Holy cats, Ford is going downmarket. Way down. Way, way down. Daniel Grossman, VP of Ford Motor Company, just announced to ONN the $650 car, which will be the least expensive, and cheapest, car available in any market. That’s right. A car I can afford to buy on my salary. My wife will be so excited. Watch the video announcement after the jump.
If you’re a big telecommunications company there is the hard way to add 893,000 customers to your portfolio — by working to provide hardware and services that people value and want — then there is the easy way. Cutting a check. Today, the FCC gave AT&T the final go ahead to purchase US wireless carrier Centennial Wireless for a cool $944 million. The acquisition will bolster AT&T’s presence in the midwest, southwest, and Puerto Rico, although we’re not sure how, if at all, it will impact their 3G footprint. Centennial’s stockholders will receive $8.50/share for their troubles and AT&T is saying it will have Centennial’s stores re-branded by January of 2010. Any Centennial customers out there excited about being folded into Ma Bell?Read
Google evangelist Vint Cerf, who many people think of as one of the fathers of the Internet, has his eyes on some interesting Earth-based applications that can work with his long-standing interplanetary extensions of the Net. He announced at the Open Mobile Summit this morning a software stack that sits on top of the open-source Android operating system that could strengthen wireless network communications through his DTN (Delay Tolerant Netorking) Interplanetary Net protocol.
Cerf has been working with NASA since 1998 to develop DTN as a way to overcome limitations in the TCP/IP protocol when fast, one-to-one communications aren’t possible, especially over long distances. NASA has already show DTN to be effective for communications between Earth-based networks and outposts in deep space. Can the protocol greatly increase the coverage and service reliability of our mobile networks and devices?
The protocol uses a store-and-forward, rather than a continuous communication model, to reliably communicate packets back-and-forth over long distances, as explained in this NASA note on its successes with DTN:
Unlike TCP/IP on Earth, the DTN does not assume a continuous end-to-end connection. In its design, if a destination path cannot be found, the data packets are not discarded. Instead, each network node keeps the information as long as necessary until it can communicate safely with another node. This store-and-forward method, similar to basketball players safely passing the ball to the player nearest the basket means information does not get lost when no immediate path to the destination exists. Eventually, the information is delivered to the end user.
DTN is also slated for many applications involving communications between Earth-based networks and satellites, and even long-distance underwater communications tasks. Cerf also has his eyes squarely on high-reliability DTN deployments for use with Earth-based wireless networks, as The Register’s Cade Metz reports:
“Mobile operations are highly stressed,” Cerf said. “Mobiles are used where people congregate…In a sense, mobile is already a dense and hostile environment. We all know that when you drive around, coverage isn’t very good. It’s so hostile, it’s clear that mobile could take advantage of these more-resilient protocols. TCP/IP is very brittle.”
Cerf’s work on DTN has been space-focused for many years, but, just as the Android operating system is open source and forking into many new types of deployments, DTN is moving beyond Cerf’s initial intent for it. Given its roots in space applications, doesn’t an operating system dubbed Android have the perfect name for it?
Brother/sister (no, not really) duo The White Stripes will be making their Rock Band debut next week via a track pack featuring three of their songs. …
By Lloyd Grove
DailyBeast.com
His publishing unit is trouble. The spinoff of AOL is at hand. CEO Jeffrey Bewkes talks exclusively with The Daily Beast’s Lloyd Grove about the future of the media business.
Jeffrey Bewkes seemed eager to unveil a brand-new business strategy for Time Warner Inc., the careworn media giant he’s been running for the past 22 months.
“Actually we’ve been hiding this, and you should be the one to break the news,” Bewkes told me in an exclusive interview with The Daily Beast. “We are going to buy and roll up all the railroads in the United States. Then we’re going to put flat screens in all of the freight boxcars, because we think that anybody in a recession like this, who’s actually hitching a ride on a boxcar, could become a very loyal viewer of some of our programming. And later, we might be able to sell them something. That’s our theory.”
Warner’s 57-year-old chairman and chief executive was joking, of course—giving his facetious take on the supposed synergy that results from marrying content to distribution. Comcast’s quest to buy NBC Universal is only the latest example. In a wide-ranging conversation, Bewkes also:
– declared himself bullish on Big Media—especially (no surprise here) Time Warner’s prospects and the “branded multichannel cable networks” with distinct programming personalities, such as Fox News, MTV, and HBO.
– suggested that mass-audience broadcast networks such as ABC, CBS, and NBC have a business model that’s “increasingly becoming not viable.”
– reiterated his defense of Time Inc., the company’s troubled publishing unit, and stoutly denied rumors of plans to turn the magazines (with the exception of People and Sports Illustrated) into purely digital enterprises. “Absolutely not,” he said.
– predicted widespread paid content for news Web sites within the next two years. “I think what is not viable—literally not viable—is advertising-support-only free content in journalism.”
Bewkes predicted that people will soon become accustomed to using a variety of technologies, both paid and free, to view movies, read magazines and newspapers, watch television and otherwise consume their favorite media. . . READ FULL STORY
Until recently, netbooks seemed to be computers designed by a subtractive process. That is, you start with a notebook design, and you scale back on the cost by equipping it with lower-power processors, less on-board storage, smaller screens, and either open source software or truncated desktop operating systems.
There really hasn’t been a powerful example of a “netbook experience” that was built from the ground up to differentiate the devices from their full-powered counterparts.
In March, Betanews contributor Joe Wilcox wrote a column for eWeek called “The Problem with Netbooks” where he described two paths that the form factor could take: one leading to success, the other leading to a quick demise.
These paths differed depending on where you began.
To get on the path to success in the United States, netbooks would have to be fully integrated with mobile broadband carriers who heavily subsidize them, and they would have to have a specially designed version of Windows that isn’t a stripped down desktop version or a built-up mobile version.
But in Europe, it’s a different story altogether, and the devices are already on the right path. Carrier subsidies there are stronger, the devices fall more in line with smartphones than notebooks, and Linux-based operating systems are more popular.
And this is why Moblin has begun to look so promising. The Linux Foundation’s open source operating system designed specifically for Intel Atom-powered devices was bumped up to a project release of Moblin version 2.1 for netbooks/nettops yesterday. This release knocks out several hundred bugs and adds a number of features critical to netbooks.
The most essential of the upgrades are related to wireless data connections. Support for Ericsson’s 3G mobile broadband modules has been added, and the Connection Manager now supports Ethernet, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, and 3G connections. Bluetooth discovery and pairing has also been added, which will allow users to tether their Bluetooth phone to their netbook as a 3G wireless modem.
However, Moblin has a critical shortcoming in that it doesn’t yet support the Nvidia, ATI, or GMA-500 integrated graphics processor made by Imagination Technologies. The latter of these is used in all Atom Z500 series devices, also known as “Poulsbo.”
While these graphics processors are found mostly in devices that wouldn’t exactly fit in the netbook category — they’re MIDs, convertables, and “X-series” notebooks — it’s also used in the Nokia Booklet 3G, a 10-inch pseudo-netbook that could be a lock in Europe, and seems a perfect fit for Moblin.
Betanews sent an inquiry to the Linux Foundation asking about support for the device in Moblin 2.1, to find out whether it’s been tested, whether it has to run in a reduced graphics mode or simply cannot run at all, or if there is a plan for a custom Moblin build as an alternative to Windows 7. We’ll let you know what we hear back.
Short Version: HP sure knows how to make a Windows Home Server. The company has been at it for years now and the latest model does just about everything better than the previous models. That’s how it’s suppose to be.
Cons
Features
Review:
If you’ve been following along with previous versions of the HP MediaSmart Server, you know what the device does. It runs Microsoft’s Windows Home Server, but HP equipped it with a slightly different user interface to make it accessible to the non-tech crowd. Nearly anyone looking for a backup and central storage solution should be able to use this guy.
Instead of the stark WHS setup screen, new users can use HP’s software pack that guides them through setting up remote backups, assigning permissions to users, and finding media spread out over a network. It still has the same media collecting, iPhone-streaming and transcoding software in previous models, but the Media Collector works a lot better on Macs now.
What is new is the dramatically more powerful machine and better OS X support.The latest builds also ditches low voltage, and low power, CPUs in favor of a 2.5 GHz Dual Core Pentium. Boy does it help, too. I’ve been using WHS for a while now and it’s just not a backup device for me.
My torrent client lives on the box and unRARing huge files takes time on an Atom or Celeron processor, but the Pentium speeds things up a lot. The 2GB of memory also helps dramatically when running, let’s say, a torrent client, a couple of DLNA servers, and iTunes for the Home Sharing function. The hardware updates made this server a respectable little box.
HP started with the OS X support last January, but it wasn’t the greatest. The backup didn’t allow for a full restore and users still had to search out third-party solutions to access the device remotely via OS X.
But no more. Now OS X can be fully backed up and restored just like a PC by using a separate restore disc. It works just like it’s supposed to and is a valid alternative to Apple’s own backup device, the Time Capsule.
Plus, the server now ships with a OS X WHS management tool. It’s essentially a repacked remote desktop client, but it gets the job done. Because of these updates, an HP MediaSmart server can live comfortably on an all-Mac network.
All this extra software HP has thrown in is bordering on intrusive though. Window Home Server is an amazing system all by itself and anyone that’s been around computers for a while should be able to use it without any extra help. The HP stuff is cool, but to be honest, I never used it past simple testing.
I would love to see an installation or setting to turn off the HP software, but that won’t happen. HP needs to justify why its servers cost a bunch more than other option, which is really my only beef with the EX495. It’s too expensive for the amount of storage you get.
Outside of the extra HP software that a lot of people might not use and the more powerful hardware, you can get countless other WHS for far less. It seems obvious to me that the most important buying point of a file server is the storage capacity. You can expand the storage capacity to nearly anything you want with the HP MediaSmart line, but for $699 I expect to start with more than 1.5TB. The Acer easyStore costs $389 at Newegg and comes with a 1TB drive installed. For $750 you can build a 5TB system around the Acer using 2TB hard drives, which is a lot better deal if can live without the extra HP software (you probably can).
The HP MediaSmart EX495 is a quality rig. I don’t have anything against the system besides the aforementioned pricing. If you don’t mind paying a premium for software, buy it without hesitation.
Product Page: HP MediaSmart EX495
Giveaway: Want this server? Well, not this used one, but rather a brand new one? Yeah, I have one to give away. Click over to this post for all the details.
This is nice. HP is letting me give away a brand new EX495 MediaSmart Sever to go along with my review. To win the 1.5TB Windows Home Server server, you’re going to have to play a little game. Don’t worry, it’s easy. No scavenger hunt this time.
All you need to do is guess the total storage capacity of the CrunchGear staff. There’s seven of us, and we’re counting hard drives and flash drives. This includes game console and DVR hard drives, but not blank media like CD-Rs and DVD-Rs.
Don’t read to much into this. We’re estimating too, but I can tell you the answer is north of 10TB. Simply place your best guess in the comments below. Any questions can be directed to contest AT crunchgear DOT com.
Rules:
Update: 75.164.73.17, you’re out. You guys think we don’t check?
LogMeIn Inc. (Nasdaq: LOGM), a Woburn, Mass.-based provider of user remote connectivity and support services, has filed to sell three million shares of common stock. The value would be nearly $60 million, based on Wednesday’s closing share price of $19.90 per share.
LogMeIn itself will sell 100,000 shares, with the remainder being offered by existing shareholders. Company backers include Prism VentureWorks (17.55%), Polaris Venture Partners (13.24%), 3TS Capital Partners (8.98%), Integral Capital Partners (5.05%) and Intel Capital.
The company raised $106.7 million via its IPO in late June, pricing at $16 per share.
eBay said Friday that the investor group led by Silver Lake has reached a settlement agreement with Joltid Limited and Joost N.V. that gives Skype ownership over all software licensed from Joltid and ends all litigation against the investor group and eBay at the closing of the acquisition.
As part of the settlement agreement, Joltid and Skype founders Niklas Zennstrm and Janus Friis will join the investor group, contributing Joltid software and making a significant capital investment in exchange for a 14 percent stake in Skype. As a result, Silver Lake and other investors including Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), will together hold 56 percent of Skype and eBay will retain 30 percent.
eBay will receive $1.9 billion in cash when the sale is complete and a note from the buyer worth $125 million. The deal, which values Skype at $2.75 billion, is set to close in the fourth quarter of 2009.
"Skype will be well positioned to move forward under new owners with ownership and control over its core technology," said eBay Inc. President and CEO John Donahoe.
"At the same time, eBay continues to retain a significant stake in Skype and will benefit from its continued growth. We look forward to closing the deal and focusing on growing our core ecommerce and payments businesses."
The investor group will no longer include Index Ventures. The Skype founders had filed a lawsuit charging Index and its partner Michelangelo Volpi of using confidential information in their bid to purchase a 65 percent stake in Skype.
Related Articles:
>Skype Founders Reportedly Close To Settlement With eBay
>eBay’s Q4 Earnings Not Apocalyptic
>eBay Sells Skype, Which Is Worth $2.75 Billion
Webinars and podcasts are the most popular social media resources for business people, used by 69 percent of those who turn to such channels for business information, according to a new study by Business.com.
Facebook is the primary social network on which consumer-focused companies maintain one or more profiles, cited by 83 percent of respondents compared with 45 percent for Twitter. Business-to-business companies maintain a presence on both social sites with 77 percent maintaining a profile on Facebook and 73 percent on Twitter.
Among those using social media for business purposes in their jobs, 62 percent visit company or brand profiles on social networking sites and 55 percent search for business information on these sites.
Consultants and marketers are the most active users of social media as a resource for business information, particularly in micro (less than 10 employees) and small businesses (10-99 employees). IT professionals have the lowest participation rate.
The average company in this study was planning, developing or running seven different social media initiatives; 65 percent of respondents staffing those initiatives, and 71 percent of companies themselves, have less than two years of experience with social media for business.
Building brand awareness and brand reputation are two of the top social media success metrics, but nearly two-thirds of companies focused on these metrics have little insight into performance via standard or easily accessible reports.
"We are constantly analyzing trends to determine exactly what tools business professionals leverage most for purchasing," said Ben Hanna, Ph.D., vice president, marketing, Business.com
"This survey was a way for us to benchmark where businesses, and business people, are finding value in social media."
Related Articles:
> Thinking Beyond Facebook And Twitter For Social Relevance
> Facebook,Foo Fighters To Pair Up Tonight
>Twitter Expands Into More Than Just 2 Languages
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Fortress Investment Group LLC (FIG.N), a listed hedge fund and private equity giant, posted a third quarter loss on Friday as management fees tracked a decline in total assets.
Fortress shares were down 5 percent or 23 cents at $4.34 in morning trading.
Fortress said its net loss attributable to Class A shareholders was $59 million, or 43 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with a loss of $57 million, or 66 cents, in the year-earlier period.
Revenue came in at $143.7 million, down from $185.2 million a year earlier, mainly on lower management fees. Analysts had expected revenue of $123 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, and pretax distributed earnings of 9 cents a share. Pretax distributed earnings were 11 cents a share, the company said.
Like other hedge fund firms, Fortress was hit hard last fall as waves of cash-strapped investors tried to withdraw their money. At the end of the quarter Fortress managed $32 billion in assets, down from $34.3 billion a year earlier as it tried to block redemptions.
On a conference call with analysts, Fortress Chief Executive Daniel Mudd was upbeat, noting its assets under management were 21 percent higher than their low of $26.5 billion at the end of March. “After all the gloom and doom, I think we may be going into a golden age of alternatives,” he said.
Other hedge fund managers have also reported the return of new money as markets rebounded this year. Many industry watchers say last year’s worst-ever returns and record redemptions are safely behind them.
The stock has plunged 81 percent since going public at the peak of the buyout bubble in early 2007, though it has surged fourfold from a record low in December last year.
(Reporting by Joseph A. Giannone and Ross Kerber; Editing by Derek Caney, Phil Berlowitz)
LONDON (Reuters) – Funds specialising in turning around troubled companies are among the favourites to buy the stores of British liquor chain Threshers from administrators, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
Private equity firms, convenience store operators, rival off-licence chains and retailers are all poring over First Quench’s stores, which include Threshers and other chains, as its administrator KPMG looks to secure a speedy sale, the people said.
R Capital, the owner of Little Chef, the roadside restaurant chain that called in Michelin-starred chef Heston Blumenthal to revitalise the menu at the chain, is looking at the business, as is private equity firm Rutland Partners, sources said.
Hilco and Endless, which also specialise in turning around distressed companies, are interested in all or parts of First Quench’s network, sources said.
The firms declined to comment.
KPMG said on Thursday that it planned to close 373 loss-making First Quench stores, out of its 1,200 store network, at a cost of about 1,700 jobs.
The stores, which include the Wine Rack, Victoria Wine, Bottoms Up and The Local brands, have been losing around 20 million pounds ($33.2 million) a year, hit by competition from large retailers and small convenience stores.
“We have had a range of interested parties considering everything from one store through to a very large number of stores,” said Ian Corfield, a joint administrator at KPMG.
Indicative offers are due by Nov. 13 with KPMG hoping to sew up the process by Nov. 26.
RETAIL INTEREST
Large multiple retailers are also on the list of parties requesting further information, though First Quench’s stores are viewed as too small for the likes of Tesco (TSCO.L), Asda (WMT.N) and Sainsbury’s (SBRY.L), one source said.
Convenience store chain Costcutter and rival off-licence Bargain Booze are also considering offers, but their franchise model makes them more likely to be interested in First Quench’s small franchise arm, numbering some 86 stores, the source said.
“The franchise business may well be a very attractive proposition for somebody to take on as a unit; we are certainly exploring with various parties whether that will be of interest,” said Corfield, though he declined to comment on individual interested parties.
Costcutter’s majority owner Bibby Line Group and Bargain Booze’s private equity owner ECI Partners both declined to comment.
KPMG’s preferred option is to find a buyer for a large part of the business but it may consider offers for individual brands or even individual stores, Corfield said.
But carving out a brand could present difficulties in separating the business’ supply chain, back office function, logistics and IT, one source said.
“It’s not beyond the wit of man, but it’s not the easiest option either,” the source said. ($1=.6025 Pound)
By Simon Meads and Tom Freke
(Editing by Karen Foster)
Ragaboo writes ”
A congressional report was recently released estimating that the regulation of Internet gambling could amount to around $42 billion in revenue for the U.S. government. Considering both the current financial climate and the fact (given the nature of the Internet) Americans are gambling online anyway, whether the government likes it or not, it seems like an incredible waste not to simply regulate the industry. Regulation provides much-needed funds, allows standards to be imposed and oversight to ensure safety, and also allows safety nets and safeguards to be forced to be put in place against underage and problem gamblers. As it currently stands, millions are playing online poker alone from within the United States (whether or not the government approves of it, which in an of itself isn’t explicitly clear) and countless others are gambling, and yet every cent being made in that industry is going overseas.”
Indeed. Online gambling seems like one area where a regulated market would make a lot more sense than outright prohibition. Many other countries already do this, and it’s really odd that the US continues to resist it. Many claim that it’s really just an effort by the existing casinos to block out competition, but it would seem that those casinos would benefit greatly themselves by being able to offer their own online offerings. And, even with this new evidence, it looks like Congress is actually going in the opposite direction.
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~DESTRESS YOURSELF BY BEING IN THIS MOMENT~
Here is another Pithy Post List for you 😉
What does it mean to be in this moment?
1. To focus on the here and now.
2. To focus on the place you are at.
3. To focus on the person you are with.
4. To not think of things you have to do.
5. To not think of what happened yesterday.
6. To not think of anything.
What are the benefits of being in this moment?
1. We take responsibility for our life by taking responsibility of our mind.
2. We quiet our mind.
3. We enjoy the moment.
4. We can feel gratitude.
5. We can feel faith.
6. We will have fun.
7. We release worry.
8. We intentionally choose our thoughts.
9. We intentionally choose our feelings.
10. We intentionally choose our actions.
11. We become focused.
12. We become organized.
13. We become productive.
How can we be in this moment?
1. We recognize we can.
2. We practice meditation so that we may know how to quiet our mind.
3. We practice being right here and right now enjoying this moment and the person you are
with.
4. We practice looking for the good in this moment.
5. We practice feelings of faith, confidence, certainty, and hope.
6. We practice having fun and being playful.
7. We practice focusing on this moment.
There you have it…
If you would like to learn more about being in this moment and how to destress yourself, visit my website, sign up for our free monthly newsletter, download our free stress management audios, visit my blog, sign up to get updated posts, and please check out our downloadable audio classes.
Have a wonderful week and you guessed it…Have fun and be playful it’s in your nature.
Twellow has launched a new "Suggested Users" feature aimed at connecting Twitterers with similar interests. It should be much more useful to the common Twitter user than Twitter’s own suggested list, which is one static list for everybody, and includes mostly celebrities and other well-known people. In fact, Twitter may be getting rid of that list soon anyway.
Twellow’s feature is tailored to the interests of the specific user, so your list will be completely different than the next person’s.
Twellow is a WebPronews service, which provides Twitter users with a directory of people to follow by category or location.
"Being able to find people that really share common interests is what Twellow is all about," says Twellow’s lead developer, Matthew Daines. "This new feature should really add value to our Twellow toolset in helping people meet this goal."
"While Twitter has offered a suggested users list for some time, it really hasn’t been very useful for the average Twitter user," he says. "Our large database of categorized users really has allowed us to provide a much better matching system for suggesting users to follow. These are relevant people who actually share your personal interests."
Twellow’s Suggested Users feature can:
– Display up to 500 profiles.
– Let you follow users right from the list.– Let your ignore and hide profiles you don’t think are good matches.
– Let you click the More Info buttons on each profile to show the categories for that profile. Your matches are marked with a green star.
– Let you adjust your profile categories if suggestions are not accurate, then return and view the new results.
Check out the Suggested Users feature on Twellow, and let us know what you think about it. Our team is always open to feedback.
Do you think such a feature would make Twitter more useful? Comment here.
Related Articles:
> Easily Find Twitterers You’re Interested In
> Twellow Adds New "View Non-Mutuals" Feature
> Location Adds Purpose and Context to Twitter
Mandelbrot Project Inc., a stealth-mode startup founded by former Daily Candy CEO Pete Sheinbaum, has raised $500,000 in first-round funding from Foundry Group, according to a regulatory filing.
Seth Levine, the Foundry partner on Mandelbrot’s board of directors, declined to comment. Mandelbrot is based in Boulder, Colorado. www.themandelbrotproject.com
Once upon a time, iTunes did exactly what it sounded like it should do: play music. It was the digital jukebox for your mac, Rip, Mix, Burn, remember that?
Looking at the sidebar in iTunes now, I’ve got Music, Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts, iTunes U, Audiobooks, Applications, and Radio, and that’s just the main library. Next is the iTunes Store and a “Purchased” smart list, the Genius feature, iTunes DJ and (finally) my custom Smart Playlists. That’s a lot to pack into one application, especially considering that many of the features have nothing to do with each other. There are very few times when I’m wanting to watch a movie that I care to look through my music collection. Music and video are two different functions, and in my opinion, deserve two different apps.
Actually, I’d like to see Apple release an entire “iApps Suite,” separating out audio, video, and applications. Strip Movies and TV Shows out of iTunes and integrate them into a new “iVideo” app, or something similarly named. Hide the video content from the iTunes store in iTunes and create a link for an iVideo store inside the new video app.
Similarly, I’d like to see Apple break out the App Store into it’s own dedicated application. Leave the functionality exactly as it is now and simply move it into its own app. There are many times that I’ve got iTunes open, most of the time just to listen to music, and have no interest whatsoever in my collection of apps.
Maybe my desire for Apple to break apart iTunes is because of my background in Unix, and the Unix philosophy for writing applications that “do one thing, and do it very well.” Or, maybe it’s because the direction iTunes has taken doesn’t seem very “Mac like.” Take the bundled applications for example. Mail, iCal, and Address Book are very often lumped together in the same app. Thunderbird (with the lightning extension) does this, as do Outlook and Lotus Notes. Apple sees sending and receiving mail, calendaring, and storing information about contacts as three separate functions, and wrote three separate apps to handle it. The iLife suite is another great example of separating applications that do different things. iPhoto ties into iWeb, Garageband, iMovie, and iDVD, but they are still separate apps for separate purposes.
I thought for a while that audio, video, and apps were all lumped together in iTunes to make it easier to sync to iPods and iPhones. But, iCal, Address Book, and iPhoto have no problem syncing their data. iPhoto will, by default, open when you plug-in an iPod touch or an iPhone, but Address Book and iCal sync silently, if configured to do so in iTunes. If iTunes were to be separated into different apps, perhaps the iSync utilities role could be expanded to handle what is synced where. That almost sounds like the job of a system preference to me.
Now I think that the three functions of iTunes are tied together because of the iTunes store. Since Apple used the same distribution model that had been successful with music for movies and TV shows, adding the functionality to iTunes and the iTunes Store offered the path of least resistance. Similarly, when it needed to build another store for applications, Apple built it on top of what was already successful.
I don’t see Apple changing directions with iTunes any time soon. If it were to create three apps out of the one iTunes, it would have to create them for Windows as well. I don’t have access to the source code, but knowing what I do about programming and development, I can’t imagine that would be an easy task. Perhaps this is a third-party opportunity for some ambitious indie devs out there? Or, maybe, just maybe, if we get the right people’s attention, a conversation might start that leads to some real change.
(Dr. Biden and Vice President Biden greet soldiers from the Delaware Army National Guard 261st Signal Brigade at their homecoming in September. Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)
Like military moms across the country, Dr. Jill Biden looked for small ways to send the comforts of home to son Beau during his deployment: she and Vice President Biden sent him a Christmas stocking stuffed with candy and playing cards; she baked him his favorite brownies for his birthday; she helped him keep up with children Natalie and Hunter by mailing artwork and photos of soccer games. This Veterans Day, with Beau safely home after almost a year in Iraq, Dr. Biden expresses her gratitude for the sacrifices of all military families in an essay published today in USA WEEKEND Magazine, and shares how she plans to honor the men and women who risk their lives for our country:
It helps that families such as ours realize we’re never alone, as I’ve seen this year how powerful the support of the community can be: A local restaurant provides pizzas at a welcome-home event; a minor-league baseball team, the Wilmington Blue Rocks, dedicates a game night in support of our troops; one of our schools adopts a military unit. Then, there’s an organization I’ve worked with in the past few years called Delaware Boots on the Ground. It started as a group of military moms and spouses who came together to support our Delaware National Guard members and their families. "Boots" now performs simple acts of service for deployed soldiers and their families, like supporting summer camps for children who have a deployed parent. There are just so many ways that each American can lend a hand and make a difference.
Beau came home safely Sept. 25, after almost a year in Iraq. My family feels so blessed.
Joe and I plan to visit Arlington National Cemetery this Veterans Day and spend time with veterans and soldiers to show our thanks. On Veterans Day and every day, it’s our duty to show appreciation for their service and remember that each of us has the ability to make a difference in the life of a service member. Even though Beau’s deployment is complete, I still consider myself a member of the military family. I always will.
Fort Hood was uppermost in the minds of National Guardsmen today, especially with
an Alabama Citizen-Soldier reportedly among the wounded after a deadly shooting
rampage there…
