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7/3/2008 LVMH's successful case against eBay (eBay hit with £30m fine for sales of fake luxuries, July 1) once again highlights the lack of protection that exists for consumers using online auction sites. The e-commerce of illegal goods impacts on companies in all markets, from fashion and record labels to fragrance and pharmaceutical manufacturers. While auction sites are a great example of how the internet has opened up access to new goods and business opportunities, the online marketplace has been damaged by unscrupulous traders and carries with it its own set of risks. The recent settlement in France sets an expectation on auction sites to ensure that they create a secure and legal shopping environment for consumers, protecting confidence in the e-commerce model. The software industry is committed to raising awareness about the availability and risks of illegal and counterfeit goods on internet auction sites, but the distribution of pirated and unlicensed software, both online and offline, remains big business. Software losses in the UK hit £925m in 2007, highlighting that there is still some way to go to address these deceptive practices. It is essential for auction sites to voluntarily implement stronger policies and procedures, as well as civil and criminal referrals on rogue traders, in order to protect the consumer. In addition, all industries must work together to educate consumers about the risks, so they are more savvy about their purchases. The maxim "if it's too good to be true, it probably is" cannot be overlooked when picking out the genuine article from the fraudulent counterfeits. 
7/3/2008 A council criticised for spending thousands of pounds on bottled water has bought six designer taps costing 2,000 each. 7/3/2008 For some motorists, the very idea would be enough to make them curse out loud. A car clamping company has sparked outrage after introducing an extra 100 fine - if victims swear at their predicament.
7/3/2008 A woman who took out loans of more than 6,000 under false names to pay for Alzheimer's drugs her grandmother needed was spared jail yesterday. 7/3/2008 He wrote the speech in which David Cameron famously urged the nation to 'hug a hoodie'.
7/3/2008 With the blankest of blank expressions on their faces, these mysterious figures have been popping up in the most unlikely of places - including Wimbledon. 7/3/2008 The world famous Jodrell Bank observatory has been thrown a lifeline with the promise of Government cash 'to keep its future secure'. 7/3/2008 Looking like something out of a Fifties B-movie, it slithers and slides through the waves.
7/3/2008 Schools are to be judged on how they improve children's 'wellbeing' by tackling obesity, drug abuse and teenage pregnancy. Teachers will be expected to monitor and record up to 31 detailed aspects. 7/3/2008 A British grandmother has been murdered while on holiday in Tunisia. Pauline Richardson's body was found in the resort of Port El Kantaoui after she was reported missing by her travel companions. 7/3/2008 More than a quarter of MPs employ family members at the taxpayer's expense, it was revealed yesterday. At least 177 MPs, including three Cabinet ministers and six ministers, admitted paying relatives. 7/3/2008 A woman who had a sex change operation and lived as a man has given birth to a girl, it was claimed yesterday. American Thomas Beatie is believed to have had the baby delivered naturally. 7/3/2008 Muslims have become the target of prejudice in the way Jews were once persecuted, a minister has declared. Shahid Malik, an international development minister, said he did not intend any comparison with the Nazi Holocaust. 7/3/2008 For years we have largely managed to resist its smooth, bitter- sweet charms. But now it seems the tastebuds of more and more Britons are being tantalised by dark chocolate.
7/3/2008 Cabinet ministers were among MPs who last night defied public anger and voted to carry on squandering taxpayers' cash on furniture and home improvements. They rejected moves to tighten the rules. 7/3/2008 It may include a ditsy blonde and a puffed up male Penny Smith insists the characters in her first novel are strictly fiction and not based on her GMTV co-stars. 7/3/2008 Like Meryl Streep, producer of Mamma Mia! Judy Craymer is stylish and ballsy. The talented blonde tells of how she brought the musical to life. 7/3/2008 The Rehab singer has been put under 24-hour supervision after she confessed to taking drugs while in rehab. 7/3/2008 Christie Brinkley broke down in tears last night as she told a court how her life 'vanished' on the day she learned her husband was cheating on her with an 18-year-old employee. 7/3/2008 In its monthly advance notice the weekend before the second Tuesday of the month, Microsoft said it will only be addressing four security issues this time around, two dealing with Windows. But a surprisingly big Vista bug fix is under way. 7/3/2008 In purported efforts to help the public "understand the privacy risks of carrying a mobile phone," the ACLU and the EFF are suing the Justice Dept. for "documents, memos, and guides" about procedures used to track individuals through cell phones. 7/3/2008 Released several months ago as a part of Netflix's increasing emphasis on all-digital content delivery, the Netflix set top box by Roku will soon be streaming content from other providers. 7/3/2008 AP - The Bee Gees' Robin Gibb and other European music composers warned Thursday that standardizing music royalties across Europe could hurt musicians and the songs they write. 7/3/2008 TechWeb - InformationWeek - The site runs a script that pretends to do an online security scan of your computer and presents a bogus warning message that your PC is infected with malware, researchers said. 7/3/2008 TechWeb - InformationWeek - The company released firmware 2.40 Tuesday, and reports of problems started flowing in soon after on the official PlayStation 3 message board. 7/3/2008 NewsFactor - Sony is feeling some gaming-division woes this week with a double PlayStation 3 whammy. First, Sony's PlayStation Web site fell victim to SQL-injection attacks. Now Sony's PS3 firmware update is turning some consoles into bricks. 7/3/2008
7/3/2008 CNET - Google scored a legal victory in keeping its search source code secret from Viacom, but YouTube users were not so fortunate with their privacy. 7/3/2008 Reuters - A grubby man in the pub named
Nigel who buys counterfeit DVDs is being replaced by a sheepish
young office worker named Nigel who downloads movies and music
illegally at his desk in a new British ad campaign against
piracy. 7/3/2008
7/3/2008 Investor's Business Daily - Now televisions, digital cameras and game consoles commonly link to the world without those physical ties. 7/3/2008 PC World - A Trojan horse program that has been around for about six years is now being used to steal system-administrator passwords... 7/3/2008 TechWeb - InformationWeek - Customers will have to pay more to use Apple's latest smartphone -- including an extra fee for text messaging. 7/3/2008 NewsFactor - AT&T on Tuesday announced iPhone 3G pricing for new and existing AT&T customers, several voice and data plans, and tips on how to be "iReady" when Apple's iPhone 3G goes on sale. AT&T retail stores will begin offering the new iPhone at 8 a.m. on Friday, July 11. 7/3/2008 TechWeb - InformationWeek - Consumers are drawn to the price point, 3G capabilities, and the integrated GPS, a study from RBC Capital said. 7/3/2008 AP - In a July 1 story about the new version of the iPhone, The Associated Press, relying on information from an AT&T spokesman, erroneously reported that the carrier is working on creating a prepaid plan for the phone. Spokesman Michael Coe later said he miscommunicated, and that there will be no prepaid plan for the iPhone 3G. 7/3/2008 NewsFactor - Last month, Apple announced that its new iPhone 3G would cost just $199 for the 8GB version and $299 for the 16GB version. AT&T confirmed that pricing Tuesday, but clarified that those prices are only for certain users -- buyers of any iPhone before the iPhone 3G goes on sale July 11, new AT&T customers, or subscribers eligible for an upgrade discount. 7/3/2008
7/3/2008 NewsFactor - Openmoko has taken the wraps off its Neo FreeRunner, a Linux-based smartphone based on the company's open mobile-computing platform. Before you yawn about reading yet another product-introduction story -- especially about a handset that lacks 3G capability -- what sets the Neo FreeRunner apart is that it really is open, literally and figuratively. 7/3/2008
7/3/2008 NewsFactor - I first met our solution provider, Ray Tetlow, the founder of Skyytek, on the Oracle Small Business (OSB from now on) user forum. At the time we were struggling with version 7 of OSB. It was really incomplete and badly tested software. Not only was it painfully slow, but also a lot of the features on which we based our purchasing decision just did not work. 7/3/2008
7/3/2008 CNET - A day before the United States celebrates its independence, we continue to question our individual freedoms online. In Thursday's Daily Debrief, CNET News.com Editor in Chief Dan Farber and I discuss a federal judge's recent ruling in the ongoing Google-Viacom lawsuit that orders Google to turn over YouTube user activity. This will include videos watched, IP addresses, and usernames as part of an ongoing copyright infringement case. 7/3/2008 AP - This doesn't sound good: The nonprofit agency in charge of the Internet's addresses recently lost track of its own. 7/3/2008 PC World - Different approaches to wireless Internet access in San Francisco and neighboring Silicon Valley are producing very different... 7/3/2008
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7/3/2008 Playbill - A dawning troupe called Big Sky Theatre Company will present Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke, a sensuous tale of the Gothic South, Aug. 20-31 at the Clurman Theatre in Theatre Row in Manhattan. It is the company's inaugural Off-Broadway production. 7/3/2008
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7/3/2008 NewsFactor - The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation are suing the Department of Justice to obtain official records concerning the U.S. government's possible use of cell-phone-tracking technology to spy on individuals without first obtaining a court order based on probable cause. 7/3/2008 PC World - The perception of Lenovo as a laptop innovator has paid dividends in the enterprise space, but the reputation may not... 7/3/2008
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7/3/2008 Investor's Business Daily - The benchmark 30-year fixed home loan rate fell 10 basis points to 6.35%, ending a 5-week uptrend to a 9-month peak, mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac said. Weaker economic data made a Fed rate hike less likely, pushing Treasury yields and mortgage rates lower. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage slid 12 ticks to 5.92%. The 1-year ARM fell 10 basis points to 5.17%. 7/3/2008 Investor's Business Daily - 1 The 6th straight monthly payrolls drop was in line with forecasts, though April and May payrolls were revised lower. That bodes ill for the economy, but recessions typically have bigger job cuts. Unemployment stayed at 5.5%, defying forecasts for a dip after May's spike. Factories and home builders slashed staff. Rising jobless claims signal more job losses ahead. 7/3/2008 Child health researchers say governments need to improve the way they distribute funding for indigenous children's health programs. 7/3/2008 Health professionals have renewed calls for a ban on alcohol sponsorship of sporting events. 7/3/2008 Recession or not, these are fast becoming hard times, and hard times can lead to bad decisions 7/3/2008 The oldies but goodies of baby boomers are all the rage. 7/3/2008 Avoid these pitfalls and build a team of talented employees. 7/3/2008 Expert VA Lyn Toomey offers her insight on what to expect and how to find help in the virtual world. 7/3/2008 HealthDay - (HealthDay News) -- As a caregiver of someone with Alzheimer's,
administering their medication -- and preventing missed pills or the wrong
dosages -- can be a daunting responsibility. 7/3/2008 Reuters - The U.S. government proposed a 3
percent inflation increase in 2009 Medicare rates for
outpatient services at about 4,000 U.S. hospitals, which will
also impact medical imaging, diagnostic and other health care
services. 7/3/2008 AP - Two large pharmaceutical companies said Thursday they will appeal a jury verdict ordering them to pay more than $114 million for overcharging the state's Medicaid program for prescription drugs. 7/3/2008 Senses Five magazine has an interview with Lauren McLaughlin, a new young adult writer whose debut novel, Cycler, will be published in September. I've known Lauren for some years now and she inevitably says the smartest stuff about writing in any conversation around the table. I've enjoyed her short fiction and the films she wrote immensely, and can't wait to read this book. Storytelling is the foundation of any good novel and I think it's actually a very rare talent. Plenty of writers get by on killer premises and witty style. But effective storytelling is all about structure. It's very mechanical, almost architectural. When you can marry that structure to a framework of ideas, then the novel can transcend pure entertainment. The trick, in my opinion, is to weave these ideas invisibly into the story so that they are discovered, unraveled by the reader. My goal is to seduce my reader into a compelling narrative that whittles away at some preconceived idea and leaves them with an uncomfortable but somehow intriguing gap in their sense of the world. I want them to close the book and have a head full of questions. I'm not interested in merely diverting them for a while or helping them fall asleep. Nor do I want that from the books I read. I want to be unsettled, challenged. I want to close a book and say I never thought of that before. Link (Thanks, Matthew!)... 7/3/2008 When you are having a certain kind of day, revisiting this clip from The Mighty Boosh is wise advice. Kittens in a Barrel [YouTube, thanks Coop].... 7/3/2008 By popular request from weary BB thread commenters, "some ducklings in a bathtub" to look at. [YouTube, thanks #1134 ROSSINDETROIT]... 7/3/2008 Back in April, I told you about the new Shepard Fairey cover designs for Penguin's reissue of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm. They've just gone on sale! Link to Nineteen Eighty-Four, Link to Animal Farm... 7/3/2008 (Update: By total coincidental timing, the VA executive featured in this episode, Charles Ogilvie, announced today he's moving on from VA to do something that sounds equally cool with tech and entertainment. Details at the bottom of the post.) [Xeni Jardin]: Last week, the Boing Boing tv crew was in San Francisco shooting a few upcoming episodes, and our friends at Virgin America (BBtv is shown on the in-flight entertainment system) invited us to come wander around behind security, and peek at the nuts and bolts that are the tech underpinnings of this airline. They're about to launch in-flight wireless internet soon, and they're holding a competition for open source games, the winners of which will be available for people to play in-flight (entries are still being accepted). Virgin America's head of in-flight entertainment, Charles Ogilvie, brought us on board a plane that was empty and at rest between flights. We poked around with the computers and displays (all Linux!) and we tried to IM our friends using the pilot's controls in the cockpit. This did not work so well. My favorite part of this shoot: driving a VA pickup truck around between the resting airplanes, and peeking into the giant abyss where your bags are shuffled around on giant conveyor belt systems, hopefully towards your plane and final destination. Link to Boing Boing tv post with discussion, downloadable video, and instructions on subscribing to the BBtv video podcast. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (Disclaimers: BBtv is an in-flight entertainment partner with Virgin, but BBtv doesn't receive compensation for this. VA once asked Boing Boing to name a plane, and we did, but we weren't paid for this, either. VA has previously been a paid sponsor on Boing Boing the blog. This episode isn't an ad, and we weren't paid to produce it. All of us at BBtv sincerely thought this stuff was cool, and that Charles Ogilvie is a cool guy with interesting ideas, and we had a blast goofing around where the TSA folks generally do not permit one to goof. ) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Update, 07-03-08: BBtv learned today that Charles Ogilvie is moving on from Virgin America. We're bummed we won't be working with him there anymore, he's a cool guy! The timing of this episode and his move are totally coincidental, we weren't aware. Here's the note from VA CEO David Cush, after the jump, and congrats on your next adventures, Charles!... 7/3/2008 Kyle from Bumperactive sez, I wanted to do something to graphically illustrate the way Obama is a new kind of candidate, so I've launched the "50 Ways To Vote Obama" project, where I'm designing a different Barack Bumper Sticker for each state in the Union. I've got stickers for 18 States so published so far (with 10-or-so more on the drawing board) And I'm actively seeking suggestions from the intertoobs to complete the series by the end of July. Link (Thanks, Kyle!)... 7/3/2008 Over at Cryptomundo, Loren Coleman reports on some Sasquatch sightings at JoeCon 2008, the official G.I. Joe Collectors' Convention held last weekend in Frisco, Texas. Southern Fried Bigfoot found the limited edition "Search for the Sasquatch" set above left, for which there's also an accompanying video. And at right is the new G.I. Joe "Search for the Yeti," a modernized version of the 1973 "Search for the Abominable Snowman" set. G.I. Joe and the Sasquatch (Cryptomundo) UPDATE: In the comments, Christovir points out that the G.I. Joe Adventure Team has the exact same logo as the Appalachian Trail. How odd.... 7/3/2008 Simply Audiobooks -- an excellent audiobook retailer in Toronto -- has launched an online store selling all of Random House's DRM-free downloadable titles. Random House is one of the many audiobook publishers that wants to give up on DRM, but they've been thrwarted by Audible (the exclusive supplier of audiobook downloads to Amazon and the iTunes Store) because the company won't sell DRM-free titles even when the publisher and author wish to make their work available without technological restrictions. The good news is that DRM-free formats are much easier to sell and support, which is clearing the way for new entrants into the marketplace like Simply Audiobooks and Zipidee, to compete with Audible. Simply Audiobooks has announced plans to make a full range of Random House audiobook titles available for purchase and download in a DRM-free format. The deal makes the Toronto audiobook retailer the first to offer Random House audiobooks DRM-free, and covers more than 5,000 RH audio titles. Downloads will initially be limited to Simply Audiobooks Download Club members, but a la carte download sales will be available later in the summer. Link (Thanks, Down With Bill C-61!)... 7/3/2008 The image above depicts Golden Rays in the Gulf of Mexico during their migration from Florida to the Yucatan. It's part of a marvelous larger shot taken along with several others by Sandra Critelli, an amateur photog who was on a whale shark expedition. From The Telegraph: "It was an unreal image, very difficult to describe. The surface of the water was covered by warm and different shades of gold and looked like a bed of autumn leaves gently moved by the wind. Golden Rays migration photos (The Telegraph, thanks Brad Keech!)... 7/3/2008 Andrew Brandou, one of my favorite pop surrealist painters, has a show of new work opening tomorrow at the Milieu Galerie/Artspace in Bern, Switzerland. Regular BB readers may remember that last year, Brandou showed a provocative collection of paintings based on the story of Jim Jones and the People's Temple. Brandou's new show is titled Mind Manors and he intends it not just as an expression of what he thinks but also a representation of his mind. Andrew kindly sent me a preview of some of the pieces to share here, and also an informal statement about the collection. Click on the images to see them larger. From his email: With Mind Manors, i am attempting to construct a metaphor for the way my mind works, or in some cases, does not. Layered above a nebulous ground are the flowers found in much of my work, both a translation of the organic world, as counterpoint to the cerebral architecture or headspace. The room/containers are areas of my mind, conscious and unconscious, layered and maze like, some with doors and stairwells to make them accessible, others simply boxes, unfinished and empty. Wandering through this architecture are the bunny and skull, as seen in much of my work. In this case, their roles are that of the active mind and the internal observer. The active mind is seen searching for inspiration or ideas, though it is often asleep or unconscious. The observer is always there, eyes wide open, aware without judging. This is a rare series for me in that i did very little "research," as opposed to the Jim Jones or Audubon series. Instead, I worked more directly from my personal experience. I did very little in terms of sketching, opting for immediacy and an almost subconscious compositional style. In a way the pieces are Rebus puzzles, using a personal vocabulary of imagery to transmit stories from my subconscious. Andrew Brandou's site, Milieu Galerie/Artspace Previously on BB: Andrew Brandou: Jonestown Paintings Andrew Brandou on his Jonestown Paintings... 7/3/2008 Steven Vandervate and Deron Wright modded a 1960s kids pedal car into this killer hot rod ride for Wright's son. From Vandervate's Kischkrieg blog: The body is a standard 60s vintage pedal car with an incredible candy tangerine job by Nick "O" Teen, the blower is sculpted and cast in resin by Lou Z, while Deron handled the design, machining, and fabrication of the steering, suspension, and wheels. I was left to design and execute the lettering in variegated gold and One Shot enamel. I'd call the whole thing a success and a definite pleasure to take part in. Hot rod pedal car (Kitschrkieg, thanks COOP!)... 7/3/2008 Archaeologists report that the remains of an old farmhouse they've spent three years digging up is the childhood home of George Washington. What a deeeelightful pre-July 4 announcement. The excavation, on the Rappahannock River, was the last of three likely sites where the home could have been. The researchers spent the last few years carefully digging out foundation stones, chimneys, wine bottles, forks, wig curlers, a tea set, and even bone toothbrush handles. (No, Georeg's teeth apparently weren't wood even as an adult.) The image seen here shows the home's footprint. From the New York Times: What we see at this site is the best available window into the setting that nurtured the father of our country, Philip Levy, an archaeologist and associate professor of history at the University of South Florida, said in an announcement of the discovery. Dr. Levy and other members of the excavation team said the foundations, stone-lined cellars and other remains suggested that this was far from being the rustic cottage of common perception, but instead one befitting a family of the local gentry. It was a much larger one-and-a-half-story residence, with perhaps eight rooms and an adjacent structure for the kitchen. David Muraca, director of archaeology for the George Washington Foundation, said the size, characteristics and location of the structure, as well as many artifacts from the time of Washingtons youth, had led experts to conclude that this was indeed the house they were looking for. George Washington's house (New York Times, thanks Jennifer Lum!)... 7/3/2008 More on this incredible Starship Enterprise tricycle can be found in a BB Gadgets post by the incomparable John Brownlee. Star Trek Trike... 7/3/2008 Internet funnyman Dave Hill tells Boing Boing: Recently my friends David Rakoff, Martha Plimpton, Chris Schneider, Miles Kahn, and I made this video chronicling mine and David's attempts at forming the world's greatest two-man percussive dance theatre troupe, like, ever. Please watch it now and then make everyone you know watch it and then have those people make everyone they know watch it, sort of like that shampoo commercial or something. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this video so much. It pretty much has everything. You can totally watch it right here.... 7/3/2008 BB community member Takeshi brought this lovely video to our attention. And for that, I am eternally grateful. Animal Friendship Between Different Species (YouTube)... 7/3/2008 Volkswagen's carbon-fiber microcar concept weighs 660 pounds, seats two and delivers triple-digit fuel economy. The money you save on gas will help cover the car payment. Look for it in 2010. 7/3/2008 The latest attempt at an open source, Linux-based phone goes on sale July 4. Offered by OpenMoko, will it succeed where so many others have failed We'll find out for sure on the Fourth. 7/3/2008 Solid Snake stars in a cinematics-filled stunner that pushes the movie-videogame hybrid to new heights. 7/3/2008 A seamless multiplayer mode turns the action RPG into a much meatier experience than playing alone. 7/3/2008 GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- Even in geology, its not often a date gets revised by 500 million years. 7/3/2008 GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- A farm irrigation canal would seem a healthier place for toads than a ditch by a supermarket parking lot. 7/3/2008 The prime ministers of India and New Zealand are made Freemen of the City of London. 7/3/2008 In his first speech as Mayor of London Ken Livingstone announces that he will stand up to the government. 7/3/2008 Demonstrators in London are arrested after their protest against the Vietnam War turns violent. 7/3/2008 The lead singer of American rock group The Doors dies of heart failure in Paris, aged 27. 7/3/2008 Talks to end the Korean war will begin later in July after terms were accepted by General Matthew Ridgway, supreme commander to the UN in the Far-East. 7/3/2008 A charter flight from Manchester has gone missing with 105 holiday-makers on board. 7/3/2008 The former chief of Gestapo in Lyon, Klaus Barbie, is sentenced to life imprisonment in a Lyon court. 7/3/2008 An American naval warship patrolling in the Persian Gulf shoots down an Iranian passenger jet after apparently mistaking it for a fighter plane. 7/3/2008 Microsoft, free software and the future 7/3/2008 The creators of Firefox 3.0 celebrate the news they have set a new world record for software downloads. 7/3/2008 The music industry says thousands of UK broadband users who share tracks illegally will be warned about it in letters. 7/3/2008 Google must divulge the viewing habits of every user who has ever watched avideo on YouTube, says a US court. 7/3/2008 7/3/2008 7/3/2008 7/3/2008 7/3/2008 7/3/2008 7/3/2008 7/3/2008 Among those who passed away in June, inventors of mini-roundabouts and Mr Snuffleupagus. 7/3/2008 Wedded to their favourite brands for years, many supermarket shoppers are now starting to stray a little. 7/3/2008 Graduation used to be a rite restricted to students leaving university, but these days schoolchildren are getting in on the fun - with American-style proms to mark the end of the exam season. 7/3/2008 At the height of the tourism season, California's Highway 1 on the central coast is closed because of a raging wildfire near Big Sur, with... 7/3/2008 Kent Couch is at it again. While the rest of the country is sleeping off Fourth of July revels on Saturday, he and a host of volunteers... 7/3/2008 With July 4 one of the more popular weekends to travel in summer, many Washingtonians aren't willing to forgo trips — even with gas... 7/3/2008 So many people are lining up to buy a new touch-screen wireless phone that the carrier selling it can't keep up with demand.
7/3/2008 NEW YORK, July 2 -- It was a nightmare captured on surveillance video. A woman who had waited nearly 24 hours to be seen in a Brooklyn public hospital collapsed, fell face-down on the floor, convulsed and for nearly an hour -- while several hospital staff members looked at her and one staff member...
7/3/2008 High levels of formaldehyde found in trailers provided to Hurricane Katrina evacuees on the Gulf Coast probably resulted from cheap wood and poor ventilation in designs used by manufacturers under permissive government standards, federal scientists reported yesterday.
7/3/2008 Planning to go away this summer Just follow the stars. Check out what Daily News Astrologer Jennifer Angel has in her vacation forecast. 7/3/2008 Done right, jerk is one of the great barbecue traditions of the world, up there with Texas brisket and Chinese char siu. 7/3/2008 Buy a new printer, and watch its fancy new software befuddle your desktop. Switch to Vista, and - wham-o! - your iPod and PDA drivers go on strike. And God help you if you decide to encrypt your Wi-Fi signals. 7/3/2008 There are less-touted cordless digital pens out there that don't require special paper. 7/3/2008
If you're feeling a bit "been there, done that" with traditional Caribbean favourites, maybe it's time to look at some of the smaller islands. 7/3/2008
It may not be quite the same as going over Niagara Falls in a barrel, but it's the next best thing. 7/3/2008
It may seem, sometimes, like they're from another planet, but don't think of Gene Frazier and Thomas Armstrong as space cadets. 7/3/2008
Quebec city There's something you need to know before deciding whether to dress in simple peasant style or go for the bourgeois flair. And it's much more practical than just deciding on a station in life. 7/3/2008
They gathered in the driving rain under umbrellas and ponchos, and at 11 a.m. the church bells rang to mark the moment of Quebec City's 400th anniversary. 7/3/2008
In a community that's as down home as apple pie, it's a surprise to drive down a gravel road and trip across a chic new winery with all the sophistication of a California vineyard. 7/3/2008
Oshawa pharmacist Rajni Kassett is sending a few of his customers, struggling with relatively rare diseases, to a new website. He's telling them they just might find the help and support there they sometimes feel they're missing. 7/3/2008
In today's media-rich environment, it isn't unusual for multi-tasking teenagers to do their homework while simultaneously downloading music, chatting online with friends and watching TV. 7/3/2008
Adult siblings. "It's the great undiscussed subject," says Marie Brenner. That's one reason why the Vanity Fair writer spends 268 pages discussing the subject in her new book, Apples and Oranges. 7/3/2008
Madonna and Guy Ritchie are splitting no they're not, yes they are, no they're not. 7/3/2008 Office bundled with Live OneCare to cost $70 per year. 7/3/2008 China's latest Olympics nightmare is a vast algae bloom that covers one third of the sea where the world's best sailors are supposed to be competing in just over a month. Athletes call it the blob, the carpet, the fairway, the serious problem. 7/3/2008 Authorities agree parents putting tot up on eBay for one euro was joke. 7/3/2008 Scientists fear short circuit that broke testing oven for a while could happen again. 7/3/2008 A computer model predicts that by the end of the century, high temperatures for once-in-a-generation heat waves will rise twice as fast as everyday average temperatures. Chicago would reach 115 degrees in such an event by 2100. 7/3/2008 Article in Science magazine urges combining Nat'l Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration, U.S. Geological Survey into one agency. 7/3/2008 A new study suggests that attitude rather than availability may be the key reason why more Americans don't have high-speed Internet access. 7/3/2008 French cave paintings found most often in spots where acoustics are best, analysis finds. 7/3/2008 Judge grants Viacom permission to get info about every YouTube visitor, ever, as part of copyright-infringement lawsuit. 7/3/2008 How about orca sounds A big net Or a kayaker stampede Officials getting lots of tips about solution to wayward dolphins. 7/3/2008 7/3/2008 Dismissing privacy concerns, a federal judge overseeing a $1 billion copyright-infringement lawsuit against YouTube has ordered the popular online video-sharing service to disclose who watches which video clips and when.
7/3/2008 The government removes temporary ban on new solar power plant applications amid outcry that it threatened to cripple the industry.
7/3/2008 7/3/2008 7/3/2008 If you don't fully understand what they're selling, you probably shouldn't be buying. 7/3/2008 A big reason that Fiona Saulness has saved as much as she has for retirement is real estate. 7/3/2008 Rates on 30-year fixed mortgages fell for the first time in three weeks after the Federal Reserve said last week that it expects inflation to level off, according to mortgage backer Freddie Mac.
7/3/2008 (Abilene, Kan.)Lawrence Zigerelli was named president and chief executive of this regional variety-store chain. He succeeds Donny Johnson, who had been interim president and CEO. Mr. Johnson, 47, was named executive vice president and chief financial officer. Mr. Zigerelli, 49, was chairman and chief executive of Levitz Furniture.
7/3/2008 (Germantown, Md.)Jeffrey Sobieski was named chief operating officer for this telecommunications and energy-management company. Mr. Sobieski succeeds Dorothy Cleal, 58, who resigned in May because of family-health issues. Mr. Sobieski, 33, was executive vice president of energy management.
7/3/2008 (Oslo)Joergen Ole Haslestad was named chief executive of this fertilizer maker, effective September. Mr. Haslestad will succeed Thorleif Enger, 65, who will retire. Mr. Haslestad, 57, is chief executive of the industry-solutions division at Siemens AG. Additionally, Sven Ombudstvedt will resign as Yaras finance chief and head of strategy on July 4.
7/3/2008 (Chelmsford, Mass.)Jonathan Rennert was named president of this medical-products maker. Mr. Rennert succeeds Richard Packer, 50, who will remain chairman and CEO. Mr. Rennert, 44, was president and chief executive of BioProcessors Corp.
7/3/2008 You’d think our Gilded Age-obsessed culture would have produced a decent TV show about wealth by now.
But no. All we get is “Dynasty” with new clothes and bling-drenched dramatizations of “My Super Sweet Sixteen.”
The latest is a show called “Privileged.” Its former title was “Surviving the Filthy Rich,” which says all you need [...] 7/3/2008
With his announcement Wednesday that former top Bush adviser Steve Schmidt will run his day-to-day campaign operations, Sen. John McCain has given Schmidt a battlefield promotion to commanding general at a moment when his campaign needed another dose of discipline, write Jonathan Martin and Mike Allen of Politico.
Schmidt, who also ran California Gov. Arnold [...] 7/3/2008 President Bush is “very much aware” of the soft economy’s impact on Americans, the White House said Thursday. “We are no doubt in a period of slow growth - it is growth nonetheless - but it is very slow and it is having an impact on employment,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. “The [...] 7/3/2008 Martin Vaughan reports on Congress.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested a possible compromise on a long-delayed package of energy and business tax incentives.
In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, McConnell said Republicans may go along with some tax-related offsets they have until now opposed, provided Democrats in effect [...] 7/3/2008 Elizabeth Holmes reports on the presidential race.
As part of the debut of John McCains new message machine following a staff shake-up, the campaign will focus next week on the economy, with an emphasis on job creation.
The Republican candidate will not announce new proposals, said a top aide, but rather repackage his current ideas to [...] 7/3/2008 Amy Chozick reports from Fargo, N.D., on the presidential race.
In response to another dreary jobs report, Barack Obama urged Congress to pass a $50 billion stimulus package.
It turns out that our economy lost another 62,000 jobs last month, Obama told reporters on the tarmac before heading to a picnic-style event with veterans. Thats [...] 7/3/2008 Amy Chozick reports from Fargo, N.D., on the presidential race.
Barack Obama told reporters Thursday that he could refine his plan for a 16-month withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
When I go to Iraq and have a chance to talk to some of the commanders on the ground, I am sure Ill have more information and [...] 7/3/2008 Laura Meckler reports from Mexico City on the presidential race.
John McCain wasnt the only U.S. politician in Mexico City today. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was here on business, and the pair toured the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe located just north of the city.
“I think he’s going to win,” Bush, the presidents [...] 7/3/2008 Brad Haynes reports on the 2008 elections.
With campaign season in full swing, each week we will be picking an ad that grabbed our attention. (Check out last week’s ad HERE.)
This weeks pick goes to a clever or careless bit of subliminal messaging in the final frame of a John McCain ad. The [...] 7/3/2008 John D. McKinnon reports on the White House.
The White House confirmed today what had long been expected by administration watchers: that President Bush will attend the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Beijing on Aug. 8. In doing so, hell be stepping over a political line that other leaders have been hesitant to [...] 7/3/2008 Laura Meckler reports from Mexico City on the presidential race.
John McCain held what he agreed was an unusual press conference today as he wrapped up a three-day visit to Latin America.
His final stop before returning to the U.S. was in a large hangar at the brand new command center of the federal judicial police. [...] 7/3/2008 U.K. default rates and related losses on mortgage lending rose more than expected in the second quarter and are expected to increase further in the next three months, the Bank of England said Thursday.
In its quarterly credit conditions survey, the bank also said that demand for secured lending for house purchases had declined in [...] 7/3/2008 7/3/2008 U.S. nonfarm payrolls shrank for a sixth consecutive month, decreasing by 62,000 jobs in June while previous months were revised lower, as businesses retrenched in the face of rising costs and a weak economy. The month’s unemployment rate held at 5.5%, after rising sharply in May. Economists and others react to the data below.
[E]ven these [...] 7/3/2008 The European Central Bank, as expected, raised interest rates a quarter point to 4.25% in a bid to attack inflation despite signs of weakening growth. The U.S. Federal Reserve, meanwhile, appears to be on hold for the coming months — despite rising inflation concerns — to give the economy more time to recover from [...] 7/3/2008 New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s congestion-pricing plan crashed and burned after he failed to get support from the state legislature. But the New York Times notes today that high gas prices — along with increases in tolls by agencies that run the city’s bridges and tunnels — “seem to be doing for traffic in New [...] 7/3/2008 Even as ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet aimed to calm markets by indicating the central bank is not embarking on a series of interest-rate increases after Thursday’s quarter-percentage point hike to 4.25%, he may also have rattled some nerves by suggesting policy makers are reviewing the bank’s collateral policy and that euro-zone living standards may be [...] 7/3/2008 While I’m on vacation, I’m providing occasional links here to some other writing about numbers from around the Web.
Are cars really more likely to stall in the middle of train tracks, or is the apparent effect just the result of no one bothering to count less-dramatic stalls that occur on quiet roads Cecil Adams, author [...] 7/3/2008 This from Paul Vigna of Dow Jones Newswires, who is also manning his battle station:
Perhaps you were hoping not to see any of these until tomorrow. (Wikipedia)
It’s a fair bet at least a few of you reading this originally expected to already be on extended holiday.
But with the market teetering into bear-market territory yesterday, [...] 7/3/2008
Forecasting the change in monthly nonfarm payrolls is as close as it gets to a shot in the dark, but lo and behold, the jobs report came in about as close to expectations as these reports ever do. The Labor Department said that employers cut 62,000 jobs last month, right around the average forecast of [...] 7/3/2008 Shell-shocked investors looking anywhere for returns have looked into any number of assets by now — corn, soybeans, oil. George Nichols at IndexUniverse is checking out timber. “Timber products touch our lives on a daily basis, though few people have ever considered timber as a potential investment. That is gradually changing, however, as more investors [...] 7/3/2008
Annelena Lobb reports:
The U.S. dollar got some oomph ahead of July 4, surging — patriotically, even — against its major rivals.
The euro recently bought $1.5756, from $1.5880 late Monday. The dollar changed hands at 106.41 yen, from 105.99 yen, and at 1.0217 Swiss francs, from 1.0142 francs. The British pound traded at $1.9851, from $1.9928. [...] 7/3/2008 Rob Curran of Dow Jones Newswires reports:
What this market needs is a strong dose of the heebie jeebies, some traders say: a good, old-fashioned cathartic spike on the VIX coinciding with a purging S&P 500 selloff. That, and only that, they say, would clear the markets constitution for an intermediate-term recovery.
The VIX is where NOOOOOO!!!!!! [...] 7/3/2008 If you’re at the beach house this weekend and Uncle Ned tries to tell you stocks are a good long-term investment, counter with this, then have another strong margarita: Adjusted for inflation and dividends, the return on the S&P 500 was negative for the decade that ended on June 30.
If my calculations are correct, [...] 7/3/2008
Getty Images
Are some women on maternity leave getting cheated out of part of their pay
Theres evidence some are, based on my email and complaints to the advocacy and research organization Catalyst Inc., New York. One saleswoman, a new mother, wrote me recently to express amazement that her Fortune 100 employer threatened to deprive her during [...] 7/3/2008 Like many offices around the U.S., ours is pretty quiet today, with lots of co-workers out and others likely to leave early ahead of the long weekend. I enjoy these quiet moments at work before the holiday rush, as it provides a pleasant bit of downtime before this weekend’s flurry of activity, which kicks off [...] 7/3/2008 74 years-old. Hardly any experience with securities-fraud trials. A sense of humor. Treats defendants as human beings first. Keeps an electric keyboard in his chambers.
Actor Steven Seagal testifies as U.S. District Court Judge Frederic Block looks on, Feb. 11, 2003. In the Gotti trial, Seagal testified that the crew of alleged mobsters demanded that [...] 7/3/2008 In what the NYT’s Linda Greenhouse is calling “a highly unusual admission of error,” the DOJ, in response to Greenhouse’s report yesterday that the Supreme Court erred in its decision in the child rape case of Kennedy v. Louisiana, has acknowledged that government lawyers should’ve known that Congress had recently made the rape of a [...] 7/3/2008 While consumers, according to reports, continue to get hammered in arbitration, they’re making some significant headway on the class-action front. In today’s WSJ, Nathan Koppel writes that efforts by companies to prevent consumers from pursuing class-actions are increasingly get tossed by state courts.
The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) was a flightless bird endemic to the Indian [...] 7/3/2008 Back in early March, we talked with some folks at Wachovia Wealth Managements legal specialty group about the state of the market for law firms. They were optimistic.
But recently, we talked with them, and heard a different story. We have the education to admit when were wrong about things, says Peter Haugh, managing [...] 7/3/2008
Refco Inc.’s former CEO Phillip Bennett enters Manhattan federal court for his sentencing, Thursday, July 3, 2008. (Credit: AP/Louis Lanzano)
16 years. That was the sentence given to former Refco CEO Phillip Bennett. A Brit living in New Jersey, Bennett had previously pleaded guilty after being charged in a 20-count indictment, including conspiracy to commit securities [...] 7/3/2008
William Gallion enters the Federal Courthouse in Covington, Ky., June 21, 2007. (Credit: AP/Ed Reinke)
This just in from Covington, Kentucky: After about six weeks of trial and 50 hours of jury deliberation, a mistrial was declared this afternoon in the trial of the two remaining Fen Phen defendants — Shirley Cunnigham and William Gallion. On [...] 7/3/2008 For many summer associates, this holiday weekend will mark the halfway point of their foray into law-firm life. Not enough billables logged — yet — to litigate a case or negotiate a deal. But, certainly, six weeks is plenty of time for the sharp students lining the halls of the country’s elite firms to glean [...] 7/3/2008 Some small companies are asking their customers to pay a little extra to help them reduce their carbon footprint.
A San Francisco civil- and environmental-engineering firm charges clients an extra 0.05% to put toward renewable-energy credits. So far, no customers have balked at the fee, says Bry Sarte, the firm’s chief executive.
“I think they would feel [...] 7/3/2008
Joey Chestnut. Photo: AP
The world’s greatest eaters are about to converge on Brooklyn for the annual Fourth of July hot-dog eating contest. As you’ll no doubt recall, Joey Chestnut snatched the title last year from the great Takeru Kobayashi by eating 66 hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes.
For the Health Blog, this raises [...] 7/3/2008 A diabetes drug may lower blood sugar but still pose risks for the heart. So a panel of FDA advisers voted 14-2 yesterday that the FDA should require drug makers to show that experimental diabetes drugs don’t increase cardiovascular risks.
If the FDA takes the panel’s advice — which it usually does — it could be [...] 7/3/2008
Roger Kusch shows a video of Bettina Schardt.
Photo: Associated Press
A 79-year-old German woman killed herself last weekend because she didn’t want to move into a nursing home. Now the case of Bettina Schardt is the talk of the nation, largely because she was advised by Roger Kusch, described in today’s New York Times as “a [...] 7/3/2008
Elizabeth Edwards. Photo: Associated Press
A new group called Health Care for America Now is set to pour $40 million into a campaign-related push for universal health insurance.
The group is officially nonpartisan, but its policy slant clearly falls on the Democratic side of the political fence — and its “headliner,” as Politico.com puts it, is [...] 7/3/2008 Say you wind up in the hospital. The hospital bills your insurance, but the insurance company thinks the price is inflated and only pays part of what’s billed. So the hospital decides that you owe the portion your insurance won’t pay.
This is called “balance billing,” and it’s been debated in health-care circles for decades.
It’s [...] 7/3/2008
Declaration of Independence, by John Trumbull. From the Architect of the Capitol.
Who knows better than a doctor — witness to birth, sickness and death — that all men are created equal So it is fitting to recall, this Fourth of July, that the signatures of five physicians are scattered among the 56 names at [...] 7/3/2008
Associated Press
WSJ columnist June Fletcher writes:
Given the latest figures from the Mortgage Bankers Association, the foreclosure crisis isnt about to disappear soon, even with the help of Hope Now and other government programs designed to help borrowers in trouble. More than one million homes are currently in foreclosure, and the total seasonally-adjusted rate of delinquency [...] 7/3/2008 As rumors swirl on Lehman Brothers Holdings, Deal Journal took a short stroll through the investment bank’s history in 1998, when it was hit by the Asian financial crisis and the fall of Long-Term Capital Management. Can you tell what this reminded us of
Back on Nov. 26, 1998, then-Wall Street Journal staff writer Patrick McGeehan [...] 7/3/2008 If UBS’s securities unit is like a problem child, there is at least one subject it is acing: European investment banking.
UBS came in first in Europe in the rankings Dealogic compiles of investment banking revenuefrom advising on merger deals, as well as underwriting the issuance of stocks, bonds and loansin the first half of [...] 7/3/2008 The list of failed of 2007-vintage leveraged buyouts grew a bit longer this morning.
In the wake of the decision by Penn National and its buyers to terminate the proposed $6.1 billion acquisition of the casino company, Deal Journal’s friends over at FactSet MergerMetrics crunched some numbers to put the number of LBOs falling apart [...] 7/3/2008 Any securities firm that has been through a few down cycles knows a faltering stock price isn’t a permanent sentence.
But Lehman Brothers Holdings, a firm that has met with public criticism of late, is used to making that fact work for them.
Lehman is handing out generous stock awards to its employees, as our [...] 7/3/2008 Wachovia and Deutsche Bank, who once promised to fund the $6.1 billion buyout of Penn National Gaming, today achieved a financial feat that seemingly every LBO-financing bank has dreamt of since the credit crunch began more than a year ago: they paid a breakup fee, reimbursed the buyers, and won the right to walk away [...] 7/3/2008 Another buyout bites the dust.
This time it is Penn National Gaming. The casino operator and its buyers, Fortress Investment Group and Centerbridge Partners, agreed to terminate the proposed $6.1 billion acquisition. Given where Penn National’s shares were trading this isn’t altogether unexpected. Dan Primack over at peHUB, however, offers up one reason he does find [...] 7/3/2008 Our earlier post on Penn national and the failure rate of leverage buyouts got us to thinking: What are the largest announced LBOs from 2007 that ultimately ended up on the scrap heap
So our friends at FactSet MergerMetrics put together this list of 15 biggest and now-busted announced LBOs from 2007:
Target
Acquirer
Announced
Withdrawn
Transaction [...] 7/3/2008 In comedy, timing is everything. So why not in mergers
We were reminded of that Wednesday as we talked with someone close to Microsoft’s zany on-again, off-again courtship of Yahoo. Yahoo dodged every Microsoft approach as if the process was some kind of $40 billion-plus version of the old videogame Frogger–leaping between shareholders, Carl Icahn [...] 7/3/2008 John McCain today said patriotism is putting country before all else.
On Wall Street, that place of priority is usually reserved for money.
Let’s try and make peace and put country and money back together, where they belong. In that spirit, here are four for the Fourth.
1. Patriotism and the financials: Shortly after mocking the futility of [...] 7/3/2008 The reliably quotable J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon went to the Aspen Ideas festival this week. The festival, hosted by Atlantic magazine and the Aspen Institute, featured an interview between Charlie Rose and Dimon. Dimon, whose firm caught, flayed and ate Bear Stearns, had several interesting observations during the wide-ranging conversation. Here are some [...] 7/3/2008 The deed is done.
The SuperSonics and Seattle reached a settlement of their legal feud: Clay Bennett gets to take the team to Oklahoma City for the 2008-09 season, while Seattle gets $45 million and another $30 million if the state authorizes a certain level of funding to renovate KeyArena and the city doesn’t get another [...] 7/3/2008 The tech-research company Gartner will restate its estimate for which tech company made the most money from selling servers in the first quarter of 2008 and most likely take the number one spot from H-P and hand it to IBM according to people familiar with the matter.
Who knew one of these boxes could [...] 7/3/2008 Its official: The latest version of Mozillas popular alternative Web browser, Firefox 3, set the previously nonexistent Guinness World Record for most software downloads in a day. The final tally settled at 8,002,530 after judges weeded out duplicates and automated downloads from the 8.3 million total downloads logged on June 18, the day of the [...] 7/3/2008 The first rule of online marketing is that the more personal you can make a pitch the better. Turns out the opposite may be true: A recently published study found that the more personalized a message, the less likely a recipient is to respond.
Emails with too much personal information are kind of creepy
Researchers from the [...] 7/3/2008 Judge Frederic Block, the federal judge presiding over the prosecution of two former Bear Stearns hedge-fund managers, is a colorful and down-to-earth jurist who frequently speaks his mind -- sometimes stirring controversy. 7/3/2008 KKR has begun ramping up new business lines and hiring employees as its leveraged-buyout business languishes, signaling a broader change at the firm. Some say the firm has not given up on plans to become a public company. 7/3/2008 Many indicators suggest the Bureau of Labor Statistics' June employment data will be a grim report. As a result, workers may not have much leverage to bargain for bigger raises. 7/3/2008 After days of anticipation, stocks tumbled into bear-market levels after oil prices hit another record and fears about the financial health of General Motors intensified. 7/3/2008 The European Central Bank's governing council is widely expected to raise its key interest rate 25 basis points, to 4.25%, amid high euro-zone inflation, the first increase since last summer. 7/3/2008 |
