features
Finally, HD DVD users now have the
empirical evidence they've been
looking for to prove that the universe
really is conspiring against them. We
figured we'd make ourselves useful
over here and give you a list of things
you can do with your poor, obsolete
HD DVD player -- starting with
taking it out to dinner, excusing
yourself to the bathroom before the
check comes... then getting the hell
out of there.
Gimmes
• eBay
• Doorstop
• Entertainment center cup-holder
• Destroy it. Office Space style.
Oh, the humanity
Carl Freer updates Gizmondo's
status: delayed already
By Donald Melanson
(Engadget)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 2:52:00 AM
Filed under: GamingBrace yourself
Gizmondo fans, for it seems that not
all of Carl Freer's recent
prognostications about the
resurrection of the ill-fated handheld
are exactly coming to pass. While he
apparently is still intent on bringing
the handheld back from the dead, he
now tells Swedish journalist Hans
Sandberg that he was being "too
optimistic" with the stated May 2008
launch date, and that it should now be
• Mail it to the office of Howard
Stringer in protest of Blu-ray's
victory.
• Plug it into your clothes dryer's 240-
volt outlet. Woops, honey! My bad,
guess we have to buy a Blu-ray
available "by the end of 2008." That
deal with Plextek to build the new
device apparently is still in place,
however, and Freer's "co-pilot" in this
latest endeavor, Mikael Ljungman, is
reportedly on his way to China this
week to check out the manufacturing
operations. Needless to say, we'll be
keeping you posted on any future
developments, or future delays.
Read | Permalink | Email this |
Comments
Your Click and Print Newspaper
player now.
• Finally, replace your Betamax
player.
• Buy the Blu-ray player of your
choice, put it in the box, attempt to
return it as "defective."
• Channel it through Whoopi
Goldberg and make some pottery
with it.
• Put a Blu-ray disc in the tray and
then call up Toshiba when it doesn't
work. Repeatedly.
• Put it in a time capsule, just to
confuse future generations.
• Buy a few dozen of 'em and build a
little hut for your Blu-ray player.
• Lock it alone in a room with a few
lethal weapons... let it die honorably.
• Use it to upscale DVDs, which is all
you ever used it for anyways.
Of course, feel free to leave your
own suggestions in comments.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
RippleNote's T8100 tablet looks
good converted
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 1:12:00 AM
Filed under: Tablet PCs
We'll hand it to 'em -- we've yet to
see a RippleNote emerge from South
Korea that we didn't think was at least
marginally good looking, and the
Ripple Tablet T8100 most certainly
keeps the streak alive. Boasting a
12.1-inch 1,280 x 800 resolution
touch panel, 1GB of DDR2 RAM,
120GB SATA hard drive, DVD
writer and a 2.1GHz T8100
(surprised?) processor, this beauty
Sumvision Ice 1000
tries to be an iPod
touch, fails miserably
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 1:41:00 AM
Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable
Video
Oh yeah, we've seen our fair share of
iPod touch imposters, and while this
one isn't out to totally knock off
Apple's darling per se, it's fairly
devoid of originality. The Sumvision
Ice 1000 offers up a 2.8-inch 320 x
240 resolution touchscreen, up to
4GB of internal storage space, a
microSD expansion slot, built-in FM
tuner and rechargeable battery, voice
recorder, USB 2.0 connectivity and
support for XviD, AVI, MP4, MP3
and WMA file formats. The good
news? It's available now for £54.99
($108) -- see how far that gets you in
an Apple store.
[Via MobileMag]
Read | Permalink | Email this |
Comments
can act as a traditional laptop or
convert into a tablet should the mood
strike you. As for ports, you'll find a
trio of USB 2.0 connectors, built-in
Ethernet, VGA, 4-pin FireWire,
ExpressCard and audio in / out.
Mum's the word on a price at the
moment, but expect it to pop up
'round Seoul anytime.
[Via AVING]
Read | Permalink | Email this |
Comments
Your Click and Print Newspaper
NDrive reveals internet-enabled
G700 navigator
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 3:14:00 AM
Filed under: GPS
It's not exactly likely that we
Americans will ever see NDrive's
G700 on our soil, but for folks
overseas who can look forward to
receiving it when it launches next
month, here's what you can expect.
This navigator sports a 4.3-inch
display along with a snazzy
integrated GSM / GPRS module for
Wow-Pen's Joy mouse is a like a
fat, melted marker
By Joshua Topolsky
(Engadget)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 3:51:00 AM
Filed under: Peripherals
It's strange how "ergonomic" devices
rarely look like they'd be comfortable
to use. Such is the case with the Wow
-Pen Joy, a new mouse that conforms
to the hand like a pen would,
apparently making your computing
experience a little less tough on the
wrists. Although it resembles one of
connecting to the intarwebs and
pulling down traffic, weather, local
movie listings, etc. when cruising
about. Unfortunately, that's it for the
details right now, but if you've heard
enough, you can round up your €480
($704) and start counting down the
days.
[Via NaviGadget]
Read | Permalink | Email this |
Comments
your clay sculptures from elementary
school, the twisted lump of plastic
sports 800 dpi resolution and can be
jacked right into any XP or Vista
machine. We can't promise this will
actually help with the chronic,
stabbing wrist pain caused by your
"regular" mouse (see inset), though
we can tell you it won't break the
bank at 20,000 KRW, or about $30.
Read | Permalink | Email this |
Comments
TG's Favicon PMP / navigator gets
priced, even sexier
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 2:31:00 AM
Filed under: GPS, Handhelds,
Portable Audio, Portable Video
Remember that elegant looking
conglomerate we peeked in
December of last year? Turns out,
said device finally has an appropriate
name and price, but sadly, it still isn't
apt to head stateside. Nevertheless,
the TG Favicon reportedly features a
NEC gifts LaVie J laptop lineup
with wireless USB
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 2:09:00 AM
Filed under: Laptops, Wireless
We're a bit bummed that wireless
USB-equipped laptops are merely
trickling in versus pouring, but we
reckon we'll take what we can get.
Next on the docket is the LaVie J
series from NEC, which consists of
the flagship LJ750/LH along with the
Tech Gadgets * 7
532MHz Freescale CPU, TPEG
navigation, dual DMB / PIP
functionality, 4GB of internal storage
space, an SD expansion slot and a 7-
inch WVGA display. So, just how
much coinage will you be asked to
fork over to snag this beauty next
time you're in Seoul? Around 422 US
dollars, that's all.
Read | Permalink | Email this |
Comments
lower-end LJ730/LG and LJ700/LH.
Besides the whole cord free USB
thing, you'll also find up to a 1.2GHz
Core 2 Duo U6700, 2GB of RAM, a
12.1-inch display (1,280 x 800
resolution), 160GB of HDD space,
802.11a/b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth
2.0+EDR. The pain? Around €1,735
($2,543) for the top-of-the-line stuff.
Read | Permalink | Email this |
Comments
8 Technology *
Hijacking Search: Surf Canyon and ManagedQ
Rethink The Search Experience
By Erick Schonfeld
(TechCrunch)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 8:31:52 AM
Creating a new search engine seems
like a futile exercise. If Yahoo and
Microsoft cannot compete with
Google in search, what chance does a
startup have? So instead of creating
new search engines, we are starting to
see the rise of search applications that
sit on top of existing search engines.
Two recent examples are Surf
Canyon, which publicly launched its
browser add-on today, and
ManagedQ, which launched its own
site quietly a few weeks ago. I’ve
been playing around with both for
about a week. They both offer
improvements to the pared-down
search interface that we are all used
to and point to areas where search can
be made better. Not bad for two
startups without any venture capital
(Surf Canyon has raised $250,000 in
angel money, and ManagedQ is run
out of the founder’s basement in Palo
Alto). Still, while both point in the
right direction, neither one comes
close to offering a better overall
search experience than Google does
on its own.
Surf Canyon is an application that sits
on top of regular search results. The
startup has its own Website where
you can conduct searches, but the
browser add-on makes it much more
practical to use. The add-on is for
either Firefox or Internet Explorer,
and essentially allows you to re-order
search results on Google, Yahoo, or
Windows Live Search. (Google
doesn’t like it when other Websites re
-order its search rankings, but Surf
Canyon doesn’t rely on Google’s
APIs to do what it does and thus feels
that it is not bound by Google’s
restrictions).
Mixx To Cluster Related Stories -
Digg Should Have Done This
By Michael Arrington
(TechCrunch)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 2:06:27 AM
Digg competitor Mixx continues to
impress us with newfeatures
(although the exodus of Digg users to
them may have been short lived).
A new feature launches this week on
Mixx called Related Items. It solves a
common problem found on Digg and
other sites where multiple articles on
the same story compete with each
other to get to the home page. One
person may submit a story from
USAToday. Another may submit
basically the same story but from the
Washington Post. Those stories are
tracked separately on Digg, and votes
are split between them as users
discover them. The result is that the
story takes longer to get to the home
page than it otherwise should. Or
worse, both make it and the story is
duplicated. Digg catches duplicate
submission for the exact same link,
but they are unable to determine if
stores are related.
Whenever you do a search, a little
bullseye icon appears at the right of
each result. If you click on the
bullseye, Surf Canyon inserts three
recommended search results that are
similar to the one you clicked on.
They appear indented under the result
you are trying to drill down into. For
instance, if you search for
“techcrunch,” the three recommended
results might be a link to TechCrunch
UK, Crunchgear, and the TechCrunch
Tech President Primaries (the
recommended results change over
time, even for the same search). You
can drill down two more times within
the recommended results to keep on
refining your search. So if you click
on the bullseye again next to one of
the recommended links, you might
get a link to TechCrunch on
Amazon’s Kindle store from page 8
of the regular Google results, a
mention in the NYTimes Bits blog
from page 12, or a link to the
TechCrunch Facebook group from
page 5.
The results are hit or miss. Surf
Canyon basically gets three chances
per click to come up with a relevant
recommendation. In general, it comes
closer than if you hit the “Similar
pages” link that Google provides with
every search result, but it still feels
pretty random. Showing more than
three recommended results would
help. But what I like best about Surf
Canyon is the interface. It doesn’t
take you to another Web page. The
recommended results just appear
underneath the appropriate link. It
feels more like an application than a
cumbersome Website where you have
to click through multiple pages to
find what you want. Google could
take a lesson in interface design from
Surf Canyon here with all of its Ajax
goodness.
The Related Items feature on Mixx
flags a submission when it thinks that
a story is similar. A message appears
that says “We may already have this
story! Or at least one startling similar.
Take a look at the stories below.” The
user submitting the related story can
then choose to submit it anyway, or
add it as a related item to the previous
submission. Digg also flags stories
that may be similar to other
submissions, but does not offer the
ability to cluster the new story to the
old ones.
There is a benefit to the submitter in
adding the story to the previous
submission because the new story
will be added, too (and traffic will
flow). Users benefit because they get
Your Click and Print Newspaper
ManagedQ takes the more radical
approach. It rethought the entire user
interface to make it much more
visual. Explains founder David Stat:
Search hasn’t changed in a decade.
Result quality has improved, but what
you see has not changed. The search
interface has remained stagnant at the
command level, So why not a search
application, rather than create a
search engine, we can sit on top of
the results of any search engine.
Currently we use Google.
Every time you do a search on
ManagedQ, a grid appears on the
right of the first six results so you can
visually see what is on the other side
of what is normally a blue link. If you
click on one of the images, it opens
up a larger, browsable window still
within ManagedQ. The idea is that
you can surf the Web without leaving
the search application.
Presenting search results visually is
nothing new. Sites like ViewFour
have been doing it for years. But
ManagedQ combines the visual
search with a guided search
experience.
On the left is a list of persons, places,
and things to help you refine your
search. ManagedQ uses natural
language processing (NLP) to extract
the main concepts from the entire
search bin. And it does this very fast,
in a distributed way using peer-to-
peer technology. One of the
drawbacks of NLP system is that they
take a lot of time to parse and chunk
large data sets. ManagedQ solves that
problem.
more information and perspectives on
the story. Here’s a screen shot of how
the clustering will look (click for
bigger view):
The clustering that will occur from
this will very much resemble
TechMeme, which is a great way to
quickly find multiple perspectives on
the news.
Mixx, which is backed by Intersouth
Partners and the LA Times, is still a
tiny blip compared to competitors
like Digg and Reddit. Comscore says
Digg has 12 million unique monthly
visitors, compared to about a million
on Reddit. Mixx? They’ve got just
45,000. That’s probably a low count,
since newer and smaller sites are
much harder for Comscore to
measure. but they have a long, long
way to go before they are even no. 2
in this market. CrunchBase
InformationDiggRedditMixxInformat
ion provided by CrunchBase
Crunch Network: CrunchGeardrool
over the sexiest new gadgets and
hardware.
When you click on a name or concept
on the left, it is highlighted wherever
it appears in the miniature Web pages
on the right. So ManagedQ gives you
a guided search experience with
suggested terms that help you narrow
your search. If you search for
“Barack Obama,” it will suggest
related people like “John Edwards,”
“Hillary Clinton,” and “John
McCain,” as well as other related
search terms: “Harvard University,”
“Keynote address,” Voting Record,”
“Early life,” and “Senate career.”
The major drawback to ManagedQ is
that if you want to see beyond the
first result grid, you have to hit a
“Next” button at the bottom. When
you try to refine a search using one of
the guided terms on the left, instead
of bringing up the search results that
contain that term, you are stuck with
the existing grid half-filled with
grayed-out boxes that say “No
matches” on them. You have to click
through the result set to find to find
Web pages that match, in which case
the terms are highlighted. (For more
on ManagedQ, watch the tutorial).
That flaw alone makes ManagedQ
not much more than an interesting
experiment at this point. Searching
Google is still much faster and gets
you the results you want more
directly. But again, Google can learn
something here. Why not offer a
decent-sized image of each Website
next to search results to give
searchers a visual cue as to what
resides on the other side of that link?
It is that extra little piece of
information that, in some cases but
not all, could help people sort through
search results easier.
C r u n c h N e t w o r k :
MobileCrunchMobile Gadgets and
Applications, Delivered Daily.
Bleacher Report Gives
Stage to Amateur
Sports Writing
By Mark Hendrickson
(TechCrunch)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 9:00:29 AM
As someone who barely follows
professional sports, it always amazes
me how knowledgeable and
opinionated about sports that ordinary
people can be. Bleacher Report is a
publishing platform formally
launching this week that wants to
give a voice and audience to those
people who seem to always have an
opinion about the current draft, drug
scandal, preseason or playoffs.
Bleacher Report is essentially a
centralized blogging platform for
BLEACHER page 9
Your Click and Print Newspaper
BLEACHER
continued from page 8
sports where anyone can sign up and
begin writing stories about college
and professional sports. It’s not an
aggregation service that crawls the
web for amateur sports news and
editorial, but writers who already run
their own blogs can manually choose
to feed their stories into Bleacher
Report in addition to writing them on-
site.
While sports writers could simply
sign up for accounts at WordPress or
Blogger, they’d do better to publish at
Bleacher Report for several reasons.
The first and most compelling reason
is a better audience. The site attracts
sports fans and surfaces the best
content to the homepage after
assessing several factors such as
writer rankings, editor ratings,
community ratings, and hits. Readers
who like your stuff can become your
“fan” and track your work alongside
others’ on a special “lineup” page.
And articles published to Bleacher
Will YouNoodle Predict Its Own
Inevitable Failure?
By Michael Arrington
(TechCrunch)
Submitted at 2/18/2008 7:44:27 PM
New startup YouNoodle debuted to
some first class press coverage this
morning - a headline in the NYTimes
that reads “A Start-Up Says It Can
Predict Others’ Fate.” The really
choice quote from the article from
CEO/co-founder Bob Goodson is
this:
“Give us some information, and we’ll
give you some idea of what the
company will be worth in five years.”
The best part about the article is that
the prediction feature hasn’t
launched, so no one can see if it’s for
real. For now, the site is a database of
startups with very light information.
Hardly what I would consider
NYTimes material. If not for the
investors, which include Founders
Fund, Peter Thiel and Max Levchin,
Rackspace Offers Cloud Computing
with Mosso
By Erick Schonfeld
(TechCrunch)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 6:00:15 AM
Last week’s incident with Amazon
Web Services briefly going down
may have raised questions about the
reliability of cloud computing, but
demand is high enough for
competitors to keep trying to get into
the game. The more companies that
enter this space, the cheaper and more
competitive that Web-scale
computing should become.
Today, hosting provider Rackspace is
offering a new cloud computing
service through its subsidiary Mosso.
The service competes with Amazon’s
Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2),
although it doesn’t require any load
balancing or other administration. It
also competes with Joyent and Media
Temple’s Grid Service. Pricing starts
Report are categorized into sections
like “New York Giants” and “MLB”
so your content is found by those
interested in just those topics.
Perhaps the most innovative thing
about Bleacher Report is its built-in
community editing system. Writers
who published to Bleacher Report
actually give an extensive amount of
control over their articles to other
members. The community serves as a
collective editor that works not only
to correct grammatical and spelling
errors but to improve the prose more
generally. Nothing is strictly out of
bounds, including article headlines,
but the original writers do have the
power to revert changes made by the
community. According to the site’s
founders, this group editing system
has been a very popular feature
during the beta period.
Like many sites we see these days,
Bleacher Report also integrates
typical social networking features.
there’s no way we would have
covered this.
The NYT did cover themselves
somewhat by bringing in some
venture capitalist quotes calling
bullshit on the whole thing. “If their
tool did such a good job, they’d raise
a fund themselves and beat the tar out
of us,” said Paul Kedrosky, who
didn’t bother to write about the
company on his blog.
And he’s exactly right. Just like the
people who say they can sell you a
book and a seminar to help you get
rich quick off of distressed real estate
- if these guys found some sort of
magic formula that actually predicted
the value of a startup down the road,
they’d keep the information to
at $100 a month for:
—50 GB of storage
—500 GB of bandwidth for
transferring data
—3 million HTTP requests.
From there additional capacity per
month costs:
—$0.50/GB of storage
—$0.25/GB of bandwidth
—$0.03/1,000 HTTP requests
This is a bit more expensive than
Amazon (which charges in a different
way) but a lot cheaper than the $350
to $400 a month Rackspace charges
to host a dedicated server for a
Website.
Mosso bills itself as a Web app
hosting service. Applications are
Members have full-blown profiles
that list their recent articles alongside
bios, fans, and recent activity. And
news feeds called “play-by-plays”
give you a sense of the activity
occurring around the site.
Bleacher Report recently secured
Series A funding from Hillsven
Capital, Transcoast Capital, and
Jakob Lodwick (the founder of
Vimeo), among others. I suspect the
site will do quite well for itself given
the passion of many sports fans and
the quality of potential acquirers.
Bleacher Report writers should do
well for themselves too; we’re told
that several have already used the site
to launch professional writing
careers.
Crunch Network: CrunchGeardrool
over the sexiest new gadgets and
hardware.
themselves and make, well, unlimited
amounts of money.
It’s hype and nonsense, and it won’t
work. The NYTimes bit on it hard,
but our readers are smarter. In a poll
that Duncan ran earlier the vast
majority say there’s no way
YouNoodle can pick winners based
on some algorithm.
I propose this as a test - If and when
YouNoodle launches this magic
predictor thingy, they should run their
own founding team through it. If it
predicts failure, then it’s spot on and
we know it will work.
So far, Goodson says, they haven’t
run themselves through the model.
Smart move.CrunchBase
InformationYouNoodleInformation
provided by CrunchBase
C r u n c h N e t w o r k :
CrunchBoardbecause it’s time for you
to find a new Job2.0
hosted on redundant server clusters
(although the data center is only in
one location, so something could take
the whole thing out—like, say, if a
truck were to run into a nearby power
transformer). Coders choose what
technology stack they want their apps
to run on and upload their code.
Mosso supports both Windows and
Linux, PHP, Ruby on Rails, .Net,
Perl, Python, MySQL, and SQL
Server. (Amazon, in contrast, does
not support Windows). Mosso does
not yet support Java applications, but
it is working on that. The company
actually has been testing the service
for nearly two years and already runs
37,000 apps.
Crunch Network: CrunchGeardrool
over the sexiest new gadgets and
hardware.
Technology * 9
Microsoft To Announce
WorldWide Telescope
On February 27
By Michael Arrington
(TechCrunch)
Submitted at 2/18/2008 3:36:48 PM
A source close to Microsoft says the
company will launch new desktop
software called WorldWide
Telescope on February 27 at the TED
Conference in Monterey, California.
Our guess is that this is what Robert
Scoble was talking about last week
when he said he saw a new Microsoft
project that brought him to tears.
The service will be accessed through
a downloadable application -
Windows only for now is what we
hear. Users will be able to pan around
the nighttime sky and zoom as far in
to any one area as the data will allow.
Microsoft is said to be tapping the
Hubble telescope as well as ten or so
earth bound telescopes around the
world for data. When you find an area
you like, you can switch to a number
of different views, such as infrared
and non-visible light.
Dan Farber posted his own educated
guess that the project might be
WorldWide Telescope, based on the
fact that Curtis Wong and Jonathan
Fay were involved, and he’s right.
Last year Fay gave a presentation
called “”The WorldWide Telescope,
bringing the Universe to a PC near
you.” In 1993, Wong started a project
called “John Dobson’s Universe,” a
virtual sky tour on a CD-ROM,
narrated by John Dobson. The two
began working together at Microsoft
in 2005.
From what we hear, WorldWide
Telescope will be significantly better
than Google Sky, which launched last
August as part of Google Earth, and
the open source Stellarium (which is
hugely better than Google Sky
already). The key is the user
interface, which is seamless as you
move around the sky and zoom in and
out. Much of the Photosynth
technology is said to have been used
for the project. And the sheer amount
of data Microsoft is accessing, said to
be measured in the terabits, gives that
great user interface something to
show off.
Look for an announcement at TED,
and more at Microsoft’s upcoming
TechFest in early March.
C r u n c h N e t w o r k :
CrunchBoardbecause it’s time for you
to find a new Job2.0
10 Technology * Social Net *
Ex-Apple Team To
Launch Stealth Startup
Fotonauts
By Michael Arrington
(TechCrunch)
Submitted at 2/18/2008 5:08:50 PM
A team of five former Apple software
engineers, led by former Apple Exec
Jean-Marie Hullot, have been
working on a new stealth
desktop/web photography focused
startup called Fotonauts since late
2006. Sometime in the next couple of
months, they’ll launch publicly. The
company is based in Paris, France.
Hullot, who worked with Steve Jobs
at Apple in the 1980’s, left with him
to serve as CTO of NeXT Software.
Hullot returned to Apple when it
acquired NeXT in late 1996 for $400
million, and served as the CTO of the
software devision, reporting to SVP
Sina Tamaddon. He was a key part of
the early thinking on the iPhone - a
recent French television program
actually says he came up with the
idea in the first place.
Hullot and much of the Paris
engineering office was let go from
Apple in 2006 after Hullot reportedly
lost an internal political battle over
Microsoft To Give
Students Dev Software
For Free
By Michael Arrington
(TechCrunch)
Submitted at 2/18/2008 9:00:42 PM
At a talk tomorrow at Stanford
University, Bill Gates will announce
that they are making much of their
developer software free to college
and university students. The program,
called Microsoft DreamSpark, will be
run by Joe Wilson, Senior Director of
Academic Initiatives.
Covered software includes Visual
Studio Professional Edition, XNA
Game Studio, Expression Studio,
SQL Server and Windows Server.
Students were previously able to
license this software at greatly
reduced prices, or got access via their
CS department at school (or through
other, less legal, means). Now they’ll
be able to get the software for free.
Only students in Belgium, China,
Finland, France, Germany, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K. and
They May Have Lost Their Name, But
Wikileaks Goes On
By Duncan Riley (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 2/18/2008 7:20:14 PM
The United States has joined China
and Thailand in attempting to censor
Wikileaks, however the site itself
goes on.
A Californian judge ruled that
Dynadot, the name registrar for
Wikileaks.org, should remove all
traces of Wikileaks from its servers
and further should “prevent the
the direction of the iPhone. But under
French law, laid off workers can
receive 80% pay for up to 18 months
after losing their jobs, directly from
the government. Hullot kept five of
his top engineers to work on
fotonauts, while the French
government paid their wages.
I don’t know much yet about the
product, other than that it is
photography related and includes
both desktop software and a website
component. A private beta should be
available in the next month or two.
Keith Teare, who formerly co-
founded Edgeio with me, has recently
joined the Fotonauts
t e a m . C r u n c h B a s e
InformationFotonautsJean-Marie
HullotInformation provided by
CrunchBase
C r u n c h N e t w o r k :
CrunchBoardbecause it’s time for you
to find a new Job2.0
the U.S. will have access for now,
other countries, and pre-college
students, will be added later this year.
Microsoft requires verification that
you are an actual student - in the U.S.
they are partnering with Journeyed,
who maintains a database of students.
This is a smart (and obvious) move
for Microsoft, who needs to get as
many students as possible
comfortable working on their
platforms. It also signals that they
recognize they have real competition
(including open source alternatives)
when it comes to IDEs and other
developer tools.
C r u n c h N e t w o r k :
MobileCrunchMobile Gadgets and
Applications, Delivered Daily.
domain name from resolving to the
wikileaks.org website or any other
website or server other than a blank
park page, until further order of this
Court.” The ruling followed an
application from Bank Julius Baer, a
Swiss bank named by Wikileaks as
being involved in money laundering,
to have documents relating to the
company removed from the site.
Although Wikileaks has lost its URL,
the site is hosted in Sweden, and is
Your Click and Print Newspaper
Bungee Connect Launches
Ambitious New Online
Development Product
By Michael Arrington programs to solve problems at the
(TechCrunch) office.
Bungee Connect is a single online
Submitted at 2/18/2008 9:13:12 PM
Yeah, we’ve seen a ton of online
application builders before -
environment for developers to write,
test, deploy and host applications.
Like Force.com, it is a platform-as-a-
DabbleDB, Zoho Creator, LongJump,
Coghead and WyaWorks, among
others. And Salesforce weighed in
service. The service is free until end
users actually start using the products
built and deployed on the service.
with their own Force.com in late
2007.
Bungee Connect , which leaves
Dana Gardner wrote an excellent
overview of the service a year ago
when Bungee Connect was first
private beta today, competes with all introduced. CrunchBase
of these. But the company, based in InformationBungee LabsInformation
Utah, thinks they have the advanced provided by CrunchBase
features to attract a much different C r u n c h N e t w o r k :
audience than most of those startups. MobileCrunchMobile Gadgets and
They’re targeting hard core Applications, Delivered Daily.
developers, not non-developers who
want a way to create simple software
DAILY
continued from page 10
the last several months). You can find
the story, as I did, at the BBC page,
though the Wikipedia Blog has a few
more salient details.
Here’s the run-down, though.
In January of last year, Wikileaks
launched to a torrent of traffic, thanks
to a warm welcome to the web from
Slashdot. Shortly thereafter, it
recieved widespread coverage in
TechDirt, Newsreal, and a host of
DAILY page 11
Daily Poll and Story
History: Did Wikileaks
Deserve Deletion?
s t i l l u p a t By Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins
88.80.13.160/wiki/Wikileaks. (Mashable!)
Unfortunately for Bank Julius Baer,
Submitted at 2/18/2008 8:05:07 PM
the legal action will probably result in
more people reading the documents This story is so infuriating that I
in question. received several tips in the mashable
C r u n c h N e t w o r k : tips email box as well as one in the
MobileCrunchMobile Gadgets and tips email box for my personal
Applications, Delivered Daily. domain (which has been offline for
DAILY page 10
Your Click and Print Newspaper
DAILY
continued from page 10
mainstream media sites.
In September of last year, Wikileaks
finally hit paydirt in terms of a big
story, when they broke a $3 billion
corruption story in which the ex-
president Moi of Kenya looted public
coffers and possibly altered the
outcome of a then impending national
election.
After that, several major leaks were
made through the site, including most
notably a sensitive Guantanamo Bay
manual, that afforded a “rare inside
glimpse into the institution where the
United States has imprisoned
hundreds of suspected terrorists since
2002.”
In fact, the controversy over the
Gitmo manuals lasted on into January
of this year, when reports of a
Bavarian ‘trojan in the middle’
emerged “activities of the Bavarian
police, Ministry of Justice and the
Prosecution office in intercepting
encrypted data submitted via SSL or
Skype via the internet.”
Other notable scoops by Wikileaks
Google Nixes
FeedBurner’s “All
Time” Stats
By Kristen Nicole (Mashable!)
Submitted at 2/18/2008 8:21:56 PM
Google has made some bad decisions
in the past, and doesn’t always handle
its customers with white gloves.
When the company launched Street
Views maps without blurring out
personally identifying information
like faces and license plate numbers, I
scratched my head. And when Google
decided to get rid of its premium
video services without letting its
customers keep the videos they’d
paid for, I felt the customers’ pain.
So in another questionable move by
Google, it’s somewhat slighted its
web publisher clientèle by getting rid
of ‘All Time” stats for FeedBurner
data. That’s not to say that there’s no
data left at all–daily, weekly and
monthly numbers are still available
for your use. But as Louis Gray
noted, Google liberated FeedBurner’s
premium services by making them
free, so is this a sad result of getting
what you pay for?
The effect that this change could have
is rather far reaching. Several blogs
and other web publications rely on
FeedBurner stats to postion
themselves in regards to other sites,
and for comparison purposes of their
own progress. For any publications
out there that look to such data as a
marker on their growth and current
valuation, it looks like they’ll need to
HD DVD is officially dead
By Allison Waldman (TV
Squad)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 3:19:00 AM
Filed under: TV on DVD, HDTV,
PVR Wire, HardwareDo you hear
that? That's the sound of "Taps" being
played for HDTV players and
recorders. Toshiba has announced
that, "it will no longer develop,
included suppresed video of a
Japanese reactor sodium leak and
documentation of the German
government’s struggles to tap
encrypted Skype calls.
That brings us to the present, when
around fourteen hours ago, Wikileaks
came under fire, according to
Slashdot, when the “DNS entry
[became] unavailable, reportedly due
to a restraining order relating to a
series of articles and documents
released by WikiLeaks about off-
shore trust structures in the Cayman
Islands.”
It appears that the DNS records were
pulled at the request of Julius Baer
Bank and Trust by Judge Jeffery
White. The documents describe
alleged money laundering and tax
evasion activities, according to
various reports.
Perhaps I’m a bit cynical in my next
statement, but I always figured it was
a matter of time before the site got
shut down, but I must admit that it
getting shut down by this angle is a
begin compiling their own data.
Perhaps they can start by using
mashup tools like Strata, which are
also free.
In regards to those services out there,
like RatingBurner, that look to
comprise FeedBurner’s data in order
to conclude some comprehensive data
for more far-reaching purposes, the
loss of such data from FeedBurner
could essentially kill their business.
Knowing Google, it’s rather unlikely
that the “All Time” stats will be gone
forever. Whether it returns as a
premium service or is merely offered
in a different capacity, I imagine
there’s a possibility that we’ll be
seeing the option return in one way or
another, somewhere down the line.
[image credit: Louis Gray]
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manufacture and market HD DVD
players and recorders." Yes, it's true.
Just like Beta was phased out in favor
of VHS, HDTV has lost in its head to
head battle with Blu-ray. As of March
2008, the manufacture of the
hardware will cease, and production
of HD DVD disk drives for PCs and
games as well. The only exception,
said Atsutoshi Nishida, President and
bit surprising. The court order came
as a result of a lawsuit filed by the
Swiss banking group, but obviously
the Swiss courts have no jurisdiction
in America, where the takedown
action occurred.
If you are interested in examining the
documents on your own, to determine
for yourself whether they deserve to
be taken down in this way, you can
still access the site at its ip address:
http://88.80.13.160/ (thanks to
Wikipedia’s blog for that).
Did Wikileaks have it coming, or are
they deserving of special protection?
• They are a valuable resource - they
should be preserved.
• They are compromising national
security - they should be taken down.
• They are providing a valuable
service - but it was only a matter of
time.
View Results
ShareThis
Variety Launches a
Branded Jobster
Network
By Kristen Nicole (Mashable!)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 4:30:14 AM
Printed publications have been doing
a lot to get additional brand
recognition and ad support in the
online world, and lately, a lot of this
has been in the way of integrated
networking solutions, with existing
networks and with networks of their
own. One area that’s been melding
with social networks on a larger scale
is the job sector, as we’ve seen with
Monster, and entertainment news
publication Variety is launching a
social network for this purpose.
In conjunction with Jobster, this new
network, called “The Biz,” is actually
a white-labeled version of the popular
job-finding service. This network
isn’t just for Variety to reach out to
potential employees, but its a self-
contained network where employers
can post jobs and seek out potential
CEO of Toshiba Corporation are
laptops. "[Toshiba] continues to
Social Net * TV * 11
Scribd: iPaper in
Flash, an API, and
an Ad Network
By Kristen Nicole (Mashable!)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 4:33:30 AM
Scribd’s claim to fame is its ability to
share documents in the same way you
share YouTube clips. The document-
sharing network is looking to make
that even easier with the introduction
of iPaper, which is a new Flash
widget for sharing a wide varity of
document formats, namely PDF files.
The tool itself is far smaller than
Adobe Reader, so it loads faster, and
is easily embedded in other websites.
iPaper is also fully integrated into
Scribd’s other social features,
including emailing, and security for
document protection.
While the new iPaper feature is
another step in the right direction for
Scribd, the company is taking things
SCRIBD: page 13
new hires. As Jobster is known for its
take on social networking for the
purpose of enabling users to build
relationships and leverage those
relationships in the job-hunting and
hiring process, “The Biz” allows
Variety to offer both ends of this
spectrum for entertainment jobs,
under a brand that people recognize.
What Jobster hasn’t fully begun to
offer, however, are some of the
newer, emerging tools that employers
can now use to network with each
other for the specific process of
seeking out new employees. While
such newer tools are still in the
experimental phase, I do wonder at
such white label offerings’ ability to
fully extend all the necessary
networking opportunities. However,
one thing remains certain: “The Biz”
lets Variety extend its network brand
across the web in a rather practical
way.
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assess the position of notebook PCs
with integrated HD DVD drives."
Continue reading HD DVD is
officially dead
Permalink | Email this | | Comments
12 Social Net *
Comcast Asks the FCC:
How Stupid Do We
Look?
By Kristen Nicole (Mashable!)
Submitted at 2/18/2008 9:34:13 PM
Over the weekend, Paul brought to
our attention BitTorrent’s
commitment to circumventing the
promise by Comcast to continue to
place limitations on the P2P’s file-
sharing capabilities as it sees fit. This
act by Comcast was emphasized by
the fact that it has filed a statement in
defense of the case brought against it
by the FCC a few months back. And
in doing so, Comcast did something
that could make the company appear
even less qualified to make such
executive decisions in the regulation
of broadband dispersement.
As the P2P blog picked up via Ed
Felten’s Freedom to Tinkerblog, the
definition of a BitTorrent as
presented by Comcast is in fact one
that was used in a speech by a
member of Congress. Now,
Are Gmail’s Antispam
Filters Leaking?
By Stan Schroeder (Mashable!)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 2:58:17 AM
When I first noticed a spam message
in my Gmail account I actually
thought it was a genuine message
simply because I was so used to
Gmail’s antispam filters working so
well. From my previous experience,
zero spam passed through Gmail’s
protection, and other users I’ve talked
to have had similar experiences as
well.
Now, some friends have called and
told me that their Gmail accounts are
filled with spam. We’re not talking
one or two spam messages; we’re
talking dozens of them. Some are also
reporting that the overall number of
spam messages which have been
recognized by Gmail as spam and put
in the spam folder has also increased
significantly.
Unfortunately, I personally can now
confirm these reports. I’m looking at
Mozilla Messaging Spins Off To Develop Thunderbird 3
By Stan Schroeder (Mashable!)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 3:43:28 AM
The Mozilla Foundation has decided
to further divide their efforts to create
the perfect web browser and email
application into two separate projects.
Thus, Mozilla Messaging was created
as a subsidiary of the non-profit
Mozilla Foundation, with one initial
goal: development of Thunderbird 3.
Some concrete improvements for
Thunderbird 3 are mentioned in the
considering the potentially grave
outcome of Comcast as a result of the
case brought against it by the FCC,
and the rather “official” nature of
such a case, I can’t be entirely
surprised that Comcast is looking to
Congress for a “respected” definition
of what BitTorrent actually does.
This aside, the biggest problem with
Comcast’s use of a Congressman’s
speech quote being used as definitive
in regards to BitTorrent is the fact
that it’s down right incorrect. This
leaves room for a lot of holes to be
poked in Comcast’s argument, but its
really a matter of the FCC being able
to poke them.
ShareThis
a Gmail inbox full of spam; the
screenshot below is just a part of it,
since I’ve been deleting spam
manually entire morning.
Of course, I’m aware that we’re
talking about a small set of users here
- me and a couple of friends and
coworkers - but since Gmail was so
efficient in battling spam so far, even
tiny incidents like these seem
significant. I’m interested in your
experiences, our dear readers; is
Gmail’s spam protection still working
good for you, or is it leaking? Kindly
respond in the comments.
ShareThis
official announcement, although it’s
nothing we haven’t heard before:
“…Thunderbird 3, which will deliver
significant improvements, notably
integrated calendaring, better search
and enhancements to the overall user
Your Click and Print Newspaper
Battle On: Microsoft to
Launch Proxy Fight at
Yahoo
By Adam Ostrow (Mashable!)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 6:30:19 AM
Last week, Microsoft responded to
Yahoo’s rejection of their $44.6
billion acquisition offer by writing
that they “reserve the right to pursue
all necessary steps to ensure that
Yahoo!’s shareholders are provided
with the opportunity to realize the
value inherent in our proposal.”
Today, confirmation that Microsoft
will go hostile in their efforts to
acquire Yahoo, with DealBook
reporting that the software giant will
attempt to seize control of Yahoo’s
Board of Directors, setting the stage
for a vote to approve the deal.
The move follows news last night that
Microsoft does not intend to raise its
Bill Gates: We’re Not
Raising the Yahoo Bid
By Stan Schroeder (Mashable!)
Submitted at 2/18/2008 10:19:34 PM
While everyone is expecting for
Microsoft to dig just a little bit deeper
into their pockets (speculations said
that $35 per share is a possibility) to
try and change Yahoo’s mind, Bill
Gates is playing it tough, saying
they’re not raising the bid.
He made this quite clear in an
interview with Reuters: “We can
afford to make big investments in the
engineering and marketing that needs
to get done. We will do that with or
without Yahoo.” In other words, if
Yahoo doesn’t want the 44.6 bil,
they’re gonna spend it elsewhere: at
least the $19 billion they have in
cash.
experience.” In a long blog post, CEO
David Ascher gives a bit more
insight, especially about the long term
plans for Thunderbird 3.
Mozilla Messaging is wholly owned
by the Mozilla foundation; it’s a
offer to acquire Yahoo at $31/share in
cash and stock. According to
DealBook, waging what’s known as a
proxy fight against Yahoo will cost
the company about $20-30 million,
versus an additional $1.4 billion for
every dollar they add to their
acquisition offer.
So what are the odds of Microsoft
successfully acquiring Yahoo via
proxy fight? Pretty good according to
the report. Yahoo’s entire board is up
for re-election, meaning that if
enough of Yahoo’s shareholders feel
that Microsoft’s offer is the best
move for the company, they can elect
Microsoft’s nominees to the board
and force a deal.
ShareThis
Of course, we all know that Microsoft
is only acting indifference. In fact, if
they don’t buy Yahoo, they’ll have a
tough time turning those 19 billion
dollars into a web platform that will
be a decent competitor to Google;
that’s why they went unsolicited on
Yahoo in the first place.
Gates, now a part-timer at Microsoft,
had this to add: “There is nothing
new in terms of the process. We’ve
sent our letter and we’ve reinforced
that we consider that it’s a very fair
offer.” Meaning: it’s the only such
offer you’ll get, Yahoo, and you
better take it while it’s not too late.
He might just be right with this one.
ShareThis
small team that will work together
with the community of contributors
from around the world. The board of
directors consists of David Ascher,
CEO, Mozilla Messaging;
Christopher Beard, VP and General
Manager, Mozilla Labs; and Marten
Mickos, CEO of open source
database vendor MySQL AB.
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Your Click and Print Newspaper
SCRIBD:
continued from page 11
even further by releasing its API tools
today as well. The new Scribd
Platform allows web publishers to
include the Scribd document-sharing
tools in their own feature sets,
including the new iPaper. As we’ve
seen with FeVote and Box.net, Scribd
has in fact been working on its third-
party developer options for some time
now, and is very much interested in
bringing its tools to more developers
out there.
If that wasn’t enough for you, Scribd
is sweetening the deal by offering
monetization options for the first
Podcast: A Conversation with
Metacafe’s Michelle Cox
By Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins
(Mashable!)
Submitted at 2/18/2008 10:17:11 PM
Last week’s changes to Metacafe’s
Producer Rewards Program spurred
some really great conversations
spanning from the technicalities of
what the changes to the program
were, what they should have been,
what it was exactly that Metacafe was
trying to bring out in their community
with those changes, and the meaning
of brand building for the online video
content producer.
Michelle Cox dropped me a couple of
Idol reveals first theme week; more upcoming changes
By Jason Hughes (TV Squad)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 2:05:00 AM
Filed under: American Idol, Alumni,
News and GossipLooks like the
promised Idolchanges are going to
keep coming. Rather than wait until
we have our Top 12, the "theme
weeks" that Idol made famous are
actually starting tonight with the full
Top 24! This week's them is music
from the '60s. Furthermore, producer
time, using the new iPaper
technology. In conjunction with
Google AdSense, documents viewed
with iPaper can be sidled with Google
ads directly in the viewer, displaying
the ads in Flash. While Scribd isn’t
the only to do this (both Yahoo and
Adobe have dabbled in ad displays
across PDF files), Scribd extends the
monetization rewards to the
publishers without requiring
downloadable software and upgrades.
ShareThis
emails over the course of the week,
and that spurred a conversation that
spilled over into the Mashable
Conversations podcast that covered
all of these topics, as well as the
future of online video as Metacafe
sees it (especially in light of the
recent Revver purchase).
The embed is available below, or you
can download the MP3 file directly
here.
Get the Mashable Conversations
podcast here.
You can check out Metacafe here.
ShareThis
Nigel Lythgoe has announced that
rather than a cavalcade of celebrity
mentors traipsing in each week, there
will only be four throughout the
season meaning we'll definitely be
getting that increased focus on the
contestants we were promised.
And how about that recently
announced expansion of the results
show to a full hour? Well, they're
going to fill some of that extra time
Social Net * TV * 13
John Munch strikes again!
By Jonathan Toomey (TV
Squad)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 1:07:00 AM
Filed under: Law and Order,
Celebrities, The Wire
So who saw this past Sunday's
episode of The Wire? If you did, then
you probably saw the quick little
cameo by Richard Belzer as a bar
patron near the end of the episode.
After I watched it, one question came
to mind: was he playing John Munch?
According to this NPR article, he
was. However, the basis for the logic
was subtle and only a serious TV buff
would have picked up on it. Not even
I caught it and I'm a huge Wire and
Homicide fan.
At one point during his conversation
with the bartender (as Clark Johnson's
character Gus Haynes walked by)
Munch mentioned that he owned a insane! The only other characters to
bar once. Now if you recall, in the come close to that are Norm and Cliff
later seasons of Homicide, Munch did (George Wendt and John
own a bar. Here's where it gets Ratzenberger) from Cheers with
interesting though. Do you remember seven distinct appearances each. Read
who he owned the bar with? on for more...
Detective Meldrick Lewis... played Continue reading John Munch strikes
by Clark Johnson. Crazy, huh? again!
Anyway, here's the real point of this
post. With this appearance on The Permalink | Email this | | Comments
Wire, Belzer has now played Munch
on eight different programs. That's
The Sarah Connor
Chronicles: Dungeons &
Dragons
By Brad Trechak (TV Squad)
Submitted at 2/18/2008 3:09:00 PM
Filed under: OpEd, The Sarah Connor
Chronicles(S01E06) This episode
was a definitive step up for the series.
I have one or two minor quibbles
about it, but this episode has been the
highlight so far.
The viewer is presented with the story
of Derek Reese, who is Kyle Reese's
brother and John Connor's uncle. This
is done in the style of "future-flashes"
in which we see Derek's story post-
Judgment Day and learn a lot of new
information that answers some
questions and creates a few more. I
also got a little nerdy thrill out of
myriad of references to the first Linda Hamilton photo to put in Lena
Terminator movie (more on that Headey's image instead. It's like one
shortly). those time changes from the movie
Back To The Future in which you see
I should have recognized the set used time changing around the travelers.
for the Resistance shelter. Was the Continue reading The Sarah Connor
"Hang In There Baby" lion picture in Chronicles: Dungeons & Dragons
the first movie? If so, I don't recall it.
I did like how they retouched the Permalink | Email this | | Comments
have to say I applaud this move. After
all, Idol alumni are part of the
extended Idol family, and true fans
like to know what they're up to and
how things have been going for them.
Of course, they should probably skip
the Jessica Sierra catch-up just now.
Permalink | Email this | | Comments
with "Where are they now?"
segments on previous contestants. It's
worked for other reality shows and I
14 TV *
Adam Carolla to appear on
Dancing with the Stars
By Brad Trechak (TV Squad)
Submitted at 2/18/2008 12:19:00 PM
Filed under: OpEd, Dancing With
The Stars, CastingAccording to
MSNBC, former co-host of The Man
Show and radio personality Adam
Carolla will be appearing on Dancing
with the Stars. He will be partnered
with two-time winner of the show,
Juliane Hough.
I used to be a big fan of the Man
Show and I cannot help but think that
this is the sort of show that Adam and
Jimmy Kimmel would have
incessantly mocked when that show
as on the air. Mind you, they mocked
most anything that wasn't drinking,
sports or Juggies. Mostly they
mocked themselves.
When a celebrity makes it to shows
like Dancing With The Stars, it's a
sign that their star has faded. I really
hope Carolla surprises me and ends
American Idol + Apple = BFF
By Allison Waldman (TV
Squad)
Submitted at 2/18/2008 12:01:00 PM
Filed under: Industry, American Idol,
PVR Wire, News and GossipYou can
call it the beginning of a beautiful
relationship, or it may seem like a
license to print money, but any way
you view it, today's announcement
that Apple will be the signature
sponsor for Fox's American Idol--
that Apple will have exclusive audio
and video performance download
rights for AI -- is huge. The deal,
effective immediately, ensures that all
Idol performance downloads will now
only be available on Apple's iTunes
store. In addition, iTunes will sponsor
online streaming of contestant
performances on the official
American Idol web site. Each and
every time you click on the AI site,
you'll see links for iPods and
Prison Break: The Art of the Deal (season finale) - VIDEO
By Jonathan Toomey (TV
Squad)
Submitted at 2/18/2008 1:01:00 PM
Filed under: OpEd, Video, Prison
Break, Episode Reviews
(S03E13) "You know, you're the first
person to ever break out of Sona." -
Gretchen
This was a great episode. Really solid
and enjoyable. However, you can see
Stump the King: Transformers - VIDEO
By Paul Goebel (TV Squad)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 12:00:00 AM
Filed under: Video, Animation, Ask
TV Squad
I may be wrong but I think last
week's question may have been the
first one to go the entire week without
being answered. The question was,
"In the TV Movie, The Nashville
Grab, what was the name of the
restaurant chain owned by Conaway's
up being a phenomenal dancer, but I
think it'll end up being like Jerry
Springer's appearance. It's interesting
that he's on, but once he's booted
from the show his participation will
be forgotten.
Permalink | Email this | | Comments
iTouches and iPhones, all the cool
players and gadgets that Apple sells.
And every time you click on the
Apple site, you'll see links to Idol.
Continue reading American Idol +
Apple = BFF
Permalink | Email this | | Comments
why it was originally meant to be the
mid-season finale and not a season
ender. There are just simply too many
questions left hanging and, for lack of
a better way to put it, it just doesn't
feel right. Fans of Prison Break, you
know what I mean. As far as finales
go, this wasn't satisfying. While it left
me yearning for more, I'm equally
annoyed. Plenty of other shows are
coming back with four or five new
episodes starting in about a month, so
character Buddy Walker?" The
answer was Spaghetti in a Sack. I
swear, it really was.
Your Click and Print Newspaper
Do we still need PBS?
By Bob Sassone (TV Squad)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 4:27:00 AM
Filed under: Industry, Programming
This question comes up at least once
a year: do we still need PBS?
Of course, I think the real question
people want an answer to is, do we
still need to fund PBS? Charles
McGrath looks at both sides of the
issue in this New York Times piece.
The Bush administration (and let's
face it, more than a few citizens) want
to slice the annual budget for PBS in
half. They've been trying for several
years (there was even a West Wing
episode where this was one of the
viewers that remain are loyal and help
plots), but every year they get their save the network every year). So
money. The main arguments against
what should happen?
funding are twofold: 1.) is PBS really
necessary in this age of 150 channels,
Continue reading Do we still need
and 2.) should we keep funding PBS PBS?
since they do their own fund raising
every year and also make money on
Permalink | Email this | | Comments
the stuff they sell? The network pulls
in less viewers now (though the
Medium: Do You Hear What I Hear
- VIDEO
By Paul Goebel (TV Squad)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 1:00:00 AM
Filed under: Medium, Video, Episode
Reviews
(S04E04) " " - The cast of Medium
There are probably a lot of things
about being deaf that are not pleasant
but not being able to listen to a
Godzilla movie is one that never
occurred to me.
I understand that actors will often be from Lostas the hearing specialist.
typecast into a certain role and may Continue reading Medium: Do You
play similar characters on television, Hear What I Hear - VIDEO
but I would think the casting director
for Mediumwould have a little more Permalink | Email this | | Comments
sense than to cast Dr. Martin Candle
could be the last we'll see of Michael
and Lincoln.
Continue reading Prison Break: The
Art of the Deal (season finale) -
VIDEO
Read | Permalink | Email this | |
Comments
why not Prison Break? What really
worries me? No word on any sort of
renewal from FOX. This very well
This week's question comes form a
Transformers fan who really made
me work.
Michael Fantauzzo asked me, " Who
did Blackarachnia fall in love with?"
Continue reading Stump the King:
Transformers - VIDEO
Permalink | Email this | | Comments
Your Click and Print Newspaper
New DVD Picks of the Week:
'American Gangster' & 'Michael
Clayton'
By Monika Bartyzel
(Cinematical)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 4:02:00 AM
Filed under: New Releases, DVD
Reviews, New on DVD, Home
EntertainmentAmerican Gangster
There's nothing quite as unsightly as
smuggling your heroin into the
country by hiding it with the slain
soldiers returning from Vietnam. But
what is quite slightly is a cast of
excellent actors to tell the story --
namely Denzel Washington, Russell
Crowe, Josh Brolin, and Chiwetel
Ejiofor. From the directorial hands of
Ridley Scott, the film follows the
story of the infamous Frank Lucas --
a man who soared from lowly driver
to huge drug kingpin -- one who
controlled Manhattan's heroin trade.
On the one side there's Frank, making
boatloads of money and being a
heroin powerhouse. On the other,
there's the man (Crowe) who tries to
bring him down.
And, in my continuing efforts to give
Joe Morton as much props as I can,
he pops up in the film as Charlie
Williams.
As for the DVD, the main one looks
pretty darned tempting. You've got
both the original theatrical version
and extended, unrated version on the
first disc, plus a whole slew on the
second: deleted scenes (inc. an
alternate opening), a feature-length
documentary on making the film, and
"Case Files" -- 3 segments on how
the film was brought to life.
However, there's also a super 3-Disc
Ryan Reynolds Suits Up for 'X-Men
Origins: Wolverine'
By Erik Davis (Cinematical)
Submitted at 2/18/2008 2:02:00 PM
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi &
Fantasy, Casting, RumorMonger,
Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek,
Remakes and Sequels
Definitely, or maybe? According to
AICN, Ryan Reynolds is definitely
showing up in X-Men Origins:
Wolverine as the character Deadpool
-- which not only means there may be
a new spinoff franchise in the works,
but that this new Wolverine prequel
will be chock-full of groovy comic
characters. As per Wiki, the character
is "Nicknamed the "Merc with a
Mouth", Deadpool is a high-tech
mercenary known for his wisecracks,
black humor, and satirical pop-culture
references. Like the X-Men's
Wolverine, Deadpool is the product
of the Canadian government's
paramilitary Weapon X program,
although his place of birth is
unknown. After Weapon X cured his
Edition: Aside from the above
goodies, there's a booklet, and a
whole third music-centric disc if you
want to get down with guns, drugs,
and tunes.
Check Out James' Review | Buy the
DVD
Michael Clayton
It's already surprised many for
scoring itself 7 Oscar nominations
this year, including Best Motion
Picture and Best Director, but while it
may come as an awards surprise, it is
still a solid film and a great
alternative to George Clooney's
Ocean's fare. This time around,
Clooney stars as Clayton, the "fixer"
terminal cancer by implementing a
regenerative "healing factor"
extracted from Wolverine, Deadpool
is left disfigured and mentally
unstable."
Sounds like the perfect comic book
character for Reynolds, who's made a
at a big law firm who knows how to
clean up the messes and avoid
embarrassment at work, but not so
much at home. When his colleague
goes nuts, he is not only struggling
with himself but also the fight to save
the company's name. As James
Rocchi described it in his review:
"Michael Clayton is at its best when it
sticks to hard-bitten, this-is-how-the-
world-works scenes between
employers and employees, fathers
and sons, executives and lawyers.
Gilroy (with the help of supremely
talented cinematographer Robert
Elswit) captures a chilly world of
urban grandeur and decay where the
light's as gray as the choices people
make."
The DVD features aren't plentiful, but
there are some additional scenes and
a commentary that features
writer/director Tony Gilroy and editor
John Gilroy.
Check Out James' Review | Buy the
DVD
Other New DVD Releases (February
19)
Lust, Caution
In the Valley of Elah
Rendition
Margot at the Wedding
Check out Peter Martin's Indies on
DVD for even more new
releases.Permalink | Email this |
Comments
name for himself in the comedic
realm and always looks relaxed in
front of the camera. But can he kick
ass? Additionally, Film School
Rejects also claims to have received
information indicating that The Blob
will make an appearance in
Wolverine as well. The character is
just that -- a friggin' giant blob-ish
mutant who "possesses an extreme
amount of pliable body mass, which
grants him superhuman strength and
his own gravitational pull. Possessing
the mindset of a bully, he mostly uses
his powers for petty crime and as a
member of the Brotherhood of
Mutants and Freedom Force." Fat
dudes, funny men -- seems like
Wolvy will get rather dirty in this
one.
What do you think about adding both
these characters into the mix? Too
much?
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Movies 15
Oscar
Predictions:
José the Cabbie
By Christopher Campbell
(Cinematical)
Submitted at 2/18/2008 1:02:00 PM
Filed under: Awards, George
Clooney, Oscar Watch
The last movie José saw was The
Simpsons Movie. And he didn't seem
to know much about this year's Oscar
race. And he was much more
interested in telling me about the fare
before me, a beautiful woman who
apparently flashed him. But I decided
to ask him for at least some random
predictions anyway. See, it was late
Friday night (actually technically
early Saturday morning), I'd had a
few too many to drink and I really,
really wanted someone to just make
sense of the 2008 Academy Award
nominees. Aside from the Best Actor
race, none of the categories seem to
have a sure thing. It's really anybody's
guess who will pick up Best Picture,
Best Director and Best Supporting
Actress. So why not ask José, a NYC
cab driver originally from El
Salvador, for his less-than-expert
opinion? He's got a good chance of
bettering the predictions of the
pundits anyway.
Before I get to José's picks, though, I
must acknowledge that I borrowed
the ask-a-cabbie idea from the NYC
publication The L Magazine, which
includes in each issue a regular
feature called Fare is Fair, in which
random cab drivers around the city
are asked their opinions on a topical
issue. I've never before seen The L do
this with the Oscars, so I've done it
myself, and I hope they don't mind.
Consider it a form of flattery, because
really it's my favorite piece to read on
the subway every other week when
the latest issue arrives in the street
corner bins.
And now a transcript of my and José's
conversation:
Continue reading Oscar Predictions:
José the CabbiePermalink | Email this
| Comments
16 Movies Your Click and Print Newspaper

Gambit Cast in 'X-Men

Origins: Wolverine!'
By Erik Davis (Cinematical)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 1:32:00 AM

Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi &

Fantasy, Casting, RumorMonger,
Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek,
Remakes and Sequels

Have we finally reached an age where

practically the entire cast for a huge,
highly-anticipated movie is
announced not through the trades, but
on various movie news websites? I
think we have, and I think the name
of that movie is X-Men Origins:
Wolverine. Last night, we told you
how Ryan Reynolds was suiting up to
play Deadpool in the spin-off flick,
and now Superhero Hype tells us
Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights)
has signed a three-picture deal to star
as Gambit (aka Remy Lebeau) in the
Gavin Hood-directed film, due out
May 1, 2009.
Gambit, a fellow mutant and member
of the X-Men, "possesses the ability
to manipulate kinetic energy as well
as limited hypnosis. He is also skilled
in card throwing, hand-to-hand
combat, and the use of a Bo, " so says
Wiki. When you compare a picture of
the character to Kitsch, they look
almost exactly the same -- so it's a
good match in that department. Fans
have been itching to see Gambit show
up on the big screen for some time
The First Trailer for
'Journey to the Center
now; the character had his name show
up in X2 when Mystique hacked a
system holding mutant names, and he
was rumored to be involved in X-
Men: The Last Stand, with a bunch of
actors auditioning for the role, but
never showed up. Originally, he was
supposed to appear in the prison
convoy scene.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine will star
Hugh Jackman (Wolverine), Liev
Schreiber (Sabretooth), Danny
Huston (William Stryker), Lynn
Collins (Silver Fox) and (we think)
Ryan Reynolds (as Deadpool). Talk
about an eclectic cast! What do you
think?Permalink | Email this |
Comments
Tuesday Morning Poll:
No Love for 'The
Incredible Hulk?'
By Erik Davis (Cinematical)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 3:02:00 AM
Filed under: Action, Fandom,
DIY/Filmmaking, Movie Marketing,
Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes
and Sequels, Monday Morning Poll
I'm still amazed that we've only seen
two images from this summer's The
Incredible Hulk so far (not counting
toys), considering the other big
summer blockbuster flicks have
already shelled out loads of images,
trailers, behind-the-scenes featurettes
-- what have you? At this point, we've
seen more from the new Star Trek
We recently asked you which films
you were most anticipating in 2008,
and only a very small amount put The
Incredible Hulk on their list.
Furthermore, Moviehole cites a
recent Blockbuster poll (asking
readers which summer film they were
anticipating the most) which found
the flick coming in dead last with 1%
of the vote, behind Speed Racer. Yet,
it's hard to imagine why folks would
be so iffy on this new version of the
Hulk when the cast absolutely rocks
(c'mon -- Tim Roth is your friggin'
villain!). So why isn't there more
love? Is it because the Ang Lee
version left a sour taste? Is it because

of the Earth 3-D' film (which bows in May, 2009) than

By Jessica Barnes
(Cinematical)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 1:02:00 AM
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi &
Fantasy, New Line, Family Films,
Movie Marketing, Trailers and
ClipsSo while I haven't read Journey
to the Center of the Earth in years,
after watching the new trailer for the
3-D kid's flick, I doubt it would
matter even if I did remember the
source material. Cineplex is now
hosting the first trailer for the digital
kiddie flick based on Jules Verne's
classic novel. The film was directed
by Eric Brevig (who has the dubious
credit of Captain EO on his IMDB
resume) and stars Brendan Fraser,
Josh Hutcherson, and Anita Briem.
Besides being the first wide-release
film to be released exclusively in the
Real D Cinema format, Journey is an
update on Verne's original story about
three adventurers in, well, a journey
to the center of the earth. Michael
Weiss' script does away with a lot of
the original plot; Fraser now stars as
Trevor, a scientist who is the
laughing stock of the academic
community and who likes to teach his
son (Hutcherson) about Jules Verne's
book. It turns into the field trip of a
lifetime when Trevor proves to the
kid that these stories are very real.
Erik had brought us the poster for the
film back in January, and there have
been a few photos, but this is the first
trailer to hit the net. After watching
the trailer once or twice, I'm afraid to
tell you that there isn't all that much
to recommend (I guess you really do
need the 3-D). Luckily, I don't have
any little ones that I have to take to
the movies, so I think I will be
skipping this one. Journey to the
Center of the Earth 3-D opens July
11th, 2008.
[via Empire]Read | Permalink | Email
this | Comments
we have The Incredible Hulk (which
comes out on June 13). And at the
the studio refuses to promote the
film? Is it because there are that many
better looking films to choose from?
beginning of each week, I usually Let's try to figure this one out in the
predict the Hulk trailer is only two or poll below -- and please answer
three days away -- but alas, it never honestly.
comes. Could this be why fans are so View PollPermalink | Email this |
hesitant to put Hulk on their must- Comments
watch list this summer?
Madonna's Movie:
Straight to iTunes?
By Eric D. Snider (Cinematical)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 2:32:00 AM
Filed under: Drama, Independent,
Distribution, Cinematical
IndieRemember Madonna? Talented,
cone-chested singer, somewhat less
successful in the movie department?
You may have heard (possibly from
us) that she directed a movie called
Filth and Wisdom that had its world
premiere at the prestigious Berlin
Film Festival. Kim Voynar reports
that it was mostly positively received,
while Anne Thompson at Varietysays
it was "badly reviewed." Either way,
story make it clear that the download
it's Madonna, and she's really famous option is merely being considered.
-- and now it looks like her film
(Note to Variety: It's better if the
might skip theaters and DVD and go headline conveys information that is
straight to iTunes.
a) true and b) found in the story. I'm
just sayin'.)
Variety is our source, and while their
headline -- "Madonna puts 'Filth' up
for download" -- makes it sound like
it's a done deal, the subhead and the MADONNA'S page 17
Your Click and Print Newspaper
Mattel's Ledger-
Inspired Joker Doll
Revealed!
By Erik Davis (Cinematical)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 2:02:00 AM
Filed under: Action, Warner Brothers,
Celebrities and Controversy, Fandom,
Newsstand, Home Entertainment,
M o v i e M a r k e t i n g ,
Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes
and Sequels, Images
Though it's only been a week since
Heath Ledger was permanently laid
to rest, Warner Bros. is slowly
bringing back its marketing campaign
for The Dark Knight. Mattel has
revealed images of its Ledger-
inspired Joker dolls; the first of which
will retail at $7.99 and features a
rocket launcher that can be placed in
the Joker's hand. The second doll
(pictured to the right) is a slightly
larger, more detailed version created
by action-figure designers the Four
Horsemen. It will retail at $10.99.
The image comes from The New
York Post, who revealed it along with
a quote from the Ledger family:
"Heath was very proud of his work in
the film, and his family is aware and
supportive of Warner Bros. and its
partner's plans for the movie." Mattel
will sell two versions of the doll, with
both hitting toy shelves this May (two
months prior to The Dark Knight
landing in theaters on July 18).
Mattel claims Ledger's death is "not
exactly a marketing point," and that
SF Indiefest Scene Report -- The 5th Annual The Big Lebowski Party
By James Rocchi (Cinematical)
Submitted at 2/18/2008 12:02:00 PM
Filed under: Comedy, Festival
Reports, Fandom, Images,
Cinematical Indie
One of the SF Indiefest's best-loved
events is the Annual The Big
MADONNA'S
continued from page 16
The Material Girl tells the trade
publication: "I've been speaking to
iTunes about releasing it through
them.... I want the most amount of
people to see it as possible.... I don't
like to do anything conventionally."
Ah, yes. It's not the lack of interest
from potential distributors that has
"kids are going to buy the toy if they
like the movie." Yes, but the toy
comes out two months before the
movie does. Then again, the character
is so recognizable, I really don't think
it matters. But what do you think:
Should Mattel and Warner Bros. have
waited until closer to the film's
release to shovel a Ledger-like doll
onto toy shelves? Or is this marketing
tactic a normal one?Permalink | Email
this | Comments
LebowskiParty, where San
Francisco's film fans drink and dress
up in honor of The Dude. Cinematical
was there at this Saturday's party,
held at Space Gallery on Polk Street,
where nihilists milled among
bathrobe-clad slackers, White
Russians were served and cries of
'Over the line!" filed the air. The
made Madonna consider releasing the
film online; it's her desire to be
unconventional.
Continue reading Madonna's Movie:
Straight to iTunes?Permalink | Email
this | Comments
Movies 17
It's Official: Toshiba
Dumps HD-DVD!
By Erik Davis (Cinematical)
Submitted at 2/19/2008 3:32:00 AM
Filed under: Tech Stuff, Newsstand,
Home Entertainment
Well, it's just about done. We told
you the other day that Toshiba would
most likely concede to Blu-ray this
week, and they have officially done
just that. With the manufacturer and
distributor of HD-DVD consumer
products out of the way, one assumes
Blu-ray will reign supreme within the
next couple of months. For those that
have already invested in Toshiba's
HD-DVD products, they will still
easily related to. If they had an HD
offer support and continue to stock TV, they would buy an HD-DVD
parts for the next eight years. There's
player. It just seemed right. But I
no word as of yet whether Paramount guess the flashier name won out. On a
and other Hollywood HD-DVD
personal note, I'm happy I opted to
supporters will turn, though we side with Blu-ray this past Christmas,
should expect announcements in the
because now I'm not out all that
very near future. money. Had you picked a side yet?
Keep in mind I don't know all the
And how do you HD-DVD
technical differences between the two supporters feel about all this?
formats (sorry folks, I'm limited in
For the complete Toshiba press
that area), but at first glance -- and release, head on over to our sister site
from a marketing standpoint -- I
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totally thought HD-DVD would Comments
eventually win this war. My friend
and I always said that consumers
would go with the name they most
by Kristi Highum.
Gallery: SFIndiefest Big Lebowski
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gallery of photos below should give
you a sense of the fun; all photos are