BMTC is the first Public Sector undertaking in the country to introduce Volvo bus services for city operation. Presently 74 vehicles are operating on 13 routes, which will be eventually increased.
http://www.bmtcinfo.com/english/volvo.htm
Saturday, August 23, 2008
BMTC route 365B
Route Number: 365B
Starting Point
:
SAKALAVARA
Ending Point
:
KEMPEGOWDA BUS STAND
Route Length [in KMS]
:
24.5
Estimated Journey Time [in Min]
:
1 hr 05 mins
Time of Departure from [ SAKALAVARA ]
:
09:10, 11:55, 17:05
Time of Departure from [ KEMPEGOWDA BUS STAND ]
:
08:00, 10:20, 15:25, 18:15
SL.NO
STAGE POINTS
1.
SAKALAVARA
2.
BASAVANAPURA
3.
HULIMAVU GATE
4.
BILEKALLAHALLI
5.
GURAPPANAPALYA
6.
LAKKASANDRA
7.
CORPORATION OFFICE
8.
KEMPEGOWDA BUS STAND
Starting Point
:
SAKALAVARA
Ending Point
:
KEMPEGOWDA BUS STAND
Route Length [in KMS]
:
24.5
Estimated Journey Time [in Min]
:
1 hr 05 mins
Time of Departure from [ SAKALAVARA ]
:
09:10, 11:55, 17:05
Time of Departure from [ KEMPEGOWDA BUS STAND ]
:
08:00, 10:20, 15:25, 18:15
SL.NO
STAGE POINTS
1.
SAKALAVARA
2.
BASAVANAPURA
3.
HULIMAVU GATE
4.
BILEKALLAHALLI
5.
GURAPPANAPALYA
6.
LAKKASANDRA
7.
CORPORATION OFFICE
8.
KEMPEGOWDA BUS STAND
BMTC route 365A
Route Number: 365A
Starting Point
:
HARAGADDE
Ending Point
:
KEMPEGOWDA BUS STAND
Route Length [in KMS]
:
31.2
Estimated Journey Time [in Min]
:
1 hr 25 mins
Time of Departure from [ HARAGADDE ]
:
06:15, 09:15, 15:15, 18:40
Time of Departure from [ KEMPEGOWDA BUS STAND ]
:
07:45, 13:45, 17:10, 20:40
SL.NO
STAGE POINTS
1.
HARAGADDE
2.
JIGANI
3.
BEGIHALLI
4.
BANNERGHATTA
5.
BASAVANAPURA
6.
HULIMAVU GATE
7.
GILIKAHALLI
8.
GURAPPANAPALYA
9.
LAKKASANDRA
10.
CORPORATION OFFICE
11.
KEMPEGOWDA BUS STAND
BMTC Online Search Bus timings and routes
http://121.246.120.49:8080/bmtcinfo/jsp/ Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation
Bangalore Heritage bus trips
DISCOVER THE HERITAGE AND GLORY OF BANGALORE.ENSCONCED IN THE PLUSHY, CLASS ONE COMFORT OF BMTC’S CURITOBA MODEL, FULLY AIR-CONDITIONED BANGALORE ROUNDS BUS EQUIPPED WITH THE LATEST GADGETRY TO ENSURE TRAVEL WITH ENTERTAINMENT AND COMFORT .
ITINERARY :KEMPEGOWDA BUS STATIONTIPPU PALACE, KOTE VENKATARAMANASWAMY TEMPLEBULL TEMPLE / DODDA GANESHA TEMPLEGAVIGANGADHARESHWARA TEMPLELALBAGH
: : LUNCH BREAK : :ULSOOR LAKE, M.G.ROADVISHWESHWARAIAH MUSEUM AND VENKATAPPA ART GALLERYVIDHANASOUDHA, HIGHCOURT, CUBBONPARKJAWAHARLAL NEHRU PLANITORIUM & INDIRAGANDHI MUSICAL FOUNTAINISCON TEMPLEPRASANNA ANJANEYASWAMY TEMPLEKEMPEGOWDA BUS STATION
: : TARIFF : :
ADULTS
CHILD
SILVER CLASS
RS.200/-
RS.100/-
GOLD CLASS
RS.300/-
RS.150/-
SATURDAY, SUNDAY & HOLIDAYS
SILVER CLASS
RS.250/-
RS.125/-
GOLD CLASS
RS.350/-
RS.175/-
TN Muslim girl Rubinisa takes on father over studies
Rubinisa had a dream of becoming an engineer. But instead of helping her make it a reality, her father turned her dream into a nightmare. He felt an unmarried Muslim girl should not move out of home to study and take up a job. So, he forced her to join a science course at a local women's college in Karaikudi."Since we are Muslims, he didn't even let me go to college. But I have convinced him to let me join an arts course," she says.Defying this diktat, Rubinisa's mother sent her to the engineering counselling without her husband`s knowledge. She got an Electronics and Communications Engineering seat at a college outside her village. But her father would not give up. He threw both of them out of the house and ensured that the local women's college didn`t return Rubinisa's original certificates she had submitted to take up the science course. Fathi Muthu Jegara, Rubinisa's mother, adds: "I was married off early. Why should my daughter face the same. Whatever struggles, I will educate my girl."As a last resort, Rubinisa filed a petition against her father in the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court. The court came to the rescue of the girl. The arts college was directed to return the certificates to Rubinisa and she has now submitted them at Anna University and joined the engineering course .. It has been a difficult journey for this mother-daughter duo. But a happy ending has taken them out of a conservative mould.
Google's Orkut Updated with More S60 Support
Google's Orkut is a social networking service that's optimized for mobile phone use. A web-enabled mobile and data plan is enough to connect with friends and family whether they are on a mobile or laptop device.
This latest version of Orkut adds an optimized experience for Symbian Series 60 (3rd Edition) phones. The ability to upload images right from the mobile, in addition to create mobile-friendly galleries, highlight these optimizations.
As with many other Google offerings. Orkut is a free service. To learn more and see the latest features, visit http://m.orkut.com via any mobile phone browser.
This latest version of Orkut adds an optimized experience for Symbian Series 60 (3rd Edition) phones. The ability to upload images right from the mobile, in addition to create mobile-friendly galleries, highlight these optimizations.
As with many other Google offerings. Orkut is a free service. To learn more and see the latest features, visit http://m.orkut.com via any mobile phone browser.
Even modest Internet users may hit usage caps
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/23/BU6I12GMQQ.DTL
The phone company, Frontier Communications Corp., is one of several Internet service providers moving to curb the growth of traffic on their networks, or at least make the subscribers who download the most pay more.
The phone company, Frontier Communications Corp., is one of several Internet service providers moving to curb the growth of traffic on their networks, or at least make the subscribers who download the most pay more.
in Style: China's 'underage' gymnasts face a hostile media
First China's young gymnasts took on the United States and won, then the team passed their age-eligibility test with flying colours when grilled by a group of hostile reporters.
China's famous six of Cheng Fei, He Kexin, Jiang Yuyuan, Li Shanshan, Yang Yilin and Deng Linlin had barely got their gold medals around their necks when they faced a barrage of questions about whether they were old enough to compete at the Olympics.
He, Jiang and Yang's eligibility for the Games had been called into question by American media. Online records seemed to suggest the trio may have broken International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) rules that state athletes must turn 16 by the end of an Olympic year.
Question: "He, are you aware that people think that you are younger than 16 and what do you say about that?"
Answer: "My real age is 16. I don't care what other people say. I want other people to know that 16 is my real age."
Question: "Deng, I would also like to know what Chinese zodiac animal you are?
Answer: "A monkey." The answer tallied with her birthdate of April 21, 1992.
Question: "He, can you tell us a memory from your 15th birthday please, how did you spend your 15th birthday, did you spend it at home, did you spend it with gymnasts? Can you tell us about that special day."
Answer: "I was with my team. It was an ordinary day, I didn't go home, usually we don't go home when it's our birthday, we just celebrate with our team mates."
So the news conference went on and not once did the so-called underaged gymnasts trip up. Just in case anyone was not satisfied by the answers, coach Lu Shanzhen added: "You may check with the IOC (International Olympics Committee) and the FIG. All our registrations are done with legal evidence. You may also search on the Internet or even check with China Public Security Ministry."
With the gymnasts asked only a handful of questions about winning the nation's first Olympic women's title in gymnastics, it was left to coach Lu to describe exactly how the hosts had plotted to topple the world champion Americans. Athens gold medallists Romania finished third.
"In the past our Chinese gymnasts usually practised too much but competed too little to do well at the major international tournaments," he told reporters.
"In this cycle we made great change, constantly sending gymnasts to the international tournaments as well as internal contests. Our six-member squad is also a result of internal competitions. So they have shown their strong abilities in acting competitively and grasping the chances. "Certainly I am excited it is an Olympics held in China and we have won the most important medal."
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Chinas-underage-gymnasts-face-a-hostile-media/348447/
China's famous six of Cheng Fei, He Kexin, Jiang Yuyuan, Li Shanshan, Yang Yilin and Deng Linlin had barely got their gold medals around their necks when they faced a barrage of questions about whether they were old enough to compete at the Olympics.
He, Jiang and Yang's eligibility for the Games had been called into question by American media. Online records seemed to suggest the trio may have broken International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) rules that state athletes must turn 16 by the end of an Olympic year.
Question: "He, are you aware that people think that you are younger than 16 and what do you say about that?"
Answer: "My real age is 16. I don't care what other people say. I want other people to know that 16 is my real age."
Question: "Deng, I would also like to know what Chinese zodiac animal you are?
Answer: "A monkey." The answer tallied with her birthdate of April 21, 1992.
Question: "He, can you tell us a memory from your 15th birthday please, how did you spend your 15th birthday, did you spend it at home, did you spend it with gymnasts? Can you tell us about that special day."
Answer: "I was with my team. It was an ordinary day, I didn't go home, usually we don't go home when it's our birthday, we just celebrate with our team mates."
So the news conference went on and not once did the so-called underaged gymnasts trip up. Just in case anyone was not satisfied by the answers, coach Lu Shanzhen added: "You may check with the IOC (International Olympics Committee) and the FIG. All our registrations are done with legal evidence. You may also search on the Internet or even check with China Public Security Ministry."
With the gymnasts asked only a handful of questions about winning the nation's first Olympic women's title in gymnastics, it was left to coach Lu to describe exactly how the hosts had plotted to topple the world champion Americans. Athens gold medallists Romania finished third.
"In the past our Chinese gymnasts usually practised too much but competed too little to do well at the major international tournaments," he told reporters.
"In this cycle we made great change, constantly sending gymnasts to the international tournaments as well as internal contests. Our six-member squad is also a result of internal competitions. So they have shown their strong abilities in acting competitively and grasping the chances. "Certainly I am excited it is an Olympics held in China and we have won the most important medal."
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Chinas-underage-gymnasts-face-a-hostile-media/348447/
National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI) in the upcoming Knowledge City
Mohali, August 22 The Union Cabinet gave a formal approval for the setting up of a National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI) in the upcoming Knowledge City in Sector 81. The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting in New Delhi on Thursday.
It will be the fourth premier institute in the city after the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) and the Indian Institute of Nanotechnology (IIN).
While the NIPER, which is the first institute of the country to be set up in Mohali, is functioning from its campus in Sector 67, the IISER is functioning from its transit campus at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration (MGSIPA) in Sector 26, Chandigarh, since August last year. The IIN, meanwhile, is all set to start functioning from the next academic session onwards. The MGSIPA and the Habitat Centre, Sector 64, have been identified as the transit campus of the IIN for accommodating its classes and hostel.
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Cabinet-clears-proposal-for-setting-up-national-institute-in-Knowledge-City/352387/
It will be the fourth premier institute in the city after the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) and the Indian Institute of Nanotechnology (IIN).
While the NIPER, which is the first institute of the country to be set up in Mohali, is functioning from its campus in Sector 67, the IISER is functioning from its transit campus at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration (MGSIPA) in Sector 26, Chandigarh, since August last year. The IIN, meanwhile, is all set to start functioning from the next academic session onwards. The MGSIPA and the Habitat Centre, Sector 64, have been identified as the transit campus of the IIN for accommodating its classes and hostel.
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Cabinet-clears-proposal-for-setting-up-national-institute-in-Knowledge-City/352387/
Advertisement revenue received by SET Satellite not taxable in India
Advertisement revenue received by SET Satellite not taxable in India
August 23, 2008 at 5:27 pm (Tax)
Tags: advertisement, DTAA, india, SET Satellite, Tax
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MUMBAI. Bombay High Court vide a ruling dated 22nd August AIT-2008-297-HC has set aside ITAT Ruling AIT-2007-163-ITAT and held that advertisement revenue received by the SET Satellite (Singapore) Pte Ltd are not taxable in India as long as the DTAA and the Circular No. 23 of 1969 stands.
HC has held as under:
(1) Considering the CBTD Circular No. 742 it would be fair and reasonable that the taxable income is computed at 10% of the gross profits. In the instant case in so far as marketing services are concerned by the arm’s length principle what has been paid is more than 10% as can be seen from the order of CIT(A). This was not disputed by the Revenue in its Appeal before the ITAT.
(2) The only contention advanced and which found favour with the Tribunal was that the advertisement revenue received by the assessee was also income liable to tax in India. The CIT(A) relied upon Circular No. 23 of 1969. That Circular read with Article 7(1) would result in holding that advertisement revenue received by the appellant are not taxable in India as long as the treaty and the Circular stands.
Appeal filed by the Appellant herein is allowed and the order of the ITAT is set aside. Merely because tax on income was paid for some assessment years would not estop the assesses from contending that its income is not liable to tax. The order CIT is restored except to the extent that it has said that it cannot interfere because the Appellant had paid the tax. That part is set aside.
The Facts were as under:
According to the Appellant it is a resident of Singapore and has business activities in India. The Appellant through its dependent agent in the form of SET India (P) Limited, is carrying on marketing activities in India for advertisement slots by canvassing advertisements in India. It filed its return of income on 30th December, 1999 declaring its income at Nil. .On 5th March, 2001 they filed revised return of income declaring business income of Rs.13,58,43.976/-. Along with the return it was submitted that it did not have any tax liability in India as it did not have a permanent establishment and that its dependent agent was remunerated on an arm’s length basis. As this income from various activities had been assessed to tax in the hands of SET India, could not be further assessment of income in the hands of the Appellant on account of the said activities. Reliance was placed on Circular No.23 dated July, 23, 1969 issued by the CBDT. Whilst filing revised return on March 5, 2001 it computed its taxable income at Rs.13,58,43,976/-as per the formula prescribed in the CBTD Circular No.742 without prejudice to its contention that they do not have any income which is taxable in India. Whilst filing its revised returns it was its contention that there was no income which was assessable to tax in India. The Assessment Officer by his order dated 20th March, 2002 assessed the Assessee’s income which included income from marketing fees as also advertisement collected from India and further the subscription fees received from cable operators of its depended agent. Consequent to this order, as there was no deduction at source it imposed interest under Section 234A, 234B and 234C of the Income Tax Act. The Appellant being aggrieved preferred an Appeal before the Commissioner of Income Tax.
The Appellant Authority, held that distribution rights it was held is a commercial right which is distinct and different from a copyright and consequently there was no question to payment of royalty as had been held by the A.O. and the income belong to SET India which cannot be subject to tax in the hands of the Appellants. Accordingly, the A.O. was directed to delete the portion of Rs. 1,27,89,154/- earned by Set India while computing the taxable income of the Appellant.
In Appeal, Assessee Appellants have raised the following questions of law:
“(a). Whether the activities of the non-independent agent under para 8 of Article 5 Would be treated as the activities of the “deemed” permanent establishment and thereby the amount taxable under para 2 of Article 7 in respect of the deemed permanent establishment would be the income attributable in these activities?
(b) Whether-having taxed the agent on the fair value of the, activities in India, the same could be taxed all over again in the hands of the assessee as being income attributable to the deemed permanent establishment?
(c) Whether the assessee is debarred from contending in appeal that there was no income liable to tax as a matter of law solely on account of the fact that, it had at some stage surrendered on ad hoc basis, a sum for taxation as being liable to tax in India, without prejudice to its claim that its income is not liable to tax in India.
(Click here for full text of Ruling AIT-2008-297-HC)
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Copycat Rahul wants to spread Grameen Bank's concept
Rahul wants to spread Grameen Bank's concept across India
Pallab Bhattacharya, New Delhi
India's ruling Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi is impressed by Grameen Bank's 'huge success' in Bangladesh, and has said he wants to propagate the concept of micro financing and self-help groups across India.
Addressing more than 1,000 women and members of self-help groups, who have benefited from micro financing model in his poverty-stricken parliamentary constituency of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh state on Friday, Rahul hoped the concept being implemented there gets due recognition and wins Nobel Prize as was the case with Grameen Bank.
"I had gone to Bangladesh recently. It (concept of micro financing and self-help groups) is a huge success there with workers saying they can win Nobel Prize for their efforts in this direction," he said.
The Indian lawmaker mentioned that women in Bangladesh have been empowered, and they are taking their own decisions. If India has to move forward, poverty has to be eradicated first, he added.
Son of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Rahul urged Indian women to move out of the confines of their houses to ensure success of micro financing scheme and victory in the fight against poverty.
Rahul, who had initiated the concept of micro financing in Amethi in 1990s, said, "A sapling has been planted which has grown into a tree in Amethi. Now, I want to create a jungle and spread it all over Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere in the country."
The scheme has now involved more than 20,000 women in Amethi.
Pallab Bhattacharya, New Delhi
India's ruling Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi is impressed by Grameen Bank's 'huge success' in Bangladesh, and has said he wants to propagate the concept of micro financing and self-help groups across India.
Addressing more than 1,000 women and members of self-help groups, who have benefited from micro financing model in his poverty-stricken parliamentary constituency of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh state on Friday, Rahul hoped the concept being implemented there gets due recognition and wins Nobel Prize as was the case with Grameen Bank.
"I had gone to Bangladesh recently. It (concept of micro financing and self-help groups) is a huge success there with workers saying they can win Nobel Prize for their efforts in this direction," he said.
The Indian lawmaker mentioned that women in Bangladesh have been empowered, and they are taking their own decisions. If India has to move forward, poverty has to be eradicated first, he added.
Son of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Rahul urged Indian women to move out of the confines of their houses to ensure success of micro financing scheme and victory in the fight against poverty.
Rahul, who had initiated the concept of micro financing in Amethi in 1990s, said, "A sapling has been planted which has grown into a tree in Amethi. Now, I want to create a jungle and spread it all over Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere in the country."
The scheme has now involved more than 20,000 women in Amethi.
India's Airtel claims "deadliest hackers" still can't crack its iPhone 3G
ndia's Airtel -- which is offering Apple's iPhone 3G at a near-stratospheric price -- has claimed that "even the most deadly hackers on the planet won't be able to crack the codes that support the iPhone's Airtel applications with rival company SIMs." Just so you know, it appears that Airtel worked with Apple to develop "operator-specific iPhone applications," which is an interesting tidbit in and of itself.
India is 50th by rank and total rank in Olympics
India with 3 medals, 1 goldand 2 bronze
Rank NOC Name Men Women Open/Mixed Total Rank by Total
1 CHN - China 22 9 8 39 27 10 19 56 1 1 49 19 28 96 2
2 USA - United States 18 12 20 50 15 23 15 53 1 2 1 4 34 37 36 107 1
3 RUS - Russian Fed. 11 8 19 38 10 13 8 31 21 21 27 69 3
4 GBR - Great Britain 11 8 7 26 7 5 6 18 1 2 3 19 13 15 47 4
5 GER - Germany 7 7 6 20 6 2 7 15 3 1 2 6 16 10 15 41 6
6 AUS - Australia 6 6 9 21 8 7 8 23 2 2 14 15 17 46 5
7 KOR - Korea 8 6 4 18 4 4 4 12 1 1 13 10 8 31 8
8 JPN - Japan 4 4 5 13 5 2 5 12 9 6 10 25 11
9 ITA - Italy 3 7 6 16 4 3 4 11 7 10 10 27 =9
10 UKR - Ukraine 4 3 8 15 3 2 7 12 7 5 15 27 =9
11 NED - Netherlands 1 2 3 5 4 2 11 1 1 2 7 5 4 16 =15
12 FRA - France 5 13 12 30 1 2 4 7 1 1 6 15 17 38 7
13 JAM - Jamaica 3 3 3 3 2 8 6 3 2 11 20
14 ESP - Spain 4 5 1 10 3 1 4 1 1 2 5 9 2 16 =15
15 BLR - Belarus 3 3 5 11 1 2 4 7 4 5 9 18 =13
16 KEN - Kenya 2 2 4 8 2 3 5 4 5 4 13 18
17 ROU - Romania 1 1 4 1 2 7 4 1 3 8 =25
18 ETH - Ethiopia 2 1 3 2 1 3 4 1 1 6 =29
19 CAN - Canada 1 5 3 9 1 3 3 7 1 1 2 3 9 6 18 =13
20 POL - Poland 3 4 7 2 1 3 3 6 1 10 =21
21 NOR - Norway 2 3 5 1 2 1 4 1 1 3 5 2 10 =21
22 BRA - Brazil 1 2 5 8 2 1 3 6 3 3 8 14 17
23 CZE - Czech Republic 1 2 3 2 1 3 3 3 6 =29
24 SVK - Slovakia 2 1 1 4 1 1 2 3 2 1 6 =29
25 NZL - New Zealand 1 1 5 7 2 2 3 1 5 9 =23
26 GEO - Georgia 3 2 5 1 1 3 3 6 =29
27 CUB - Cuba 2 3 8 13 6 3 9 2 9 11 22 12
28 HUN - Hungary 1 4 1 6 1 1 1 3 2 5 2 9 =23
29 DEN - Denmark 1 2 1 4 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 7 =27
30 THA - Thailand 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 2 4 =44
31 PRK - DPR Korea 1 1 2 1 2 5 2 1 3 6 =29
32 SUI - Switzerland 2 3 5 1 1 2 4 6 =29
33 ARG - Argentina 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 3 5 =37
34 MEX - Mexico 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 3 =50
35 KAZ - Kazakhstan 1 2 5 8 2 2 4 1 4 7 12 19
36 TUR - Turkey 1 3 4 4 4 1 4 3 8 =25
37 ZIM - Zimbabwe 1 3 4 1 3 4 =44
38 AZE - Azerbaijan 1 2 3 6 1 1 1 2 4 7 =27
39 UZB - Uzbekistan 1 2 2 5 1 1 1 2 3 6 =29
40 SLO - Slovenia 1 1 1 3 1 1 2 1 2 2 5 =37
41 BUL - Bulgaria 3 3 1 1 2 1 1 3 5 =37
41 INA - Indonesia 1 2 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 5 =37
43 FIN - Finland 2 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 4 =44
44 LAT - Latvia 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 3 =50
45 BEL - Belgium 1 1 2 1 1 2 =54
45 DOM - Dominican Rep. 1 1 2 1 1 2 =54
45 EST - Estonia 1 1 2 1 1 2 =54
45 MGL - Mongolia 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 =54
45 POR - Portugal 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 =54
50 IND - India 1 2 3 1 2 3 =50
51 IRI - Iran 1 1 2 1 1 2 =54
52 BRN - Bahrain 1 1 1 1 =68
52 CMR - Cameroon 1 1 1 1 =68
52 PAN - Panama 1 1 1 1 =68
52 TUN - Tunisia 1 1 1 1 =68
56 SWE - Sweden 2 1 3 1 1 1 1 4 1 5 =37
57 CRO - Croatia 1 1 1 3 4 2 3 5 =37
57 LTU - Lithuania 1 3 4 1 1 2 3 5 =37
59 GRE - Greece 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 =44
60 TRI - Trinidad/Tobago 2 2 2 2 =54
61 NGR - Nigeria 1 1 2 2 2 1 3 4 =44
62 AUT - Austria 1 1 2 2 1 2 3 =50
63 ALG - Algeria 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 =54
63 BAH - Bahamas 1 1 2 1 1 2 =54
63 COL - Colombia 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 =54
63 KGZ - Kyrgyzstan 1 1 2 1 1 2 =54
63 SRB - Serbia 1 1 2 1 1 2 =54
63 TJK - Tajikistan 1 1 2 1 1 2 =54
69 CHI - Chile 1 1 1 1 =68
69 ECU - Ecuador 1 1 1 1 =68
69 MAS - Malaysia 1 1 1 1 =68
69 RSA - South Africa 1 1 1 1 =68
69 SIN - Singapore 1 1 1 1 =68
69 SUD - Sudan 1 1 1 1 =68
69 VIE - Vietnam 1 1 1 1 =68
76 ARM - Armenia 6 6 6 6 =29
77 TPE - Chinese Taipei 2 2 2 2 4 4 =44
78 IRL - Ireland 2 2 2 2 =54
79 AFG - Afghanistan 1 1 1 1 =68
79 EGY - Egypt 1 1 1 1 =68
79 ISR - Israel 1 1 1 1 =68
79 MAR - Morocco 1 1 1 1 =68
79 MDA - Rep. of Moldova 1 1 1 1 =68
79 MRI - Mauritius 1 1 1 1 =68
79 TOG - Togo 1 1 1 1 =68
79 VEN - Venezuela 1 1 1 1 =68
China and India growth to fuel oil price for next decade
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=acriLlCR3gbw&refer=home
David Cohen, director of Asian forecasting at Action Economics in Singapore, said the rise in the crude oil price ``was a recognition'' of the growing demand of emerging economies like China and India.
``Those countries will continue with their development process and continue to outpace global growth,'' he said.
Microsoft vs. Google
November 21, 2005 (Computerworld) -- Are Office Live and Windows Live Microsoft's response to Google?
Microsoft's announcement of these new online services was interesting, and there are implications for IT folks.
The speculation about these services being a reaction to Google isn't totally off the mark, given the fact that Google is making use of Microsoft's own Windows platform and applications to extend its reach. For example, Google's toolbar for Internet Explorer, Google Desktop (which works well with all of Microsoft's desktop applications), Google Earth (Windows only) and Blogger for Word all leverage Microsoft's stuff.
Office and Windows Live are Microsoft's acknowledgement of these attempts to co-opt the traditional Microsoft space with new offerings built around Web 2.0 technologies. There's been a lot of buzz about using Ajax for rich Web development, and Microsoft wants to be part of that buzz. At the same time, Microsoft knows that a rich-applications-and-operating-system model still has a lot of life left in it. It's not about one vs. the other for Microsoft; it's about both working together. The new services recognize the importance of connectivity and the near-ubiquitous nature of high-speed access but also combine those with the richness that you get from a traditional model.
These aren't replacements for Office or Windows but extensions of them. If you're looking to replace Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook with these offerings, you're looking in the wrong place. Likewise, this isn't about a retreat from Windows as the core operating system platform.
Overall, this strategy makes sense to me. It's a way for Microsoft to participate in the next generation of Web applications while furthering the reach of its core business for Windows and Office. Look for this extension to continue as we get closer to a real beta of Windows Vista. This move also repositions MSN as a content portal and allows the MSN technologies to tie directly into the Windows brand, which may give them more allure for both business and consumer end users.
The bottom line is that the new Live strategy is about the fact that Microsoft faces very different challenges today in both the business and consumer markets than it did in the '80s and '90s. A skirmish with Google may seem similar to battles Microsoft fought against the likes of Netscape or Novell, but it's not the same at all. Google is also a very different company than Netscape was; there are far more business users and consumers using Google than ever used Netscape, and most of them see no need to switch to anything else. Google has evolved into a verb. When was the last time someone said they were going to "MSN Search" you?
Live is a critical strategy to leverage the traditional power of the desktop operating system and applications model and extend it to the next generation of Web technologies. This is only the first phase. Look for more offerings for small and midsize businesses when Office Live is launched in 2006 and the next version of Office ships. Microsoft's news was only the tip of the iceberg in terms of Web-based service offerings. It's time to take a closer look at what Microsoft has done to get a glimpse of where it's going.
Microsoft's announcement of these new online services was interesting, and there are implications for IT folks.
The speculation about these services being a reaction to Google isn't totally off the mark, given the fact that Google is making use of Microsoft's own Windows platform and applications to extend its reach. For example, Google's toolbar for Internet Explorer, Google Desktop (which works well with all of Microsoft's desktop applications), Google Earth (Windows only) and Blogger for Word all leverage Microsoft's stuff.
Office and Windows Live are Microsoft's acknowledgement of these attempts to co-opt the traditional Microsoft space with new offerings built around Web 2.0 technologies. There's been a lot of buzz about using Ajax for rich Web development, and Microsoft wants to be part of that buzz. At the same time, Microsoft knows that a rich-applications-and-operating-system model still has a lot of life left in it. It's not about one vs. the other for Microsoft; it's about both working together. The new services recognize the importance of connectivity and the near-ubiquitous nature of high-speed access but also combine those with the richness that you get from a traditional model.
These aren't replacements for Office or Windows but extensions of them. If you're looking to replace Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook with these offerings, you're looking in the wrong place. Likewise, this isn't about a retreat from Windows as the core operating system platform.
Overall, this strategy makes sense to me. It's a way for Microsoft to participate in the next generation of Web applications while furthering the reach of its core business for Windows and Office. Look for this extension to continue as we get closer to a real beta of Windows Vista. This move also repositions MSN as a content portal and allows the MSN technologies to tie directly into the Windows brand, which may give them more allure for both business and consumer end users.
The bottom line is that the new Live strategy is about the fact that Microsoft faces very different challenges today in both the business and consumer markets than it did in the '80s and '90s. A skirmish with Google may seem similar to battles Microsoft fought against the likes of Netscape or Novell, but it's not the same at all. Google is also a very different company than Netscape was; there are far more business users and consumers using Google than ever used Netscape, and most of them see no need to switch to anything else. Google has evolved into a verb. When was the last time someone said they were going to "MSN Search" you?
Live is a critical strategy to leverage the traditional power of the desktop operating system and applications model and extend it to the next generation of Web technologies. This is only the first phase. Look for more offerings for small and midsize businesses when Office Live is launched in 2006 and the next version of Office ships. Microsoft's news was only the tip of the iceberg in terms of Web-based service offerings. It's time to take a closer look at what Microsoft has done to get a glimpse of where it's going.
Joe Biden acknowledges Indian accent
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=OIT3jUrNTX0&e
Biden raised eyebrows as a presidential candidate running in 2008, telling an Indian-American, "In Delaware the largest growth in population is Indian-Americans, you cannot go to a 7-11 or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent."
Joe Biden : Good for Obama? analysis
DENVER, Colorado (CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama's choice of Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate raises the question of whether Obama can carry off his message of change with a seasoned Washington politician by his side.
Sen. Joe Biden was chosen Saturday as Barack Obama's running mate.
Biden brings to the table his ability to speak knowledgeably about issues ranging from foreign policy to to the country's domestic agenda.
The Delaware senator has held two of the most important jobs in Washington -- chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. That could be reassuring to voters who worry about Obama's inexperience in national and world affairs.
Biden also has been an early and vociferous critic of President Bush's foreign policies -- most notably regarding the war in Iraq.
He voted for the authorization to invade Iraq, but conceded afterward it was a mistake. Obama voted against authorization -- and that gap might give Republicans something to highlight. Watch a former White House official weigh in on the Biden decision »
But Biden has personal ties to the war. His son Joseph "Beau" Biden -- Delaware's attorney general -- is a captain in the National Reserves and will soon return to Iraq.
Nonetheless, his political experience spans 36 years, and some say that will create a problem for Obama's key talking point of change. Watch more on what Biden brings to the ticket »
Obama has routinely criticized his GOP rival, Sen. John McCain, for being a Washington insider. McCain has charged that Obama is too inexperienced to run the country -- especially its international affairs.
Biden himself touched on this when he was in the running as a presidential candidate. During a Democratic primary debate, moderator George Stephanopoulos, of ABC News, referred to Biden's criticism of Obama's experience.
"You were asked, 'Is he ready?' You said, 'I think he can be ready, but right now, I don't believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training,'" Stephanopoulos said.
"I think I stand by that statement," Biden replied.
But in a July interview, Biden said he would choose Obama's judgment over McCain's war record and foreign policy experience.
"Twenty years of experience that has not been very solid in terms of projecting what was going to happen just doesn't make you a better commander-in-chief," Biden said, referring to McCain. "We don't need as a commander-in-chief a war hero. John's a war hero. We need someone with some wisdom."
So how does Biden help Obama politically? Biden is Roman Catholic. There are nearly 70 million Roman Catholics in the United States, about 20 percent of the electorate, and they can tip the balance in a close contest.
Biden also has roots in Pennsylvania, a swing state. Obama lost the state to Sen. Hillary Clinton in the primaries. Biden's support could help the campaign win the state in November. Watch Democrats react to Obama's choice »
"You're getting national security experience, you're getting enthusiasm and you hope you're getting some help in those white, working-class blue-collar towns where Barack Obama needs help," said CNN Senior National Correspondent John King.
"The rap on him is that he talks too long, his speeches don't end and occasionally he goes off the reservation," King added.
CNN Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley says that Biden is a "very one-on-one person" and he "has a personal story as well -- triumph over tragedy. ... He brings depth to this ticket."
Biden, now 65, was first elected to the Senate at age 29 in 1972. Shortly after, his first wife and daughter were killed in a car accident. He weighed resigning, but eventually decided to continue with his political career.
Biden's career has dogged by what some consider to be gaffes. Most notably, a comment he made about Obama received widespread criticism. Watch an iReporter weigh in on Biden »
"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook," he has said in an interview with the New York Observer newspaper, When faced with criticism, he defended the comment as a compliment taken out of context.
So, can Biden control his tendency to say too much? He is certainly trying.
In an April 27 primary debate, moderator Brian Williams of NBC News, asked Biden: "An editorial in the Los Angeles Times said, 'In addition to his uncontrolled verbosity, Biden is a gaffe machine.' Can you reassure voters in this country that you would have the discipline you would need on the world stage, senator?"
Biden simply replied, "Yes," eliciting much laughter.
Biden, known for his sharp wit, must now assume the traditional attack-dog role of the vice presidential candidate.
Democratic strategist and CNN contributor, Paul Begala, said Saturday morning that he doesn't think Biden should be a "snarling" attack dog, however.
"Biden can help a lot by first reassuring and even more important, putting Bush and McCain on trial and showing that Barack Obama is change. That's what I think we'll see Joe Biden doing over the next couple of months," he said. Watch a former White House official weigh in on the Biden decision »
Shortly after the Obama-Biden ticket was announced early Saturday morning, Republican Sen. Dick Lugar, of Indiana, offered praise for his Senate colleague.
"I have enjoyed for many years the opportunity to work with Joe Biden to bring strong bipartisan support to United States foreign policy." Lugar said.
Lugar's comments on Biden's bipartisan appeal may hint at a theme the Obama-Biden campaign will highlight in the months to come: We can reach out to GOP and independent voters
Sen. Joe Biden was chosen Saturday as Barack Obama's running mate.
Biden brings to the table his ability to speak knowledgeably about issues ranging from foreign policy to to the country's domestic agenda.
The Delaware senator has held two of the most important jobs in Washington -- chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. That could be reassuring to voters who worry about Obama's inexperience in national and world affairs.
Biden also has been an early and vociferous critic of President Bush's foreign policies -- most notably regarding the war in Iraq.
He voted for the authorization to invade Iraq, but conceded afterward it was a mistake. Obama voted against authorization -- and that gap might give Republicans something to highlight. Watch a former White House official weigh in on the Biden decision »
But Biden has personal ties to the war. His son Joseph "Beau" Biden -- Delaware's attorney general -- is a captain in the National Reserves and will soon return to Iraq.
Nonetheless, his political experience spans 36 years, and some say that will create a problem for Obama's key talking point of change. Watch more on what Biden brings to the ticket »
Obama has routinely criticized his GOP rival, Sen. John McCain, for being a Washington insider. McCain has charged that Obama is too inexperienced to run the country -- especially its international affairs.
Biden himself touched on this when he was in the running as a presidential candidate. During a Democratic primary debate, moderator George Stephanopoulos, of ABC News, referred to Biden's criticism of Obama's experience.
"You were asked, 'Is he ready?' You said, 'I think he can be ready, but right now, I don't believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training,'" Stephanopoulos said.
"I think I stand by that statement," Biden replied.
But in a July interview, Biden said he would choose Obama's judgment over McCain's war record and foreign policy experience.
"Twenty years of experience that has not been very solid in terms of projecting what was going to happen just doesn't make you a better commander-in-chief," Biden said, referring to McCain. "We don't need as a commander-in-chief a war hero. John's a war hero. We need someone with some wisdom."
So how does Biden help Obama politically? Biden is Roman Catholic. There are nearly 70 million Roman Catholics in the United States, about 20 percent of the electorate, and they can tip the balance in a close contest.
Biden also has roots in Pennsylvania, a swing state. Obama lost the state to Sen. Hillary Clinton in the primaries. Biden's support could help the campaign win the state in November. Watch Democrats react to Obama's choice »
"You're getting national security experience, you're getting enthusiasm and you hope you're getting some help in those white, working-class blue-collar towns where Barack Obama needs help," said CNN Senior National Correspondent John King.
"The rap on him is that he talks too long, his speeches don't end and occasionally he goes off the reservation," King added.
CNN Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley says that Biden is a "very one-on-one person" and he "has a personal story as well -- triumph over tragedy. ... He brings depth to this ticket."
Biden, now 65, was first elected to the Senate at age 29 in 1972. Shortly after, his first wife and daughter were killed in a car accident. He weighed resigning, but eventually decided to continue with his political career.
Biden's career has dogged by what some consider to be gaffes. Most notably, a comment he made about Obama received widespread criticism. Watch an iReporter weigh in on Biden »
"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook," he has said in an interview with the New York Observer newspaper, When faced with criticism, he defended the comment as a compliment taken out of context.
So, can Biden control his tendency to say too much? He is certainly trying.
In an April 27 primary debate, moderator Brian Williams of NBC News, asked Biden: "An editorial in the Los Angeles Times said, 'In addition to his uncontrolled verbosity, Biden is a gaffe machine.' Can you reassure voters in this country that you would have the discipline you would need on the world stage, senator?"
Biden simply replied, "Yes," eliciting much laughter.
Biden, known for his sharp wit, must now assume the traditional attack-dog role of the vice presidential candidate.
Democratic strategist and CNN contributor, Paul Begala, said Saturday morning that he doesn't think Biden should be a "snarling" attack dog, however.
"Biden can help a lot by first reassuring and even more important, putting Bush and McCain on trial and showing that Barack Obama is change. That's what I think we'll see Joe Biden doing over the next couple of months," he said. Watch a former White House official weigh in on the Biden decision »
Shortly after the Obama-Biden ticket was announced early Saturday morning, Republican Sen. Dick Lugar, of Indiana, offered praise for his Senate colleague.
"I have enjoyed for many years the opportunity to work with Joe Biden to bring strong bipartisan support to United States foreign policy." Lugar said.
Lugar's comments on Biden's bipartisan appeal may hint at a theme the Obama-Biden campaign will highlight in the months to come: We can reach out to GOP and independent voters
Bolt credits 'hard work,' fast track for 3 records
BEIJING (AP) — Hard work. Having fun. A fast track.
No doping.
Simple as could be, that's Usain Bolt explanation for his unprecedented, breakout performance at the Beijing Olympics.
"I've been tested four times (in China), before I even started running. These guys took urine tests and blood tests. After every event final, I've been tested," the Jamaican said Saturday, one of his three gold medals dangling from a red ribbon around his neck. "I've been tested out of competition so many times I lost track."
Bolt broke world records in winning the 100 meters (9.69 seconds), 200 meters (19.30) and 400-meter relay (37.10), something no man had done at an Olympics. None of the finals was even close, and Bolt began his celebration in the dash before it was done, stretching out his arms with palms up, then slapping his chest.
"I came out here prepared," he said. "I worked hard — that's all I can say. ... I worked hard to get here. It wasn't easy at all. It may look easy, but it was hard."
Bolt wasn't merely good — he was stunning. Too good to be true?
Don Anderson, head of Jamaica's Beijing delegation, said about half the country's athletes had been drug-tested since arriving in China.
"Therefore, all the records that have been broken by Usain Bolt and all the gold medals that have been won by (other Jamaicans) have come after extensive testing" by the International Olympic Committee, the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Association of Athletics Federations, Anderson said. "That, as far as I am concerned, is more than adequate proof."
Overall, Jamaica won five of the six golds, along with two silvers and a bronze, in the sprinting events.
"What I think almost amuses us is why some people in the world don't feel that others can be that good. We have been good for a very long time," said Mike Fennell, president of the Jamaica Olympic Association. "We have some marvelous talent here and wouldn't want anybody to suggest at all that this is not pure, raw talent that has been properly trained and properly coached and properly presented and reaping the rewards of all that hard work."
The head of track and field's governing body said Saturday that Bolt's flashy personality and outsize performances make him exactly the right man to help the sport recover from a spate of doping scandals that have resulted in medals being stripped, records being revoked and a decrease in popularity.
"He is good and great for our sport," IAAF president Lamine Diack said. "He can help to build up our sport."
Diack also disagreed with IOC president Jacques Rogge, who said Thursday that Bolt should have cut out the "look at me" hotdogging at the end of the 100 final. Rogge also chastised Bolt for not shaking hands with the men he beat.
"I did not mind," Diack said.
Asked about Rogge's comments, Bolt said he spoke to opponents about his showboating, "and most of them were OK with it."
"I won't change that. And I don't see any problem with it, because people enjoy watching me," Bolt said. "I'll stay the way I am. That's my personality."
Now it's off to less-important meets for Bolt, who said he'll run in Zurich and Lausanne, Switzerland, and Brussels, Belgium, before calling it a season. European meet organizers have offered more than $100,000 should Bolt win his races in new record times.
Other athletes can take some solace in this: Bolt said he definitely won't add the long jump to his repertoire, a la Carl Lewis, and might only occasionally run the 400 meters, the race his coach tried to steer him to instead of the 100.
Diack said he ranks Bolt's Olympics above Lewis' four golds at the 1984 Los Angeles Games — the 100, 200, 400 relay and long jump — because Lewis only broke one world record, in the relay.
"I'll still train hard and just work hard to stay on top," Bolt said, "because I'm on top now and I want to try to stay there as long as I can."
No doping.
Simple as could be, that's Usain Bolt explanation for his unprecedented, breakout performance at the Beijing Olympics.
"I've been tested four times (in China), before I even started running. These guys took urine tests and blood tests. After every event final, I've been tested," the Jamaican said Saturday, one of his three gold medals dangling from a red ribbon around his neck. "I've been tested out of competition so many times I lost track."
Bolt broke world records in winning the 100 meters (9.69 seconds), 200 meters (19.30) and 400-meter relay (37.10), something no man had done at an Olympics. None of the finals was even close, and Bolt began his celebration in the dash before it was done, stretching out his arms with palms up, then slapping his chest.
"I came out here prepared," he said. "I worked hard — that's all I can say. ... I worked hard to get here. It wasn't easy at all. It may look easy, but it was hard."
Bolt wasn't merely good — he was stunning. Too good to be true?
Don Anderson, head of Jamaica's Beijing delegation, said about half the country's athletes had been drug-tested since arriving in China.
"Therefore, all the records that have been broken by Usain Bolt and all the gold medals that have been won by (other Jamaicans) have come after extensive testing" by the International Olympic Committee, the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Association of Athletics Federations, Anderson said. "That, as far as I am concerned, is more than adequate proof."
Overall, Jamaica won five of the six golds, along with two silvers and a bronze, in the sprinting events.
"What I think almost amuses us is why some people in the world don't feel that others can be that good. We have been good for a very long time," said Mike Fennell, president of the Jamaica Olympic Association. "We have some marvelous talent here and wouldn't want anybody to suggest at all that this is not pure, raw talent that has been properly trained and properly coached and properly presented and reaping the rewards of all that hard work."
The head of track and field's governing body said Saturday that Bolt's flashy personality and outsize performances make him exactly the right man to help the sport recover from a spate of doping scandals that have resulted in medals being stripped, records being revoked and a decrease in popularity.
"He is good and great for our sport," IAAF president Lamine Diack said. "He can help to build up our sport."
Diack also disagreed with IOC president Jacques Rogge, who said Thursday that Bolt should have cut out the "look at me" hotdogging at the end of the 100 final. Rogge also chastised Bolt for not shaking hands with the men he beat.
"I did not mind," Diack said.
Asked about Rogge's comments, Bolt said he spoke to opponents about his showboating, "and most of them were OK with it."
"I won't change that. And I don't see any problem with it, because people enjoy watching me," Bolt said. "I'll stay the way I am. That's my personality."
Now it's off to less-important meets for Bolt, who said he'll run in Zurich and Lausanne, Switzerland, and Brussels, Belgium, before calling it a season. European meet organizers have offered more than $100,000 should Bolt win his races in new record times.
Other athletes can take some solace in this: Bolt said he definitely won't add the long jump to his repertoire, a la Carl Lewis, and might only occasionally run the 400 meters, the race his coach tried to steer him to instead of the 100.
Diack said he ranks Bolt's Olympics above Lewis' four golds at the 1984 Los Angeles Games — the 100, 200, 400 relay and long jump — because Lewis only broke one world record, in the relay.
"I'll still train hard and just work hard to stay on top," Bolt said, "because I'm on top now and I want to try to stay there as long as I can."
Windows Mobile?
What's with Windows Mobile?: Ask the Editors
Posted by Bonnie Cha
14 comments
Q: I need to replace my Palm Treo 650. Here's what I need. I need the organizing/calendar as well as contacts features. It needs to be a quad-band phone; have a screen similar in size to the Palm 650; a camera so it can record video clips and photos. It also needs to send text messages with photos attached and a QWERTY keyboard.
I'd buy another Treo, but I hear that Windows Mobile 6 works really slowly and is unreliable (at least on the Palms). I've also heard that Treo keyboards tend to die (like mine has). I've definitely ruled out the BlackBerry Pearls. Have I heard wrong about the Treos and/or Windows Mobile? What else is out there that fits my demanding feature list? Thanks greatly! -- thracker11 via e-mail
(Credit: Microsoft)
A: I'll be honest (and I don't think I'm in the minority here), the Windows Mobile operating system has its fair share of problems. It's not the most intuitive OS in the world, and it has a checkered past of stability issues and slow performance. So thracker11, you have reason for concern. That said, I feel like Microsoft has made strides in improving the OS.
Windows Mobile 6 and Windows Mobile 6.1 brought a number of enhancements, such as a Getting Started menu for quicker device configuration, a more robust Microsoft Office Mobile Suite, and new app shortcuts, that improved overall usability. In my opinion, performance has been more stable, but there's still some of that sluggishness that plagues the WinMo devices. The delays aren't so crippling that it prevents you from working, but it can be frustrating. Still, no operating system is perfect, and Windows Mobile offers plenty of good points as well, particularly for the business user, so don't discount it.
As for a Treo 650 replacement, I've listed some of my recommendations below based on your requirements. And a quick note on the Treo's keyboard. I haven't really heard that the Treos' QWERTY keyboards die quickly; I'm not sure how long you've had your Treo 650 but the model is at least three years old so it just may be a normal wear and tear. I'd also like to invite my readers to share any of their recommendations or Windows Mobile success/horror stories. After all, you're the ones using these devices day in and day out.
Posted by Bonnie Cha
14 comments
Q: I need to replace my Palm Treo 650. Here's what I need. I need the organizing/calendar as well as contacts features. It needs to be a quad-band phone; have a screen similar in size to the Palm 650; a camera so it can record video clips and photos. It also needs to send text messages with photos attached and a QWERTY keyboard.
I'd buy another Treo, but I hear that Windows Mobile 6 works really slowly and is unreliable (at least on the Palms). I've also heard that Treo keyboards tend to die (like mine has). I've definitely ruled out the BlackBerry Pearls. Have I heard wrong about the Treos and/or Windows Mobile? What else is out there that fits my demanding feature list? Thanks greatly! -- thracker11 via e-mail
(Credit: Microsoft)
A: I'll be honest (and I don't think I'm in the minority here), the Windows Mobile operating system has its fair share of problems. It's not the most intuitive OS in the world, and it has a checkered past of stability issues and slow performance. So thracker11, you have reason for concern. That said, I feel like Microsoft has made strides in improving the OS.
Windows Mobile 6 and Windows Mobile 6.1 brought a number of enhancements, such as a Getting Started menu for quicker device configuration, a more robust Microsoft Office Mobile Suite, and new app shortcuts, that improved overall usability. In my opinion, performance has been more stable, but there's still some of that sluggishness that plagues the WinMo devices. The delays aren't so crippling that it prevents you from working, but it can be frustrating. Still, no operating system is perfect, and Windows Mobile offers plenty of good points as well, particularly for the business user, so don't discount it.
As for a Treo 650 replacement, I've listed some of my recommendations below based on your requirements. And a quick note on the Treo's keyboard. I haven't really heard that the Treos' QWERTY keyboards die quickly; I'm not sure how long you've had your Treo 650 but the model is at least three years old so it just may be a normal wear and tear. I'd also like to invite my readers to share any of their recommendations or Windows Mobile success/horror stories. After all, you're the ones using these devices day in and day out.
Windows Mobile?
What's with Windows Mobile?: Ask the Editors
Posted by Bonnie Cha
14 comments
Q: I need to replace my Palm Treo 650. Here's what I need. I need the organizing/calendar as well as contacts features. It needs to be a quad-band phone; have a screen similar in size to the Palm 650; a camera so it can record video clips and photos. It also needs to send text messages with photos attached and a QWERTY keyboard.
I'd buy another Treo, but I hear that Windows Mobile 6 works really slowly and is unreliable (at least on the Palms). I've also heard that Treo keyboards tend to die (like mine has). I've definitely ruled out the BlackBerry Pearls. Have I heard wrong about the Treos and/or Windows Mobile? What else is out there that fits my demanding feature list? Thanks greatly! -- thracker11 via e-mail
(Credit: Microsoft)
A: I'll be honest (and I don't think I'm in the minority here), the Windows Mobile operating system has its fair share of problems. It's not the most intuitive OS in the world, and it has a checkered past of stability issues and slow performance. So thracker11, you have reason for concern. That said, I feel like Microsoft has made strides in improving the OS.
Windows Mobile 6 and Windows Mobile 6.1 brought a number of enhancements, such as a Getting Started menu for quicker device configuration, a more robust Microsoft Office Mobile Suite, and new app shortcuts, that improved overall usability. In my opinion, performance has been more stable, but there's still some of that sluggishness that plagues the WinMo devices. The delays aren't so crippling that it prevents you from working, but it can be frustrating. Still, no operating system is perfect, and Windows Mobile offers plenty of good points as well, particularly for the business user, so don't discount it.
As for a Treo 650 replacement, I've listed some of my recommendations below based on your requirements. And a quick note on the Treo's keyboard. I haven't really heard that the Treos' QWERTY keyboards die quickly; I'm not sure how long you've had your Treo 650 but the model is at least three years old so it just may be a normal wear and tear. I'd also like to invite my readers to share any of their recommendations or Windows Mobile success/horror stories. After all, you're the ones using these devices day in and day out.
Posted by Bonnie Cha
14 comments
Q: I need to replace my Palm Treo 650. Here's what I need. I need the organizing/calendar as well as contacts features. It needs to be a quad-band phone; have a screen similar in size to the Palm 650; a camera so it can record video clips and photos. It also needs to send text messages with photos attached and a QWERTY keyboard.
I'd buy another Treo, but I hear that Windows Mobile 6 works really slowly and is unreliable (at least on the Palms). I've also heard that Treo keyboards tend to die (like mine has). I've definitely ruled out the BlackBerry Pearls. Have I heard wrong about the Treos and/or Windows Mobile? What else is out there that fits my demanding feature list? Thanks greatly! -- thracker11 via e-mail
(Credit: Microsoft)
A: I'll be honest (and I don't think I'm in the minority here), the Windows Mobile operating system has its fair share of problems. It's not the most intuitive OS in the world, and it has a checkered past of stability issues and slow performance. So thracker11, you have reason for concern. That said, I feel like Microsoft has made strides in improving the OS.
Windows Mobile 6 and Windows Mobile 6.1 brought a number of enhancements, such as a Getting Started menu for quicker device configuration, a more robust Microsoft Office Mobile Suite, and new app shortcuts, that improved overall usability. In my opinion, performance has been more stable, but there's still some of that sluggishness that plagues the WinMo devices. The delays aren't so crippling that it prevents you from working, but it can be frustrating. Still, no operating system is perfect, and Windows Mobile offers plenty of good points as well, particularly for the business user, so don't discount it.
As for a Treo 650 replacement, I've listed some of my recommendations below based on your requirements. And a quick note on the Treo's keyboard. I haven't really heard that the Treos' QWERTY keyboards die quickly; I'm not sure how long you've had your Treo 650 but the model is at least three years old so it just may be a normal wear and tear. I'd also like to invite my readers to share any of their recommendations or Windows Mobile success/horror stories. After all, you're the ones using these devices day in and day out.
Obama-Biden ticket has a slight 'Indian accent'
WASHINGTON: A prospective Democratic White House could have a slight Indian accent after Presidential candidate Barack Obama on Saturday chose experienced Delaware Senator and foreign policy maven Joseph Biden as his vice-presidential running mate.
Biden, who is also chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, helped pilot the US-India nuclear deal through Congress and initiated the recent eclipse of military rule in Pakistan. He is generally intimate with Indians and the Indian sub-continent - an association even Obama claims.
The Obama campaign broke the week-long suspense over the vice-presidential nominee with a 3 a.m text message to supporters that said, ''Barack has chosen Senator Joe Biden to be our VP nominee.''
''Joe and I will appear for the first time as running mates this afternoon in Springfield, Illinois - the same place this campaign began more than 19 months ago,'' Obama said in an e-mail sent a little later. ''I'm excited about hitting the campaign trail with Joe, but the two of us can't do this alone. We need your help to keep building this movement for change.''
By then, a breathless media had cottoned on to Biden being the frontrunner through a process of elimination of other contenders. A Secret Service detail that made its way to Biden’s place past midnight gave the game away.
Biden, who is 65 and a six-term Senator, is thought to bring enormous foreign policy experience and heft to the Obama ticket. He is especially intimate with the Indian sub-continent. Experts surmise that the region - especially Pakistan/Afghanistan - will get greater attention, with better clarity, than at any time.
India won’t be neglected either given Biden’s leading role in pushing the nuclear deal, and his close ties with Indian-Americans. In fact, such is Biden’s familiarity with the Indian community that he once made a faux pas of Macaca proportions, but with a happier ending.
In a 2006 campaign appearance, when he was still in contention for the presidential ticket, Biden, boasting about his strong relationship with Indian-Americans in his state, said ''You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.''
The remark was misconstrued as being politically incorrect, but Biden quickly put it in perspective saying it was meant to demonstrate his ''incredibly strong'' relationship with Indian-American.
''I was making the point that up until now in my state, we've had a strong Indian community made up of leading scientists and researchers and engineers,'' Biden explained later. ''We're having middle-class people move to Delaware, take over Dunkin' Donuts, take over businesses, just like other immigrant groups have, and I was saying that ... they're growing, it's moving.''
''I could have said that 40 years ago about walking into a delicatessen and hearing an Italian accent in my state,'' he added.
Most Indian-Americans in Delaware, where indeed there has been a boom in small business growth by the community, did not take Biden’s remark amiss. Many of them, especially those involved in businesses relating to motels, liquor stores, and gas stations, are Biden supporters and contributors who have held fund-raisers for him and reeled him into events like the local Navratri garba hosted by the Gujarati community.
''He’s a great guy, very experienced. We love him,'' Pravin Patel, president of the Delaware Asian-American Business Association, said on Saturday after news broke of Biden's selection. ''He will be good for U.S-India relations.'' Patel said he and his associates celebrated the e-mail announcement at 3 a.m.
(A Republican Senator, George Allen, wasn’t as lucky as Biden in such off-the-cuff remarks). Although he too has close ties to the Indian community in Virginia, Allen lost his Senate seat in 2006 after calling an Indian-American Democrat activist a ''Macaca'' - shorthand for ape)
While on accents, Obama too has been subject of much positive scrutiny in the ''desi'' community for being able to pronounce ''Pakistan'' correctly. Obama also joked recently about being a ''desi'' himself and his ability to make ''daal.'' The Presidential candidate's sub-continental connection goes back to the 1980s when he had college-mates from the region and he went on a three-week visit to Pakistan during the Zia years.
Biden also has another key South Asia connection. One of his foreign policy staffers is Jonah Blank, a Yale and Harvard alumnus, whose books include Arrow of the Blue-Skinned God: Retracing the Ramayana through India, and Mullahs on the Mainframe, a study of India’s Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community.
Pakistan is also certain to get extra attention under a Obama-Biden dispensation. Blank and others, under Biden’s scrutiny, have put together legislation that will result in an annual $ 1.5 billion aid package to Pakistan for 10 years, directed mostly at the social sectors at the expense of the largely military relationship pursued by the Bush administration.
While agreeing that such aid is fungible and could enable Pakistan to divert its domestic resources to military purposes, Biden aides say such a big package will at least give Washington some leverage over Pakistan, which both Obama and Biden believe to be the most dangerous country in the world that needs to be brought back into the democratic mainstream.
In fact, Obama’s choice of Biden locks in with their mutual view that the Pakistan-Afghanistan region, and not Iraq, is the central front in the war on terror.
Biden, who is also chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, helped pilot the US-India nuclear deal through Congress and initiated the recent eclipse of military rule in Pakistan. He is generally intimate with Indians and the Indian sub-continent - an association even Obama claims.
The Obama campaign broke the week-long suspense over the vice-presidential nominee with a 3 a.m text message to supporters that said, ''Barack has chosen Senator Joe Biden to be our VP nominee.''
''Joe and I will appear for the first time as running mates this afternoon in Springfield, Illinois - the same place this campaign began more than 19 months ago,'' Obama said in an e-mail sent a little later. ''I'm excited about hitting the campaign trail with Joe, but the two of us can't do this alone. We need your help to keep building this movement for change.''
By then, a breathless media had cottoned on to Biden being the frontrunner through a process of elimination of other contenders. A Secret Service detail that made its way to Biden’s place past midnight gave the game away.
Biden, who is 65 and a six-term Senator, is thought to bring enormous foreign policy experience and heft to the Obama ticket. He is especially intimate with the Indian sub-continent. Experts surmise that the region - especially Pakistan/Afghanistan - will get greater attention, with better clarity, than at any time.
India won’t be neglected either given Biden’s leading role in pushing the nuclear deal, and his close ties with Indian-Americans. In fact, such is Biden’s familiarity with the Indian community that he once made a faux pas of Macaca proportions, but with a happier ending.
In a 2006 campaign appearance, when he was still in contention for the presidential ticket, Biden, boasting about his strong relationship with Indian-Americans in his state, said ''You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.''
The remark was misconstrued as being politically incorrect, but Biden quickly put it in perspective saying it was meant to demonstrate his ''incredibly strong'' relationship with Indian-American.
''I was making the point that up until now in my state, we've had a strong Indian community made up of leading scientists and researchers and engineers,'' Biden explained later. ''We're having middle-class people move to Delaware, take over Dunkin' Donuts, take over businesses, just like other immigrant groups have, and I was saying that ... they're growing, it's moving.''
''I could have said that 40 years ago about walking into a delicatessen and hearing an Italian accent in my state,'' he added.
Most Indian-Americans in Delaware, where indeed there has been a boom in small business growth by the community, did not take Biden’s remark amiss. Many of them, especially those involved in businesses relating to motels, liquor stores, and gas stations, are Biden supporters and contributors who have held fund-raisers for him and reeled him into events like the local Navratri garba hosted by the Gujarati community.
''He’s a great guy, very experienced. We love him,'' Pravin Patel, president of the Delaware Asian-American Business Association, said on Saturday after news broke of Biden's selection. ''He will be good for U.S-India relations.'' Patel said he and his associates celebrated the e-mail announcement at 3 a.m.
(A Republican Senator, George Allen, wasn’t as lucky as Biden in such off-the-cuff remarks). Although he too has close ties to the Indian community in Virginia, Allen lost his Senate seat in 2006 after calling an Indian-American Democrat activist a ''Macaca'' - shorthand for ape)
While on accents, Obama too has been subject of much positive scrutiny in the ''desi'' community for being able to pronounce ''Pakistan'' correctly. Obama also joked recently about being a ''desi'' himself and his ability to make ''daal.'' The Presidential candidate's sub-continental connection goes back to the 1980s when he had college-mates from the region and he went on a three-week visit to Pakistan during the Zia years.
Biden also has another key South Asia connection. One of his foreign policy staffers is Jonah Blank, a Yale and Harvard alumnus, whose books include Arrow of the Blue-Skinned God: Retracing the Ramayana through India, and Mullahs on the Mainframe, a study of India’s Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community.
Pakistan is also certain to get extra attention under a Obama-Biden dispensation. Blank and others, under Biden’s scrutiny, have put together legislation that will result in an annual $ 1.5 billion aid package to Pakistan for 10 years, directed mostly at the social sectors at the expense of the largely military relationship pursued by the Bush administration.
While agreeing that such aid is fungible and could enable Pakistan to divert its domestic resources to military purposes, Biden aides say such a big package will at least give Washington some leverage over Pakistan, which both Obama and Biden believe to be the most dangerous country in the world that needs to be brought back into the democratic mainstream.
In fact, Obama’s choice of Biden locks in with their mutual view that the Pakistan-Afghanistan region, and not Iraq, is the central front in the war on terror.
Friday, August 22, 2008
US withdrawl from Iraq would be 2011
U.S. combat troops would leave Iraq by 2011 under draft agreement
BAGHDAD: The United States has agreed to remove combat troops from Iraqi cities by next June and from the rest of the country by the end of 2011 if conditions in Iraq remain relatively stable, according to Iraqi and U.S. officials involved in negotiating a security accord governing American forces here.
The withdrawal timetable, which Bush administration officials called "aspirational goals" rather than fixed dates, are contained in the draft of an agreement that still must be approved by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki and other Iraqi leaders before it goes before the fractious Parliament. It has the support of the Bush administration, American and Iraqi officials said.
American officials stressed repeatedly that meeting the timetables depended on the security situation in Iraq, where sectarian killings and attacks on American troops have declined sharply over the past year from the peak levels of 2006 and 2007. Iraqi officials, who have pushed for an even tighter target date for the United States to end its military operations, could also end up rejecting the draft agreement.
Even so, the accord indicates that the Bush administration is prepared to commit the United States to ending most combat operations in Iraq in less than a year, a much shorter time frame than seemed possible, politically or militarily, even a few months ago. President George W. Bush and many leading Republicans, including the party's presumptive nominee for president, Senator John McCain, had repeatedly dismissed timetables for pulling out of Iraq as an admission of defeat that would empower America's enemies.
But Iraq's Shiite-dominated government demanded a withdrawal timetable as the price of legalizing the U.S. military presence after the expiration of the United Nations mandate at the end of this year. Security gains in recent months also made the prospect of a winding down of military operations more palatable to the White House and top military officials, said people involved in the talks.
Today in Africa & Middle East
Rice meets with Maliki to discuss security agreement
Shiite-led government in Iraq driving out Sunnis helping U.S.
Al Qaeda claims responsibility for Algeria attacks
If approved in its current form, the accord seems likely to take center stage in the presidential race. McCain has vowed to stay in Iraq until the war is won but has suggested that he would have the troops out by 2013, two years later than the Bush administration has agreed to withdraw them if conditions in the accord are met.
Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, has argued that the United States should withdraw its troops 16 months after he took office, or by mid-2010, a faster pace for full withdrawal than envisioned in the draft accord. But the draft's interim goal of ending combat operations in Iraqi cities by next summer is faster than any commitment made by Obama.
The draft appears to contain one significant concession on the Iraqi side. A senior Bush administration official said that Maliki had allowed the timeline for ending combat operations to slip to 2011. Previously, he and other Iraqi officials had said they wanted American troops out by 2010.
A deal between American and Iraqi officials was given fresh impetus by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's surprise visit to Baghdad on Thursday. Rice met with Maliki and other Iraqi leaders and confirmed that both sides saw the value in "aspirational timetables" to govern the continuing role, mission and size of American forces in Iraq.
She declined to discuss the timing, saying that "would be inappropriate at this time" and that decisions must be based on events, not timetables.
"We have always said that the roles, missions and size of the American forces here, the coalition forces, was based on the conditions on the ground and what is needed," Rice said at a news conference in Baghdad with the Iraqi foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari.
Iraqi officials were more forthcoming with their interpretation of the draft agreement. In an interview by telephone in Baghdad, Mohammad Hammoud, the chief Iraqi negotiator, said that the draft contained two dates: June 30, 2009, for the withdrawal of American forces from "cities and villages," and Dec. 31, 2011, for combat troops to leave the country altogether.
Hamoud said the draft specified that meeting the timetable, particularly the goal of full withdrawal by 2011, depended on the security situation. He said that at the end of 2011 the Iraqi government "will review the security situation in the country and if necessary will ask the American side for certain forces for training or supporting the Iraqi Security Forces."
Even if the goal of withdrawing combat troops by 2011 is realized, the accord does leave open the possibility that American military trainers and support forces could remain in Iraq after that time. It is unclear whether the accord provides for semipermanent military bases in the country, and what role the United States would play in providing air and naval support for Iraq.
Reporting was contributed by Helene Cooper, Suadad al-Salhy and Riyadh Mohammed from Baghdad, and Michael R. Gordon and Thom Shanker from Washington.
Google leads with 61.5% share of search market, gains 0.4
comScore Releases July 2008 U.S. Search Engine Rankings
RESTON, VA, August 21, 2008 – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of the U.S. search marketplace. In July 2008, Americans conducted 11.8 billion core searches (up 2 percent versus June) as Google Sites slightly extended its lead in core search market share by 0.4 percentage points.
July 2008 U.S. Core Search Rankings
Google Sites led the U.S. core search market in July with 61.9 percent of the searches conducted, up from 61.5 percent in June, followed by Yahoo! Sites (20.5 percent), Microsoft Sites (8.9 percent), Ask Network (4.5 percent), and AOL LLC (4.2 percent).
comScore Core Search Report*
July 2008 vs. June 2008
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore qSearch 2.0
Core Search Entity
Share of Searches (%)
Jun-08
Jul-08
Point Change
Jul-08 vs. Jun-08
Total Core Search
100.0%
100.0%
NA
Google Sites
61.5%
61.9%
0.4
Yahoo! Sites
20.9%
20.5%
-0.4
Microsoft Sites
9.2%
8.9%
-0.3
Ask Network
4.3%
4.5%
0.2
AOL LLC
4.1%
4.2%
0.1
* Based on the five major search engines including partner searches and cross-channel searches. Searches for mapping, local directory, and user-generated video sites that are not on the core domain of the five search engines are not included in the core search numbers.
Americans conducted 11.8 billion searches at the core search engines, representing a 2-percent gain versus June. Google Sites handled nearly 7.3 billion core searches (up 2 percent), followed by Yahoo! Sites with 2.4 billion and Microsoft Sites with 1 billion.
comScore Core Search Report*
July 2008 vs. June 2008
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore qSearch 2.0
Core Search Entity
Search Queries (MM)
Jun-08
Jul-08
Percent Change
Jul-08 vs. Jun-08
Total Core Search
11,541
11,753
2%
Google Sites
7,096
7,273
2%
Yahoo! Sites
2,416
2,405
0%
Microsoft Sites
1,056
1,045
-1%
Ask Network
501
531
6%
AOL LLC
471
499
6%
* Based on the five major search engines including partner searches and cross-channel searches. Searches for mapping, local directory, and user-generated video sites that are not on the core domain of the five search engines are not included in the core search numbers.
July U.S. Expanded Search Rankings
In the comScore July 2008 analysis of the top properties where search activity is observed, Google Sites led with 9.9 billion searches, a 4-percent increase versus June. Yahoo! Sites ranked second with 2.5 billion searches, followed by Microsoft Sites with 1.1 billion and AOL LLC with 814 million.
comScore Expanded Search Query Report
July 2008 vs. June 2008
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore qSearch 2.0
Expanded Search Entity
Search Queries (MM)
Jun-08
Jul-08
Percent Change
Jul-08 vs. Jun-08
Total Expanded Search
16,668
17,158
3%
Google Sites
9,601
9,945
4%
Google
7,277
7,463
3%
YouTube/All Other
2,324
2,482
7%
Yahoo! Sites
2,570
2,546
-1%
Yahoo!
2,530
2,510
-1%
All Other
40
36
-10%
Microsoft Sites
1,102
1,090
-1%
MSN-Windows Live
1,069
1,058
-1%
Microsoft/All Other
33
32
-3%
AOL LLC
792
814
3%
AOL Search Network
430
452
5%
MapQuest/All Other
362
362
0%
Fox Interactive Media
457
547
20%
MySpace
448
539
20%
All Other
9
8
-11%
Ask Network
506
535
6%
Ask.com
341
364
7%
MyWebSearch.com/ All Other
165
171
4%
eBay
444
435
-2%
Craigslist.org
342
340
-1%
Facebook.com
157
173
10%
Amazon Sites
152
166
9%
To request more information on comScore qSearch 2.0, please visit http://www.comscore.com/contact
About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and the preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/boilerplate
Contact:
Andrew Lipsman
Senior Analyst
comScore, Inc.
312-775-6510
press@comscore.com
RESTON, VA, August 21, 2008 – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of the U.S. search marketplace. In July 2008, Americans conducted 11.8 billion core searches (up 2 percent versus June) as Google Sites slightly extended its lead in core search market share by 0.4 percentage points.
July 2008 U.S. Core Search Rankings
Google Sites led the U.S. core search market in July with 61.9 percent of the searches conducted, up from 61.5 percent in June, followed by Yahoo! Sites (20.5 percent), Microsoft Sites (8.9 percent), Ask Network (4.5 percent), and AOL LLC (4.2 percent).
comScore Core Search Report*
July 2008 vs. June 2008
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore qSearch 2.0
Core Search Entity
Share of Searches (%)
Jun-08
Jul-08
Point Change
Jul-08 vs. Jun-08
Total Core Search
100.0%
100.0%
NA
Google Sites
61.5%
61.9%
0.4
Yahoo! Sites
20.9%
20.5%
-0.4
Microsoft Sites
9.2%
8.9%
-0.3
Ask Network
4.3%
4.5%
0.2
AOL LLC
4.1%
4.2%
0.1
* Based on the five major search engines including partner searches and cross-channel searches. Searches for mapping, local directory, and user-generated video sites that are not on the core domain of the five search engines are not included in the core search numbers.
Americans conducted 11.8 billion searches at the core search engines, representing a 2-percent gain versus June. Google Sites handled nearly 7.3 billion core searches (up 2 percent), followed by Yahoo! Sites with 2.4 billion and Microsoft Sites with 1 billion.
comScore Core Search Report*
July 2008 vs. June 2008
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore qSearch 2.0
Core Search Entity
Search Queries (MM)
Jun-08
Jul-08
Percent Change
Jul-08 vs. Jun-08
Total Core Search
11,541
11,753
2%
Google Sites
7,096
7,273
2%
Yahoo! Sites
2,416
2,405
0%
Microsoft Sites
1,056
1,045
-1%
Ask Network
501
531
6%
AOL LLC
471
499
6%
* Based on the five major search engines including partner searches and cross-channel searches. Searches for mapping, local directory, and user-generated video sites that are not on the core domain of the five search engines are not included in the core search numbers.
July U.S. Expanded Search Rankings
In the comScore July 2008 analysis of the top properties where search activity is observed, Google Sites led with 9.9 billion searches, a 4-percent increase versus June. Yahoo! Sites ranked second with 2.5 billion searches, followed by Microsoft Sites with 1.1 billion and AOL LLC with 814 million.
comScore Expanded Search Query Report
July 2008 vs. June 2008
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore qSearch 2.0
Expanded Search Entity
Search Queries (MM)
Jun-08
Jul-08
Percent Change
Jul-08 vs. Jun-08
Total Expanded Search
16,668
17,158
3%
Google Sites
9,601
9,945
4%
7,277
7,463
3%
YouTube/All Other
2,324
2,482
7%
Yahoo! Sites
2,570
2,546
-1%
Yahoo!
2,530
2,510
-1%
All Other
40
36
-10%
Microsoft Sites
1,102
1,090
-1%
MSN-Windows Live
1,069
1,058
-1%
Microsoft/All Other
33
32
-3%
AOL LLC
792
814
3%
AOL Search Network
430
452
5%
MapQuest/All Other
362
362
0%
Fox Interactive Media
457
547
20%
MySpace
448
539
20%
All Other
9
8
-11%
Ask Network
506
535
6%
Ask.com
341
364
7%
MyWebSearch.com/ All Other
165
171
4%
eBay
444
435
-2%
Craigslist.org
342
340
-1%
Facebook.com
157
173
10%
Amazon Sites
152
166
9%
To request more information on comScore qSearch 2.0, please visit http://www.comscore.com/contact
About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and the preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/boilerplate
Contact:
Andrew Lipsman
Senior Analyst
comScore, Inc.
312-775-6510
press@comscore.com
Virgin Mobile closes $38M Helio acquisition
WARREN, N.J.
Virgin Mobile USA Inc. said Friday it completed its acquisition of struggling cellular carrier Helio LLC for $38 million in stock.
Under the terms of the buyout, announced June 27, Helio owners EarthLink Inc. and SK Telecom, a South Korean carrier, received limited partnership units and shares equivalent to 13 million shares of Virgin Mobile USA stock.
SK Telecom and British billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Group also will each invest $25 million in Virgin Mobile as part of the deal, giving SK Telecom a 17 percent stake in Virgin Mobile.
"This acquisition of Helio also comes with a number of financial benefits, including improved network rates from Sprint for Virgin Mobile USA, and strategic investments by SK Telecom and Virgin Group which improve our capital structure and increase liquidity," said Dan Schulman, Virgin Mobile's chief executive.
The Helio deal brings about 170,000 new customers to Virgin Mobile, the company said.
Both Virgin Mobile and Helio use Sprint Nextel Corp.'s network, which makes the integration of the two businesses possible. Virgin Mobile said the better network rates will reduce effective cost per minute by 8 percent in 2009.
SK Telecom will be granted two seats on Virgin Mobile's board.
Helio was not a publicly traded company, so data on its financials have been scant, but it has contributed to losses at EarthLink.
Shares of Virgin Mobile dipped 3 cents to $2.69 in midday trading.
Virgin Mobile USA Inc. said Friday it completed its acquisition of struggling cellular carrier Helio LLC for $38 million in stock.
Under the terms of the buyout, announced June 27, Helio owners EarthLink Inc. and SK Telecom, a South Korean carrier, received limited partnership units and shares equivalent to 13 million shares of Virgin Mobile USA stock.
SK Telecom and British billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Group also will each invest $25 million in Virgin Mobile as part of the deal, giving SK Telecom a 17 percent stake in Virgin Mobile.
"This acquisition of Helio also comes with a number of financial benefits, including improved network rates from Sprint for Virgin Mobile USA, and strategic investments by SK Telecom and Virgin Group which improve our capital structure and increase liquidity," said Dan Schulman, Virgin Mobile's chief executive.
The Helio deal brings about 170,000 new customers to Virgin Mobile, the company said.
Both Virgin Mobile and Helio use Sprint Nextel Corp.'s network, which makes the integration of the two businesses possible. Virgin Mobile said the better network rates will reduce effective cost per minute by 8 percent in 2009.
SK Telecom will be granted two seats on Virgin Mobile's board.
Helio was not a publicly traded company, so data on its financials have been scant, but it has contributed to losses at EarthLink.
Shares of Virgin Mobile dipped 3 cents to $2.69 in midday trading.
Lehman CFO Callan, COO Gregory ousted from posts
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/lehmans-cfo-coo-ousted-turmoil/story.aspx?guid=%7B897F3C46%2D6458%2D47A8%2D8299%2D5D580FB0438E%7D
Lehman CFO Callan, COO Gregory ousted from posts
By Alistair Barr, Greg Morcroft & Riley McDermid, MarketWatch
Last update: 11:13 a.m. EDT June 12, 2008
Comments: 131
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. said Thursday that Chief Financial Officer Erin Callan and Chief Operating Officer Joseph Gregory are leaving their posts, becoming the latest victims of the credit crisis swirling across Wall Street.
Video: Discussing downsizing
Oppenheimer analyst Meredith Whitney gives her take on Lehman Brothers, among other topics. (June 11)
Shares of Lehman (LEH:
15.48, +1.76, +12.9%) rose 1.1% to $24 during early trading but quickly turned lower, leaving them with a loss of more than 40% during the past month. The shares have been buffeted in recent months as investors question the firm's capital position and its transparency amid the ongoing credit crisis.
Lehman said Bart McDade would replace Gregory, while Ian Lowitt has been tapped to replace Callan. 'Headline risk will weigh on the stock.'
— Matthew Albrecht, S&P
Callan, who had served as the firm's CFO since December 2007, will be rejoining the investment-banking division at Lehman in a senior capacity, the company said in a press release. Read related commentary.
On Monday, Lehman said it sold $130 billion in assets in recent months, reducing leverage, but analysts and others said questions remain about the brokerage firm's illiquid holdings and how it has valued some of those exposures.
Lehman also reported a preliminary net loss of $2.8 billion for the second quarter ended May 31, surprising analysts and investors, and unveiled plans to raise $6 billion by selling new shares and preferred securities. See full story.
Some analysts said Lehman's management had lost credibility because earlier this year executives said the brokerage firm didn't need to raise any more capital. But the credit crisis has taken another turn for the worse in recent weeks, putting intense pressure on Lehman.
"We believe the moves result from the company's preliminary results, which included the first quarterly loss since going public, and its planned $6 billion capital raise, which has garnered investor criticism," said Matthew Albrecht, analyst at Standard & Poor's Equity Research, in a Thursday note to clients. "Headline risk will weigh on the stock."
Albrecht cut his price target on Lehman shares to $27 from $35 but maintained a hold rating, saying the company has acted aggressively to reorganize its balance sheet into a more financially viable structure.
'Appropriate response'
"This is an appropriate response. There were specific actions taken in the last six months that suggested Lehman was not on track where they should have been," said Dick Bove, analyst at Ladenburg Thalmann, in an interview on CNBC.
Lehman made "serious miscalculations" when trying to hedge mortgage-related exposures and other holdings of troubled assets, he said, adding that management should have tried to raise more capital earlier than it did.
Callan and Gregory "deserved to be fired because they did things wrong," Bove added.
By the same token, Dick Fuld should not be ousted as chief executive because he has done so much to build the firm during a long tenure, Bove continued.
"I wouldn't nail [Fuld] because of the last two quarters," Bove said. "They need to look at his record over the last couple of years."
Alistair Barr is a reporter for MarketWatch in San Francisco.
Greg Morcroft is MarketWatch's financial editor in New York.
Riley McDermid is a MarketWatch reporter based in New York.
Oil falls over $6 as dollar strengthens
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil prices tumbled nearly $7 a barrel Friday, erasing the previous session's spike, as the dollar strengthened and investors worried that a decline in demand will spread outside the United States.
U.S. crude for October delivery traded down $6.60 to $114.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The dollar rose after a key measurement showed British economic growth stalled in the second quarter.
The U.K.'s gross domestic product between April and June showed zero growth, the country's statistics office reported Friday.
The economic weakness in Britain signaled that falling demand for oil due to high fuel prices could spread to Europe, according to Kyle Cooper, director of research with IAF Advisors in Houston.
"Fewer trucks delivering packages, fewer people going to work ... There's a very strong correlation between GDP growth and oil usage," said Cooper.
The U.K. report follows other reports this week showing weakness in the euro zone and Japanese economies, putting U.S. investment - and the dollar - in a more favorable light.
A stronger dollar makes crude more expensive for foreign investors, because crude futures are traded in U.S. currency. Rising dollar values also pull investor money out of oil, since many use crude and other commodities as a hedge against inflation.
Georgia-Russia: Oil settled up more than $5 a barrel to $121.18 Thursday on tensions between NATO and Russia over the nation's occupation of Georgia. Georgia contains several vital pipeline links that carry crude oil and natural gas between Europe and Asia.
But those tensions appeared to ease Friday.
"There was the potential for some type of action across the Georgian border and we just haven't seen anything," said Neal Dingmann, senior energy analyst with Dahlman Rose & Co.
Also easing supply worries, a BP-led consortium prepared to resume oil flow through the region's Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, a major oil link between Turkey and the Caspian Sea.
"We're still integrity testing," said BP spokesman Toby Odone, "We expect it will be back in normal operation next week."
U.S. gasoline demand: Falling demand for petroleum-based fuels in the United States has been the main force behind oil's fall from a record high of $147.27 in mid-July.
Demand for gasoline last week was about 9.5 million barrels a day, or 1.6% lower than it was last year, according to an Energy Department inventory report released Wednesday.
Drivers were also spending less time on the road in June, according to a second report from the Transportation Department last week.
Drivers will even cut back over the Labor Day weekend, according to a projection from motorist group AAA. The number of travelers avoiding cars and air travel, and using buses, trains, or other transportation will increase by 12.5% this year, AAA said.
National gasoline prices are down more than 42 cents a gallon from the record high set last month, according to the AAA's daily survey of service stations, falling below $3.70 a gallon.
U.S. crude for October delivery traded down $6.60 to $114.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The dollar rose after a key measurement showed British economic growth stalled in the second quarter.
The U.K.'s gross domestic product between April and June showed zero growth, the country's statistics office reported Friday.
The economic weakness in Britain signaled that falling demand for oil due to high fuel prices could spread to Europe, according to Kyle Cooper, director of research with IAF Advisors in Houston.
"Fewer trucks delivering packages, fewer people going to work ... There's a very strong correlation between GDP growth and oil usage," said Cooper.
The U.K. report follows other reports this week showing weakness in the euro zone and Japanese economies, putting U.S. investment - and the dollar - in a more favorable light.
A stronger dollar makes crude more expensive for foreign investors, because crude futures are traded in U.S. currency. Rising dollar values also pull investor money out of oil, since many use crude and other commodities as a hedge against inflation.
Georgia-Russia: Oil settled up more than $5 a barrel to $121.18 Thursday on tensions between NATO and Russia over the nation's occupation of Georgia. Georgia contains several vital pipeline links that carry crude oil and natural gas between Europe and Asia.
But those tensions appeared to ease Friday.
"There was the potential for some type of action across the Georgian border and we just haven't seen anything," said Neal Dingmann, senior energy analyst with Dahlman Rose & Co.
Also easing supply worries, a BP-led consortium prepared to resume oil flow through the region's Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, a major oil link between Turkey and the Caspian Sea.
"We're still integrity testing," said BP spokesman Toby Odone, "We expect it will be back in normal operation next week."
U.S. gasoline demand: Falling demand for petroleum-based fuels in the United States has been the main force behind oil's fall from a record high of $147.27 in mid-July.
Demand for gasoline last week was about 9.5 million barrels a day, or 1.6% lower than it was last year, according to an Energy Department inventory report released Wednesday.
Drivers were also spending less time on the road in June, according to a second report from the Transportation Department last week.
Drivers will even cut back over the Labor Day weekend, according to a projection from motorist group AAA. The number of travelers avoiding cars and air travel, and using buses, trains, or other transportation will increase by 12.5% this year, AAA said.
National gasoline prices are down more than 42 cents a gallon from the record high set last month, according to the AAA's daily survey of service stations, falling below $3.70 a gallon.
Alpharma Not Interested In Being King's Queen
Despite a rejection from Alpharma's board, King Pharmaceuticals has decided to go public with its offer for the specialty pharmaceutical company anyway.
The Bristol, Tenn.-based pharma announced on Friday that it has offered Alpharma (nyse: ALO - news - people ) a $33.00, all-cash bid that valued the company at $1.4 billion. The offer is a 37.3% premium over Alpharma's closing share price on Thursday. Alpharma, which makes pharmaceuticals for humans and animals, previously rejected King Pharmaceuticals (nyse: KG - news - people ) when contacted in July and early August, according to a letter written by King's chairman, Brian Markison.
But maybe Alpharma's board was on to something. Investors of the Bridgewater, N.J.-based company pushed its shares up beyond the offer price on Friday morning. Shares of Alpharma were up 42.3%, or $10.17, to $34.21. Alpharma didn't respond to calls for comment. Alpharma develops painkiller Kadian, which had sales of $167.7 million, in 2007.
Despite the response from the board and the clear response from shareholders, Markison said in his letter that King planned to forge on with the deal anyway. "We continue to prefer to work together with you and your board to complete a negotiated transaction, and we are prepared to commit all necessary resources to do so. If we are unable to negotiate a transaction, we are prepared to take this offer directly to your stockholders," said Markison.
Jeffries analyst Dave Windley said that he would expect the offer to go higher, likely to the range of $36.00 to $38.00 per share. He added that Endo Pharmaceuticals (nasdaq: ENDP - news - people ) and Cephalon (nasdaq: CEPH - news - people ) may also be interested in acquiring Alpharma, but that King would be the best for the company.
Shares of King, which specializes in research and development and pain drugs, jumped 7.1%, or 80 cents, to $12.04, on news of the bid. King's key revenue drivers include Avinza, which treats chronic pain, and Skelaxin, a muscle relaxant. The drugs had sales of $653 million and $440 million, respectively in 2007, making up about half of the company's total revenue of $2.14 billion.
"It would also further diversify King’s business with an additional source of steady cash flow from Alpharma’s Animal Health division, a leading feed additives business," added Markison.
The Bristol, Tenn.-based pharma announced on Friday that it has offered Alpharma (nyse: ALO - news - people ) a $33.00, all-cash bid that valued the company at $1.4 billion. The offer is a 37.3% premium over Alpharma's closing share price on Thursday. Alpharma, which makes pharmaceuticals for humans and animals, previously rejected King Pharmaceuticals (nyse: KG - news - people ) when contacted in July and early August, according to a letter written by King's chairman, Brian Markison.
But maybe Alpharma's board was on to something. Investors of the Bridgewater, N.J.-based company pushed its shares up beyond the offer price on Friday morning. Shares of Alpharma were up 42.3%, or $10.17, to $34.21. Alpharma didn't respond to calls for comment. Alpharma develops painkiller Kadian, which had sales of $167.7 million, in 2007.
Despite the response from the board and the clear response from shareholders, Markison said in his letter that King planned to forge on with the deal anyway. "We continue to prefer to work together with you and your board to complete a negotiated transaction, and we are prepared to commit all necessary resources to do so. If we are unable to negotiate a transaction, we are prepared to take this offer directly to your stockholders," said Markison.
Jeffries analyst Dave Windley said that he would expect the offer to go higher, likely to the range of $36.00 to $38.00 per share. He added that Endo Pharmaceuticals (nasdaq: ENDP - news - people ) and Cephalon (nasdaq: CEPH - news - people ) may also be interested in acquiring Alpharma, but that King would be the best for the company.
Shares of King, which specializes in research and development and pain drugs, jumped 7.1%, or 80 cents, to $12.04, on news of the bid. King's key revenue drivers include Avinza, which treats chronic pain, and Skelaxin, a muscle relaxant. The drugs had sales of $653 million and $440 million, respectively in 2007, making up about half of the company's total revenue of $2.14 billion.
"It would also further diversify King’s business with an additional source of steady cash flow from Alpharma’s Animal Health division, a leading feed additives business," added Markison.
Medio Systems Inc. to benefit deal between Google and Verizon
Telecom company Verizon Communications Inc. is nearing agreement with Google Inc. on a wide-ranging deal to boost internet searches by cell phone users, according a report in The Wall Street Journal.
Verizon (NYSE: VZ) considered other possible partners for the mobile search deal, including Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), of Redmond, Wash., the report said.
A Seattle startup, Medio Systems Inc., may benefit from a Verizon-Google tie-up. Medio Systems already handles digital content searches for Verizon and would manage an enhanced search service in the event of a Google deal, The Wall Street Journal said.
Verizon, of New York, and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), of Mountain View, Calif., are still negotiating key issues and the deal isn’t final yet, the report said.
Verizon (NYSE: VZ) considered other possible partners for the mobile search deal, including Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), of Redmond, Wash., the report said.
A Seattle startup, Medio Systems Inc., may benefit from a Verizon-Google tie-up. Medio Systems already handles digital content searches for Verizon and would manage an enhanced search service in the event of a Google deal, The Wall Street Journal said.
Verizon, of New York, and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), of Mountain View, Calif., are still negotiating key issues and the deal isn’t final yet, the report said.
Oil Declines, and Markets Push Higher
Continuing a rally that began Thursday afternoon, shares on Wall Street rose Friday in response to a decline in oil prices, speculation that Lehman Brothers might be sold and expectations that the federal government would soon reaffirm its support of the troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
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The Dow Jones industrial average was up 180 points, or 1.58 percent, early Friday afternoon, and the S.&P. 500-stock index rose 0.91 percent. The Nasdaq was up 1.2 percent.
Light sweet crude oil was down $3.78 to $117.40 a barrel after surging more than $5 on Thursday. Given that energy prices have been the main driver of record-high inflation over the last few months, the dropping oil price helped relieved market-wide fears.
The prices of other commodities, including gold and corn, also fell on Friday after climbs earlier this week.
“As I look at the markets, we’re going up one day, down the other day,” said Edward Rombach, derivative markets analyst at Thomson Reuters. “Gold and oil go up and the dollar goes down, and the reverse happens the next day. The swings are pretty big.”
The dollar strengthened against the euro Friday, climbing 0.7 percent to $1.4796 per euro, from $1.4899 on Thursday.
Speculation that the troubled brokerage firm Lehman Brothers might be bought by the Korea Development Bank was taken as good news by investors wary of the shock waves that have rippled through the financial sector. Lehman rose $1.76 to $15.48. Its stock price has fallen about 76 percent over the last year.
“After what happened with Bear Stearns, there were concerns that Lehman might be the next shoe to drop,” said Alec Young, equity strategist at Standard & Poor’s Equity Research, referring to a Fed-engineered buyout of Bear Stearns by its rival JPMorgan Chase in March. “The possibility that something might be happening with Lehman is helping stabilize things, since one firm’s state can have a broad effect on the entire market.”
Other banks stocks were also slightly higher. Morgan Stanley rose 1.9 percent; Citigroup was 0.5 percent higher; and Merrill Lynch, 0.58 percent.
Analysts said the markets had also gotten a lift from rumors that Treasury officials might soon make a speech reaffirming their guarantee of Fannie Mae and Fannie Mac. Rumors about a forthcoming statement along these lines have been swirling for several days and strengthened on Thursday afternoon.
“The spreads coming in now are an indication that the market believes, and that it would be the logical next step, that Treasury explicitly backs Fannie and Freddie,” said Quincy Krosby, chief investment strategist at The Hartford. “They are too big to fail. They are the epicenter of the meltdown.”
A tempered speech Friday from the Federal Reserve chairman Ben S. Bernanke indicating that the Fed was not likely to raise interest rates anytime soon also buoyed investors.
“The recent decline in commodity prices, as well as the increased stability of the dollar, has been encouraging,” Mr. Bernanke said. “If not reversed, these developments, together with a pace of growth that is likely to fall short of potential for a time, should lead inflation to moderate later this year and next year.”
Mr. Bernanke hedged his words by saying that “the inflation outlook remains highly uncertain.”
Friday’s stock rally has led some analysts to give optimistic views of the near future.
“The combination of good news today and the fact that the market appeared to be sold out yesterday leads me to believe that at least for the near term we’ve got a sold out market,” said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at R.W. Baird & Company. “The news that we’re getting on commodity prices and financials is not new, so those who are looking to sell on that have already done so.”
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The Dow Jones industrial average was up 180 points, or 1.58 percent, early Friday afternoon, and the S.&P. 500-stock index rose 0.91 percent. The Nasdaq was up 1.2 percent.
Light sweet crude oil was down $3.78 to $117.40 a barrel after surging more than $5 on Thursday. Given that energy prices have been the main driver of record-high inflation over the last few months, the dropping oil price helped relieved market-wide fears.
The prices of other commodities, including gold and corn, also fell on Friday after climbs earlier this week.
“As I look at the markets, we’re going up one day, down the other day,” said Edward Rombach, derivative markets analyst at Thomson Reuters. “Gold and oil go up and the dollar goes down, and the reverse happens the next day. The swings are pretty big.”
The dollar strengthened against the euro Friday, climbing 0.7 percent to $1.4796 per euro, from $1.4899 on Thursday.
Speculation that the troubled brokerage firm Lehman Brothers might be bought by the Korea Development Bank was taken as good news by investors wary of the shock waves that have rippled through the financial sector. Lehman rose $1.76 to $15.48. Its stock price has fallen about 76 percent over the last year.
“After what happened with Bear Stearns, there were concerns that Lehman might be the next shoe to drop,” said Alec Young, equity strategist at Standard & Poor’s Equity Research, referring to a Fed-engineered buyout of Bear Stearns by its rival JPMorgan Chase in March. “The possibility that something might be happening with Lehman is helping stabilize things, since one firm’s state can have a broad effect on the entire market.”
Other banks stocks were also slightly higher. Morgan Stanley rose 1.9 percent; Citigroup was 0.5 percent higher; and Merrill Lynch, 0.58 percent.
Analysts said the markets had also gotten a lift from rumors that Treasury officials might soon make a speech reaffirming their guarantee of Fannie Mae and Fannie Mac. Rumors about a forthcoming statement along these lines have been swirling for several days and strengthened on Thursday afternoon.
“The spreads coming in now are an indication that the market believes, and that it would be the logical next step, that Treasury explicitly backs Fannie and Freddie,” said Quincy Krosby, chief investment strategist at The Hartford. “They are too big to fail. They are the epicenter of the meltdown.”
A tempered speech Friday from the Federal Reserve chairman Ben S. Bernanke indicating that the Fed was not likely to raise interest rates anytime soon also buoyed investors.
“The recent decline in commodity prices, as well as the increased stability of the dollar, has been encouraging,” Mr. Bernanke said. “If not reversed, these developments, together with a pace of growth that is likely to fall short of potential for a time, should lead inflation to moderate later this year and next year.”
Mr. Bernanke hedged his words by saying that “the inflation outlook remains highly uncertain.”
Friday’s stock rally has led some analysts to give optimistic views of the near future.
“The combination of good news today and the fact that the market appeared to be sold out yesterday leads me to believe that at least for the near term we’ve got a sold out market,” said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at R.W. Baird & Company. “The news that we’re getting on commodity prices and financials is not new, so those who are looking to sell on that have already done so.”
Boeing's Game: Bid or No Bid?
Its threat to pull out of the renewed Air Force tanker competition with Northrop/EADS could rile up Congress—possibly just what Boeing wants
by Joseph Weber and Keith Epstein
BW Exclusives
Boeing's Game: Bid or No Bid?
Stocks Sharply Higher after Bernanke Speech
The Final Fate of Fannie and Freddie
Apple's Ambitious iPhone 3G Plans
MBA Moms Most Likely to Opt Out
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The high-stakes poker game between Boeing and the Northrop Grumman/EADS alliance to build $35 billion worth of airborne refueling tankers is taking a new and—for Boeing—very risky turn. Boeing says it has "little option" but to pull out of the tanker competition if the Defense Dept. doesn't give it six months to submit proposals for the larger plane with greater fuel capacity sought by the Air Force.
Company spokesman Daniel C. Beck tells BusinessWeek that "if Boeing is unable to secure sufficient time to prepare a competitive proposal, there is little option for Boeing other than to no-bid." Within Boeing, sources tell BusinessWeek, some managers are arguing for pulling out of the competition regardless of what the military does.
Boeing on Aug. 21 leaked word to The Wall Street Journal that it may fold its cards. Jim Albaugh, head of Boeing's defense unit, warned that "there is a really high likelihood that we would no-bid the program" if the company doesn't get the time he says it needs to recast its plans to accommodate a bigger plane than Boeing has long planned on.
The Defense Dept., in reopening the competition Aug. 6, gave both planemakers until Oct. 1 to submit new bids and to enter more discussions that would lead to "best and final" offers by the end of November or early December. It said it wants to have the competition wrapped up by New Year's Day, well in advance of a new Administration and Congress. Boeing (BA) supporters have said that timetable is far too short (BusinessWeek.com, 8/13/08) to shape a new proposal, even though Boeing has had since at least February to retool its bid. It was in February that the Air Force awarded the contract to the Northrop (NOC) alliance, triggering a protest by Boeing that led to a new competition.
Boeing's Strategy
Although the threat of taking its chips off the table suggests that Boeing plans to simply quit, the move actually may improve the company's chances of winning the new battle. Such a delay could move the decision into the hands of a new White House and Congress that might be more inclined to favor Boeing. Boeing would be taking a gamble that Democrats would control Washington, since they generally are believed to tilt in favor of the heavily unionized company, and even more so because Northrop is allied with EADS, or European Aeronautic Defence & Space (EAD.PA), maker of Airbus planes.
So far, Democratic politicians from Washington State, where Boeing does much of its manufacturing, have pushed hard for the home company. They have pressed for more time and sought to have the decision made by Congress, instead of the Pentagon or the Air Force. The Air Force made significant errors in awarding the contract at first to the Northrop partnership, the Government Accountability Office ruled in June after a Boeing protest. Among them, GAO said, was giving extra credit for a larger plane—based on the Airbus A330 model—after telling both companies initially that it wouldn't give such credit. Boeing based its design on its smaller 767 commercial jet. This was deemed unfair.
If Boeing does actually pull out of the competition, analysts say, it would be betting that Congress won't tolerate a no-bid situation, preferring competition over what would amount to a single-supplier award. The company may figure that Congress would prefer to extend the deadline for just a few months to make sure the Pentagon has a reasonable choice. Indeed, Albaugh in his comments to The Wall Street Journal minimized the delay. "This is an airplane that's going to be in the inventory 40 years," he said.
by Joseph Weber and Keith Epstein
BW Exclusives
Boeing's Game: Bid or No Bid?
Stocks Sharply Higher after Bernanke Speech
The Final Fate of Fannie and Freddie
Apple's Ambitious iPhone 3G Plans
MBA Moms Most Likely to Opt Out
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The high-stakes poker game between Boeing and the Northrop Grumman/EADS alliance to build $35 billion worth of airborne refueling tankers is taking a new and—for Boeing—very risky turn. Boeing says it has "little option" but to pull out of the tanker competition if the Defense Dept. doesn't give it six months to submit proposals for the larger plane with greater fuel capacity sought by the Air Force.
Company spokesman Daniel C. Beck tells BusinessWeek that "if Boeing is unable to secure sufficient time to prepare a competitive proposal, there is little option for Boeing other than to no-bid." Within Boeing, sources tell BusinessWeek, some managers are arguing for pulling out of the competition regardless of what the military does.
Boeing on Aug. 21 leaked word to The Wall Street Journal that it may fold its cards. Jim Albaugh, head of Boeing's defense unit, warned that "there is a really high likelihood that we would no-bid the program" if the company doesn't get the time he says it needs to recast its plans to accommodate a bigger plane than Boeing has long planned on.
The Defense Dept., in reopening the competition Aug. 6, gave both planemakers until Oct. 1 to submit new bids and to enter more discussions that would lead to "best and final" offers by the end of November or early December. It said it wants to have the competition wrapped up by New Year's Day, well in advance of a new Administration and Congress. Boeing (BA) supporters have said that timetable is far too short (BusinessWeek.com, 8/13/08) to shape a new proposal, even though Boeing has had since at least February to retool its bid. It was in February that the Air Force awarded the contract to the Northrop (NOC) alliance, triggering a protest by Boeing that led to a new competition.
Boeing's Strategy
Although the threat of taking its chips off the table suggests that Boeing plans to simply quit, the move actually may improve the company's chances of winning the new battle. Such a delay could move the decision into the hands of a new White House and Congress that might be more inclined to favor Boeing. Boeing would be taking a gamble that Democrats would control Washington, since they generally are believed to tilt in favor of the heavily unionized company, and even more so because Northrop is allied with EADS, or European Aeronautic Defence & Space (EAD.PA), maker of Airbus planes.
So far, Democratic politicians from Washington State, where Boeing does much of its manufacturing, have pushed hard for the home company. They have pressed for more time and sought to have the decision made by Congress, instead of the Pentagon or the Air Force. The Air Force made significant errors in awarding the contract at first to the Northrop partnership, the Government Accountability Office ruled in June after a Boeing protest. Among them, GAO said, was giving extra credit for a larger plane—based on the Airbus A330 model—after telling both companies initially that it wouldn't give such credit. Boeing based its design on its smaller 767 commercial jet. This was deemed unfair.
If Boeing does actually pull out of the competition, analysts say, it would be betting that Congress won't tolerate a no-bid situation, preferring competition over what would amount to a single-supplier award. The company may figure that Congress would prefer to extend the deadline for just a few months to make sure the Pentagon has a reasonable choice. Indeed, Albaugh in his comments to The Wall Street Journal minimized the delay. "This is an airplane that's going to be in the inventory 40 years," he said.
"What we're asking for is an additional four months to have a meaningful competition."
Says Boeing's Beck: "Keep in mind that in the first competition it was nine months" from first indications of the Air Force's requirements to submission by the aircraft manufacturers of their first proposals. It takes months, he says, to "thoroughly understand the requirements, conduct trade studies, finalize a configuration determine costs, and then align costs and schedule."
Boeing has hinted at seeking more time for a while, and the Washington rumor mill has been abuzz about the companys next move for weeks. In a statement e-mailed to BusinessWeek last week after Boeing officials met at Ohio's Wright Patterson Air Force Base with Defense officials, company spokesman Beck made clear Boeing's preference for a recast request for proposal, or RFP. "We hope that it was just the beginning of a continuing dialogue as we move toward a final RFP that prescribes the right aircraft and gives appropriate weight to all of the capabilities that will be required for the evolving mission over the next several decades," Beck said. "Boeing remains committed to providing the Air Force with a next-generation tanker that meets real-world mission requirements and that is selected through a fair, open, and unbiased competition that follows a realistic timetable."
The Air Force Already Blinked Once
By contrast, Northrop officials have welcomed the shorter timetable, and they say enough time has elapsed. Northrop Vice-President Paul Meyer called his company's session with Defense officials a "productive review." He said the Defense Dept. won't alter the specifications it laid down when Northrop Grumman won the first round. "It is also clear that the department recognizes the need to begin production of the next generation of aerial refueling tankers as quickly as possible," Meyer added in a prepared statement, noting that the current tanker fleet is nearly 50 years old. "We look forward to submitting our proposal within the timeline established by the Defense Dept."
While Northrop favors speed—figuring that the Pentagon is tilting its way—it, too, has proven a shrewd poker player at times. Last year it threatened to pull out of the competition unless the military altered its initial bid request, and the Air Force obliged it. That time the Air Force blinked. This time, however, the Pentagon may be hard-pressed to blink again.
Boeing began considering using its 767 as a new tanker as early as 1992; it might have used a larger plane in the recent tanker competition, but the company says it had no idea the Air Force would want a plane with more fuel and cargo capacity.
"We still believe it was the right plane for that competition," says Beck. Boeing and military officials have no meetings scheduled between now and the anticipated release of a final request for proposals by the Air Force next week.
Bernanke Says U.S. Inflation Should Slow Into 2009
Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said inflation should ease later this year and in 2009, while warning that policy makers will act if price increases don't slow over the ``medium term.''
A recovery in the dollar and declines in commodity prices ``should lead inflation to moderate,'' Bernanke said in a speech to the annual Fed conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming today. The Fed ``is committed to achieving medium-term price stability and will act as necessary to obtain that objective,'' he said.
The Fed chief said the benchmark interest rate is ``relatively low'' given an increase in price pressures. Financial turmoil has ``not yet subsided,'' and is contributing to weaker economic growth and higher unemployment, he said.
Bernanke said that as the central bank deals with the current turmoil, officials must also consider how to overhaul regulations to minimize the risk of future crises. He reiterated his endorsement of the Treasury getting power to resolve failing investment banks, and signaled a need for a new, comprehensive supervision of systemic risk.
Policy makers will ``continue to review'' the Fed's measures to ensure liquidity to determine ``if they are having their intended effects,'' Bernanke said. The central bank has introduced several tools since December to provide liquidity to commercial and investment banks.
Bernanke's comments on inflation follow government figures last week that showed consumer prices climbed the most in 17 years in the 12 months to July, propelled by energy and food costs.
Futures Trading
Traders added to bets that the Fed will increase borrowing costs by the end of the year, futures prices show. Odds of at least a quarter point boost in the main rate by the end of December rose to 26 percent from 18 percent yesterday. The highest probability is that the Federal Open Market Committee keeps the rate at 2 percent until next year, the contracts show.
Bernanke ``seems really comfortable with where policy is right now,'' said John Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia Corp. in Charlotte, North Carolina. ``The challenge is how patient is the Fed going to be.''
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index advanced 0.8 percent, to 1,287.68 at noon in New York. The dollar climbed 0.7 percent to $1.4803 per euro. Gold lost $12 to $825.01, while two-year Treasury notes slid, sending their yields up to 2.40 percent, from 2.31 percent.
`Severe' Disruptions
In his speech to the Kansas City Fed Bank's two-day conference on financial stability, Bernanke again defended the Fed's role in keeping Bear Stearns Cos. from collapse, and said ``the economy could hardly have remained immune from such severe financial disruptions.''
Former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker and other ex-central bankers have warned in recent months that the Bear Stearns rescue will encourage investors to take on excessive risk and set the stage for bigger bailouts.
``Where can the limits be drawn?'' Volcker, the Fed chairman from 1979 until 1987, said June 9. The following month, the Fed opened up discount window lending to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to revive confidence in the two largest U.S. mortgage finance companies.
The Fed chairman has tried for the past year to curb a global credit crisis that has led to a higher U.S. jobless rate, slower economic growth and some $505 billion in credit losses at financial firms.
Fed Powers
Bernanke asked Congress to give the Fed more authority over the U.S. payments system, and to consider devising a way to resolve failing investment banks. He also said regulators must shift their focus and consider how individual banks and brokers may together present large risks to the financial system.
``Making the systemic risk rationale for guidances and reviews'' of financial firms ``more explicit is certainly feasible and would be a useful step toward a more systemic orientation for financial regulation and supervision,'' Bernanke, 54, said to the conference of scholars and central bankers.
Bernanke also called for ``stress tests, not at the firm level as occurs now, but for a range of firms and markets simultaneously.'' Such exams might ``reveal important interactions that are missed by stress tests at the level of the individual firm.'' He said the technical and information requirements regulators need to conduct such tests ``could be daunting.''
Fed Lending
The Fed has opened up lending to nonbanks for the first time since the Great Depression, accepted mortgage debt as collateral for loans and cut the interest rate on its discount window lending. The measures have broadened the Fed's oversight and lender-of-last resort role.
Bernanke opened the discount window to investment banks in March after rescuing Bear Stearns Cos. from bankruptcy. The Fed facilitated the firm's merger with JPMorgan Chase & Co. by loaning against $29 billion of Bear securities. It opened the discount window in July to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the largest U.S. mortgage finance companies.
``They are in a lot of new lines of business now in terms of lending to entities they didn't use to, in terms of taking credit risk that central banks don't usually have,'' Vincent Reinhart, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and former director of the Board's Division of Monetary Affairs said before the speech. ``The Federal Reserve is over-extended.''
Central bankers have also reduced the benchmark lending rate 3.25 percentage points since September to 2 percent. They have kept the rate at that level since April even as the consumer price index rose to 5.6 percent in July, the fastest increase on an annual basis in 17 years.
Mortgage Delinquencies
While the Fed has expanded its lending, markets instability has continued and credit has remained scarce. Investors are concerned mortgages delinquencies will increase, leading to greater losses at banks and other financial institutions.
Shares of Fannie Mae have fallen 58 percent this month, while shares of Freddie Mac have fallen 61 percent.
Nearly a quarter of all adjustable rate mortgages to borrowers with weak or limited credit history were delinquent in the first quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Meanwhile, some 463,000 Americans have lost jobs since January, and economists expect annualized rates of growth of just 1.2 percent in the third quarter and 0.45 percent in the fourth quarter, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg Survey.
A recovery in the dollar and declines in commodity prices ``should lead inflation to moderate,'' Bernanke said in a speech to the annual Fed conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming today. The Fed ``is committed to achieving medium-term price stability and will act as necessary to obtain that objective,'' he said.
The Fed chief said the benchmark interest rate is ``relatively low'' given an increase in price pressures. Financial turmoil has ``not yet subsided,'' and is contributing to weaker economic growth and higher unemployment, he said.
Bernanke said that as the central bank deals with the current turmoil, officials must also consider how to overhaul regulations to minimize the risk of future crises. He reiterated his endorsement of the Treasury getting power to resolve failing investment banks, and signaled a need for a new, comprehensive supervision of systemic risk.
Policy makers will ``continue to review'' the Fed's measures to ensure liquidity to determine ``if they are having their intended effects,'' Bernanke said. The central bank has introduced several tools since December to provide liquidity to commercial and investment banks.
Bernanke's comments on inflation follow government figures last week that showed consumer prices climbed the most in 17 years in the 12 months to July, propelled by energy and food costs.
Futures Trading
Traders added to bets that the Fed will increase borrowing costs by the end of the year, futures prices show. Odds of at least a quarter point boost in the main rate by the end of December rose to 26 percent from 18 percent yesterday. The highest probability is that the Federal Open Market Committee keeps the rate at 2 percent until next year, the contracts show.
Bernanke ``seems really comfortable with where policy is right now,'' said John Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia Corp. in Charlotte, North Carolina. ``The challenge is how patient is the Fed going to be.''
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index advanced 0.8 percent, to 1,287.68 at noon in New York. The dollar climbed 0.7 percent to $1.4803 per euro. Gold lost $12 to $825.01, while two-year Treasury notes slid, sending their yields up to 2.40 percent, from 2.31 percent.
`Severe' Disruptions
In his speech to the Kansas City Fed Bank's two-day conference on financial stability, Bernanke again defended the Fed's role in keeping Bear Stearns Cos. from collapse, and said ``the economy could hardly have remained immune from such severe financial disruptions.''
Former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker and other ex-central bankers have warned in recent months that the Bear Stearns rescue will encourage investors to take on excessive risk and set the stage for bigger bailouts.
``Where can the limits be drawn?'' Volcker, the Fed chairman from 1979 until 1987, said June 9. The following month, the Fed opened up discount window lending to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to revive confidence in the two largest U.S. mortgage finance companies.
The Fed chairman has tried for the past year to curb a global credit crisis that has led to a higher U.S. jobless rate, slower economic growth and some $505 billion in credit losses at financial firms.
Fed Powers
Bernanke asked Congress to give the Fed more authority over the U.S. payments system, and to consider devising a way to resolve failing investment banks. He also said regulators must shift their focus and consider how individual banks and brokers may together present large risks to the financial system.
``Making the systemic risk rationale for guidances and reviews'' of financial firms ``more explicit is certainly feasible and would be a useful step toward a more systemic orientation for financial regulation and supervision,'' Bernanke, 54, said to the conference of scholars and central bankers.
Bernanke also called for ``stress tests, not at the firm level as occurs now, but for a range of firms and markets simultaneously.'' Such exams might ``reveal important interactions that are missed by stress tests at the level of the individual firm.'' He said the technical and information requirements regulators need to conduct such tests ``could be daunting.''
Fed Lending
The Fed has opened up lending to nonbanks for the first time since the Great Depression, accepted mortgage debt as collateral for loans and cut the interest rate on its discount window lending. The measures have broadened the Fed's oversight and lender-of-last resort role.
Bernanke opened the discount window to investment banks in March after rescuing Bear Stearns Cos. from bankruptcy. The Fed facilitated the firm's merger with JPMorgan Chase & Co. by loaning against $29 billion of Bear securities. It opened the discount window in July to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the largest U.S. mortgage finance companies.
``They are in a lot of new lines of business now in terms of lending to entities they didn't use to, in terms of taking credit risk that central banks don't usually have,'' Vincent Reinhart, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and former director of the Board's Division of Monetary Affairs said before the speech. ``The Federal Reserve is over-extended.''
Central bankers have also reduced the benchmark lending rate 3.25 percentage points since September to 2 percent. They have kept the rate at that level since April even as the consumer price index rose to 5.6 percent in July, the fastest increase on an annual basis in 17 years.
Mortgage Delinquencies
While the Fed has expanded its lending, markets instability has continued and credit has remained scarce. Investors are concerned mortgages delinquencies will increase, leading to greater losses at banks and other financial institutions.
Shares of Fannie Mae have fallen 58 percent this month, while shares of Freddie Mac have fallen 61 percent.
Nearly a quarter of all adjustable rate mortgages to borrowers with weak or limited credit history were delinquent in the first quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Meanwhile, some 463,000 Americans have lost jobs since January, and economists expect annualized rates of growth of just 1.2 percent in the third quarter and 0.45 percent in the fourth quarter, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg Survey.
No NSG decision on India waiver, next meet in Sep
Vienna (PTI): India's efforts to get a quick and clean exemption from the Nuclear Suppliers Group for doing nuclear commerce did not materialise on Friday in the face of reservations expressed by some countries that could lead to rewording of the draft waiver.
The 45-nation group will meet early next month, possibly on September 4-5, to consider the changes which US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said are necessary to accommodate the concerns raised by some countries.
"The meeting was positive... Many delegates raised some questions and the US is pleased (with that). I remain optimistic and we will continue to make progress," John Rood, leader of the US delegation at the NSG meet, told reporters after the two-day discussions.
"The NSG will meet again in the near future to work on these constructive discussions," he said.
After intense deliberations over the move that will end India's 34-year-old isolation in the civil nuclear commerce, diplomats said no final decision could be arrived at.
Further discussions will be required for which the NSG is expected to be convened again on September 4 and 5, they said.
The discussions remained inconclusive as some members raised questions over the move to grant waiver to India since it is not a signatory to the NPT.
Indications that the decision could be delayed emerged during the day when Boucher said in Mumbai that some amendments would be made to the draft waiver moved at the NSG.
The proposals for amendments in the draft were made by some countries during the deliberations at the two-day meet.
New Zealand, Switzerland and Austria particularly aired non-proliferation and nuclear testing issues and questioned why the exemption should be given to India which is not a signatory to the NPT.
Boucher said some countries had "objections" and "we need to listen" to them.
"I don't want to lie to you...I can't really lie. There might be some changes that we could accept. But we are pushing for a clean text", Boucher told reporters in Mumbai.
"The US and India will have to sit together and see what we can accommodate and what we can't. We will have to talk to the other governments involved", said Boucher who will meet officials of External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi on Monday.
He did not specify as to what kind of changes would be made in the draft which was finalised after tough negotiations between Washington and New Delhi and was moved by the US at the NSG meet on Thursday.
Boucher, however, said nothing will be done to "impede" the implementation of the Indo-US nuclear deal.
Sources in Vienna said some changes would be made in the language of the draft and the US will bring it back at the next NSG meeting.
India has maintained that it would not accept any conditions being attached to the waiver.
The NSG meeting on September 4-5 will be crucial considering the time constraint for operationalization of the Indo-US nuclear deal.
After the NSG clearance, the deal will go back for final vote by the US Congress which will meet on September 8 for a three-week session, the last before the American Presidential elections.
The 45-nation group will meet early next month, possibly on September 4-5, to consider the changes which US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said are necessary to accommodate the concerns raised by some countries.
"The meeting was positive... Many delegates raised some questions and the US is pleased (with that). I remain optimistic and we will continue to make progress," John Rood, leader of the US delegation at the NSG meet, told reporters after the two-day discussions.
"The NSG will meet again in the near future to work on these constructive discussions," he said.
After intense deliberations over the move that will end India's 34-year-old isolation in the civil nuclear commerce, diplomats said no final decision could be arrived at.
Further discussions will be required for which the NSG is expected to be convened again on September 4 and 5, they said.
The discussions remained inconclusive as some members raised questions over the move to grant waiver to India since it is not a signatory to the NPT.
Indications that the decision could be delayed emerged during the day when Boucher said in Mumbai that some amendments would be made to the draft waiver moved at the NSG.
The proposals for amendments in the draft were made by some countries during the deliberations at the two-day meet.
New Zealand, Switzerland and Austria particularly aired non-proliferation and nuclear testing issues and questioned why the exemption should be given to India which is not a signatory to the NPT.
Boucher said some countries had "objections" and "we need to listen" to them.
"I don't want to lie to you...I can't really lie. There might be some changes that we could accept. But we are pushing for a clean text", Boucher told reporters in Mumbai.
"The US and India will have to sit together and see what we can accommodate and what we can't. We will have to talk to the other governments involved", said Boucher who will meet officials of External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi on Monday.
He did not specify as to what kind of changes would be made in the draft which was finalised after tough negotiations between Washington and New Delhi and was moved by the US at the NSG meet on Thursday.
Boucher, however, said nothing will be done to "impede" the implementation of the Indo-US nuclear deal.
Sources in Vienna said some changes would be made in the language of the draft and the US will bring it back at the next NSG meeting.
India has maintained that it would not accept any conditions being attached to the waiver.
The NSG meeting on September 4-5 will be crucial considering the time constraint for operationalization of the Indo-US nuclear deal.
After the NSG clearance, the deal will go back for final vote by the US Congress which will meet on September 8 for a three-week session, the last before the American Presidential elections.
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