Source: www.mediaite.com – Friday, March 30, 2012 It began with some lighting problems in his Countdown digs , and ended, today, with Keith Olbermann ‘s firing by Current TV for what sources close to the situation say is “serial, material breach of contract.” Olbermann, for his part, says the claims against him by Current are “untrue,” and that he plans to sue. He’s currently engaged in a Twitter tirade against Current executives Joel Hyatt and former VP Al Gore . Olbermann was fired via a written letter delivered Thursday morning to Nick Khan, agent for Mr. Olbermann, and the source says that the decision “reflected a unanimous agreement amongst the senior management” at Current TV, based on ”Mr. Olbermann’s serial, material breach of his contract, including the failure to show up at work (Unauthorized Absences); sabotaging the network (Failure To Promote); and attacking Current and its executives (Disparagement).” Current executives fired Olbermann because “Mr. Olbermann did not respect the viewers of Current, as he was contractually obligated to do so; and did not support what Current is trying to do when it comes to being a progressive media platform at a time of major corporate consolidation of media properties per his contract,” the source says. Olbermann released a statement disputing Current’s version of events, but note the parsing:(emphasis mine) I’d like to apologize to my viewers and my staff for the failure of Current TV. Editorially, Countdown had never been better
Source: www.businessinsider.com – Friday, March 30, 2012 Apple is working on a new 3D camera that could be used in the iPhone , iPad , and potentially other devices, according to a patent unearthed by Patently Apple . The camera would make full use of Apple devices’ Retina displays to show off 3D images in greater detail than any other 3D camera around today. It’ll also be capable of intelligent facial and gesture recognition. Keep in mind this is just a patent. It doesn’t guarantee we’ll see such a 3D camera any time soon. Patently Apple has all the full specs of the 3D camera patent, so check it out > Please follow SAI: Tools on Twitter and Facebook . Join the conversation about this story » See Also: Future Apple Gadgets Could Be Made Entirely Of Glass There’s Actually A Good Use For iPads Getting Too Hot REPORT: The iPhone 5 Screen Size Will Be The Same, But Everything Else Will Be Different
Source: arstechnica.com – Friday, March 30, 2012 Google Drive rumors have been piling up lately, with the service reportedly on the verge of launching in the first or second week of April. Now the site TalkAndroid says it has unearthed screenshots from a Google source that show up to 5GB of free storage for each user. Earlier this week, the site showed a screenshot indicating that everyone who signs up for Google Drive will get 2GB of free space. Yesterday, the site followed up with another shot indicating that the number will actually be 5GB for everyone. Purported leaked screenshot of Google Drive download page www.talkandroid.com Why the screenshots would show different starting sizes is unclear. Assuming the images are real, they could have been taken from different stages of development, or may not be representative of the final version that Google will offer. Google Drive has been rumored for years. The Wall Street Journal said in February that it would finally be released in as little as a few weeks. GigaOm reported this week that the release date is expected to be in the first week of April. There are already numerous online storage services offering free space. Dropbox, the most popular one, offers 2GB free to everyone, while Box offers 5GB for free. Read the comments on this post
With the Facebook IPO looming it is very likely that you have heard the story of graffiti artist David Choe. Choe was hired to paint murals in the original Facebook offices (they have since move to a new Facebook Campus). Rather than taking cash for his efforts, Choe decided to let his artist brain decide and took his payment in the form of Facebook stock. That stock should be worth more than $200 million after the Facebook IPO (Facebook IPO looking like May).
Choe is an interesting character who is incredibly talented. In the video below Mark Zuckerberg is helping with one of the murals. He paints a simple stick figure and Choe effortlessly turns that stick figure into a face. It is funny how a real artist can see things so differently. It was also funny to hear Zuckerberg state that he has never sprayed paint before. I guess he won’t be creating his own Pinterest projects anytime soon. Oh, wait, he won’t be building any Pinterest projects anytime soon. A more “Pinterest like” Facebook photo sharing feature should be coming in the near future.
Check out the David Choe / Mark Zuckerberg video below.
So what attributes make up the perfect small business?
Some of us have a money tree we can draw from to create the “perfect small business.” Most of us, however, do not. We have to be wise with our money because we can quickly run out of it. Here are what I believe to be some very important attributes to the perfect small business:
Low or No accounts receivable – I like money in hand immediately.
Favorable competition environment – no competition is a yellow flag. A saturated market is no good either.
Residual or recurring income – Ask a successful insurance agent how nice recurring or ongoing business is.
Low start up costs – If we can get into a business for a low start up cost, we’ve got a shot…right?
Potential for passive income – Working hard is ok if at some point, we can step back and the business won’t die.
Flexibility – I want a life. I don’t want to be married to the job. I prefer normal business hours with free weekends.
Not seasonally or economy dependent – The business should do well regardless of the season or economic environment.
Manageable to Low inventory – tying up money in inventory is no fun.
Low Overhead – high fixed overhead costs will keep you up at night…trust me.
Reasonable labor issues – Ideally, the fewer employees the better. Fewer headaches. But, to create leverage where other people do the work, you’ll have to have some employees.
Market Potential – The business has to have a market for your products and/or services. Income potential has to be good.
There you have it. I realize there are plenty of very good small businesses that have high overhead, are seasonal, or have many employees. However, if you can create a business with as many of these characteristics in mind as possible, you’ll be well on your way to having the perfect business. Good luck.
Many question whether Research in Motion (RIM) will ever make it back to the top of the heap. Can they stop the bleeding of revenue, customers, and talent? It is impossible to know. If they are able to stabilize the ship and come out with revolutionary products that people want to buy again, they might be able to. Remember, Apple was literally a few months from bankruptcy at one point when Jobs came back. Steve Jobs righted the ship by getting in bed with the perceived enemy (Microsoft). Remember the keynote when Jobs announce the MS support and brought Bill Gates up via a video feed? The crowd literally booed. The Apple comeback was amazing and one of the greatest ever. The point is, that it is possible. Perhaps RIM has the engineering talent to create a new market for themselves. Being an also ran isn’t the best growth strategy.
Let’s see what the new CEO is able to do. My hope is that they can come out with a game changer. However, my fear is that they will end up like Yahoo. Struggling, losing share, failing to innovate, killing promising products, and twisting in the wind. Only time will tell.
Is RIM worth investing in? Perhaps. There is a lot of patent value there and MSFT could be a suitor. This should get interesting over the next 24 months. Good luck RIM. Remember, Nokia used to be a paper producer! It is possible to evolve.
TORONTO (Reuters) – Research In Motion posted a net loss and its first slump in BlackBerry shipments for its holiday quarter since 2006, as its new CEO announced the initial steps in a strategic overhaul and would not rule out an eventual sale of the company.
This one starts with the perfect timing of a HUGE lottery jackpot and an April 1st date! Well, almost April 1st. The stars haven’t quite aligned, but the day early prank (if it is this good) might just add to it by catching your victim a bit off guard.
First off, let me suggest that you act natural when you attempt to pull this off. Do not go outside of your normal routine other than making your visible purchase and ticket placement.
The Mega Millions Jackpot is now $540 Million and growing! How would it feel to believe that you were a winner for just a few minutes? A few seconds? Great… and then gut wrenching. I am going to go through the steps in an orderly way. After the steps, I’ll outline the case of a friend partner who played this prank on his wife. It didn’t go too well for her, but it was the perfect prank. It was even difficult to convince her that it was a prank.
You are going to convince someone that they just won one of the largest lottery jackpots ever! Not only that, but they are going to do most of the work and convince themselves based upon your actions. When they do this, they will be so locked in that they won’t be easily convinced that they didn’t win.
The Prank
Obviously this prank needs to take place on or around April 1st with a huge lottery Jackpot on the line. Big enough, that you will go out of your way to purchase a ticket even if you normally don’t. Guess what? It is a perfect storm. It is nearly April Fools day and we have the largest Mega Millions Jackpost ever! If the jackpot is large enough, it isn’t inconceivable that you will go out of your way to play.
Get out the night/day before with the person that you are pulling the prank on. This drawing is on Friday. You could purchase the ticket (actually tickets) on the same day, but it might even be better if you purchase them a bit earlier. Don’t force it, but get out there with the victim and purchase the tickets.
Purchase 2 tickets and after you purchase them, hold on to them and make a joke about what you will do with your winning ticket. They can do what they want with their winning ticket… Don’t go overboard. Make it your own. For example: “I am buying an island with my winnings, you can do what you want with yours, but I am buying an island! Mine is on the outside, so don’t get any bright ideas about stealing my winning ticket”. The 2 ticket part is what locks them in to that being the winning ticket. They now believe that you folded up your 2 tickets and theirs is the one on the inside of the 2 folded tickets.
Wake up the morning after the drawing and get out and find the winning numbers. Take those numbers and buy a ticket for the next drawing date. Get back home and replace the inside ticket with the recently purchased “winning” numbers. It might be difficult to be able to do the ticket swap, so you might need to leave the tickets somewhere like out in a car. If you do that, leave them in the car when you return from your trip to the store to grab “milk” or “a coffee”.
If possible let time pass. Let the other person make the discovery. Be natural about things. If they ask about the tickets let them know you still left them in the car and that you will grab them in a bit. They won’t want to wait.
If they do go out and get the tickets, have them look at them while you read the numbers off to them from the paper or from you phone. Act natural.
Don’t let this one hang in the air for too long. You will have a very disappointed significant other in front of you.
Now, I have to admit. With cell phones and headlines stating that there was no winner, or the winner hails from elsewhere this prank might fall apart. Fifteen years ago when my cruel friend played this one on his wife, there weren’t the same simple methods at our fingertips.
Is US Soccer making progress? Shouldn’t there be dramatic improvement based on all the kids that play soccer in this country? In light of our US team not qualifying for the 2012 London Summer Olympics, these questions are worth asking.
While I might be a little late on the review of the US Men’s soccer team, I just can’t get past how poorly we continue to play. Last Saturday, The US Men’s U23 Olympic team (not sure if that’s an accurate statement since they are decidedly NOT an Olympic team as of Monday night) lost to Canada 2-0 to force a Monday showdown with El Salvador. The US, needing a win, had to play prove that, as the overwhelming favorite, they could take care of business when necessary. It didn’t happen. A 3-3 tie to El Salvador meant the US team will stay home and El Salvador and Canada advance to Kansas City’s semi-final round.
Game Opinion: The US played the first minute and several good minutes in the second half. In between was a series of kick ball games and bad coaching decisions that led to the end of a bid for the 2012 London Summer Olympics. A goal in the last 20 seconds of stoppage time by El Salvador sealed our fate. The goal itself was bad. Don’t believe, here is some footage: El Salvador/USA highlights (or lowlights depending on your point of view!)
I’ve been saying this for years now but I’ll say it again…In a country of 311,000,000 people, can we not find 11 soccer players who can play real soccer? Maybe we need to change the name back to futbol so they start attempting to reach a standard of “soccer” that everyone else is trying to play. It’s so frustrating to sit and watch players kick the ball aimlessly, send misguided passes to the center of the field (see tying goal footage), take horrible first touches, make piss poor coaching decisions by taking out Joe Corona AND captain Freddie Adu, and exhibit strange and hapless defensive play.
It’s really inexcusable. I don’t have the answer. I’m no expert. I get that. But why do I have the SAME QUESTION year after year. El Salvador has about 6,000,000 people in the entire country. We have 9 metro areas with that many people! Canada has 34,000,000 and it snows all the time! When do they even play soccer? I can go on and on about the reasons why US soccer should be far superior to what it is. No wonder why so many Americans prefer to watch other sports. Watching Men’s soccer is like watching ___________ (name a really frustrating and poorly played sport that other countries play extremely well). AAAAHHHHHH!
Frontline ran an episode on the Murdoch scandal last night. If you didn’t catch it, click on the image to head over the the Frontline web site. Full episode online.
LONDON (Reuters) – An angry Rupert Murdoch on Thursday declared war against “enemies” who have accused his pay-TV operation of sabotaging its rivals, denouncing them as “toffs and right wingers” stuck in the last century.
Apple and Foxconn are a force in the global economy. Is there another manufacturer who could step in and take Foxconn’s place as the principle manufacturer for Apple? Highly unlikely. This factory could be a model for others across the world. Apple is forced to ensure that is the case.
There were a number of suicides at the plant over the past year, but it is an enormous place that is essentially its own city. There are reportedly 450,000 employees at the Longhua, Shenzhen factory that is often referred to as Foxconn City or iPod City. There are 15 factories at the location and a quarter of the workers live on site. Some reports will reinforce the fact that suicide rate on-site is lower than the national suicide rate. That may be the case, but it is distorting the facts a bit. Compare the suicide rate of young/middle-aged, employed citizens, who have not be diagnosed with a mental illness. My hunch is that the suicide rate won’t look so hot anymore.
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Apple Inc’s Tim Cook, on his first trip to China as the chief executive officer, has visited an iPhone production plant run by the Foxconn Technology Group, which is being accused of improper labor practices.
It began with some lighting problems in his Countdown digs , and ended, today, with Keith Olbermann ‘s firing by Current TV for what sources close to the situation say is “serial, material breach of contract.” Olbermann, for his part, says the claims against him by Current are “untrue,” and that he plans to sue. He’s currently engaged in a Twitter tirade against Current executives Joel Hyatt and former VP Al Gore . Olbermann was fired via a written letter delivered Thursday morning to Nick Khan, agent for Mr. Olbermann, and the source says that the decision “reflected a unanimous agreement amongst the senior management” at Current TV, based on ”Mr. Olbermann’s serial, material breach of his contract, including the failure to show up at work (Unauthorized Absences); sabotaging the network (Failure To Promote); and attacking Current and its executives (Disparagement).” Current executives fired Olbermann because “Mr. Olbermann did not respect the viewers of Current, as he was contractually obligated to do so; and did not support what Current is trying to do when it comes to being a progressive media platform at a time of major corporate consolidation of media properties per his contract,” the source says. Olbermann released a statement disputing Current’s version of events, but note the parsing:(emphasis mine) I’d like to apologize to my viewers and my staff for the failure of Current TV. Editorially, Countdown had never been better
Apple is working on a new 3D camera that could be used in the iPhone , iPad , and potentially other devices, according to a patent unearthed by Patently Apple . The camera would make full use of Apple devices’ Retina displays to show off 3D images in greater detail than any other 3D camera around today. It’ll also be capable of intelligent facial and gesture recognition. Keep in mind this is just a patent. It doesn’t guarantee we’ll see such a 3D camera any time soon. Patently Apple has all the full specs of the 3D camera patent, so check it out > Please follow SAI: Tools on Twitter and Facebook . Join the conversation about this story » See Also: Future Apple Gadgets Could Be Made Entirely Of Glass There’s Actually A Good Use For iPads Getting Too Hot REPORT: The iPhone 5 Screen Size Will Be The Same, But Everything Else Will Be Different
Google Drive rumors have been piling up lately, with the service reportedly on the verge of launching in the first or second week of April. Now the site TalkAndroid says it has unearthed screenshots from a Google source that show up to 5GB of free storage for each user. Earlier this week, the site showed a screenshot indicating that everyone who signs up for Google Drive will get 2GB of free space. Yesterday, the site followed up with another shot indicating that the number will actually be 5GB for everyone. Purported leaked screenshot of Google Drive download page www.talkandroid.com Why the screenshots would show different starting sizes is unclear. Assuming the images are real, they could have been taken from different stages of development, or may not be representative of the final version that Google will offer. Google Drive has been rumored for years. The Wall Street Journal said in February that it would finally be released in as little as a few weeks. GigaOm reported this week that the release date is expected to be in the first week of April. There are already numerous online storage services offering free space. Dropbox, the most popular one, offers 2GB free to everyone, while Box offers 5GB for free. Read the comments on this post
