Square Enix producer David Hoffman sure can’t contain his excitement over the other title that they’re teasing about. Another gung-ho stat appeared on his Twitter, still raving about “Project X”.
 
 
 
 

The market is freaked out about the apparently escalation of tensions on the Korean peninsula.

In early trading, the benchmark KOSPI is down 3.3%.

According to Bloomberg, a message posted on a North Korean website relays that leader Kim Jong Il has told his military to “prepare for war,” which is coincidentally what Obama told the US military on Monday.

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See Also:

• OBAMA TELLS MILITARY: BE PREPARED FOR WAR IN KOREA
• South Korea Threatens War If North Korea Makes One More Provocation
• North Korea Warns ANY Retaliation For The Cheonan Will Lead To All-Out War

Via UFO Casebook News Feed

UFO Expert Investigating Colorado Cow Mutilations

It’s still not clear that anyone really knows what a cyberwar is, beyond a way for some gov’t contractors to scare up hundreds of millions of dollars, but Slashdot points us to the news that the US has now appointed its first “cyberwar general.” The report also notes that “the US Air Force disclosed that some 30,000 of its troops had been re-assigned from technical support “to the frontlines of cyber warfare”. I recently heard an interview with the head of the US Air Force academy, where he repeatedly noted that the Air Force was in charge of “cyber” warfare as well. And yet, we still haven’t seen any details about what this cyberwarfare threat is. We just keep hearing amorphous claims about hacking attacks that are clearly annoying, but hardly to the level of “warfare.” All of this seems to be an attempt to build up malicious computer hacking to make it seem like a bigger “threat” than it really is.

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That’s the argument put forth by Ambrose-Evans Pritchard in his latest Telegraph column, and despite it sounding hyperbolic, it’s one of his best in awhile, and it represents the vanguard of thinking about the European crisis.

The whole thing is a must-read, but the gist is this: Austerity is doomed to failure. There’s no way Greece or any of the Club Med countries can climb out of their hole by cutting spending and shrinking their GDP.

The only real answer is quantitative easing and some inflation, which the Germans will never accept. Meanwhile, over the years, Germany has compounded EU structural problems by aggressively keeping wages low, and thus exacerbating the Greek’s lack of wage competitiveness.

In short, the prescription of the right, in this case, won’t work, and thus the opportunity arises for the uber-left to take hold

Perma-slump has already chipped at the left flank of the ruling Socialists in Portugal. The Communist Party (PCP) and the Maoists and Trotskyists of the Left Bloc together won 18pc of the vote in September 2009, leaving premier Jose Socrates with the lonely task of enforcing yet more austerity by minority government.

Communist leader Jerónimo de Sousa said last week that the country was being reduced to a “protectorate of Brussels”, cowed into submission by financial blackmail. He invoked the civil war in 1383 when the country rallied heroically to expel the foreign opressor – with English help, the “ultimato inglês” as he calls it – from Portuguese soil.

…

Portugual is not unique. I spent Saturday delving into the subcultures of Italy’s Rifondazione Comunista, Spain’s Izquierda Unida, Olivier Besancenot’s Parti Anti-Capitaliste in France, and Germany’s Linke (Left). While it is too early to talk of a pan-European revolt against EMU-deflation, the Left is starting to offer the only coherent critique of what has gone wrong with monetary union and why there can be no durable solution until the EU creates full fiscal union (which creates its own problems of permanent subsidies, as from Ostrogoth Padania to Berber Sicily under the lira) or until this latter day Gold Standard is broken into viable halves.

Read the whole thing >

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E3 is still weeks away but that wouldn’t stop Namco Bandai from unleashing the official trailer of the much awaited remake of the old school beat ’em up arcade game, Splatterhouse. Check it out the grudge fest

The world’s worst currency for the month of May has been the Aussie dollar, and it continues to collapse, as the Tuesday trading day begins.

The country has been buffeted by two things: possible slowing weakness, and a self-inflicted wound from the government instituting a 40% mining supertax.

It’s with that in mind, that the chief of mining giant Rio Tinto has now declares Australia to be his country’s number one sovereign risk.

Reuters:

Global miner Rio Tinto said it is reviewing all investments in Australia due to a proposed new tax, describing the country as its No.1 sovereign risk concern and sending a weak Australian dollar even lower.

Australia, which accounts for the bulk of Rio’s revenue from iron ore, coal and other commodities, had been considered a top safe-haven investment destination for miners hunting the raw materials to fuel Asia’s growth.

But plans by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to introduce a 40 percent tax on miners’ so-called super profits has sparked high-stakes political battle ahead of a general election later this year.

“This is my number one sovereign risk issue on a global basis,” Chief Executive Tom Albanese told reporters on Monday, noting that the tax had set up the prospect of a long period of uncertainty which was corrosive to new investment.

This mining tax has gone over so badly, it’s really hard to see it sticking. The major miners are pushing back hard, and they’re getting help from the collapsing currency.

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Ninja Theory was more candid about dishing out info on their new title, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, in an interview with VG247. NJ big boss Tameem Antoniades confirms that they are indeed working on a “story-based”

There’s a reason we keep highlighting bank credit indicators like the TED spread. They’re on the march (widening every day), and it’s becoming obvious that the stock market is taking its marching from it.

As BTIG’s Mike O’Rourke observes:

The key focus for many equity investors was the widening of swap spreads across the board.  Whether one looks at the 2 year swap spread, the TED spread, Libor-OIS and so on, they all continue to move in the same direction – wider.  The bottom line is that equity investors will continue to remain tentative until some level of stability emerges among these spreads.  Market participants are accustomed to watching the S&P 500 chase the Euro around all day and now, a new trend is emerging.  Today the S&P 500 Financials traded inversely to the 2 year swap spread.  As usual, the market sees a trend and exploits it until it reverses.  This type of market behavior leans more towards  the category of speculating than it does investing. 

In theory this ends when market participants become more comfortable with banking health. In practice, signs like that which we got out of Spain today don’t look like what we get when a crisis is abating.

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See Also:

• The Spanish Economy Is About To Get Gored And Here Are The Charts That Show You Why
• US Futures Down, Spain Down Big On Seized Bank, But Shanghai Soars On Housing Bubble Greenlight
• Things Moving Quickly, As Spanish Government Forces Four Banks To Merge To Prop Up System

Slipknot bassist Paul Gray dead! The Slipknot Bass player passed away last May 24. The Slipknot bassist was found no longer breathing in a suburban Iowa hotel room. The cause of death is not yet revealed. However, police’ initial investigation sees no foul play on the incident.

Slipknot bassist Paul Gray is also known as number #2, or “The Pig”. Slipknot bassist Paul Gray is an American musician popularly known as the bassist of the Grammy Award winning rock band Slipknot.

Paul Gray has good bonding with his Slipknot bandmates and also with their fans. The Slipknot bassist has stated on MTV News in 2008, just before the release of Slipknot’s most recent album, All Hope Is Gone.

“It makes you kind of speechless, man. Some kid who’s so depressed or things are going so bad for them that they actually want to take their own lives, and then they listen to a Slipknot lyric or a song … and that actually gets them through that? I mean, what can you say?” Gray said. “I’m just happy that we’re able to do something and actually touch somebody like that, where they do feel empowered to keep pushing on and keep going through what they’re going through, and surviving. It’s an overwhelming feeling.”

Farewell Slipknot bassist Paul Gray!

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Asia picks up the baton that the US handed off in the final minutes of trading.

Here’s the Nikkei. It’s now down over 2%.

Us futures are off significantly. Dow futures are off nearly triple digits.

Meanwhile the euro is holding $1.23 by the skin of its teeth.

For a wrapup of the US market action, see here.

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Filed under: Spy Photos, Sedan, Volkswagen

A cameraphone-wielding member of GMInsideNews has caught what looks to be a pair of Volkswagen prototypes in Michigan, and while it’s hard to tell the full extent of the changes or the size of the sedans, he appears to have snagged the next-generation Jetta undergoing testing.

Even with the Ford Fusion and Chrysler minivan providing a bit of scale, it’s hard to pin down the dimensions of the prototypes. However, we’re more inclined to assume that the VWs are the refreshed Jetta, particularly based on the roofline, greenhouse and overhangs, as well as the previously released official renderings of the forthcoming 2011 NMS, which looks markedly more assertive than what we see here.

While the odd Toyota-like badge on the boot is a nice touch, don’t expect that element to make it to production. Instead, the 2011 Jetta will finally replace the current model’s ovoid headlamps with the more angular, aggressive units found on the refreshed Golf and GTI. Out back, the trunk benefits from a subtle lift and tuck, with new rectangular taillamps and slightly blistered fenders finishing off the refresh. Assuming our product cycle prediction hats are on straight, we can expect to see the new Jetta in person later this year, with sales beginning in early 2011.

[Source: GMI]

Spy Shots: 2011 Volkswagen Jetta caught nearly uncovered originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 24 May 2010 20:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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James LeBron Update: Lebron’s goodbye or possible farewell to Cleveland Cavaliers has resulted to various appeals. President Barack Obama pleaded LeBron James on Chicago Bulls’ behalf. Cleveland Cavaliers forward-LeBron James will become a free agent on July… a possible LeBron’s goodbye scenario to his teammates. From this fact, President Obama has told the media that LeBron James should join the Chicago Bulls, his favorite NBA team.

As part of LeBron update, Obama appealed when James is deciding whether to go to another team or stay with the Cleveland Cavaliers after they were knocked out of the playoffs in the second round.

In an interview with broadcaster Marv Albert, Obama has stated that James would fit well with the Chicago Bulls players. Albert met with Obama on the renovated White House basketball court on Friday.

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, had a playful statement of his own last Monday: “I think the White House would look good in Cleveland. He [Obama] would fit well in Cleveland. It would be nice.”

Basketball is the president’s best game and seems to have a special reverence for LeBron James. How LeBron’s goodbye to Cavaliers will affect LeBron James’ fans and the whole NBA fans?

Related posts:

1. What’s Next For Lebron?
2. MVP – LeBron James
3. Truth Behind Lebron James’ Mom and Delonte West Affair

Mexico failed in its first big test and lost to England with a score of 3-1 at the Wembley Stadium in England. It was a friendly match which was used to measure the fitness of both teams for the soccer World Cup 2010, South Africa.

Despite the large lead on the scoreboard, England showed the same superiority in the game.

The meeting, held at Wembley Stadium in London, Mexico was the first dispute in Europe as part of the last phase of preparation for the World Cup where they will play the June 11 opening game against host of South Africa.

Meanwhile, for England was the last at home before his debut against the United States on 12 June.

England players: Green (Joe Hart, 46 ‘), Johnson, Ferdinand (Jamie Carragher, 46′), King, Baines, Milner (Adam Johnson, 84 ‘), Gerrard, Carrick (Tom Huddlestone, 62′), Walcott (Lennon Aaron , 76 ‘), Rooney, Crouch (Jermain Defoe 46′). Fabio Capello DT

Mexico players: Perez, Aguilar (Pablo Barrera, 51 ‘), Osorio, Francisco Rodriguez, Salcido, Torrado, Marquez, Juarez Giovani Dos Santos (Cuauhtemoc Blanco, 72′), Vela (Andres Guardado, 62 ‘); Franco. DT Javier Aguirre

Goals: 1-0 .- Ledley King (16 ‘), 2-0.-Peter Crouch (34′), 2-Guillermo Franco 1.-(45 ‘), 3-1 .- Glen Johnson (46′)

Related posts:

1. Englands won over Mexico, FIFA South Africa 2010
2. Watch England Mexico Friendly Match World Cup 2010 Highlights
3. FIFA Is Still Elusive For Mexico

Earlier this year, we mentioned the Supreme Court was reviewing a lawsuit over whether or not the NFL had the right to have an exclusive license for its apparel. A company, American Needle, who had supplied apparel to various NFL teams, sued the NFL after it had entered into a long-term exclusive contract with Reebok to handle all team apparel. American Needle claimed that this was a clear anti-trust violation, as all of the teams had colluded to exclude everyone else from the market. The NFL argued, instead, that the entire league should be viewed as a single company. Today, the Supreme Court ruled against the NFL, saying that each team should be viewed as a separate company. The case then gets sent back down to be reconsidered:

The details of this particular case are somewhat unique, in that it really only applies to situations where there are sports leagues (Major League Baseball is the only sports league that has an official exemption from Congress for antitrust issues — though it’s not clear why the different treatment). However, the decision by retiring Justice John Paul Stevens highlights the importance of competition, and the problems of letting organizations team up, just because teaming up makes better financial sense for all of those organizations:

Directly relevant to this case, the teams compete in the market for intellectual property. To a firm making hats, the Saints and the Colts are two potentially competing suppliers of valuable trademarks. When each NFL team licenses its intellectual property, it is not pursuing the “common interests of the whole” league but is instead pursuing interests of each “corporation itself,” Copperweld, 467 U. S., at 770; teams are acting as “separate economic actors pursuing separate economic interests,” and each team therefore is a potential “independent cente[r] of decisionmaking,” id., at 769. Decisions by NFL teams to license their separately owned trademarks collectively and to only one vendor are decisions that “depriv[e] the marketplace of independent centers of decisionmaking,” ibid., and therefore of actual or potential competition.

This makes a lot of sense. Otherwise, you could argue that any particular industry could set up an organization of which all the companies in that industry are a “member” and allow that single organization to negotiate exclusive deals, with the argument that it’s “for the common interests of the whole.” But, that’s obviously collusion, with the intent to harm consumers. Thankfully, the Supreme Court saw through the flimsy claim that such a structure makes companies immune to antitrust law.

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Here its is – Cosworth’s insane road-going version of the Subaru Impreza WRX STI. The model will go on sale in June in the UK and will be limited to a production run of just 75 units.

Cosworth engineers took the Impreza WRX STI’s 2.5L boxer engine and added high-performance pistons, connecting rods, head gasket and bearings, remapped the ECU, modified turbocharger and wastegate and threw in a custom exhaust system.

Click here to get prices on the 2010 Subaru Impreza WRX STI.

All that gives the Subaru Impreza WRX STI Cosworth CS400 a total of 395-hp with a maximum torque of 398 lb-ft. That allows the Subaru Impreza WRX STI Cosworth CS400 to go from 0-62 mph in 3.7 seconds with a top speed electronically governed at 155 mph. The Subaru Impreza WRX STI Cosworth CS400 also gets a revamped suspension (lowers ride height by 10 mm) and a new chassis, which is a joint effort between Cosworth, Bilstein and Eibach.

Styling upgrades include a new front bumper, foglights, mesh grille and a rear spoiler. The Subaru Impreza WRX STI Cosworth CS400 rides on 18-inch alloy wheels.

Subaru Impreza WRX STI Cosworth CS400:

– By: Omar Rana

Filed under: Aftermarket, Convertible, Coupe, Performance, Infiniti, Luxury

Hot on the heels of the recent revelation that Infiniti is working on a duo of new G-based vehicles slated to debut at this year’s Pebble Beach extravaganza, we’ve come across a trademark filing by Nissan North America for “IPL.” What’s IPL you ask? Infiniti Performance Line, a new catalog of in-house developed upgrades which – according to the filing – will include everything from air filters to cat-back exhaust systems, and – more intriguingly – “automotive engine parts, namely turbochargers and superchargers.”

The approach is likely to be similar to how NISMO develops and markets parts for Nissan or, more accurately, Lexus’ launch of its F-Sport performance line.

This new line of performance parts will likely be unveiled this August in Pebble Beach and be fitted to the G37 coupe. How extensive the modifications are remains to be seen, but as previously reported, one of the models set to debut will be “performance oriented,” and if forced induction is part of the package, we’re anxiously awaiting our rendezvous with the modded coupe this summer.

Infiniti Performance Line (IPL) is coming this year originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 24 May 2010 19:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Daily U-Turn: What you missed on 5.24.10 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 24 May 2010 19:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What you’re looking at here could be the first pictures of the Ferrari 458 Italia Challenge. While nothing is confirmed yet, the 458 Italia in the pictures is definitely sporting all the right gear to be designated the Challenge.

In a recent interview, Ferrari CEO, Amedeo Felisa, said that a harcore version of the 458 Italia is still a couple years away.

Either way, take these pictures with grain of salt.

Click here to read more news on the Ferrari 458 Italia.

Refresher: Power for the Ferrari 458 Italia comes from a mid-rear mounted 4.5L V8 producing 570-hp at 9,000 rpm with a maximum torque of 398 lb-ft at 6,000 rpm. Mated to a dual-clutch 7-speed F1 gearbox, 0 to 62 mph comes in just 3.4 seconds with a top speed of over 202 mph.

Spy Shots: Ferrari 458 Italia Challenge:

Ferrari 458 Italia:

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Axis of Oversteer (via AutoBlog)

It’s no secret (though certain copyright and patent system defenders insist otherwise) that copyrights and patents are monopoly privileges, granted by the government. In fact, some of our elected officials have made the argument that antitrust law should be used against the worst abuses of intellectual property law. While it’s unclear how successfully that will play in courts, we may soon have a bit of a test case. Slashdot points us to the news that German company Nero AG is suing MPEG-LA, claiming abuse of monopoly power with its patent pools for licensing digital video codecs.

As you may recall, MPEG-LA acts as a patent pool for many important patents related to digital video — to the point that the organization appears to believe it is not possible to do digital video without infringing on those patents. Recently, the company has been getting more aggressive, first starting up a separate patent trolling subsidiary, and also threatening Google and others for trying to set up a new open video standard.

In this particular case, the details are important. OS News notes that MPEG-LA had approached the Justice Department back in the 90s to get an “all clear” against any antitrust problems, which the DoJ gave with some conditions. Nero suggests those conditions have not been met:

First, the MPEG-LA would engage with independent experts to ensure only essential patents would be placed in the MPEG-2 pool. They told the DOJ that the MPEG-2 pool constituted of 53 essential patents. Second, independent experts would “weed out nonessential patents” from the pool. Third, licensing terms would be “fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory”.

Nero claims none of these safeguards were honoured, and here’s where it gets juicy; “absolute power has corrupted the MPEG-LA absolutely”, according to Nero. First of all, the so-called independent expert was anything but independent. The expert helped form the MPEG-LA, helped in drafting the first MPEG-LA licensing agreements, answers questions from licensees on behalf of the MPEG-LA, has attended business settlement meetings on behalf of the MPEG-LA, and has testified before US congress on behalf of the MPEG-LA. Heck, he is listed on the MPEG-LA website as “MPEG-LA’s US patent counsel”.

Nero also claims that the MPEG-LA has unlawfully extended its patent pools by adding non-essential patents to the MPEG-2 patent pool. Even though the MPEG-LA told the DOJ there were only 53 essential MPEG-2 patents, the non-independent expert added round and about 800 more patents to the pool, extending the duration of the patent pool, since the old, 53 essential patents expired….

Nero further claims that the MPEG-LA has “formulated and imposed licensing terms that are unfair, unreasonable, and discriminatory”, by charging different royalty rates from licensees for the same MPEG-2 license and by not making any downward adjustment in line with the “rapid and dramatic” decrease in costs of implementing the MPEG-2 standard. In addition, the MPEG-LA collects royalties for the same device multiple times (internal hardware, software, monitor, etc.), and the licensing body has failed to “communicate its policies equally to all licensees”.

MPEG-LA has responded to the lawsuit by basically accusing Nero of being an infringer with sour grapes. Now let’s see what the courts think…

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