It’s a match made in musical heaven: Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson are teaming up to record an album in honor of industry icon Quincy Jones.
Ronson, who worked with Winehouse on her 2006 breakout album Back To Black, has finally started the project — which had been stalled for nearly two years.
Mark says: “Over the weekend she did three tracks for Quincy Jones. She’s doing great.”
Scott says he can’t get to boozin’ unless he allows Target to scan his ID. Not just look at it, scan it. This is possibly linked to a one world government conspiracy. Either that or Target is just being weird, as usual.
He writes:
More bogus behavior from Target. Today at the [redacted] Washington Target the clerk and the manager insisted that I could not buy a $4.99 bottle of crappy red wine unless I allowed them to scan my ID. I’m a grey hair and 51 years old. I showed both employees valid ID for their inspection anyway. They agreed the driver’s license was valid and I was old enough to buy the wine, but no wine for me unless I allow them to scan this valid ID.
I refused to let them scan. They refused to sell the wine. A whole bunch of groceries went back on the shelf. And the employees really could not have cared less. After all, they were just following corporate orders according to the employees. And they claimed the system could not be overridden.
What the hell is going on with these big box stores that they think my private data belongs to them if I buy a cheap bottle of crappy wine?
Target alcohol purchasers, are you facing the same treatment?
Hide your children and gird your loins, because just like The Highlander, there can be only one. From the depths of the stinking swamps of mergepocalypse, come our two ignoble contenders. First, the dread pirate Comcast, known throughout the land for gobbling up all companies that are foolish enough to sail through its treacherous waters. Second, Ticketmaster, Lord of Tickets, Duke of fees, Master of… tickets. After forming an unholy alliance with LiveNation, Lord Ticketmaster has united the forces of darkness in a quest to force all people of this good land to pay $2.50 for the use of their own printers.
So, what say you, Internet?
Which is the Worst Company In America?
This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2010 series. The companies competing for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america. Print the bracket, here.
Wade Roush wrote:
Mascoma, the Lebanon, NH-based developer of advanced methods for making ethanol from wood fiber and other non-edible plant matter, has raised $3.4 million toward a $10 million round of convertible debt financing, according to regulatory documents filed April 21. The funding presumably puts the company in stronger position to move forward with construction of an ethanol plant in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
The filing indicates that Mascoma raised the new funds from a group of 10 separate investors, but it doesn’t identify them. The company’s past venture and strategic investors, who have ponied up at least $100 million in three previous rounds of funding, include Atlas Venture, Flagship Ventures, General Catalyst Partners, Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, General Motors, Marathon Oil Co., Pinnacle Financial Partners, and Vantage Point Venture Partners.
Mascoma won a $15 million grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation in June 2008 to build a cellulosic ethanol plant in Kinross in Chippewa County, south of Sault Ste. Marie, MI. The state later pledged another $8.5 million for the plant, which is a joint venture with Marquette, MI-based forestry company J.M. Longyear and is expected to create 50 to 75 jobs and be operational by 2012.
Mascoma representatives did not immediately respond to Xconomy’s request for comment on the funding round. Mascoma appointed a new CEO, chemical industry veteran William Brady, in January.
UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS
FourSqaure is probably the hottest web property in town right now. We already knew that Yahoo! is probably trying to buy out FourSqaure, but it seems like Microsoft and Facebook have joined the bandwagon too. The valuation FourSqaure is getting right now seems to be north of $100 Million.
One should keep in mind though that besides these acquisition and partnership offers, FourSqaure still has lots of VCs eager to pour money in. What will Dennis Crowley, the founder of FourSqaure, decide? He has already sold one of his startups , Dodgeball, to Google before and that wasn’t the best decision of his life.
Techcrunch is also reporting that Facebook may be more interested in a strategic partnership instead of an outright acquisition. This will serve Facebook well in complementing its own , location based service, which is talk of the town since last few weeks. Do you think Dennis Crowley should sell FourSqaure or just trust its growth rate and wait for a bigger and better opportunity?
You know what’s annoying for any business?
Seeing the price of your raw materials rise due to economic strength in other markets, rather than your own.
Developing nations, particularly India and China, are growing far faster than the U.S., and they’ve become the largest driver for commodities demand growth.
Thus commodity prices rebounded hard since early on in the current global recovery, but their strength is out of synch with the magnitude of recovery in developed nations such as the U.S., which were slower to rebound.
Data on producer prices released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday shows how rapidly the pressure on corporate America is mounting. The producer-price index showed that crude goods such as iron ore, construction sand and pulp shot up 44.5% year-over-year, the fastest rate since 1974. Including energy and food costs, crude goods prices rose 33.4%.
…
“I make tires for people, so I charge them more money,” said Morry Taylor, chief executive of Titan International Inc., which supplies agricultural equipment. “You pass it through.”
Yet charging consumers more is a risky strategy with unemployment hovering near 10% in the U.S.
“What could be a worse market for doing that than the one we currently have?” said Sean McAlinden, chief economist at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich.
It’s tight spot, but given the U.S. recovery now starting to catch up, hopefully this is only a temporary squeeze and companies under pressure from rising commodities prices will soon be able to pass-on their higher input costs.
Join the conversation about this story »
For Transformers, augmented reality allowed us to wear Optimus Prime’s head. For Iron Man 2, the shamefully enjoyable promotion gets better: You can now wear the mask, see yourself in Stark’s HUD and record it. Go forth and daydream. [IronMan2] More »
OK, ladies. Summer is coming, and it’s time to get those legs silky smooth before going sunbathing. Thank goodness for Nair, or so we would hope after watching this new commercial, from parent company Church & Dwight, for its hair removal product. The spot, by agency The Joey Company, shows women then and now relying on Nair to show off their legs. "For years, Nair freed women to move like never before," the female voiceover says, as a group of dancers groove to the beat with perfect symmetry and choreography. The ad promotes a handful of Nair products, including the new Shower Power Max product, which has a "fresh lavender scent" and purportedly "stays on in the shower." Okie dokie. We’re off to see if we can pull off some of those dance moves. (Oops, gotta shave first.)
—Posted by Elaine Wong
Panasonic President Naoto Noguchi hands Tesla CTO JB Straubel an 18650 Lithium-ion cell
Earlier this year, Tesla Motors and Panasonic announced today that they will collaborate to develop next-generation battery cells for use in electric-vehicles.
Today Tesla officials visited the Japanese electronic giant in Suminoe, Japan and toured the company’s new lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing facility. Panasonic Energy Company President Naoto Noguchi presented Tesla Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel with the first production lithium-ion cells manufactured at the new facility.
“These cutting-edge Panasonic batteries will combine with Tesla’s battery pack technology to produce the highest-energy density EV battery packs in the world,” said Straubel.
The Suminoe factory will start producing 3.1Ah battery cells, the highest energy density cells available in the market. The facility will produce more than 300 million cells per year.
– By: Kap Shah
I’d rather be challenged by somebody, rather than have somebody say, ‘Dude, where are you going to have drinks after the show?’ I love a spirited debate as much as anybody. I even like being wrong, if something can make a good case … on something. In a lot of ways, that’s what I do professionally, traveling. I’m confronted by my own ignorance or misunderstandings all the time.
—Anthony Bourdain, Chicago Tribune interview by Kevin Pang
U.S. equity index futures are higher this morning. S&P 500 futures are up 3 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures were buoyed by news that Greece has asked European finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund to proceed with a financial rescue package for Greek sovereign debt.
Index future response to the March Durable Goods Order report was mixed. Consensus was unchanged versus a 0.9% increase in February. Actual was a decline of 1.3%. Excluding transportation, consensus was a gain of 0.8% versus a gain of 1.4% in February. Actual was a gain of 2.8%.
Good news on inflation in Canada! Canada’s Consumer Price Index on a year-over-year basis was up only 1.4%. Excluding food and energy, CPI increased only 1.7%. A rate below 2.0% for CPI excluding food and energy reduces pressure on the Bank of Canada to increase administered interest rates to Canada’s major banks. The Canadian Dollar weakened on the news.
Adding to weakness in the Canadian Dollar was news that Canada’s retail sales in February increased only 0.5%. Consensus was an increase of 1.0%.
Lots of S&P 500 companies reported higher than expected first quarter earnings overnight including Amazon.com, Microsoft, Travelers, Honeywell, Dover, Xerox, Ingersoll Rand, American Express and Johnson Controls. Responses were mixed at best. Notably weak in overnight trading were Microsoft and Amazon.com
RBC Capital initiated coverage on the U.S. energy sector. Top pick is Chevron. Stocks allocated an Outperform rating included ConocoPhillips and Frontier Oil.
Verizon slipped 1.0% after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral.
CGI Group was downgraded by Raymond James from Outperform to Market Perform.
Nucor was downgraded by CIBC from Sector Outperform to Sector Perform.
Don Vialoux, chartered market technician, is the author of a free
daily report on equity markets, sectors, commodities, equities and
Exchange-Traded Funds. For more visit Don Vialoux's Web site
Since we’re talking Security, I thought I’d let you in on another giveaway. This one is from SMobile Systems, the leading mobile security provider. SMobile has been a mobile security company for quite a while and were the first for BlackBerry to have a security application that included Anti-Virus. Their application is reliable and stealth. For our Birthday Celebration they have given us copies for a contest and great offers…
In case you’re wondering what SMobile is, or the SMobile Security Shield is, you can read more at this link here. Here’s the description from their website about the product that is the focus of the month:
Spyware exists today that is capable of logging every key typed on a mobile device, intercepting e-mail, text and voice communications and stealing personal data from your cell phone. More than ever before, users are downloading applications and music files, sharing memory cards and utilizing mobile devices for online banking and purchasing. Without adequate security protection, these practices create a ripe environment for Identity Theft.SMobile is the world leader at providing AntiSpyware and AntiVirus protection to mobile devices. The SMobile AntiTheft and Identity Protection software runs in the background to immediately detect and remove malicious files and programs as they attempt to enter a device. On a routine basis, the solution will automatically receive updates from SMobile security servers and scan the entire device and memory cards to ensure the highest possible level of protection.Advanced Protection for Lost or Stolen DevicesWithout question, the number of lost and stolen mobile devices is staggering. The ultra-portable nature of smartphones enables users to essentially carry their Personal Computer in their pocket to sporting events, grocery stores, airports, restaurants, etc., significantly increasing the chance of loss and theft.The unique Anti-Theft capabilities of the SMobile solution enables a user to quickly and easily pinpoint the exact location of a lost or stolen device and have that location displayed in an online map. SMobile customers also have the option to remotely wipe their personal data to ensure that if it falls into the wrong hands, their personal data will not be accessed. As an added bonus, the personal data on BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and Symbian devices can be remotely backed-up and easily imported into a new device and these devices can be remotely locked to prevent access. SMobile’s SIM card change feature can also protect these devices against unauthorized SIM card changes. BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and Symbian devices can also utilize the SMobile Alarm feature, which allows the user to audibly locate a misplaced device within hearing distance, even if the speakers and ringer are muted.NOTE: SMobile Systems cannot guarantee GPS functionality on Verizon BlackBerry Curve and the Storm 1 devices. If you receive GPS Longitude and Latitude coordinates of 0.0 on the SMobile Security Console or Parental Dashboard, this functionality has been blocked by the service provider. For more information or questions please contact Customer Service at 1-866-323-0480
You’re reading a story which originated at BlackBerrySync.com, Where you find BlackBerry News You Can Sync With…
This story is sponsored by the new BlackBerry Sync Mobile App Store. Grab your free copy today at www.GetAppStore.com from your BlackBerry.
Birthday Giveaway Contest By SMobile Security And Special Offers For Our Readers
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Last chance for FIGMENT Groundbreaking! Groundbreaking information. Join me at the Gershwin Hotel on Wednesday to see all the incredible things that FIGMENT has in store for this summer!
2010 Figment Sculpture Garden
Prior posts: Figment, Call for Art
We were fortunate enough and proud to have not one, but two themes made for BlackBerry Sync. Built By Request designed this one, which emulates our site. What better way to show your love for BlackBerry Sync than to sport it on your BlackBerry. So let’s take a closer look at the details…
The BlackBerry Sync Theme includes the following:
The front screen shows on the top from left to right: Battery life, alarm, time, alerts, coverage, bars of service. The red bar below that from left to right: Home (Browser), Launcher (Connections), Reviews (Calendar), Send Tips (Contacts), Store, About (Options), Contact (Contacts), and the magnifying glass which brings up Search. Below that sits our BlackBerry Sync banner and the date. Next is a grey icon that if you scroll through it will highlight all of your apps you have in the next screen, first row. The icon below it will show the app first in the second row. It’s open for a weather app so that you can display your weather if you like.
The next screen with all your folders and apps sits in front of the BlackBerry Sync wallpaper. The Options and messages show a grey screen with red highlight and red letters that turn white when highlighted. Very effective use of our colors.
It’s really smooth in how it looks, the front screen looks like our site, and a wallpaper of BlackBerry Sync is in the background of the other screens. It’s a premium theme and all for the special price of FREE. If you like themes, you will really like this one. It looks good and it has some features that are unique, and very User Interactive.
The theme is both professional and fun, and we’re really honored that we have such great theme designers create such wonderful masterpieces for us. Thank you Built By Request for the great theme.
Grab your BBSYNC Exclusive Theme from Built By Request for FREE here
The theme is compatible with the following OS: 4.7 (9630 only) and 5.0
Compatible with devices:85xx, 89xx, 9000, 9630, 9700.
You’re reading a story which originated at BlackBerrySync.com, Where you find BlackBerry News You Can Sync With…
This story is sponsored by the new BlackBerry Sync Mobile App Store. Grab your free copy today at www.GetAppStore.com from your BlackBerry.
BlackBerry Sync Birthday Gift: The Exclusive BBSYNC Theme By Built By Request
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Mozilla is working on integrating features that would normally be part of a web service directly into the browser. One example of this is the Firefox Contacts add-on, which creates a sort of local and integrated address book by pulling contact data from various sources either online or from local address books. The project … (read more)
[JURIST] US President Barack Obama on Thursday called for new financial regulations, outlining the major components of his proposal. Answering critics who claim that the reforms will increase bailouts, Obama compared the concept behind the proposed financial reforms to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), a government program he says protects confidence in the banking system and protects consumers while eliminating the need for ad hoc bailouts when banks become insolvent. According to Obama, the reform will contain four central elements: the Volcker Rule to limit the size of banks and the risks allowable, transparency to expose the underlying risk in complex financial instruments, consumer protections to combat predatory lending, and increases in shareholder power to give investors input on executive salaries and bonuses. Obama argued that new financial reforms are vital to the future of the US economy:
In the end, our system only works – our markets are only free – when there are basic safeguards that prevent abuse, that check excesses, that ensure that it is more profitable to play by the rules than to game the system. And that is what the reforms we’ve been proposing are designed to achieve – no more, no less.Republican lawmakers, including House minority leader John Boehner (R-OH) have voiced opposition to Obama’s plan.Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee on Monday introduced the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010, aimed at increasing financial regulation in the wake of the recent financial crisis. This bill is the second financial reform bill to be proposed by the Senate Banking Committee following the 2008 financial crisis. The 2009 bill was met with resistance and resulted in the committee’s development of the new bill. In December, the US House of Representatives approved a similar bill. The US House Financial Services Committee had approved a bill to create a consumer financial protection agency in October, after originally delaying it at the behest of financial industry leaders in July. The creation of the agency is a key step in achieving the Obama administration’s stated goal of tightening financial industry regulations. In June, the administration proposed a broad series of regulatory reforms aimed at restoring confidence in the US financial system.
KNOXVILLE — Samuel Doty, a senior at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has been selected for a U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) to study Russian in Russia during the summer of 2010.
Doty, of Unicoi, is majoring in psychology, French and Russian. He plans to attend graduate school in social psychology.
“I’d like to become a specialist in conflict resolution. A language background, especially in a language as globally critical as Russian, will provide opportunities for involvement in the international political and policy arenas,” he said. “I’m very excited about the upcoming summer because I think the CLS program will enable a formative learning experience to guide my future education and career.”
This year, the U.S. Department of State has selected approximately 575 U.S. undergraduate and graduate students to study Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Indonesian, Persian, Russian, Indic (Bangla/Bengali, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu) and Turkic (Turkish and Azerbaijani) languages.
The students will spend seven to 10 weeks in intensive language institutes this summer in 15 countries where these languages are spoken. They also will support their language acquisition through cultural immersion activities. CLS program participants are expected to continue their language study beyond the scholarship and apply their critical language skills in their future professional careers.
The 2010 CLS program received nearly 5,300 applications. Students from a range of academic disciplines and U.S. colleges and universities from all 50 states were selected for scholarships in 2010 through a merit-based selection process.
The CLS program was launched in 2006 to increase opportunities for American students to study critical-need languages overseas and is part of a wider U.S. government effort to dramatically expand the number of Americans studying and mastering critical-need languages.
CLS program participants are among the more than 40,000 academic and professional exchange program participants supported annually by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to promote mutual understanding and respect between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The CLS program is administered by the Council of American Overseas Research Centers and the American Councils for International Education.
For further information about the CLS program or the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, see http://www.clscholarship.org and http://exchanges.state.gov.
C O N T A C T :
Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, [email protected])
Ubuntu 10.04 RC was released yesterday and is available for download at the official Ubuntu release page. Head over to this page, navigate to the bottom and there, you will see a number of releases for you to choose from.
If you are interested in the DVD and the source CD, visit this page instead. This includes most common Ubuntu custom distros featuring different desktop environments.
Please do not put the entire load on the main servers and user the download mirrors if possible. The list of download mirrors is also available. A common system requirement is 256 MB of RAM. If you own a newer Intel processor powered Mac system, good news is that you can install Ubuntu on it as well.
This page includes the server, netbook, alternative and the very common desktop version. The desktop version is also a Live CD so you can give Ubuntu a try and decide on whether to install the final version or not. This will not alter your current installations in any way.
A great software to consider when installing Ubuntu with Windows is Wubi. If you want to try Ubuntu inside Windows, go for Windows Ubuntu Installer Wubi. It makes Ubuntu easy to install and does not make any major changes in the boot-loader.
My suggestion is that, with the release of RC only a few days away, you should wait for the final version though surely, give this RC a try.
O mercado chinês está crescendo cada vez mais, e este é o momento dos maiores fabricantes de carros apresentarem os seus novos modelos no Salão do Automóvel de Pequim, que se iniciou no último dia 20 e vai até o próximo dia 28.
Uma das maiores (literalmente) atrações do evento esse ano é o clone do Rolls-Royce, o CA7600L da Geely. O carro tem quase seis metros de comprimento e chega a ser maior que o Rolls-Royce Phantom, com um estilo dos anos 50 em sua parte frontal.
Algumas outras atrações ocidentais são a Ferrari 599, e outros carros interessantes, como o Lexus RX Style S6 e o Mercedes SL-style S8. Outras estrelas do evento são os conceitos, entre eles podemos citar o britânico MG Zero, e o elétrico Roewe E1. Recentemente, um carro que foi comentado foi o Volkswagen Phaeton, visto com maiores detalhes nesse post. Fiquem com algumas imagens do evento e durante o dia acompanhe maiores informações.
Via | Autocar.uk
Are your homemade cookies often mistaken for bakery cookies, either because they are so delicious or you get them to come out perfectly shaped and baked every time? If you’re sick of people doubting the authenticity of your homemade creations – or doubting your ability as a baker because they don’t know about your food blogger alter-ego – there is a simple product out there that can help: the Homemade Cookie Stamper. This brilliant stamp from SuckUK isn’t for ink pads, it’s for food. Use it to stamp the words “Home Made” onto a batch of cookies or other baked goods. It works especially well in peanut butter cookies, butter cookies, shortbread and other doughs that don’t spread too much because you’ll get the neatest imprint that way, but you can use it with just about anything that is soft enough to take the imprint.
