Author: Serkadis

So a whole bunch of you submitted the story last week about a “study” claiming that unauthorized downloads of books was “costing” the publishing industry $3 billion per year. I avoided the study for a variety of reasons. Mainly, the reason I ignored it was because it was done by a company selling “solutions” to the (non) “problem,” Attributor is a company that has a very long history of putting out totally ridiculous studies like this to try to sell more of its pointless service. And, of course, if you looked at the details of the study, you realized how ridiculous it was — designed solely to generate headlines. So we ignored it.

However… we feel compelled to mention it now because Slashdot points us to an absolutely brilliant response by a blogger who used the same basic methodology to point out that, according to this line of thinking, libraries are costing publishers $100 billion per year:

Hot on the heels of the story in Publisher’s Weekly that “publishers could be losing out on as much $3 billion to online book piracy” comes a sudden realization of a much larger threat to the viability of the book industry. Apparently, over 2 billion books were “loaned” last year by a cabal of organizations found in nearly every American city and town. Using the same advanced projective mathematics used in the study cited by Publishers Weekly, Go To Hellman has computed that publishers could be losing sales opportunities totaling over $100 Billion per year, losses which extend back to at least the year 2000. These lost sales dwarf the online piracy reported yesterday, and indeed, even the global book publishing business itself.

From what we’ve been able to piece together, the book “lending” takes place in “libraries”. On entering one of these dens, patrons may view a dazzling array of books, periodicals, even CDs and DVDs, all available to anyone willing to disclose valuable personal information in exchange for a “card”. But there is an ominous silence pervading these ersatz sanctuaries, enforced by the stern demeanor of staff and the glares of other patrons. Although there’s no admission charge and it doesn’t cost anything to borrow a book, there’s always the threat of an onerous overdue bill for the hapless borrower who forgets to continue the cycle of not paying for copyrighted material.

Good stuff. The blog post goes on to discuss a shifty “meeting” of so-called “librarians” set out to destroy the publishing industry. Satire at its finest. Of course will the mainstream press remember this the next time Attributor puts out some silly report? Probably not…

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Article Tags: Himalayan Glacier Data

(CNN) — The U.N.’s leading panel on climate change has apologized for misleading data published in a 2007 report that warned Himalayan glaciers could melt by 2035.

In a statement released Wednesday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said estimates relating to the rate of recession of the Himalayan glaciers in its Fourth Assessment Report were “poorly substantiated” adding that “well-established standards of evidence were not applied properly.”

Despite the admission, the IPCC reiterated its concern about the dangers melting glaciers present in a region that is home to more than one-sixth of the world’s population.

“Widespread mass losses from glaciers and reductions in snow cover over recent decades are projected to accelerate throughout the 21st century, reducing water availability, hydropower potential, and changing seasonality of flows in regions supplied by meltwater from major mountain ranges (e.g. Hindu-Kush, Himalaya, Andes)…”

“The chair, vice-chairs, and co-chairs of the IPCC,” the statement continued, “regrets the poor application of IPCC procedures…”

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Source: cnn.com

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Filed under: Etc.

There will always be a great deal of debate surrounding the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. Really, it is worded very odd. No matter what your opinion on gun ownership is, we’ll think you’ll agree that the Founding Fathers never intended this: a California man drove off a bridge, sank six feet under water and shot his way out of his car.

The 28-year-old man is a security guard at a Sacramento area casino who happened to have his handgun with him. The unnamed man claims that his cell phone rang, startled him and then he lost control of his Ford Focus, breaking through a guard rail and plunging into a river. We don’t buy the cell phone story, as it rings about as truthful as the pelican putting a Bugatti Veyron into a Texas pond.

No matter the reason, being trapped underwater is surely horrible. Good thing he had the gun. Why didn’t he try the door? He probably did and it wouldn’t open. Also, we’ve never been trapped underwater so it’s hard to say how the brain processes the situation. The upside is that the driver escaped with only minor injuries. Hat tip to Shaun!

[Source: cbs13.com]

NRA stoked as man shoots way out of submerged car originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WASHINGTON — Saying childhood obesity has tripled in the last 30 years, first lady Michelle Obama asked the nation’s mayors to help her battle an epidemic that could see today’s kids lead shorter lives than their parents.

Obama, in prepared remarks for her address this afternoon to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, said no matter how much she’d read and thought about the problem of obesity among young people, the pertinent statistics “never fail to take my breath away.”

She said nearly one-third of U.S. children now are overweight or obese. She said one-third of today’s children eventually will suffer from diabetes, and, in the African American and Latino communities, the proportion will be almost half.

Obesity, she said, “could now be an even greater threat to America’s health than smoking.” And if the nation stays on its current path, nearly 50 percent of all Americans will be obese in 10 years — “not just overweight, but obese.”

“This isn’t the kind of problem that can be solved in one year, or even one administration,” according to Obama, who is expected to unveil an anti-obesity initiative next month. “But make no mistake about it, this problem can be solved.”

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, for whom Obama once worked, is among about 220 mayors attending the conference.

Obama said a host of factors were contributing to the problem, from time-pressed parents with less time to prepare home-cooked meals to kids sitting for hours in front of televisions or playing video games.

She said as a busy working mom she turned too often to pizza or to a drive-through for food, until a nudge from her daughters’ pediatrician, who suggested she modify their diets.

Obama heralded what mayors across the country already are doing to fight fat and promote fitness.

She singled out Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett, who challenged residents to lose a million pounds and created a Web site, thiscityisgoingonadiet.com, for people to track their progress and share tips.

“So far, 40,000 people have signed up — and together, they’ve lost more than half a million pounds,” she said. Forty of those pounds lost were Cornett’s, she noted.

Obama said the Arlington, Texas, mayor, who is a physician, gave children pedometers at the end of the school year; in Columbia, Mo., the mayor is building walkways and bikeways; in Bowling Green, Ky., the mayor launched a Web site to encourage exercise, find parks and trail maps and learn about upcoming races; and in Minneapolis, the mayor brought in farmers’ markets to bring fresh produce to underserved areas.

The conference, meeting in the Capital Hilton, runs through Friday.

– Katherine Skiba

Read the original article from Tribune News Services.

Speaking of Heidi Montag, while Blondie may be taking heat in the Court of Public Opinion for going under the knife for 10 plastic surgery procedures in one day – Heidi’s new look comes as no surprise to fellow Noodle Noggin Jessica Simpson, who recently traveled the globe researching how women in other cultures define beauty for her new VH1 reality series.

“I went to Brazil, so I saw many more women with a lot more surgeries….” Jessica told Access Hollywood at the Extraordinary Measures premiere on Tuesday.

On Nov. 20, Heidi underwent procedures that included a mini brow lift, Botox in the forehead, nose job revision, fat injections in cheeks and lips, chin reduction, neck liposuction, ears pinned back, breast augmentation revision, liposuction on her waist and thighs, and a butt lift.

Jessica Simpson’s The Price of Beauty premieres March 15 on VH1.

Creative Global Investments analyst Sabine Blumel says that strong sales of the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class in the fourth quarter will increase Daimler AG’s earnings for the quarter and hint at an earnings recovery for the automaker.

“The sales improvement at the Mercedes-Benz brand throughout last year was attributable to a rapidly improving model momentum, reflecting the roll-out of the new E-Class family,” Blumel said.

She said that Mercedes-Benz is set to post higher profits on a moderate increase in sales in the fourth quarter, a trend she says will continue in 2010.

Mercedes-Benz ended December 2009 in the United States selling 20,025 vehicles, up 8 percent from December 2008. Most of that increase came from the E-Class, which saw sales go up 57 percent from December to December.

2011 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Cabriolet:

– By: Stephen Calogera

Source: AutoObserver

A dispute over who was next in the deli line at a Buffalo Grove Jewel-Osco has resulted in disorderly conduct charges against a Lincolnshire man.

Police say John F. Billis, 61, of the 20000 Block of North Horatio Boulevard, was arrested at 4:20 p.m. Tuesday in the grocery store parking lot at 79 North McHenry Road.

Witnesses told police he shoved a 65-year-old Buffalo Grove man, causing him to stumble backwards, authorities said.

“The clerk asked for the next customer to order, and Billis identified himself as the next in line,” Cmdr. Steve Husak said.

“The victim said that someone else was next in line.”

– Andrea Brown

Read the original article from Tribune News Services.

An undercover investigation resulted in the arrest of a 63-year-old woman on prostitution charges at a Buffalo Grove spa.

Police said Myeong Hi Lim, of the 2600 block of South Cedar Glen Drive in Arlington Heights, was charged last week with prostitution and violating Buffalo Grove’s massage ordinance.

Police received a complaint of illicit activity at a strip mall on the 1100 block of Weiland Road, Sgt. Michael Szos said.

Lim is due in Lake County Circuit Court on Feb. 2 on the prostitution charge.

– Andrea L. Brown

Read the original article from Tribune News Services.

Engadget have published another hands-on video of Strantum’s resistive multi-touch screen in action. Their design combines the precision of resistive screens with the sensitivity and multi-touch capability of capacitive screens.

While Engadget was pretty happy with the performance of the device, they warn that it seems Strantum is still to find a customer for their technology, which I am sure many of our readers will be quite disappointed about.

Read more of Engadget’s impressions here.

In what has to be an all-time record, Heidi Montag’s debut album, Superficial, has debuted to abysmal numbers.

The pop-inspired LP sold just 658 copies in its first week of release, according to Nielsen Soundscan. This certainly won’t be good news for Heidi’s accountant. The Hills star is so intent on becoming the next Britney Spears she practically bankrupted herself producing the set.

“….I put every dollar I have into this. I’ve spent over $1 million, almost $2 million, on this album. It’s cost as much or more than a Britney Spears album because I wanted it to be that quality … (But) I think within the first week we will definitely make our money back. The songs will make an impact in pop history,” she told EW last week.

Article Tags: Piers Corbyn

Click source to read FULL report from Piers Corbyn at WeatherAction.com

Source: weatheraction.com

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Doctors diagnosed Ray Andrade with renal failure and gave him two options, a kidney transplant or remain on dialysis, an intensive, time-consuming medical procedure.

Andrade, who works as a security guard at Delnor Hospital in Geneva, began looking for a donor within the most logical pool of candidates — his family.

His sister was the only potential candidate, and she was not a match. Not long after learning this, he received a generous offer from a nurse at Delnor while they ate lunch in the hospital cafeteria.

Merri Lazenby, who works in the emergency room, told Andrade she would donate a kidney.

“She told me, ‘God gave me two kidneys. I’d be more than happy to give you one of mine,’” he said.

Lazenby made the offer, but she realized as a nurse that the likelihood she would be a close enough match to donate was low. When she learned they were a match, she was surprised. But she meant what she said. They began testing for the process in January 2009 and underwent the surgery in October.

“For her to be a match on the first crack it was incredible,” Andrade said.

Lazenby has since recovered from the surgery and returned to work. Before the surgery she ran a half-marathon. She is working out again and trying to return to her previous fitness level, she said.

The recovery process has been longer for Andrade, because his body needs to accept the transplanted kidney. His health is starting to improve to the point of contemplating a return to work, he said.

“I’m starting to feel a lot better,” he said. “I’m just starting to get my strength back.”

For Lazenby, the decision to donate was easy. The benefits are huge compared to the risk, she said.

She knows that if something happens to her down the road, she does not have a backup plan. She also knew that he did not have another living match, and that a transplant would give him the best chance at a normal quality of life.

“Andrade needs the kidney and because he is in his 60s he would have sat on a donation list for a long time and maybe never had a chance at a kidney,” Lazenby said.

Other than being co-workers, Andrade and Lazenby did not know each other well before this surgery. When Lazenby was filling out paperwork for the procedure, she realized she did not even know Andrade’s last name.

Before the surgery, they frequently worked the same shift at the hospital. It was his job to protect her as a security guard at the hospital, she said.

“I guess I’m just paying him back,” she said.

Andrade is simply appreciative of the gift.

“I’m extremely grateful to Merri and her family for stepping up like that,” he said.

Read the original article from Tribune News Services.

WASHINGTON–Mayor Richard M. Daley made a robust pitch for job creation today, proposing that businesses that create and guarantee good-paying jobs with benefits for life be exempt from paying federal taxes.

“You cannot take the old playbook and try to play the game today,” he said at the opening of the U.S. Conference of Mayors winter meetings, which run through Friday.

He spoke as the nation’s mayors released a bleak forecast for continued joblessness.

The report said the unemployment rate in 105 metro areas would exceed 10 percent at the end of 2011 and in 214 areas it would surpass 8 percent.

The report was conducted for the mayors’ group by IHS Global Insight.

Daley said job creators should be able to plow profits into areas such and marketing and technology, but not bonuses.

In his remarks, he decried the the mindset of the nation’s capital, saying “the real world does not exist in Washington” and urged mayors to educate federal officials about the fact that job creation is the No. 1 issue in cities across America.

“Job creation is the key and we heard it yesterday from Massachusetts very strongly,” Daley said, referring to Republican Scott Brown’s stunning victory in winning the U.S. Senate seat long held by the late Edward M. Kennedy.

Daley’s tax proposal came amid his description of the alarm he said people are feeling over economic growth in India and China as U.S. jobs are being eliminated and going off shore. He said there needs to be a reason for business to “in-shore” jobs to the U.S. and said a tax credit good for a year or two isn’t enough.

Daley also urged federal officials to stop bashing Wall Street. “You can rap and beat up the business community on a daily basis in Washington, but they create jobs,” he said. “Government does not create jobs.”

He spoke alongside more than 25 mayors at the opening news conference of the mayors’ meetings.

–Katherine Skiba

Read the original article from Tribune News Services.

Published Jan. 19, 2010
By Kristi Pihl, Tri-City Herald staff writer

VIDEO: 19th Annual Bell-Ringing Ceremony

VIDEO: On the street at the 19th Annual Bell-Ringing Ceremony

Photo Gallery: MLK Bell-Ringing 2010

PASCO — The legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was marked Monday in the Tri-Cities with reminders that much more needs to be done to bring civil rights to all.

After little golden bells rang across the still Columbia Basin College campus, brothers Corey, 9, and Marcell Brown, 10, of Pasco, placed two colorful bouquets of flowers at the foot of the King statue on the campus. King is depicted standing with his left hand on the shoulder of a boy who could be Corey or Marcell’s age.

Bobby Sparks of Kennewick shows a bell to his great-nephew Corey Brown, 9, of Pasco, on Monday during the 19th annual Martin Luther King, Jr. bell-ringing ceremony at Columbia Basin College. Sparks brings a bell each year from the collection of his late mother, Annie Sparks. About 20 of Annie’s descendants were among the roughly 400 at the ceremony. Corey and his brother Marcell performed the flower presentation. Photo by Kai-Huei of the Tri-City Herald

Kimberly Camp, Hanford Reach Interpretive Center CEO and the event’s keynote speaker, said for her, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a day to roll up the sleeves, put on jeans and volunteer in the community.

It wasn’t until 1994 — 26 years after King’s death — that he was recognized with a national holiday, she said. King and many others fought the racism that literally was killing black people, but more needs to be done, Camp said.

Camp said, “Civil rights are different than constitutional rights.” The Constitution might give citizens rights, but that doesn’t mean they are followed, whether due to racism or sexism, she said.

“There have been accomplishments, but the work is not done,” she said.

David Arnold, CBC associate professor of intercultural studies, reminded the crowd that every time the U.S. has crossed a racial barrier there has been more work to do. When slavery was abolished in 1865 with the 13th Amendment, abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass recognized that the movement’s work was just beginning.

And even after the passage of the 14th and 15th amendments in 1866 and 1870, which provided for equal protection under the law and voting rights for men of color, Jim Crow laws were passed in Southern states that enacted segregation in schools and other public places, he said.

Rufus M. Friday, Tri-City Herald publisher, was recognized for his accomplishments with the 2010 Martin Luther King Jr. Spirit Award.

CBC President Richard Cummins said Friday has used the Herald’s editorial pages as a true community forum, and has taken on issues important to the community regardless of their popularity.

Friday credited God, his parents, his wife and daughter and the Herald staff after receiving the award.

One of King’s legacies is that of dreaming big, Friday said, and it’s something his parents taught him.

He also asked those present to remember that the best exercise they could get was to bend over and lift up someone else.

Manny Hunt, 16, a Kamiakin High School student attending the event, said although racism may never be completely gone, people can strive to extinguish it.

The election of President Obama was a sign of change, he said. But there still are many things that need to be changed, he said.

“It doesn’t matter what color you are if you have the same content in your heart,” Hunt said.

Vanis Daniels of Pasco, who also attended the ceremony, said the U.S. justice system is one of those things that still needs change. The justice system lacks consistency, he said, and the weight given to certain crimes, such as drug-related ones, is unbalanced.

The courts need to remember that they work for the people and not the other way around, Daniels said.

Daniels grew up in the Tri-Cities, and said he remembers as a child, before the blue bridge was finished in 1954, how a Kennewick police officer would be stationed at the old green bridge between Pasco to Kennewick to send back any black people as the sun set.

“It’s just good to see the progress that has come about,” Daniels said.

Camp encouraged people to question the rhetoric they hear and to form their own opinions. It’s up to individual citizens whether the nation lives up to King’s expectations, she said.

“We are all in this together,” she said.

Additional news stories can be accessed online at the Tri-City Herald.

When Obama came into office, there was all sorts of handwringing about how his liberal policies would exacerbate the economic weakness, freak out investors, and tank the market. For the first few months it was dicey, but then things turned around. Big time.

Bespoke tabulates the first-year returns of the last several Presidents, and finds that Obama had the second best first-year return of the bunch. First place: FDR.

And we all know how the economy did for years after that.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Oh No! Obama’s Bank Tax Is Unconstitutional!
• Scott Brown’s Victory Means Obama Is About To Rain Hellfire Down On Wall Street
• Obama’s Mistake: He Hasn’t Made It Clear That Everything Is Bush’s Fault

Alexa Chung, British style icon and former host of MTV talk show It’s On With Alexa Chung, is partnering with J. Crew’s Madewell denim line, to create her own collection of women’s fashion set to debut next fall.

The presenter, whose MTV talk show was recently axed, has been offered the opportunity to collaborate on a fashion line before, but finally settled on Madewell: “[Madewell] seemed really interested in my ideas and it’s a brand that I really admire. Hopefully, the authenticity of this collaboration will be obvious.”

The collection, which will be called Alexa Chung for Madewell, is described as “sexy tomboy and sixties girls band” and is expected to feature the polka-dot dresses, high-waisted jeans, and oversized wool jackets that are signature Chung.

“There is no grand scheme to this, and we still don’t want to hire a celebrity spokesperson,” said Millard “Mickey” Drexler, chairman and CEO of J. Crew Group. “It’s just that Alexa is totally cool. It’s not the way she looks or dresses. It’s the way she is.”

The retailer will launch Alexa Chung for Madewell in its stores and online at madewell1937.com in late August.

Five editors resigned from the Stevenson High School newspaper Tuesday, according to its former editor, citing frustrations with school administrators over perceived censorship of controversial stories and a plan to change the class’ schedule this semester.

“I’d rather practice no journalism than journalism that doesn’t follow with my ethics and what I believe in,” ex-editor Pam Selman said.

Selman said she and the managing editor, features editor, ideas editor and presentation editor decided not to go back to the paper for second semester, which started Tuesday.

She said the news editor and a copy editor had previously quit, as well.

District spokesman Jim Conrey said administrators are disappointed in the students’ decision and defended the school’s efforts to reach compromise with them.

“The teachers and administration were looking forward to working with them to address the concerns they had,” he said.

Selman said staffers had grown frustrated, especially by an administrative decision to merge the class, which had been taught in two sections, into one for the new semester. At least one student would have been forced to drop the class, she said.

“When (administrators) refused to let us remain in two sections, it was a sign to us that we couldn’t very well expect much collaboration second semester,” she said.

Selman said that Tuesday’s resignations shrunk the paper’s staff to five. Conrey disputed the number, saying the paper has a remaining staff of eight.

He said the paper will continue to publish.

“Our mission remains the same regardless of who’s in course,” he said. “We want to teach the fundamentals of journalism and produce a quality newspaper.”

The resignations come after a year of tension between administrators and student journalists for the Statesman, regarded as one of the premier student newspapers in Illinois and the nation. Last January, administrators implemented a new “prior review” policy giving them authority to read stories before the paper goes to print.

The paper’s faculty adviser, Barbara Thill, resigned after last school year in the wake of the change.

During the current school year, student journalists objected to administration decisions to spike stories in November and December about teen pregnancy, banned substance use by honor students and prescription drug abuse.

– Dan Simmo

Read the original article from Tribune News Services.