Category: News

Wade Roush wrote:

Google unveiled the results of its first state-by-state analysis of the company’s impact on regional economies at press events in 10 cities on Tuesday, including Cambridge, MA, Detroit, and Seattle. For the most part, Google measured the value it generates when local advertisers and Web publishers use its AdWords and AdSense platforms for Web advertising.

Overall, Google claimed that transactions enabled by its search and advertising tools added up to $54 billion across the United States in 2009. About one-fourth of that that activity, $14.13 billion, took place in California. New York felt the second-biggest Google impact, with $6.27 billion in advertising-driven activity, followed by Illinois at $3.24 billion and Texas at $3.18 billion. Xconomy’s other home states of Massachusetts, Michigan, and Washington saw total economic value of $2.2 billion, $906 million, and $2.8 billion, respectively.

“‘What is the value of Google to local businesses?’ is a question we’ve often heard from the press, from advertisers, and from partners,” said Brian Schmidt, director of sales for Google Boston, at a press conference Tuesday at the Pemberton Farms market and garden center in Cambridge. “We take it seriously and we wanted to put some serious thought behind it.”

Advertising on Google is a “growth engine” for local businesses, Schmidt argued. He said that 43,000 of the 175,000 businesses in Massachusetts have advertised on Google. That includes Pemberton Farms, which allocates about 60 percent of its overall advertising budget to buying online ads matched to search keywords such as “gift basket” and “fruit basket,” according to co-owner Mark Saidnawey.

“The actual economic return to the state [of Massachusetts] via our advertising programs totals over $2 billion for 2009 alone. That is a really big number,” Schmidt said. “What’s important to note here is that we are not a California company. We are headquartered in Silicon Valley and that’s our focus, but we’ve built a focus in Massachusetts that we’re proud of. We’ve hired over 200 people, but more importantly we are empowering businesses in Massachusetts.”

Google calculated its economic-impact numbers by assuming that the dollars advertisers spend buying keyword-based advertising on its search pages through the AdWords program have a multiplier effect on their businesses. (After all, the whole point of advertising on Google is to entice Web surfers to click on your ad, arrive at your website, and become customers.) Hal Varian, Google’s chief economist, says businesses earn an average of $2 for every $1 that they spend on AdWords ads.

But when Google factors in not just revenue from AdWords advertising but revenue from clicks on natural search results—which outnumber AdWords clicks by about 5 to 1, acccording to third-party researchers—the multiplier effect grows even larger. Overall, the company calculates that for every dollar AdWords advertisers spend, they get back about eight dollars. (The exact formula that Google used can be seen here in more detail.)

A number of state and local officials attended the Cambridge press event, including Greg Bialecki, Secretary of the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development under Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. In interviews with Xconomy and elsewhere, Bialecki has often promoted high-tech innovation as a path to economic recovery and growth for the state. “When we talk about the ‘innovation economy,’ sometimes people say ‘It sounds like you’re helping high-tech businesses but not …Next Page »

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UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS

A Consumerist reader wrote into us today to tell us how he ended up with $132 in overdraft fees, not because he went on a spending spree and didn’t manage his finances correctly, but because his eager beaver roommate went ahead and deposited his post-dated rent check almost a full week early.

Here it is straight from the reader:

I gave my roommate my rent check to turn in for the summer since he would be around taking summer courses. I told him not to cash the check before the 30th of May because I did not have enough money in the account, but being the idiot he is, he ended up cashing it yesterday on the 24th of May even though it was dated for the 30th. I did not have enough money in the bank, and the check overdrafted my account, and a few small charges I made over the weekend processed that day too so now my account is over drafted and Wachovia has hit me with 132 dollars in overdraft fees. I called Wachovia and talked to a supervisor to explain the situation and the most they could do is refund 32 dollars of the overdraft fee.

The reader wants to know if there’s anything else he can do in terms of getting Wachovia to reduce or refund the overdraft fees. Unfortunately, he’s out of luck. The reason: Just because you post-date a check doesn’t mean it can’t be deposited early.

Here’s how the Dept. of Treasury explains it:

National banks are permitted to pay checks even though payment occurs prior to the date of the check. A check is a negotiable instrument—the payee, the person to whom the check is written, may negotiate it through the banking system at any time.

If you have incurred damages because a check has been negotiated before its date, you should directly pursue the payee for restitution.

So if the reader wants restitution, he should be talking to his “idiot” roommate who deposited the check six days before he was supposed to.

Answers About Cashing Checks [Treasury Dept.]

In case you don’t have the time or desire to read or watch full-length reviews, I’ve summarized my take on the recent wave of smartphones for you. 

Click here for the index of my latest smartphone Quick Takes.

Microsoft KIN Two (Verizon) – $99, Available Now

Ditto what I wrote about KIN One, except you get a larger display and better camera with HD video capture. But that 8MP camera is marred by ergonomic issues with the phone’s design that make for way too many shaky-hand photos and videos. If I were going KIN, I’d go Kin Two thanks to its widescreen design and two-thumb friendly QWERTY board. But I’d go Pre Plus or Droid Incredible before I’d go with either KIN on Verizon.

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Can you dig it? Ryu from Ninja Gaiden on the NES was a real badass. He could climb on walls and he had unlimited shuriken, a big plus when you’re going against hordes of anti-ninja forces on the NES. But how is he against Koopa Troopers?

Our favorite game, SMB Crossover, just announced they’re adding Ryu to their line-up of classic characters.

You can play it right here, right now. Thank us after you’ve had like an hour of fun.

via Kotaku

This questionable move by author Joe McGinniss stuns all his fans including the people who live around. He now lives next to Sarah Palin the person who is McGinniss subject in his book he’s working on.

And to keep everyone updated Sarah Palin made a post in Facebook.

Joe announced to Todd that he’s moved in right next door to us. He’s rented the place for the next five months or so. He moved up all the way from Massachusetts to live right next to us – while he writes a book about me. Knowing of his many other scathing pieces of “journalism”…we’re sure to have a doozey to look forward to with this treasure he’s penning. Wonder what kind of material he’ll gather while overlooking Piper’s bedroom, my little garden, and the family’s swimming hole?

Its nothing new that McGinniss is accused of plagiarizing material and deceiving sources but still he remains his best selling carrer is doing good. Still all of these accusations have not yet been confirmed. Many know that he has a very aggressive style and sometimes make use of unorthodox tactics. Definetely moving next door to his subject fits his descriptions.

Related posts:

1. Sarah Palin Now a Host?
2. Are Sarah Palin and GOP Encouraging Tea Party violence?
3. Sarah Palin To Discover Alaska With TLC Network

Former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick gets up to 5 years sentence in prison for violating terms of his probation due to lying under oath that he has an affair with his chief of staff.

Kilpatrick who is 39, asked Judge David Groner to show him compassion and empathy during the hearing last week, but Groner said that “that ship has sailed.”

On Teusday, Kilpatrick stated that he wanted to go home, added that he is not there for any offense such as gun charge or drug charge. He said that he’s only there for “confusion over written orders”. After hearing Kilpatrick’s statement, the judge remained unmoved.

After pleading guilty in 2008 to obstruction of justice, an issue of $1 million was ordered to Kilpatrick to pay the city. Last month Groner ruled out that Kilpatrick failed to report all of his assets and meet some of the other conditions of his probation.

Kilpatrick now has 42 days in which he could file an appeal.

Groner agreed with the prosecutors that Kilpatrick continued to lie after his release from jail the first time, he could afford to give more and has hid his assets intentionally.

Related posts:

1. Judge revokes probation of former Detroit mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick
2. New Conditions on Lindsay Lohan
3. Lindsay Lohan in court after returning to Los Angeles

[JURIST] Pakistan’s Supreme Court [official website] ruled Tuesday that a Pakistani cleric accused by India of plotting the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks [JURIST news archive] cannot be jailed due to lack of evidence. Hafiz Muhammad Saeed [Global Jihad profile] is the head of fundamentalist terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) [CFR backgrounder], which was allegedly behind the attacks. Pakistan put Saeed under virtual house arrest [JURIST report] one month after the onslaught, where he remained except for a three-month period last summer, but the Lahore High Court (LHC) [official website] ordered his release [JURIST report] in October after finding insufficient evidence to link him to the Mumbai attacks or al Qaeda [JURIST news archive]. The Supreme Court’s ruling could strain the already fragile relationship between India and Pakistan, which had recently begun peace talks.

The charges against Saeed had been filed under the Pakistani Anti-Terrorism Act [text] and were related to speeches Saeed gave while visiting Faisalabad last year. It is claimed that he discussed [Times of India report] the significance of Jihad and asked for funding for his charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), which is believed to be a front for the LeT. Saeed’s lawyer successfully argued that JuD was not a banned group. In September, Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik announced that his government would indict seven suspects [JURIST report] for their role in the attacks, also requesting further evidence from India that Saeed was involved in planning the attacks. Mumbai has suffered a number of terrorist attacks allegedly linked to the LeT in recent years, leading the government to consider controversial terrorism laws and to institute special courts [JURIST reports] to try suspects.

The House and Senate may have both passed financial regulation bills, but the battle to create the final legislation isn’t over. Next up: the two chambers must reconcile their bills. The essence of these two bills overlaps fairly well, as explained here. But the details contain a number of significant differences that have to be hashed out. Here are some of the most important.

Consumer Financial Protection Agency/Bureau

Congress needs to worry about more than just what to call the new consumer watchdog. One of the biggest issues will be to determine where to put it. The Senate bill makes it an independent branch of the Federal Reserve, while the House version just creates it as a new agency altogether. House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA), who will be the lead negotiator for the House, has indicated he wants it independent. But Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-CT), who will be the lead negotiator for the Senate, put it in the Federal Reserve to appease moderates. Either Dodd will have to convince some Senators that the agency should be truly independent or Frank will have to make peace with its presence in the Fed.

Some of the details of the powers and oversight of the agency/bureau also differ between the bills. One of the most notable differences is the auto dealer exclusion contained in the House bill. Even though the Senate’s bill doesn’t make this exception, expect the Senate to ultimately concur. It passed a resolution yesterday to direct conference committee to take this precise step, by a vote of 60 to 30. The White House, however, doesn’t like the exclusion — so you never know.

Derivatives

The derivatives language could be the most contentious of any section. The Senate bill took a very aggressive stance on this issue, and would force banks to put their derivatives businesses in separately capitalized affiliates. The House bill doesn’t contain any such proposal. While it’s unclear if Frank will go along with this provision, it matters more whether the House can pass a bill that includes the proposal. This could very well fall out of a final bill, especially if the conference process continues until after Blanche Lincoln’s (D-AR) runoff primary on June 8th. She was the author of the controversial section.

Resolution Authority

Both bills agree on the need for a regulator to step in and wind down giant non-bank institutions that collapse. They also agree that it makes sense for the FDIC to take on this task. But there are a couple of key differences. In particular, the chambers disagree on the tools that the FDIC will have in its chest. The House version would give it a pre-funded sum of up to $150 billion to work with to cover the costs of resolution. The Senate, however, has no fund and will worry about expenses of resolution after-the-fact, with a loan from taxpayers until bankruptcy proceeds will (hopefully) pay back the costs. The Senate could win out on this one, as Frank’s original bill also called for collecting costs after-the-fact, though through a different means. The provision was changed to a pre-emptive fund before it was finalized.

There are lots of other minor details to take care of here as well. The processes for determining how to wind down a firm aren’t precisely the same in both bills. The House bill paid more attention to how the resolution authority would treat creditors. It seems plausible that when one chamber provides greater detail than the other, such provisions will simply be adopted in the final bill, assuming little objection. That would generally err on the side of the House, since it took more time to work out the details, compared to the Senate’s rushed approach.

Break-Up Powers

Some advocates for cracking down on big banks wanted them broken up. Neither bill explicitly takes this step, but both bills allow for firms to be broken up under certain circumstances. The House version provides the new council the power to break up firms if a simple majority of its members believe the systemic risk cannot be regulated out of them. The Senate bill, however, only calls for breakup as a possible punishment for firms that don’t provide the resolution authority adequate failure plans. In that case, two-thirds of the council and the Federal Reserve Board must consent to break-up.

It’s quite possible that the House’s provision, which was an amendment sponsored by Rep. Kanjorski (D-PA), could fall out of the final bill. The Senate refused to consider a provision that would have broken up large institutions, so Senators may reject the notion that the council should have broad authority to break up firms. Alternatively, the Senate might call for a stricter two-thirds vote standard.

Proprietary Trading

As explained at length here, both bills contain provisions that could lead to banning proprietary trading at financial institutions. Each depends on the whim of regulators, but the details differ. We’ll likely end up with some sort of prop trading ban, though it might require a study or remain at some regulator’s discretion. If a ban does happen, expect Frank to demand a few exclusions. He has already promised to fight to exclude insurance companies and bank asset management from the provision.

Leverage

Its 15 to 1 leverage limit is an important, and often overlooked, aspect of the House bill. It’s one of the few ways where its version is more aggressive than the Senate’s. In fact, some Senators did try to impose leverage limits on financial institutions through amendments. Those attempts failed, however. As a result, it’s a little hard to see how the House could manage to keep this provision alive in the final bill. But expect Frank to try.

Fed Audit

Each bill also contains a provision which calls for Congress auditing the Federal Reserve, but they differ significantly. The House’s version came through an amendment sponsored by Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX). It’s more aggressive than the Senate’s version. The House would provide the ability for Fed audits in perpetuity on many aspects of its business. The Senate’s version, however, provides for a one-time audit, specifically regarding the emergency stabilization measures it employed during the financial crisis. Since the House’s version resembled the Senate’s original proposal, sponsored by Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), expect to see its new version win out. Sanders was forced to change it, because he didn’t have the votes for the House’s more aggressive approach.

Rating Agencies

Both bills attempt to reform the rating agencies, but the Senate bill goes much further. The House bill mostly just lightly regulates the agencies and allows investors to sue for gross negligence in rating. The Senate bill, however, allows investors to bring a lawsuit if an agency did not conduct a “reasonable investigation” — a weaker standard. Moreover, the Senate bill would create a committee of investors and other market participants who assign a rating agency to assign every new securitization deal, thanks to an amendment by Sen. Al Franken (D-MN). It’s unclear if the House will be on board with these stronger provisions.

As you may have noticed through this analysis, most of the differences among the two bills resulted from amendments. Even if some of these are shaven off, the essence of the legislation will still remain the same. Many of these details matter a lot, however. But ultimately, the conference committee must determine which of these details are politically popular so it can get a bill passed, not necessarily which are best for the financial system.

Senate Banking Committee – White House – Blanche Lincoln – Financial services – Federal Reserve System

2011 Nissan LEAF

Nissan has sold out of orders for its upcoming Nissan LEAF electric-vehicle.

“We think there is a big future for this car. I can already tell you that the production for 2010 is already sold out,” Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said today during a luncheon at the Cobo Center in Detroit, Michigan.

So far in the United States, the Nissan LEAF has brought in 13,000 orders, which will be delivered in December. That number equals the full U.S. allocation for the Nissan electric-car.

Click here for more news on the Nissan Leaf.

Refresher: Power for the Nissan Leaf comes from a 107-hp electric-motor that runs on power supplied by lithium-ion cells. On a full-charge, the Nissan Leaf allows for a driving range of 100 miles with a top speed of 87 mph. A full charge takes up to 8 hours on a standard 200V outlet. Buyers can opt for the DC 50kW quick-charger, which recharges the battery up to 80 percent in under 30 minutes. Prices for the 2011 Nissan LEAF will start at $32,780 but with a federal tax-credit prices will come in as low as $25,280, or for a lease payment of $349 a month.

2011 Nissan Leaf:

– By: Kap Shah

Source: Free Press

Via The New Yorker’s twitter feed, North Korea, fresh from an unprovoked naval attack that killed 46 South Korean sailors, accuses South Korean President Lee Myung-bak of being a “wicked warmonger.” This call for “all-out counterattack” is from North Korea’s official news service:

“The Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, accordingly, formally declares that from now on it will put into force the resolute measures to totally freeze the inter-Korean relations, totally abrogate the agreement on non-aggression between the north and the south and completely halt the inter-Korean cooperation.

“In this connection, the following measures will be taken at the first phase:

“1. All relations with the puppet authorities will be severed.

“2. There will be neither dialogue nor contact between the authorities during (South Korean President) Lee Myung Bak’s tenure of office.

“3. The work of the Panmunjom Red Cross liaison representatives will be completely suspended.

“4. All communication links between the north and the south will be cut off.

“5. The Consultative Office for North-South Economic Cooperation in the Kaesong Industrial Zone will be frozen and dismantled and all the personnel concerned of the south side will be expelled without delay.

“6. We will start all-out counterattack against the puppet group’s ‘psychological warfare against the north.’

“7. The passage of south Korean ships and airliners through the territorial waters and air of our side will be totally banned.

“8. All the issues arising in the inter-Korean relations will be handled under a wartime law.

“There is no need to show any mercy or patience for such confrontation maniacs, sycophants and traitors and wicked warmongers as the (South Korean President) Lee Myung Bak group.”

After months of waiting, Dell finally officially divulged their plans for the 5-inch Streak tablet today.  Starting next month, the “iPad Killer” will become available for customers in the UK through a variety of channels.  Dell plans to release the device here in the United States this summer.

The Streak features a 5-inch WVGA display, a 5-megapixel camera,  and a front-facing camera.  Other hardware details include a 1GHz processor, 2GB internal storage, WiFi, and 3G connectivity.  In terms of software the tablet phone comes loaded with Google Maps, Android Market, and a variety of other applications.  Although it will launch with Android 2.1 installed, Dell plans to upgrade the device to 2.2 (Froyo) later this year.

Pricing and data plans have yet to be announced but both are expected over the next few weeks.  Initially, the Streak will be available throughout the UK at O2 stores, O2.co.uk, The Carphone Warehouse, and Dell.co.uk.

Might We Suggest…

• Michael Dell Confirms Streak 5 for AT&T This Summer
  Michael Dell, CEO, took to the stage yesterday for a keynote speech at the Citrix Synergy conference where he promptly teased the crowd with a demo of the Streak 5 tablet phone. The 5-inch device fe…

Although Kate Gosselin did not make it past week five on ABC’s Dancing With The Stars, she reportedly earned half a million dollars — or $100,000 per week — for her time on the show. That should go a long way to feeding those eight little mouths in her household.

The hit dance show will crown a new champion on tonight’s 10th season finale.

In our nearly three years of existence, we’ve featured hundreds of BlackBerry applications. While some of these are free, most of them cost a few dollars. This, of course, turns off many prospective customers. We’ve become so used to free software that purchasing premium software can seem like a waste. I have often found myself thinking along those lines, eschewing quality software because I didn’t want to shell out the developer’s asking price. That’s a one-dimensional way of looking at the issue, though. Today we’ll run through some main points on the worthiness of premium third-party software so you can better determine whether it’s worth your money.

(more…)

The former mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick has been ordered to serve between 18 months and five years in prison for violating terms of probation imposed against him in 2008.

Originally Kilpatrick was jailed for 99 days after being forced to resign his post when he was found guilty of obstruction of justice.

On that occasion, it was determined that Kilpatrick tried to obstruct the investigation process that was against his wife in connection with the death of one woman who was murdered.

He is also accused of lying while giving testimony, when asked whether or not sustained a extra-marital relationship with one of their employees.

Another of the charges were filed against Kilpatrick, has to do with the disappearance of documents where broken down his wife’s finances.

For this last charge, the Court ordered restitution to the City of Detroit the sum of $ 1 million dollars to be by way of payment of back taxes.

Judge David Groner, Circuit Court of Wayne County, who had originally ruled in the case probation, stayed the same, indicating that Kilpatrick will have to complete the prison term.

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While T-Mobile’s customers may be thrilled with the company’s ever-expanding HSPA+ coverage, their competitors are not. AT&T, who is also rolling out HSPA+ this year, says that T-Mobile is “misleading customers” by insinuating that HSPA+ is a 4G technology. More »

The mortgage interest deduction has lots of enemies, including urban sprawl critics, tax reformers, deficient hawks, and personal debt gurus. But it also has a lot of friends: namely, the millions of Americans who use it to reduce their tax bills by $80 billion a year.

For a short refresher, here’s how the deduction works. You buy a house, take out a mortgage, multiply the interest by your income tax bracket and get a number. You get to subtract that number every year from your taxable income. Good for you! But bad, perhaps, for the country. Richer folks tend to have larger mortgages, more interest and a higher tax bracket, which means the deduction is regressive. Moreover, the MID is a subsidy for debt. It rewards home owners for buying houses that are expensive compared to their taxable income. As the country digs its way out of debt valley, policy makers should think about ways to encourage saving instead of spending beyond your means.

But don’t expect the mortgage interest rate to go anywhere. First, eliminating an $80 billion gift to rich folks with homes is tough sledding. It’s even tougher sledding when you realize that slashing the subsidy would devastate already sickly home prices, since people are incentivized to buy bigger, costlier homes when they can write off the interest. It’s tougher sledding still when you see who is getting the subsidy. It’s not just the rich. It’s the coastal rich. And that often means Democrats.

Folks who live in Maryland had the highest percent of tax returns claiming a mortgage interest deduction in 2008, according to fresh research from the Tax Foundation. Californians who deducted saved the most on their tax bill, an average deduction of nearly $20,000.

Mortgage Interest Deduction by State, Tax Year 2008

IBM legal | view data | 1 comment

This is an interesting little gizmo to play around with, but here’s one thing you quickly realize. The states that benefit the most from the mortgage interest deduction look a lot like the states that tend to vote Democratic, from the sapphire coasts to dependable blues like Minnesota. It’s going to take quite an act of political bravery for the Obama administration to gut the deduction.

United States – Tax – Income tax – Maryland – Home mortgage interest deduction

Anyone who believes that housing is on the rebound, and that now is the time to buy, should take a very hard look at the numbers I dredged up for my spring lecture and luncheon tour.

There are 140 million personal residences in the US. Today, there are 26 million homes either directly or indirectly for sale. According to a survey by Zillow.com, a real estate appraisal website, 20 million homeowners plan to sell on any improvement in prices. Add to that 4 million existing homes now on the market, 1 million new homes flogged by companies like Lennar (LEN) and Pulte Homes (PHM), and 1 million bank owned properties.

Another 8 million mortgage owners are late on their payments and are on the verge of foreclosure, bringing the total overhang to 34 million homes. Now, let’s look at the buy side. There are 35 million who are underwater on their mortgages and aren’t buying homes anytime soon, nor are the 35 million unemployed and underemployed. That knocks out 50% of the potential buyers.

Here is where it gets really interesting.

There are 80 million baby boomers retiring at the rate of 10,000 a day. Assuming that they downsize over time from an average 2,500 sq ft. home to a 1,000 sq. ft. condo, and eventually to a 100 sq. ft. assisted living facility, the total shrinkage in demand is 4.3 billion sq.ft. per year, or 1.7 million average sized homes. That amounts to a shrinkage of aggregate demand for a city the size of San Francisco, every year.

You can argue that the following Gen-Xer’s are going to take up the slack, but there are only 65 million of them with a much lower standard of living than their parents. Throw in the disappearance of state and federal first time buyer tax credit. You can count on a jump in long term capital gains taxes and state and local property taxes, further diminishing property’s appeal. If you are looking for a final stick to break the camel’s back, how about eliminating, or substantially reducing the home mortgage interest deduction?

Add it all up, and there is a massive structural imbalance in residential real estate that will take at least a decade more to unwind. We could be looking at a replay of the same 26 year period from 1929 to 1955 when prices remained flat, and we are only 3 years into it!

A second down leg in the real estate market seems a no brainer to me, as is the secondary banking crisis that follows. Perhaps that’s why hedge funds have been big sellers of the homebuilder’s ETF (XHB).What’s a poor homeowner to do? Don’t ask me. I sold everything in 2005 when my research threw up these numbers, and have been happily renting ever since. And, if the toilet blocks up, I just call the landlord.

This guest post comes courtesy of The Mad Hedge Fund Trader. For more research such as this, see here.

Join the conversation about this story »

Filed under: Motorsports

After a three-year hiatus, Formula One is coming back to the states in 2012 and the city that’s been chosen to host the World Cup of Motorsports? Austin, Texas. Yes, Austin.

According to the release from F1, the race will be held in the city from 2012 to 2021, and since Austin doesn’t have a race track, a facility will be purpose-built to host the events. Get all the details in the press release after the jump.

[Source: Formula One | Image: Corbis/Getty]

Continue reading BREAKING: Formula One coming to Austin, Texas in 2012

BREAKING: Formula One coming to Austin, Texas in 2012 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 25 May 2010 13:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WASHINGTON–President Obama, who returns to Chicago on Thursday with his family, will cut short his Chicago activities on Friday when he flies to the Louisiana Gulf Coast in connection with the ongoing catastrophic oil spill disaster. Obama will return to Chicago later in the day.

below, from the White House….

President Obama to Travel to Louisiana Gulf Coast

WASHINGTON–On Friday morning, May 28, President Barack Obama will travel from Chicago to the Louisiana Gulf Coast to assess the latest efforts to counter the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Administration has mobilized one of the largest responses to a catastrophic event in history, with more than 1,200 vessels in the region and more than 22,000 people, including many of the brightest scientific minds from both the public and private sector, working around the clock to mitigate the oil’s impact.

PlinkArt is an app for identifying, discovering and sharing art. The coolest feature of PlinkArt is instant art identification. Just snap a photo of a painting, and our servers will identify it! Plink is good for browsing too. Explore by timeline, leave comments, share your discoveries with friends.

Price: Free

AndroidTapp.com Android App Review:

Pros & Cons:

Pros

• Visual search for artwork, identifies some artwork by camera phone picture taken
• Browse artists by Timeline and Genre
• Discover, share, comment and buy reprints of artwork

Cons

• I personally would like to see the app identify present day or even less known artists and artwork

Features:

PlinkArt Android App is a cool way to visually search artwork by taking a picture of the artwork via the phone’s camera. Also browse and discover artists and artwork by Timeline and Genre. Learn more about the artist via Wikipedia information, Comment on an artist, Share via email and sharing apps installed on your phone, or Buy reprints from AllPosters.com.

Personal Gripe: I love art and wish PlinkArt could identify more present day artwork and artists. It seems understandable what it does recognize, but tends to only recognize legendary artists and their work. Maybe now that Google has acquired PlinkArt and will incorporate the technology into Google Goggles, Google’s scale and possible new tools offered to the art community may give this enhancement in the future.

Usefulness:

The app is really handy and scores cool points versus being useful, I say that because if you’re in a major art museum this app will impress you with it’s accuracy. However will not find artists or artwork that are not legendary.

Ease of Use:

There are several ways to discover art; either take a picture of it, type the search or let the app show you something at random. A another cool feature is the Timeline which shows popular genres by year on the timeline which you can filter down.

Frequently Used:

Art connoisseurs and enthusiasts with Android phones will love it however not for everyone.