Author: Serkadis

According to Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos, “millions of people now own Kindles.” Sadly, Amazon has always kept the exact number of Kindle sales under wraps. According to some analysts, consumers in the U.S. bought roughly 3 million e-readers in 2009 and the majority of these were probably Kindles. Amazon also doesn’t release any data about how many e-books it sells. In a press release that accompanied the company’s Q4 earnings report, however, Amazon yesterday announced that it now sells 6 Kindle books for every 10 physical books when both editions are available.

Sponsor

Given that Amazon doesn’t give give us exact numbers, we have to take the company’s word at face value. The idea that Amazon is getting close to selling just as many e-books as physical books when both editions are available still seems hard to believe however.

Explaining these Numbers

One explanation for the phenomenon comes from Slate’s Marion Maneker. Maneker points out that books that are available on the Kindle tend to be bestsellers and Amazon’s strategy of pricing new releases at $9.99 means that Amazon is probably selling most of its Kindles to users who are also the heaviest consumers of these commercial titles. After all, even though Amazon already offers steep discounts on recent hardcover releases, the Kindle edition is always the cheapest option. Indeed, those publishers and authors who want make use of Amazon’s new 70% royalty option have no other choice but to sell their Kindle editions for at least 20% below the price of the physical book. If Kindle owners are also Amazon’s best customers and also the most likely to buy bestsellers, then these numbers make sense.

What About Sony and Apple?

Just like Amazon, Sony doesn’t release exact numbers of its e-reader sales, though in an interview with TechOn earlier today, Fujio Noguchi, the deputy president of Sony’s Digital Reading Business Division, notes that Sony’s e-reader sales in the U.S. quadrupled on a year-over-year basis.

Right now, of course, all eyes are on Apple’s new iPad and even though it doesn’t feature an e-paper display, the iPad does have the opportunity to capture a large share of the e-reader market. According to Steve Jobs, Apple expects to sell e-books for the same price as Amazon, though it isn’t clear if he expects Amazon to raise its prices or if Apple plans to sell new releases at $9.99.

Discuss

Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

Read Original Article

Google just made it a little bit easier to call ahead for reservations or order a pizza for pick-up while you’re on the go. In addition to it’s recent addition of location-based search suggestions, Google has added the ability for businesses to include a clickable phone number in their listings, making it even easier to use the search engine on your smartphone.

Sponsor

Just as with their location-based search suggestions, searching for businesses from your mobile phone will use your location to give you results closest to you. If you are looking for something at a different location, maybe where you’ll be later in the day, just include that location and the results focus around that. Clicking on the number will automatically dial that number, ending the days of trying to remember the number or looking for a scrap piece of paper to jot it down on before switching away from the browser.

The feature will be present for all high end mobile devices, such as the iPhone, Android and Palm Pre. Any device configured to use Google Voice will use that to make the call by default.

Now, could Google go ahead and come up with an app that settles the debate over what we’re going to have on the pizza and who’s actually going to make the call? That would be really neat.

Discuss

Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

Read Original Article

»  T-Mobile Nexus One owners had a data outage this morning. [CNET]

»  The upcoming Samsung Galaxy 2 may have the features Android fans are looking for. [DroidDog]

»  A new study says talking on your phone while driving doesn’t cause accidents, but yes, texting does. [Gizmodo]

»  How to print from your Nexus One. [Printer & Ink Cartridges Blog]

Jay Leno claimed on Oprah that Jimmy Kimmel “sucker punched him” with his brutal takedown from a couple of weeks ago, so Jimmy Kimmel responded last night. With another brutal takedown.

Apparently Leno hadn’t wanted to talk about the war with Conan O’Brien and the going ons at NBC and was thus surprised when Kimmel preferred to talk about the massive elephant in the room instead of vital questions of the day such as “Have you ever bought anything off the tee vee?”.

In conclusion, Jay Leno is a massive douchebag, and it’s at least a little gratifying to see Jimmy Kimmel pointing that out.

Infinity Ward has released a PS3 version of the Modern Warfare 2 PC patch they released last week. This one’s for the game’s European version only, but it seems PS3 owners in the US as

Vancouver, Canada | Architectural Oddities

Chang Toy was put in a difficult position. The city of Vancouver had rudely reclaimed much of Toy’s property on Pender Street in Vancouver’s Chinatown, for the widening and expansion of the street. Expropriated 24 feet of the lot, they left Toy with only a 4’11” strip of property under his name, no doubt assuming the strip would be abandoned.

Not so, Chang a successful business man (he was the principal partner in the Sam Kee Company, which was a very successful import and export business, making between $150,000 and $180,000 in 1907) was no pushover. During the anti-Asian riots in 1907 Chang used his wealth to buy out the local gun-shop and distribute the pistols among the Asian merchants in Chinatown.

Chang, being the enterprising businessman he was, decided to build on the slim property anyway, no doubt with a bit of spite aimed at the city.

In 1913, Chang hired architects Brown and Gillam, who cleverly found a way to make the building bigger, by adding a 2 foot overhang from the second story, and a basement which extended under the sidewalk. Though slim the building was busy, with the basement originally used as public baths, the top story for housing and the main floor used for shops, at one point home to 13 businesses at once.

It is also said that a tunnel runs underneath the basement of the building from nearby Opium dens in “Shanghai Alley”, used as an escape route when they were raided by the police. The building is also the only glass sidewalk (meaning squares of glass embedded in the ground) fronted building remaining in Chinatown.

Though it claims the Guinness world record for thinnest commercial building, there has been challenge from both the Pittsburgh’s Skinny Building (at 5’2 its base is bigger but it doesn’t have an overhang) and a William G. Singer building at 15th Street in South Penn Square in Philadelphia which claims to be only 4 feet thick.

Filed under: Government/Legal, Recalls, Toyota

What’s that, a scandal?!?!?! Time for everyone and their mother’s legislator to seek the spotlight at Toyota’s expense. This time it’s House Representative Ed Towns, D-N.Y., who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He’s scheduled a hearing on Toyota’s current recall for defective accelerator pedal mechanisms for February 4th, the second hearing scheduled so far after the House Energy and Commerce Committee scheduled a separate hearing yesterday for February 25th.

This time, however, it’s not so much Toyota on the hot seat as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Towns sent an invitation for the hearing to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today that details exactly what the committee wants discussed. Included are:

• What is the scope of DOT’s investigation into this matter and what are the preliminary findings?
• What makes and models does DOT currently believe have a gas pedal problem and what are its possible causes?
• If consumers are driving any of the recalled models, what steps should they be taking to ensure their safety?
• What steps are DOT and Toyota taking to alert consumers that this problem may affect a vehicle they are currently using?
• What steps are being taken to ensure that the problem is being corrected?

There are many unanswered questions surrounding this recall, some of which may be answered in either or both of these hearings. In the meantime, shares of Toyota Motor Company continue to fall in the wake of the recall, some 16.7 percent over the last five days.

[Sources: The Detroit News, Automotive News – sub. req. | Image: Mark Wilson/Getty]

Continue reading Second House hearing on Toyota pedal recal scheduled for Feb. 5

Second House hearing on Toyota pedal recal scheduled for Feb. 5 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Update (4:15 pm): Good news. We’ve found another way in through the mobile site. Click here.

---

Update (4:01 pm): Now the alternative site is down too!

Back to the drawing board.

 

---

 

Earlier:

Bank of America’s website has been down most of the day.

And its help people aren’t being very helpful. While most customers are unable to access their accounts, making end of the month bill paying impossible, the bank’s twitter representatives insist that the website “is available.”

We’re curious how many times it has actually been loaded today. We haven’t been able to get it to load all day. Note to Bank of America: don’t tell customers your website is available when it is not.

It would be far more useful if the helper people on Twitter explained what has gone wrong and proposed workarounds for customers. We’re not sure why they won’t do that.

So we decided to find a way Bank of America customers can access their accounts online while the website is down. Turns out it is pretty easy. Just go the alternative Bank of America site. It is legitimately Bank of America’s website and appears to be functioning properly.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Bank of America’s Website Has Been Down All Morning

It’s no secret that President Obama’s approval ratings have plummeted since his election. Can he recover? Of course. Just look at what happened with Ronald Reagan.

According to Pew Research, presidential approval ratings frequently track changes in unemployment very closely, and for Obama, presidential disapproval has risen in lockstep with rising unemployment. You can see this in the top chart, below.

In a similar fashion, Ronald Reagan’s disapproval rating soared in the early stage of his presidency, as unemployment rose sharply. (Bottom chart, below) He had inherited a pretty bad economy, just as Obama has. Yet once the economy recovered, and the unemployment rate began falling, Ronald Reagan recovered from his early disapproval almost completely.

Which means the message should be pretty clear for Obama — Focus on getting the unemployment rate to fall, by any means, and you’ll do just fine.

Pew Research: There is nothing now on the horizon that seems likely to diminish the impact that unemployment is having on views of Obama. His situation continues to parallel Reagan’s, whose ratings recovered only when jobless rates began to decline.

---

Get This Delivered To Your Inbox

You can get this dropped in your inbox every afternoon as The Chart Of The Day. It’s simple. It’s convenient. It’s free. All we need is your email address (though we’d love your name and state, too, if you’re willing to share it).  Sign up below!

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Gartman: Tonight Obama Begins His Shift Away From The Left
• Wall Street Trader: “Pretty Much Everyone Hates Obama.”
• Obama Making Biggest-Ever U.S. Investment In High-Speed Rail

Kurt Warner is currently holding a press conference to discuss his retirement.

The Arizona Cardinals quarterback has had one of the most unusual careers in NFL history, so unusual I’m sure we’ll get a Kurt Warner movie at some point. The (in my opinion at least) future Hall of Famer didn’t get his shot until the age of 28, first playing in the Arena Football League and spending some time famously stocking grocery shelves before becoming the St. Louis Rams quarterback in 1999. If it weren’t for a Trent Green injury that year who knows if Warner would have ever received a shot. His career had yet another twist in it though, as he was declared washed up after a stint with the New York Giants. The Arizona Cardinals signed him as a stopgap measure to pave the way for high draft pick Matt Leinart, but Leinart suffered injuries and struggled early, giving Warner yet another shot. He rewarded the Cardinals with the franchises first ever trip to the Super Bowl following the 2008 season.

Warner was always a religious player, and talked extensively of his relationship with God today during his press conference. He is just 38 years old, and it’s great to see a guy bow out before becoming completely washed up, and doing it drama free to boot. Brett Favre could take a lesson.

Earlier this week we saw the first images of Ken Block’s Monster World Rally Team Ford Fiesta. Later this weekend, the car will make its first race debut at Rally America Sno*Drift in Atlanta, Michigan.

Ken and the Monster World Rally Team will campaign 7 rally events in North America in 2010 for Ford, including the Summer X Games in August. Block will drive his 2011 Ford Fiesta based on the race-winning European Rallycross Fiesta prepared by Olsbergs Motorsports Evolution.

“I am very excited to finally be in the Fiesta,” said Block. “The Fiesta is the car that beat me last summer at X Games. Ford has a great platform with the Fiesta, and I can’t wait to see what I can do in the Rally America championship and at the X Games later this year.”

Block’s Fiesta is powered by a 2.0L turbocharged engine capable of producing 490 hp at 8,000 rpm, but due to a required turbo-inlet restrictor by the 2009 Summer X Games, the Fiesta will be running in the range of 330 hp.

Hit the jump to see Ken having a little fun in the snow before the Fiesta’s Rally America Sno*Drift debut this weekend.

Ken Block’s 2011 Monster World Rally Team Ford Fiesta:

Ken Block’s 2011 Monster World Rally Team Ford Fiesta:

Press Release:

KEN BLOCK’S MONSTER FORD FIESTA READY FOR RACE DEBUT AT RALLY AMERICA SNO*DRIFT

DEARBORN, Mich., Jan. 29, 2010 – The all-new Ford Fiesta is fun to drive, but for Monster World Rally Team driver Ken Block, fun takes on a different meaning.

When you spend your time dreaming up ways to push your rally car to new limits and create stunts that will create the next “must see” YouTube video, fun is a mixture of horsepower, race fuel and adrenaline. This weekend, Block and his newly formed Monster World Rally Team will debut their Ford Fiesta Rally America program at Sno*Drift in Atlanta, Mich. as they demonstrate their definition of fun.

Block and the Monster World Rally Team will campaign seven rally events in North America in 2010 for Ford, including the Summer X Games in August. Block will pilot a 2011 Ford Fiesta based on the race-winning European Rallycross Fiesta prepared by Olsbergs Motorsports Evolution.

Fiesta’s North American racing debut came at the 2009 Summer X Games where it took the Gold in rally competition. Block’s 2.0-liter turbocharged Fiesta, modified to the Open Class specification for Rally America, is capable of producing over 490 hp at 8,000 rpm, but due to a required turbo-inlet restrictor by the series, the Fiesta will be running in the range of 330 hp.

Block, who will be co-driven by Italian Alessandro Gelsomino, will tackle all six rounds of the Rally America series in his Fiesta, which will be backed by Monster Energy Drink and Ford. His North American program will culminate at X Games 16 in Los Angeles in early August.

“Ford has a long, winning tradition in European rally and with Ken Block and Fiesta, we’re bringing that to North America for fans to experience first hand,” said Jamie Alison, director, Ford North American Motorsports. “There will be a little bit of rally in every Fiesta. It’s the right form of motorsports to showcase the driving dynamics of Fiesta.” Allison continued, “What people need to remember, as Ken races down the course this weekend, his car started off as a production vehicle. It is a true testament to the capability built into every Ford Fiesta.”

For the complete Ken Block schedule and to see Block in his 2011 Ford Fiesta, please visit www.fordracing.com and monsterworldrallyteam.com

– By: Omar Rana

An opposition blogger Oleg Kozlovsky tells his story [EN] on how his blog helped his to finally receive a passport allowing him to leave Russia. The country's Federal Security Service (FSB) refused to issue a new passport to Kozlovsky but quickly changed its decision after he published a blog post describing the situation.

Jasmina Anema has died of leukemia. Jasmina was only six, but her fight with leukemia became a high profile story when stars such as Rihanna and Paul Pierce got to know her and began asking people to consider donating bone marrow.

More than 10,000 have since donated, and 12 people have received successful transplants as a direct result of Jasmina Anema’s efforts and story. Rihanna released a statement saying “I am incredibly heartbroken that Jasmina has passed away. She was such a brave and special child. She showed more strength and spirit than many adults I have met. I feel blessed that I was able to have her in my life, and know that through her example she has saved many lives. She was truly an angel on earth.”

Jasmina’s mother posted the following message on the Twitter account the family had set up to advocate for marrow donors: “At 10:55 on January 27th, after a long battle, Jasmina lost her fight with leukemia. Thanks for all of your support.”

Anema’s mother has vowed to continue efforts encourage people to register as bone marrow donors. You can view her Twitter page here

One issue that comes up in discussions of copyright quite often is the idea of whether or not you could change copyright law to distinguish between commercial and non-commercial use. In some ways this is quite appealing, and Cory Doctorow’s latest column makes the case for at least exploring those distinctions. However, even he admits that there is a gray area, and I wonder if that gray area is really complex. I don’t think it would necessarily make copyright law any worse, and my guess is that, at least initially, it would make copyright function better. After all, copyright law itself was really intended for commercial use (though, there are some lobbyists who falsely claim otherwise). It’s only in this day and age when everyone has the tools of content creation, reproduction, performance and distribution in their pockets and on every desk that the old copyright laws have been shown to not function properly at all.

So perhaps separating out commercial and non-commercial use is a step in the right direction. But I’m still confused about how you determine what really is commercial use vs. non-commercial use. If I use your information to make an investment, is that commercial use? If I have a blog that uses a bit of your content, but has ads on it, is that commercial use? There are some RSS feeds that declare “not for commercial use!” But, if I put that RSS into my feed reader and read it for work, is that commercial use? It’s not really that clear. And given that many individuals and companies feel that any even (borderline) commercial use of their works deserves compensation, you could see an awful lot of lawsuits filed as we try to define the borders. Perhaps copyright law could be written to make the border clear (though, I doubt it). Perhaps the lawsuits would establish clear boundaries as well, after a bit of upheaval and lawsuits. But I think that there will always be new situations that again test the fuzzy border between the two types of use, and drawing any sort of bright line distinction won’t really fix very much.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story

Big Fat Whale has an awesome comic making fun of the idea of “corporate personhood,” which is this weird thing we have that lets corporations be treated as “persons” for legal purposes, and afforded some of the rights and responsibilites of natural persons, like they can be taxed, have free speech, and even arrested. Well, what if the corporations really were people in the flesh? They wouldn’t be very nice. See the rest of the comic, including James Comcast (I’ll let you check out this great website for sixty bucks!) and Tiffany Conagra. [Big Fat Whale]

I’m not saying you should try to steal anything from a trade show. That’s just wrong. But if you absolutely have to, maybe you shouldn’t start with the company that’s there selling security cameras, hrrmmmm?

Willy Wu is the idiot in question, and his target was the Swann Security visitor sign-in book. The Swann Security that makes home security products. Like, say, surveillance cameras. The kind that were all over their booth, and provided the wonderful video above.

So yes, they caught him almost immediately, standing just a few feet down the row. Thieves: please don’t try to steal from people. People: please roundly mock Willy and his fellow idiot thieves. [CBS Las Vegas]

Indians have traditionally been one of the largest sources of gold jewelry demand.

Now that’s changing, both due to high gold prices and a cultural shift away from the heavy gold chains of the past.

Increasingly, it appears women now opt for workmanship over weight when choosing their jewelry made from gold — and increasingly diamonds.

DNA: There is increasing demand for diamond jewellery since the last three years, says S Sanathana Pai, managing director of 135-year-old A Geeri Pai Jewellers at the nearby Broadway, a well known firm in Kerala, which showcases gold and diamond jewels.

“Working women and IT professionals are not into heavy gold ornaments, which can be mostly worn only during weddings and cannot be used regularly,” he told PTI.

However, even now, there are regular sales for traditional jewellery like ‘Palakka’ and ‘Nagapada’, he said.

Kerala women used to wear heavy gold ornaments, but demand for 10 to 15 sovereign gold necklaces has come down, and women now prefer light-weight jewellery in gold and diamonds, he said.

According to PP Sunny, CEO Sunny Diamonds, gold jewellery sales have gone down by 10-30% throughout the state, with interest in diamonds picking up from Kozhikode to Thiruvananthapuram.

One wonders if Indian gold demand will ever be what it once was, and what gold price would be required for this to happen if it ever does.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Can Someone PLEASE Tell Carol Bartz To Get Rid Of These Infuriating Yahoo Front-Page Popups?
• With Gold Completely Out Of Whack, Silver Looks Better By The Day
• Soros: When I See Bubbles, I Buy Them

At a supplier conference today in Ottawa, Boeing [NYSE: BA] outlined its proposed subcontracting plan for in-service support (ISS) of 15 Boeing CH-47 Chinook Medium-to-Heavy Lift Helicopters (MHLH), designated CH-147 for the Canadian Forces.

Through the performance-based ISS program for the CH-147 fleet, Boeing could provide industry benefits of approximately $2 billion over 20 years.

The program provides work packages in areas including engineering support; logistics support analysis; supply chain support; aircraft maintenance training systems and services; technical publications; ground support equipment; and maintenance site operations.

“Boeing has single-point accountability to manage the MHLH fleet’s overall performance while reducing overall life-cycle cost,” said Barry Wolff, MHLH ISS program manager for Boeing.

“Ultimately, we are responsible for flawless execution of the MHLH ISS Program to meet or exceed the Canadian government’s Performance Based Accountability metrics and to ensure the level of readiness that Canadian Forces deserve.”

At today’s conference, Boeing reviewed the initial ISS structure and the company’s transition plan for the 20-year ISS phase, including the schedule and process to competitively bid work packages.

“Today’s conference is one of the first steps for the MHLH ISS Program,” said H.W. “Pete” Peterson, country director and vice president in Canada for Boeing Defense, Space & Security.

“This is a chance for us to meet with potential suppliers to explain our proposed approach to compete and award long-term support work for the Canadian Chinook, and to give them the opportunity to ask questions and provide input. Our final plan for the ISS competition will reflect improvements based on industry feedback.”

Through Canada’s Industrial and Regional Benefits (IRB) Policy, Boeing’s IRB commitments on the MHLH ISS Program will allow Boeing to continue its long-standing relationship with the aerospace and defense industry in Canada.

“The Chinook fleet, operated or selected by nearly 20 international defense forces around the world, is in high demand,” Peterson said.

“Canadian suppliers who offer the best value will have an opportunity to be part of the global support network that ensures these workhorses are ready to meet transport, humanitarian and supply needs in a variety of operational environments.”

Boeing has been a major contributor to the Canadian economy since 1919, generating approximately $1 billion in business annually. The company employs highly skilled workers in Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia in support of its commercial and defense business units.

Canada also is home to one of Boeing’s largest international supplier bases, with more than 200 suppliers in every region of the country, providing a diverse mix of high-value goods and services to Boeing and its customers.

About Boeing Defense, Space & Security

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is one of the world’s largest defense, space and security businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world’s largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft.

Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is a $34 billion business with 68,000 employees worldwide.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Amy Horton, +1 314-233-4368
BDS Communications
Industrial Participation
[email protected]

Dietwald Claus, +1 613-688-6669
Fleishman-Hillard Public Relations
[email protected]

Northwestern Memorial HealthCare has completed its formal plans to affiliate with Lake County’s Lake Forest Hospital.

Northwestern’s health system has obtained both federal and state approvals to proceed with an affiliation agreement that will make Lake Forest Hospital a wholly owned entity of Northwestern Memorial HealthCare along with Northwestern Memorial Hospital on Feb. 1, 2010.

Also at that time, Lake Forest Hospital will become Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital.

“We are very excited about what the future holds for patients now that this affiliation is final,” said Dean M. Harrison, president and chief executive officer, Northwestern Memorial HealthCare.

“With all necessary approvals in place, we are positioned to move forward with developing plans to expand access to medical care, clinical trials, and a host of other healthcare services for patients in Lake and Cook counties and surrounding regions.

“Northwestern Memorial and Lake Forest hospitals had many similarities going into the affiliation agreement that will be enhanced,” added Harrison, “particularly due to Northwestern’s century-long ties to Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.”

Additionally both hospitals share:

• a patient and family-centered culture
• a commitment to clinical excellence and high quality standards
• an ongoing dedication to our neighboring communities to provide care regardless of one’s ability to pay

“We are excited about the prospect of combining our strengths with an excellent institution such as Northwestern Memorial to create a health system that will provide broader access to care for patients in our region,” said Thomas J. McAfee, president, Lake Forest Hospital.

On January 12, 2010, the Illinois Health Facilities and Service Review Board approved the Certificate of Exemption necessary to proceed with finalization of the affiliation.

Lake Forest Hospital is a 215-bed community hospital with 650 physicians board-certified in 60 medical specialties, conveniently located in offices throughout Lake County.

The hospital has been named the Consumer Choice hospital for Lake and Kenosha counties four years in a row by National Research Corporation for having the best doctors, best nurses, best image and reputation, and best overall quality.

The hospital’s mission is to provide communities the highest quality health care through exceptional access to state-of-the-art clinical services with compassionate and personal care.

Clinical services are delivered at the hospital’s Lake Forest and Grayslake campuses, and at facilities in Bannockburn, Gurnee, Libertyville, Lindenhurst and Vernon Hills.

At the main hospital in Lake Forest, exemplary care is provided in Cain Family Emergency Services, the Hunter Family Center for Women’s Health, the Posy Krehbiel Breast Care Center, the Waud Family Maternity Services and the Center for Advanced Radiation Therapy.

CareCoach, Lake County’s only mobile health program, provides care for the underserved at 26 locations throughout the region.

For more information, visit lfh.org.