Author: Serkadis

PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania educator named in a webcam spying lawsuit says she never monitored students through webcams or authorized anyone else to do so.

Harriton High School vice principal Lynn Matsko responded to last week’s lawsuit through a statement Wednesday. She did not take questions.

She did not specifically address the lawsuit’s accusation that she talked to a student about “improper behavior” at home, citing images taken from his school-issued laptop’s built-in camera.

The suit charges that Lower Merion School District employees remotely activated the webcam on his laptop and photographed him at home.

District officials admit they activated webcams without notifying students, but say they did so only when computers were reported missing.

Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

In this iWeb video tutorial you’ll learn how to import content, create links, embed a video and publish your website.

If you’re planning to build your own site, Apple’s iWeb is an easy way for you to get into web-design and launch your first online project. With a little practice, you can be the webmaster of your own domain in no time.

This tutorial is all about getting you comfortable with iWeb. To show you how easy it is to create professional looking sites, I created the site for my new iPhone game using iWeb: www.thecosmokid.com

Rather than use a pre-set template, we’re going to dive right in and recreate the Cosmo Kid website. Before you start the tutorial, make sure to download the Cosmo Kid Content Pack (ZIP, 274 KB), it’s got all the parts you’ll need to build the site.

Check out the video after the jump, or view the full-size, full-resolution video here (MOV, 135MB).

Gold has been kind of a dog lately, but if you want to see ugly, check out the companies whose job it is to pull it out of the ground.

Here’s MineWeb with the report:

Measured on a 12-month rolling basis, listed gold stocks are on average trading at levels seen a year ago. Looking at NYSE prices, Barrick, the world’s biggest gold miner on a number of metrics, is trading around USD 37.00 a share, a level it first breached during the third quarter of 2007.  Newmont, the second biggest by production, is trading around USD 46.50 a share, a level it first crossed during the fourth quarter of 2003.

 Goldcorp, a relative newcomer to the big gig league of global gold diggers, is trading around USD 36.50 a share, a level it first cracked during the second quarter of 2006, nearly four years ago. AngloGold Ashanti, the third biggest gold miner by output, is around USD 34.50 a share, a level first breached in mid-2003. Times change, but not much for certain stock prices.

Read the whole report at MineWeb >

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See Also:

• Gold Is Just Looking Terrible
• Want A Non-Productive ‘Hard Asset’ With Psychological Value That Beats Gold? Buy Collectibles And Art
• Gold Survives Body Blows From IMF And Bernanke And Is Now Above $1120

Filed under: Motorsports, Marketing/Advertising

All sorts of companies shell out big bucks to have their name associated with Formula One racing, whether by sponsoring individual teams, supporting aspiring drivers, or erecting trackside billboards. But their sponsorship deals are only worth as much as they’re promoted. Which goes a long way – a full race distance and them some – towards explaining all the innovative ways companies find to highlight their involvement, whether technical or commercial, with the sport.

Puma is one of those brands most commonly associated with F1, and the German sportswear company’s promotions never fail to entertain. Having already recreated a Ferrari grand prix racer out of folded up t-shirts, Puma’s at it again, only this time they’ve repeated the feat using only shoeboxes. Yep, ordinary shoeboxes. The craft was undertaken by British designers the Wilson Brothers, and will be displayed at the new Puma store on North State Street in Chicago. But if you’re not planning on visiting the Windy City anytime soon, you can check it out in the video after the jump. Thanks for the tip, Robin!

[Source: Wilson Brothers Design]

Continue reading Video: Puma puts the car in cardboard box… or maybe the other way around

Video: Puma puts the car in cardboard box… or maybe the other way around originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here’s more from the Nintendo media summit, this time for the handheld afficionados. The upsized DSi XL has been given the go signal for a US release. Those not in the market for a new DSi still

J.D. Power and Associates today released its 2010 Customer Service Index (CSI) Study. The group said that outlook for auto dealers service volumes and customer spending appears to be decreasing due to depressed sales in 2008 and 2009. J.D. Power and Associates said that it expects service traffic volume to drop approximately 20 percent between 2009 and 2013, resulting in a 25 percent decrease in service dollars.

Separately, J.D. Power and Associates found that Lexus ranks highest in customer satisfaction with dealer service among luxury brands and receives the award for a second consecutive year. Lexus achieved an overall CSI score of 837 on a 1,000-pint scale. Cadillac followed Lexus with 827 points, while Jaguar and Acura trailed behind with 822 and 817 points respectively. BMW closed off the top five with a score of 816 points.

Among mass market brands, HUMMER came in top with a score of 815 points followed by Saturn with 808 points. Buick came in third with 805 points, while Chevrolet coming in fourth with 787 points. Mini closed off the top five with 786 points.

The study found that overall satisfaction with dealer service has increased from 761 in 2009 to 767 in 2010 – marking the 10th consecutive year of industry-wide improvement.

Hit the jump for the press release for more details.

Press Release:

Low Vehicle Sales Likely to Cause Precipitous Drop in Auto Dealer Service Visits
During the Next Several Years, Reaching Low Point in 2013

Lexus Ranks Highest in Customer Satisfaction with Dealer Service among Luxury Brands,
While HUMMER Ranks Highest among Mass Market Brands

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.: 24 February 2010 – The outlook for auto dealer service volumes and customer spending appears challenging, with decreases in service business brought on by depressed auto sales in 2008 and 2009 projected to continue for several years, whereby service volume may reach a low point in 2013, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 Customer Service Index (CSI) StudySM released today.

Dealer service traffic volumes are expected to decline by approximately 20 percent between 2009 and 2013, resulting in a 25 percent decrease in service dollars from owners of late (2005 to 2009) model year vehicles. Particularly in the current period of slow auto sales, most dealers rely on service business to stay profitable.

“Over time, many vehicle owners gradually defect to non-dealer service facilities for repair and maintenance needs, particularly when the warranty period expires,” said Jon Osborn, research director at J.D. Power and Associates. “With service customer retention becoming more crucial than ever during the next few years, dealerships must focus on not only providing superior levels of customer service, but also on enhancing convenience for vehicle owners and providing pricing that is more competitive with non-dealer facilities.”

The study examines satisfaction among vehicle owners who visit a service department for maintenance or repair work. The CSI rankings are based on dealer performance during the first three years of ownership, which typically represents the majority of the vehicle warranty period. Five measures are examined to determine overall customer satisfaction with dealer service (listed in order of importance): service quality; service initiation; service advisor; service facility; and vehicle pick-up.

Lexus ranks highest in customer satisfaction with dealer service among luxury brands and receives an award for a second consecutive year. Lexus achieves an overall CSI score of 837 on a 1,000-point scale and performs particularly well in four of the five measures: service quality; service initiation; service advisor; and service facility. Rounding out the top five nameplates in the premium segment are Cadillac (827), Jaguar (822), Acura (817) and BMW (816). Among luxury brands, Cadillac and Mercedes-Benz post the greatest improvements from 2009.

Among mass market brands, HUMMER ranks highest with a score of 815 and performs particularly well in the service quality and service facility factors. Also among the top five brands in the mass market segment are Saturn (808), Buick (805), Chevrolet (787) and MINI (786). Six General Motors brands (including brands GM is divesting) rank within the top seven in the mass market segment. Among mass market brands, Kia and Volkswagen post the greatest improvements from 2009.

The study finds that overall satisfaction with dealer service has increased from 761 in 2009 to 767 in 2010, marking the 10th consecutive year of industry-wide improvement.

Notable improvements are demonstrated in the service facility and service quality measures in 2010, compared with 2009. In particular, satisfaction has increased in the following areas: ease of driving in and out of dealer facilities; convenience of parking; thoroughness of the work performed; the total time required to complete service on the vehicle; flexibility of accommodating the customer schedules; and thoroughness of explanations.

Several other time-related metrics have improved from 2009, including customer ability to get a service appointment on the same day as their initial inquiry call and service being completed the day that the vehicle was brought in for service.

“These improvements may be due to not only an increased focus on customer satisfaction from dealers, but also are possibly a result of lower volumes of service traffic that dealers are now experiencing,” said Osborn.

The 2010 CSI Study is based on responses from more than 114,200 owners and lessees of 2005 to 2009 model-year vehicles. The study was fielded between October and December 2009. J.D. Power and Associates measures dealer service in various countries around the world, including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand and the UK.

– By: Omar Rana

A few days ago, we wrote about how the lumber was getting slapped around pretty violently.

It’s happening again today, as lumber it’s down over 3% to $252.20 (per 1000 board feet).

Taking a look at the chart below, we can see that in the lead up to late January/early February, lumber was one of the hottest commodities around. Then in the past week, it’s fallen hard.

Lumber, obviously, is closely tied to the housing market. Perhaps we’re seeing the evaporation of the last gasps of real estate optimism.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Pending Homes Sales Spike, Homebuilders Are On Fire
• Why Your House Will Lose 12% Of Its Value In 2010
• Homeowner’s Choice: Walk Away Now, Or Stick Around Until 2040 When Prices Recover

A bunch of folks sent over an editorial in the Wall Street Journal that goes out of its way to trash “techno-utopians” for believing that the internet is a good thing and can be used to help fight authoritarian regimes, such as the one in Iran. The problem with the piece, written by Evgeny Morozov, is that it basically sets up a strawman that is quite easy to knock down:

It’s easy to see why a world in which young Iranians embrace the latest technology funded by venture capitalists from Silicon Valley, while American diplomats sit back, sip tea and shovel the winter snow on a break from work, sounds so appealing. But is such a world achievable? Will Twitter and Facebook come to the rescue and fill in the void left by more conventional tools of diplomacy? Will the oppressed masses in authoritarian states join the barricades once they get unfettered access to Wikipedia and Twitter?

But who made that argument? The answer, which Morozov ignores or conveniently skips over, is no one. No one is saying that Twitter or Facebook will replace traditional diplomacy. No one says that Iranians with access to Wikipedia will suddenly overthrow their government. It’s a total strawman that Morozov sets up because it’s so easy to knock down and there’s no one at all to defend it, because no one’s said it.

Instead, what people are saying is that having better tools (which, by the way, go way beyond Twitter and Wikipedia — but it’s easier to dismiss what people are saying by lumping the entire internet into two offerings) can help aid in driving change. But no one is saying it takes away the need for diplomacy or real leadership. No one is saying that the technology can’t also be used by the other side — often to oppress further (as Morozov implies later in his article). The argument is that these tools, if used well, can augment and help those fighting against such regimes. Further, the argument in many cases (though, certainly not all) is that if you provide better communication tools to “the masses,” in the long run, that will enable them to more strongly advocate for their own rights. Though, again, that is as a process of augmenting true leadership — not replacing it entirely.

Morozov uses the failure of Twitter to successfully allow the Green Movement in Iran to effect change and the (supposed) failure of West German TV in East Germany in the late 80s to lead people to tear down the wall, as his only bits of evidence. But, again, that presupposes the wrong thing: that it is the technology alone that leads to revolution. Yet, again, no one claims such a thing. The technology is a tool, and it depends entirely on how it’s used as to how effective a tool it is for the purpose. But what many of us who believe in the forward march of technological progress feel is that, in the long run, the greater flow of information opens up more opportunities for people to step into a leadership role, and leverage the technology effectively.

So, yes, it’s true that technology alone does not make a revolution. But no one claimed it did. That’s just a strawman that’s easy for Morozov to knock over. The real issue shouldn’t be trying to disprove mythological statements from a nebulous group of “techno-utopian,s” but looking for ways to make sure those other elements are in place to make use of the technology in a positive and helpful manner.

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The Dow is currently up 80 points to 10,362. It’s a great day for equities, but what about commodities?

Looking at the futures market, cocoa, corn, cattle, and metals (save for gold) are all up. Sugar is up 3% and pork bellies and lean hogs are up over 1% each.

Losers include Nikkei 225 futures, soybeans, palladium, and cotton. Lumber is down more than 3% amid poor housing news. Crude futures remain up as

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• As Dow Struggles To Hold 10,000, Commodities Are Getting Whacked
• After Bernanke’s Comments, The Bears Come Out To Play
• Markets A Snooze After Last Week’s Violence

Filed under: Government/Legal, Recalls, Safety, Toyota

The second day of Congressional hearings on the “Response by Toyota and NHTSA to Incidents of Sudden Unintended Acceleration” has been underway since 11 am this morning, with an animated NHTSA Secretary Ray LaHood juking and jiving around Congress’ questions. But the big showing today is Toyota President Akio Toyoda, who’s on the stand now to discuss the automaker’s handing of the 8.5 million vehicles being recalled for accelerator defects. You can read his official statement here, but understand the real fireworks will take place during the questioning. If you want to get in on the hot Congressional action, here’s a live video stream of the proceedings, or if just want the choice quotes, follow along as we live-Tweet Toyoda’s remarks.

Tired of Toyota recall news? Try out the recall-free version of Autoblog.

Mr. Toyoda comes to Washington originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We had Bob “We’re Completely Screwed” Prechter on TechTicker yesterday. Fun and interesting, as always…

Aaron Task: In February 2009, Robert Prechter of Elliott Wave International predicted a market rally that would be “sharp and scary for anyone who is short.”

In recent months, Prechter returned to more familiar territory, declaring here in November the market was in a “topping area.”

A few weeks ago, the veteran market watcher told the Society of Technical Analysts in London that a “grand, super-cycle top” is at hand, The WSJ reported.

“What has happened is a complete change in psychology from extreme negativity [a year ago] to extreme optimism” heading into the market’s recent top in January, Prechter says.

Among the many sentiment indicators he watched, Prechter cited the very low levels of cash at mutual funds, which is approaching levels seen near major tops in 1973, 2000 and 2007.

“Nobody should be taking risk right now. This is a time to be safe,” he says.

But considering U.S. equity funds suffered about $46 billion of outflows from August to December 2009 while bond funds took in about $198 billion, according to ICI, aren’t investors already playing it safe — a bullish contrarian signal?

“The individual investor has been more or less abandoning stocks” and buying bond funds, Prechter concedes. “I think that is going from the frying pan into the fire. The bond market is the biggest bubble in the history of the world. “

Corporate debt, municipal debt, mortgages and consumer loans will all suffer in the great deflation Prechter believes is already underway, as detailed in his book Conquer the Crash.

So is there any way for investors to protect themselves from the carnage? Check the accompanying video for Prechter’s recommendations.

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See Also:

• Prechter: The 2008 Crash Was Merely A Warmup
• Prechter: Gold To Fall 40% From Here
• Prechter: We’re At A "Grand Supercycle Top", Nowhere Will Be Safe In The Coming Downturn

Filed under: Hybrid, Sedan, Performance, Lexus, Luxury

It looks like Lexus is planning to go to both extremes on the green-performance continuum. When the next-generation IS appears in a couple of years, it will likely add a hybrid powertrain option. Such a move would be in keeping with Toyota’s oft-stated commitment to having hybrid drive available in almost all of its platforms by the end of the decade. The IS hybrid may also spawn a new rear-drive hybrid sports car around the same time. If these IS based hybrids are consistent with the current GS450h they will definitely be biased more towards performance than efficiency, using the hybrid drive to enhance acceleration without consuming more gas.

Meanwhile, the GS – as rumored previously – could be setting its sites on the new BMW M5 and Cadillac CTS-V. Even though only 500 LF-As will be built, the 4.8-liter V10 may find its way into a much-rumored new GS-F model. The GS-F won’t arrive until 2013 so it should be based on the next generation sedan. In the LF-A, the V10 has the power to compete with the German and American models but falls short of the Cadillac’s torque. If the new M5 gets the uprated 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 from the X5/X6 M, it would also be way ahead of the Lexus. Unless the Lexus engine gets boosted or the GS looses a lot of weight, this could be the only high-revving sports sedan of the pack left.

[Source: Autocar, Autocar]

Rumormill: Rear-drive Hybrid Lexus IS, V10-powered GS F on the way? originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apparently the Yakuza 3 Sega is releasing in the West a couple of weeks from now isn’t exactly the same Yakuza 3 Japan got. The company has revealed that time constraints have forced them to cut some of

WASHINGTON (AP) — America can still out-compete other nations in the world marketplace, but only if the government and U.S. businesses move ahead with a unified agenda, President Barack Obama says.

In a speech prepared for delivery Wednesday to business leaders whose support he has enjoyed, Obama ties together pieces of his agenda and describes them as a unified push to help the United States compete, according to excerpts released Tuesday by the White House.

Hiring new workers, revamping financial regulations and overhauling the nation’s health care system all are components of Obama’s argument designed to appeal to the Business Roundtable gathering at a Washington hotel.

“Despite growing global competition, this country can continue to lead,” Obama said in his prepared remarks. “A thriving, competitive America is within our reach.

But only if we move forward as one nation, only if we move past the old debates and crippling divides between left and right, business and labor, private enterprise and the public sector.

“Whatever differences we have in this country, all of us have a stake in meeting the same goal: an America in which a growing prosperity is shared widely by its people,” the president said.

The Roundtable, one of capital’s most influential business groups, comprises the CEOs of the nation’s largest corporations. The group’s support is seen as crucial to Obama’s agenda as he faces a rough road heading toward November’s midterm elections. Obama has wooed the Roundtable’s leaders since the start of his presidency, including an hour-plus speech to them last year and a private White House dinner Tuesday night.

His top advisers, such as Valerie Jarrett, have spent hours hearing the group’s viewpoints and weaving their opinions into the White House’s agenda.

Even so, the business leaders are working in a challenging climate. The economy has shed 8.4 million jobs since the start of the recession in December 2007, though job losses have slowed in the past couple of months.

Against that backdrop, Obama planned to describe his agenda as helping workers, businesses and government find their common ground to help an economic recovery. He also planned to describe his efforts to expand investments in innovation, education and energy.

Finally, he would address his plans to increase exporting U.S. goods overseas and to open new markets.

The speech roughly summarizes the themes Obama laid out during his State of the Union address and channels the approach that elevated Obama from the Illinois Senate to the presidency in less than five years.

“Rather than hurling accusations about big government liberals or mean-spirited conservatives, we will have to answer these tough questions,” Obama said in his prepared remarks. “And getting this balance right has less to do with big government or small government than it does smart government. It’s not about being antibusiness or pro-government; it’s about being pro-growth and pro-jobs.”

On the Web

Business Roundtable: http://www.businessroundtable.org

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

Normally we don’t just throw out trade ideas, but whatever, here goes: You should short John McCain.

The former GOP Presidential nominee is in the race for his life to preserve his Arizona Senate seat against the insurgent Tea Partier JD Hayworth, who has captured Scott Brown’s revolutionary zeal.

McCain has faced primary threats before, but none like this. Hayworth is on fire, and the entire Republican machinery, including guys like Rush Limbaugh are behind him.

On Intrade, McCain has about a two-thirds chance of winning, but that’s too high still, especially when you see him flop and flail to explain his TARP vote. McCain is overvalued. Short him.

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See Also:

• Caught In The Race Of His Political Life, John McCain Says Paulson And Bernanke Misled Him On TARP
• John McCain Thinks Obama’s Spending Freeze Is Awesome
• Why John McCain Just Announced His Opposition To Bernanke

Article Tags: Editorial

Climate Fraud: The godfather of climate hysteria is in hiding as another of his wild claims unravels — this one about global warming causing seas to swallow us up.

We’ve not seen or heard much of the former vice president, Oscar winner and Nobel Prize recipient recently as the case for disastrous man-made climate change collapses.

Perhaps he’s off reading how scientists were forced to withdraw a study on a projected sea level rise due to global warming after finding two “technical” mistakes that undermined the findings.

The study, published in 2009 in Nature Geoscience, allegedly confirmed the conclusions of the 2007 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that sea levels would rise due to climate change. The IPCC put the rise at 59 centimeters by 2100. The Nature Geoscience study put it at up to 82 centimeters.

Many considered the study and the IPCC’s estimates too conservative in their warnings. After all, Al Gore, in his award-winning opus, “An Inconvenient Truth,” laughingly called a documentary, foretold an apocalyptic vision of the devastation caused by a 20-foot rise in sea levels due to melting polar ice caps “in the near future.”

Source: investors.com

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Filed under: Convertible, Performance, Geneva Motor Show, Europe, Hatchback, Fiat

Fiat‘s plucky Abarth performance division manages to do a whole lot with very little. The in-house tuning garage has based their entire lineup on two Fiat hatchbacks: the Punto and the 500. So when Fiat rolled out new versions of both, it was only a matter of time until Abarth got their hands on them, and both are slated to make their debut at the fast-approaching Geneva Motor Show.

First up is the 500C. The pseudo-convertible version of the popular (and soon to be U.S.-bound) retro mini, the 500C features a retractable roof section sliding between solid roof rails. The base Fiat version is doubtlessly a fun ride, but doesn’t look much like a performance driving tool. Abarth, however, seems to have done a lot to rectify that shortcoming. First, the goods: a 140-horsepower 1.4-liter turbo four mated to a five-speed robotized manual, complete with paddleshifters, drive the hot open hatch to 62 miles-per-hour in 7.9 seconds. Complementing the added oomph are bigger wheels and brakes, a sportier suspension, an aggressive body kit and a two-tone paint scheme that, to our eyes, does the shape some big favors in the attitude department.

The second model starts with the new Punto Evo – a recently revised version of Fiat’s bread-and-butter hatchback – and gives it a shot of adrenaline, courtesy of a 165-hp 1.4-liter turbocharged MultiAir four. A 178-hp Esse-Esse version of the Abarth Punto Evo will be available from launch as well, but buyers looking for the added boost in retro-cabrio form will presumably have to wait a little longer for the Abarth 500C Esse-Esse to come along. Press release after the jump, and images in the galleries below.

[Source: Abarth]

Continue reading Geneva Preview: Abarth 500C and Punto Evo are pocket rockets we’d welcome

Geneva Preview: Abarth 500C and Punto Evo are pocket rockets we’d welcome originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Article Tags: Paul Chesser

They brought it on themselves with their fudged facts

The global-warming industry is getting several bailouts, none of which it wants. Last week, three major corporations – Conoco/Phillips, BP and Caterpillar – bailed out on the U.S. Climate Action Partnership lobbyist collaboration. Arizona bailed on the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) cap-and-trade plan. The Utah House presumably wants to bail on WCI, too, because it overwhelmingly passed a resolution requesting the Environmental Protection Agency to bail on its planned regulation of carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act. Texas and Virginia also want the nation’s top environmental regulator to cease and desist.

On Thursday, the Netherlands’ Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, resigned. The guru of global-warming diplomacy, after a disastrous December summit in Copenhagen did not produce an international agreement on greenhouse gas reduction, favored bailing over failing.

“I saw him at the airport after Copenhagen,” said Jake Schmidt, a climate expert for the Natural Resources Defense Council, to Associated Press. “He was tired, worn out.” The summit “clearly took a toll on him.”

This followed an admission a few weeks ago by Phil Jones, former University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit director, that he had suicidal thoughts over his role in the Climategate scandal.

On behalf of climate realists everywhere, I beg: Spare us the beleaguered scientists story line. The collapse of the hollow cause they advocated, which spurred a sector bubble probably larger than the 1990s Internet craze and the last decade’s real estate speculation combined, was inevitable. Billions of dollars – much of it belonging to taxpayers – were poured into climate-related research and heavily subsidized “green” ventures because of the hype.

Source: washingtontimes.com

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