
Category: News
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John Brennan, John Brennan Biography
Brennan calls Cheney’s comments disappointing and says they do not speak well of the former vice president.
Brennan appeared on “Fox News Sunday” and NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
BRENNAN: Well, we’ve been investing in Yemen for many, many months now. And we’re working very closely not just with the Yemenis, but with our international partners, with the British, with the Saudis, and others, to make sure that we provide the Yemeni government the wherewithal to carry out this fight against al Qaeda.
BRENNAN: It’s disappointing to me that either the vice president or others have willfully mischaracterized President Obama’s position and actions or they’re just ignorant of the facts. I think in either case, it doesn’t speak well to sort of the reasons why they sort of went out and said these things. I came back into government for the express purpose of making sure that we can make this country safer than its ever been in the past. I have worked with the president over the past 12 months now and he is as determined as anybody I’ve worked with. I’m neither Republican nor Democrat. I’ve worked with the previous five administrations and this president is determined.Related posts:
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Starving Artist Sale, Starving Art Sale 2010
The Starving Jewelry Artists Team Blog If you would like to be notified of future team deals, discounts, sales and events, I’d encourage you to subscribe to our blog.
For my part, I will be offering 15% off my entire sea glass collection, including custom made pieces in my Etsy Shop. Although I don’t have a huge inventory of pre-made sea glass jewelry, I do have quite a large collection of beach glass, so I am happy to make a one of a kind piece of jewelry just for you.
“Times are tough, and not everyone can afford those $100 parties around town,” said GOAT’s Artistic Director Paul Castaneda. “We’re opening up the doors to our new home for just $15 to everyone in the arts community to come and celebrate the New Year.”Tickets are available on GOAT’s web site at goatgroup.com and at the theatre the night of the party.
The event will take place at Greater Orlando Actors Theatre, 669 Cherry Street, Winter Park. Cherry Street is located off Fairbanks Avenue between I-4 and Route 17/92, less than a mile from the Interstate and the Fairbanks Avenue exit. Extensive free parking is available around the theatre.
For more information on GOAT or the production, please visit www.goatgroup.com.
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Bevy of Leaked Lenovo ThinkPad Laptops Hit Street Before CES [Lenovo]
Oops! Someone at Lenovo may have hit Publish a tad too soon, and now we have a quick peek at a number of their upcoming laptops, including the ThinkPad Edge, T410s, W510, and more. CES what now? [Lenovo via Engadget]
The leak contains a section called “new product showcase” and was live as of 12 p.m., EST. This here is the t410.
The T410s, featuring “high performance” and an optional touchscreen.
Sleek ThinkPad with a shiny new veneer. -
Nfl Week 17 Picks, Nfl Week 17 Picks Espn
NFL predictions are expecting Houston quarterback Matt Schaub to have a big day in against a New England defense that might just decide to rest some starters. Schaub has thrown for an NFL-high 4,467 passing yards this season while his top receiver Andre Johnson leads the league with 1,504 receiving yards. Johnson made the Pro Bowl while Schaub was cheated out of a spot that went to Tom Brady instead. New England head coach Bill Belichick has not said anything about the playing time for his starters but most people believe that Brady, Randy Moss, Wes Welker and others are not going to play for the entire NFL betting contest.
Lanning’s NFL Predictions: Houston definitely has something to play for in week 17 NFL odds which could make the young franchise very happy but they are still just 2-4 against the spread for their last six. The Patriots will be resting most of their players and I think the old tough guy Belicheck won’t mind if the Texans make it to the playoffs for the first time from a Patriots loss since they have already clinched the AFC East. My NFL prediction for week 17 is to take the Texans at home laying the points to the UNDER in a close call NFL betting parlay at youwager.com. Vegas odds at Caesars sportsbook have the Houston Texans -7 favorites against the New England Patriots with a total of 46.xIndianapolis 14-1 (Road: 7-0)
Buffalo 5-10 (Home: 2-5)xNew Orleans 13-2 (Road: 7-0)
Carolina 7-8 (Home: 4-3)xJacksonville 7-8 (Road: 2-5)
Cleveland 4-11 (Home: 2-5)xChicago 6-9 (Road: 1-6)
Detroit 2-13 (Home: 2-5)xNew England 10-5 (Road: 2-5)
Houston 8-7 (Home: 3-4)xPittsburgh 8-7 (Road: 2-5)
Miami 7-8 (Home: 4-3)NY Giants 8-7 (Road: 4-3)
xMinnesota 11-4 (Home: 7-0)xSan Francisco 7-8 (Road: 1-6)
St. Louis 1-14 (Home: 0-7)xAtlanta 8-7 (Road: 2-5)
Tampa Bay 3-12 (Home: 1-6)xPhiladelphia 11-4 (Road: 5-2)
Dallas 10-5 (Home: 5-2)xGreen Bay 10-5 (Road: 4-3)
Arizona 10-5 (Home: 4-3)xKansas City 3-12 (Road: 2-5)
Denver 8-7 (Home: 4-3)xBaltimore 8-7 (Road: 2-5)
Oakland 5-10 (Home: 2-5)Washington 4-11 (Road: 1-6)
xSan Diego 12-3 (Home: 5-2)xTennessee 7-8 (Road: 2-5)
Seattle 5-10 (Home: 4-3)Cincinnati 10-5 (Road: 4-3)
xNY Jets 8-7 (Home: 3-4)Related posts:
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A Dr.s compentance (a reflection)
Thankfully, my husband is now treating his diabetes. It was diagnosed in 2007 by the GP we went to for black out spells. The spells turned out to be a practically complete blockage of his left Carotid Artery. He was fast tracked to surgery and almost died in the recovery room.Due to this we were a tad foggy and missed the diabetes diagnoses. My husband told his Doctor the Metformin made Chocolate taste bad. He prescribed another type pill. The bad taste continued, my husband stopped taking anything. Upon reflection, shouldn’t the Dr. have said, "What are you doing eating chocolate, anyway, you are a diabetic!!!" They never suggested a diet change.
He continued to see that Dr. with complaints of extreme pain and was given stronger and stronger doses of Hydrocodone (which did nothing to alleviate the problem). Finally he was referred to a Pain Management Doctor. She has simply continued the same pattern. Occasionally she asks about the diabetes diagnoses but does not pursue it to a conclusion and was easily satisfied with a brush off answer.
Just one day after beginning treatment for the D I asked her if lowering the BG would help with the pain, she said, "No!" Put him on Celebrex and Lyrica. Well, controlling the BG has given him his life back. But when we go back I know she will credit the Lyrica and Celebrex. What chance do we stand, it is all in God’s hands.
Anyone else experience this sort of thing?
New Years is a time of reflection at our house. How about any of you?
Janice & Husband
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The Americanization Of Emily
The Americanization of Emily won two Oscars, for art direction and cinematography, and a BAFTA for Andrews. It’s a grossly overlooked movie with a great cast — also on hand are James Coburn, Melvyn Douglas and Keenan Wynn — and well worth seeking out.
In one of the film’s best scenes (you’ll find it after the jump), Garner uses his considerable charm to make what could have been a preachy, heavy-handed scene into something memorably moving. When Charlie meets Emily’s mother, a proud patriot who lives in denial that her husband and sons have been killed, he tells her how he came to his philosophy about war. After enlisting in the Marines, Charlie found himself in a unit invading the Solomon Islands: “There I was, splashing away in the shoals of Guadalcanal. It suddenly occurred to me — a man could get killed doing this kind of thing. Fact is, most of the men splashing along with me were screaming in agony and dying like flies.”The problem, Charlie explains, is that war makes men brave, while the sensible attitude, the survival-oriented approach, is to be a coward.
“Wars are always fought for the best of reasons,” he tells her. “For liberation, or manifest destiny, always against tyranny and always in the best interest of humanity. So far in this war, we’ve managed to butcher some 10 million humans in the interest of humanity. Next war, it seems we’ll have to destroy all of man in order to preserve his damn dignity.”
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Housing and Mortgage Related: San Fran and Minneapolis, Boston, Buffett, Inventory, Negative Equity, Linda Lowell, REMICs, Mod Refusal, Bad Raffle, Mortgage Fraud, FICO Redline, 2 more
SAN FRANCISCO, MINNEAPOLIS HOUSING UP 15% FROM LOWS – Using the most recent S&P/Case-Shiller home price data from October, below we highlight how much each city that is tracked has risen from its 2009 lows. – Bespoke Investment Group
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pe1 Beantown Bust: Boston CSI and RPX October 2009 – has super cool interactive chart – Paper Economy Blog
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Buffett’s back – Billionaire looks to lock up GMAC’s ResCap – By JOSH KOSMAN – Warren Buffett is in talks to buy GMAC’s Residential Capital, one of the biggest residential mortgage-servicing firms and originators, sources told The Post. Buffett, along with Appaloosa Management and Avenue Capital, is said to have large debt positions in ResCap. – NY Post
————Housing Inventory Still Dramatically Oversupplied — Before You Add In The Foreclosures – by Michael David White – The housing market remains oversupplied by 860,000 units when compared to a 10-year average inventory and the overhang represents a direct contradiction to the spirit of this week’s headlines describing new data from the National Association of Realtors. – New Observations.net
————The Cost Of Curing Negative Equity – … Many of those involved in the HAMP program have had handed to them a no lose proposition. They drag their feet while they live rent free and each time they hear that this is the last best offer, they see another moratorium or new offer come down the pike. Genius is not required to conclude that at the end of the day the government is going to do whatever it takes to avoid any further deterioration of the market. Street smarts suffice. … – But Then What
————GSE Pass-through Players Gird for the New Year – By LINDA LOWELL – Two major concerns for value hang over the pass-through market right now: the anticipated end to the Fed’s MBS purchase plan March 31, 2010 and the likelihood of a sharp jump in involuntary prepayments in GSE pass-throughs (due to modifications and other foreclosure avoidance efforts and foreclosures, which trigger a buyout of the loan from the pool) … – HousingWire
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Increased REMIC Flexibility May Ease Loan Resolution – BY HARVEY BERENSON – primer on REMICS then goes into dangerous effects on loan mods on REMICs – MortgageOrb
————Lender’s refusal to modify loan may have violated borrowers’ Fifth Amendment rights to due process – Lynne Huxtable And Jeffrey Agnew, V. Timothy F. Geithner, Et Al., – by DEAN MOSTOFI – Foreclosure Combatant Blog
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A Florida Resident’s Disastrous Attempt To Raffle Off His Home – Vince Veneziani –
Florida resident Miles Brannan had a great idea: raffle off his $3 million waterside condo, give some of the proceeds to charity, and downgrade his home. Everybody wins.
All seemed to be going well… until he realized nowhere near enough tickets were sold. – Clusterstock @ Business Insider————
sa1 Mortgage Fraud – The Root of America’s Economic Malaise – Tom Armistead – good treatise on mortgage fraud – Seeking Alpha
————Agency FICO Redline? – A Question to Ask – Submitted by Bruce Krasting – … Does Treasury really believe that Citi Bank and Wells Fargo are going to be making cheap mortgage loans to those who have just been ‘red lined’ by the new tighter standards? … – Zero Hedge
————Housing In 2010 – Paul Maidment, – Christopher Hyzy, Paul Maidment, Bernie McSherry and Carol Pepper discuss the housing sector’s outlook in 2010. … to discuss their views on the economy, the housing sector and China in 2010. … – Forbes
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Biggest Reverse Mortgage News of 2009 – John Yedinak – The reverse mortgage industry has been through more changes than anyone could’ve predicted over the last 12 months and 2010 will bring more of the same. As the year comes to a close, take a look at the top 10 reverse mortgage news stories of 2009 (based on page views): … – Reverse Mortgage Daily
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New Year’s Cure: Nettle Tisane
After all the (so delicious!) holiday indulgences, my body naturally craves clean, green and simple foods to bring me back to center. Here in San Francisco, we’re fortunate that nettles are showing up at the farmers’ markets, just in time to for a new year’s cure: a simple nettle tea that is healthy, balanced and comforting. Oh, and it tastes good, too. Perfect! -
Does Service Learning Really Help
…Ms. Medina Lichtenstein’s experiences illustrate the good and the bad of service learning, loosely defined as community service that supplements and….It was in the mid-1980s that service learning took off, with the establishment of organizations like Campus Compact and Youth Service America, whose mission is to spur national service efforts among youth.
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How the Internet Changed Writing in the 2000s

In a famous passage from Ulysses, James Joyce recapitulates the development of the English language in 45 pages — from the archaic and formal (“Deshil Holles Eamus”) to the conversationally casual (“Pflaap! Pflaap! Blaze on”). Over the past decade, as more people have spent more time writing on the Internet, that same evolution has not only continued, it feels like it’s accelerated.
With so much discussion about how the Internet is changing journalism and media, there’s surprisingly little said about how writing itself has transformed. But it has changed in a dramatic if subtle way.
Nine years ago, I remember being one of 100 or so journalists gathered to listen to a veteran writer speak. I don’t remember the topic, just that when he asked how many of us enjoy writing, I was surprised that only a few hands went up. Today, so much of the typical day is taken up with writing emails, tweets, updates, text messages, chat sessions, blog posts and the occasional longer form writing. And few complain how onerous it all is.
On balance, all of that practice is making online writing better. Which is not to say that all online writing is good. Much of it’s terrible – see the average YouTube comment for an example of how bad it can be. But it’s been said that excellent writing is a matter of good thinking – if you’ve got the thinking part down, that’s most of the battle. And many of the thoughtful people I know are producing some great stuff on the web.
The Internet isn’t just prompting us to write more, its open structure pressures us to write in a way that’s at once more concise and flexible. One problem newspapers and magazines never could fix is that articles are assigned arbitrary lengths. Pay writers per word and they’ll write as many as they can. Assign a 12,000-word story and you’ll get just that, even if 1,000 are all that’s necessary.
On the web it’s different. Back in 1997, Jakob Nielsen looked at how people read web content (basically, they scan it) and argued web writing should
- highlight keywords (often using hypertext links)
- use straight, clear headlines and subheads
- deliver one idea per paragraph
- cut word count to half that of conventional writing
- employ bulleted lists.
Many web writers, whether they’ve read Nielsen’s advice or not, use these practices because readers respond to them. The impulse to scan is a good thing because readers’ impatience inspires economy among writers.
At the same time, people are mastering more kinds of writing. Other technologies that grew more popular this decade required a different mode of expression: Instant messaging invited a breezy, fast-thinking tone; blog comments (again, the thoughtful ones) sharpened our debate skills; Twitter enforced even more economy onto our words. In all of these, we were nudged toward something all writers aspire to: a strong, distinct voice.
Having a clear voice has grown more important on the web, where writers worry about brand-building, news sites grow interactive and blog posts resemble conversations. Some don’t regard texting and chat as writing, while others argue that they’re killing longer and more formal prose. Both notions are wrong. The informal writing we do on the web doesn’t supplant formal writing, it complements and influences it — and is influenced in return.
Not all of the Internet’s effects on writing have been positive. Many bloggers tailor headlines and posts so that they’ll surface at the top of search results, making them at once easier to find and less enjoyable to read. And this decade, a lot of other bloggers mistook a strong writing voice for caustic irreverence. But most eventually learned that writing with snark is like cooking with salt — a little goes a long way.
On the other hand, concerns about the Internet hurting writing feel overblown. Some educators worry that the Internet is making teenagers way too casual in their writing, so that they never learn more formal composition. I disagree. The best way to learn good writing is to write a lot.
Besides, language is always evolving, and a more conversational English isn’t a bad thing. “Writing, when properly managed…is but a different name for conversation.” Laurence Sterne wrote that in Tristram Shandy 250 years ago. Thanks to the Internet, it’s more true now than ever.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
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Pet Collar Air Purifier Can’t Cleanse the Air of Utter Stupidity [Worstmodo]
An air purifier for pets! What an ingenious idea! It takes that filthy air around Fido’s head, sucks it up, and replaces it with clean, refreshing and pet-friendly snake oil!But wait! That’s not all! While the purifier saves your pet from allergens, dander and smoke—possibly from the bong that lead to its eventual purchase—it also coats your dog, cat or small child with spray from a scent dispenser that’s meant to relax and calm the little target of your affection. Bonus use: Your roving Rover now doubles as an air freshener. Just ignore the constant sneezing, as that’s a feature, not a bug.
All that for a mere $17.20. Vet trips are extra. Total steal. [Technee via Coolest Gadgets]
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CALIFÍCALO | Maturín | Complejo Cultural
Complejo CulturalComprende actualmente el Museo Mateo Manaure, Biblioteca, la Escuela de Artes Plásticas Andrés Eloy Palacios, la Plaza Francisco de Miranda y una Galería Peatonal, siendo las dos primeras sus principales atractivos. A futuro se espera la construcción de una serie de salas de Teatro, siendo el ultimo edificio que faltaría para culminar todos los componentes de este Complejo.Museo Mateo Manaure
La edificación, con una dimensión de 15 mil metros cuadrados de construcción y 5 pisos, cuenta con cuatro grandes salas, de más de 500 metros cuadrados cada una, ademas de poseer otras salas mas pequeñas a las que actualmente se les da uso para proyectos comunitarios ideados por la colectividad o en conjunto con ella, una Sala de Audiovisuales para proyectar documentales, cine experimental y videoarte.
Cuenta con un Departamento de Educación, área para talleres dirigidos a niños, jóvenes y adultos; un Departamento de Registro, un Departamento de Conservación y un Centro de Información y Documentación sobre manifestaciones culturales del oriente del país.
Biblioteca Pública


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Grave Digger’s Dungeon
North Carolina, US | Inspired Inventions
Few diversions are as uniquely and unabashedly American as a good old fashioned monster truck jam. Among the greatest stars in the sport’s history is Grave Digger, specifically when driven by Dennis Anderson.
Way back in 1981, before the dawn of monster truck racing as we know it today, Andersen assembled his first ‘mud bogging’ vehicle by combining the chassis of a 1952 Ford pickup and a high-performance Chevy engine with a body welded together from miscellaneous junkyard parts. After a few years of vehicular experimentation and perfecting his racing style, Andersen, so the story goes, gained enough confidence to talk smack to his opponents saying, “I’ll take this old junk and dig your grave.”
Enter the Grave Digger. With its signature black, old-style body adorned by green flames, skulls and the grim reaper, Andersen and the Digger quickly became a crowd favorite. At first, the driver’s reputation for spectacular finishes often punctuated by debilitating crashes worked against “One Run Anderson,” until he harnessed his strengths (high flying antics, trick driving, and car crushing) to establish the Freestyle Jam as the final element of each rally.
Rollovers, demolition, as well as general wear and tear necessitate more than one Grave Digger. Just like Shamu, to date there have been approximately 20 Grave Diggers, including one passenger-style monster truck in which visitors are taken on a ride for a nominal fee.
Late models that have been put out to pasture can be found at the Digger’s Dungeon, which also serves as home-base for Grave Digger’s drivers and mechanics. Inside the shop, childhood fantasies become real by giving big and little kids alike the opportunity to climb into one of the notorious vehicles, and take pictures with the Diggers parked out front in precarious positions.
Lots of memorabilia can be purchased, but the shards of Grave Diggers hanging from the ceiling are priceless, permanent fixtures.

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Roma Takes Dakar Rally Lead, Spectator Dies after Stage 1
Nani Roma, none other that the former Dakar Rally winner in the motorcycle category, has taken off to a 2-minute lead in this year’s car competition. The BMW driver managed to outscore his nearest rival Carlos Sainz by 2 minutes and 7 seconds after the very first stage of the rally, from Colon to Cordoba.The Spaniard benefited from a clear road ahead of him in Day 1, as he started 5th in the opening stage of the rally. Nevertheless, he admitted he didn’t expect to take the stage … (read more)
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Top Ten Digital M&A Deals For 2010

Editor’s note: As the capital markets heat up and the economy continues to rebound, the deal flow is starting to open up again. We’ve already given you our top ten IPO candidates for 2010. In this guest post, Kelly Porter, an M&A expert at Woodside Capital Partners, proposes ten digital media deals he’d like to see.
Digital media M&A activity is expected to pick up in 2010—big acquirers have significant cash on their balance sheets, share prices are up, and many good acquisition candidates are on the landscape. With this in mind, I’ve put together the following list of 10 interesting Digital Media M&A deals for 2010. Some are longshots, some are slam dunks; all would create compelling new opportunities and possibilities. It’s a list that was compiled in recent weeks over coffee with some of the brightest and most connected folks in the valley. Without further ado, here are the deals we envisioned:
1. Google acquires Roku
YouTube arguably holds the highest potential of Google’s major growth initiatives, capturing about 38% of video viewing on the web and serving more than 1 billion streams daily. However, the average YouTube user watches about five hours of TV daily versus only 15 minutes of YouTube. Moreover, consumers face a firehose of difficult-to-find viewing options on the YouTube site, with some 20 hours of content uploaded to YouTube every minute. Most important, Google is having trouble monetizing all that video content and YouTube is bleeding significant red ink. Roku would address all these issues plus extend the YouTube brand – via Roku’s set-top box. The Roku box currently streams content from sites like Netflix and Amazon VOD to a consumer’s television. Google could rebrand and supercharge the box with lots of cool new search features, interactivity, gaming, PVR functionality, a tier of Google-branded channels featuring popular YouTube content, plus add several tiers of channels from major studios, broadcast networks and cable networks. A freemium model could be deployed, with subscribers getting most content for free, and paying extra for premium tiers. Google could grow a potentially huge new revenue stream, plus the service would be a formidable competitor to the rumored Apple broadband TV service (Apple is reportedly talking to Disney and CBS about supplying content for the service). Some might say that Microsoft already tried this with WebTV; however WebTV never had the massive cross-promotion engines of YouTube and Google behind it.
2. Cisco acquires LinkedIn
Cisco’s pursuit of enterprise communications is important, and LinkedIn would be a natural and powerful extension of this strategy. LinkedIn is growing like wildfire, having nearly doubled its user base in the past two years and launched hot partnerships with companies like Microsoft, RIM and Twitter. Cisco’s acquisitions of WebEx, Tandberg, Jabber and PostPath would be augmented by LinkedIn’s 53 million members globally, and some very cool and unique new applications could be created using the combined capabilities of LinkedIn and Cisco’s various divisions. LinkedIn’s estimated 2010 revenues are just over $200M and the company’s last fundraising came in 2008, with a valuation of approximately $1 billion. For Cisco, with a $138 billion market cap and $35 billion in cash and short-term equivalents, acquiring LinkedIn for a big premium to the company’s most recent valuation (which is what it would take to acquire LinkedIn) would use a relatively small amount of that cash and would create a meaningful strategic extension for Cisco in the social networking domain.
3. Fox Interactive Media / MySpace acquires Pandora
As many music services struggle, Pandora has reportedly skyrocketed to 40 million registered users and is adding 600,000 new users per week. Pandora has become a bona fide internet behemoth, accounting for a reported 44% of internet radio listening, with half of that listening coming on mobile devices. One of MySpace’s great strengths is the social network’s music presence. In recent months, FIM/MySpace acquired imeem and iLike, but those acquisitions pale in comparison to a potential Pandora acquisition. A MySpace-Pandora combination would create formidable scale which would span multiple segments of the music industry—from coffee shop singer/songwriters to arena rock bands—and provide benefits to music consumers that are not available elsewhere. Pandora would also breathe new life into the MySpace brand, which has been lagging in the wake of Facebook.
4. Twitter acquires Twithawk, TweetMeme, bizz.ly, Skout and TwitJump
Some believe Twitter should sell to a larger company, but they are missing the greater opportunity. Twitter enjoys massive potential as a standalone company. It is reminiscent of Yahoo! in 1995—a single compelling product, lots of traffic, growth potential and buzz, and poised to dominate several markets—in this case, the markets surrounding all things realtime. These five acquisitions—although all young companies themselves—would extend Twitter in significant ways: business marketing (Twithawk); realtime news discovery and sharing (TweetMeme); realtime promotion, publishing and sharing (bizz.ly); realtime dating/connecting (Skout); and Twitter management tools (TwitJump). Twitter could organically grow these new capabilities from within, but acquiring them through M&A would be faster and would also bring new talent into the company. Most important, these markets would bring new revenues to Twitter, extend its network effects, and broaden its footprint—ultimately positioning the company more favorably for a public offering.
5. Netflix acquires Flixster
Flixster—the movie-info sharing site with about 50 million unique users and a robust social networking core—is a near-perfect strategic fit for Netflix, providing both a marketing benefit as well as a critical social networking component. Netflix, with about 12 million subscribers (up about 28% from a year ago) is spending an attention-getting $27 per subscriber in acquisition costs. Flixster would help bring these subscriber acquisition costs down through its web presence, connection to Facebook and MySpace, and strength on the iPhone, where Flixster is the #1 movie app. Netflix’s future growth lies in adding new subscribers as well as increasing revenue from existing subscribers, and the company’s 17,000-title instant streaming service is a critical strategic component for its future; Flixster would be a core component in growing all of Netflix’s revenue streams. Rumors are recently afloat that Fox Interactive Media / MySpace is eyeing an acquisition of Flixster, but that deal is apparently not imminent. While there is indeed good strategic fit between Fox and Flixster, a Netflix-Flixster deal feels like an even better one.
6. Ticketmaster acquires Eventbrite
Eventbrite would be an excellent addition to the Ticketmaster portfolio, providing Ticketmaster with a new consumer market and Eventbrite with a deep-pocketed corporate parent that offers unparalleled distribution and marketing opportunities. Eventbrite enables an online presence for marketing and ticket sales for fairs, festivals, fundraisers and other events, rocketing from fledgling start-up in 2006 to projected 2009 sales of over $100 million, 3 million monthly uniques and 10,000 new monthly events. Ticketmaster’s savvy CEO Irving Azoff has shown great adeptness in growing revenues from $1.0 billion to nearly $1.5 billion in just the past four years, along with building substantial increases in the company’s free cash flow. Azoff would bring world-class managerial knowhow to Eventbrite’s high-volume, low-margin business. Ticketmaster has had its hands full seeking approval of the Live Nation merger; assuming that merger succeeds in early 2010, Eventbrite would be a solid next step in the company’s strategic growth.
7. DirecTV acquires Blip.tv
Comcast’s TV Everywhere online initiative—which features about 12,000 titles from about 30 major content providers—was a shot across DirecTV’s bow and pointed to the need for DirecTV to launch a successful online distribution initiative. Blip.tv offers DirecTV an immediate and valuable distribution channel for online broadcast, plus access to thousands of other programming assets from independent producers (which possibly could be used to program one or more unique channels on the DirecTV satellite TV service). Blip.tv currently manages 50,000+ shows and 3 million+ episodes. Views of Blip.tv programming have reportedly more than doubled in the past year, exceeding 85 million views during December 2009. The company has also attracted an impressive roster of advertisers including AT&T, Best Buy, Nikon, Chevy, Scion, Canon and Samsung. Blip.tv’s offering would need to be modified to distribute programming from major TV networks on DirecTV’s behalf (in order to limit distribution of those programs to DirecTV viewers), but that would likely not be a difficult modification to undertake. This would extend the audience reach for both companies.
8. Bing/Microsoft acquires Bit.ly
Bit.ly’s utility as a URL-shortener is far eclipsed by the strategic value the company brings to search: in November bit.ly shortened some 2 billion URL’s on Twitter, Facebook, email, instant messages and blogs, which means that the company has one of the best windows into realtime search across the internet. Twitter is often mentioned as the most likely acquirer of bit.ly, but an acquisition by Bing is even more compelling given the importance of realtime search to big search engines. Bing has gained impressive market share in the overall search market, but lags in realtime search. Bit.ly has grown out of nowhere in just the past two years to be one of the dominant companies in the social web. Given the growing importance of bit.ly, it would not be surprising to see a heated bidding war between Facebook, Twitter, Google and Microsoft. A key mitigating factor is that Google and Facebook have recently rolled-out URL shorteners of their own.
9. Bing/Microsoft Acquires Foursquare
Called “Next Year’s Twitter”, Foursquare is a fantastically addictive and cool mobile startup that enables a person to share his location with a group of friends. Each time the person checks in from a particular location he or she earns a badge, and the person that checks in most from a particular location becomes the location’s “Mayor.” It’s this addictive game quality that has Foursquare growing exponentially, a la Twitter. This is a natural add-on to Bing Maps, and would further extend Microsoft into the social web with a mobile extension carrying significant ad sales and promotional opportunities. Given that Foursquare is one of the most exciting private companies on the digital mediascape, the company would command a big premium. Google is another natural acquirer of Foursquare, but a Google-Foursquare tie-up is less likely because of events surrounding the acquisition of Dodgeball, and the team subsequently fleeing Google to create Foursquare. Twitter could also acquire Foursquare.
10. LinkedIn acquires Yammer
Yammer is Twitter for the enterprise and has grown rapidly since its September 2008 launch, attracting 50,000 enterprise members so far. Yammer would be an ideal extension of LinkedIn’s reach into the enterprise and would provide new revenue to LinkedIn via its freemium model (companies pay $3 to $5 a head when they upgrade to a premium account). Given Yammer’s market traction and compelling model, it is likely that other enterprise-related suitors like Salesforce.com and Oracle would also step-up in a bidding process for Yammer.
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Best Places to Buy Knives Marketplace
>> Cookware and Tools on Marketplace“I do not weep at the world—I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife.” – Zora Neale Hurston. Knives (besides being great metaphors for arming oneself to deal with whatever life brings) are among a cook’s most important tools. In case you’re shopping for a good chef’s knife or a sharp paring knife, here are our recommendations for where to look.
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Splinter, Rotterdam
Gegevens
Naam: Splinter
Hoogte: 72 Meter
Plaats: Rotterdam,
Oplevering: 2002
Website: http://www.skylinecity.info/rotterda…linter_rec.htm
Functie: Kantoren
Architect: Bureau voor Stedenbouw en Architectuur Wim de Bruijn———- —————– ————–

(Bron: Bureau voor Stedebouw en Architectuur Wim de Bruijn)
(Bron: Bureau voor Stedebouw en Architectuur Wim de Bruijn)
(Bron: Bureau voor Stedebouw en Architectuur Wim de Bruijn)













