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Twitter anuncia modelo de negocio basado en la publicidad: twits promocionados. Se trata de “twits” de pago por parte de los anunciantes que se mostrarán en las páginas de resultados de búsqueda diferenciados de los resultados normales, aunque se plantean que más adelante salgan en los “timeline” de los usuarios. Se comercializan por CPM (pago por impresiones no por click) y los usuarios pueden interactuar con ellos como con un twit normal: “retuitear”, añadirlo a favorito, responder. Para reforzar la calidad del sistema, emplearán métricas alrededor de estas acciones para determinar la relevancia del anuncio y eso influirá en cuánto y a quién será mostrado. De momento los que no usamos para nada su buscador ni nos enteraremos (además, lo más probable es que fuera de USA no se muestren).

Y ya está. Fin. Si lo hubiesen llamado “AdWords for Twitter” probablemente habríamos acabado antes de explicarlo. Como el programa de Google, cumple que

• a) Vende lo que da gratis, pero es escaso: salir en los primeros resultados de una búsqueda en ambos casos y el timeline de los usuarios para Twitter en el futuro.
• b) Introduce revisión de la calidad de los anuncios.
• c) Es contextual y servirá sobre todo para publicidad por objetivos, por tanto, ambos compiten.

Claro que hay algunas diferencias entre el sistema de publicidad de Google y el de Twitter. La principal es que el primero sí que tiene un buen buscador, algo de lo que – de momento – carece Twitter. Y esto no aplica sólo a la calidad de los resultados, sino también a algo muy importante a la hora de hacer negocio con la publicidad en buscadores: que las búsquedas estén lo más relacionadas a decisiones de compra. Esas son las que dan dinero en un sistema de publicidad por objetivos. “Canon 550D” es una búsqueda suculenta, “Terremoto en mi pueblo”, no.

Posiblemente no haya nada más que puedan hacer a corto plazo en Twitter para generar ingresos. El negocio de Twitter será el negocio de las búsquedas, aunque creo que al final o mejoran mucho su buscador o tienen que entrar en el timeline del usuairo y meter la publicidad ahí, algo que tiene sus conflictos: empeora la experiencia de usuario y habrá que ver como encaja esto con las aspiraciones de ingresos de los que usan su API y muestran finalmente los twits. Y esto sí que es interesante, cuando el interfaz de usuario lo controla otro, o llegas a un acuerdo con él para mostrar los anuncios o no hay negocio que valga… aquí tendrán que tomar una decisión: cambiar las condiciones del API para obligarles sin que vean un céntimo o compartir ingresos, algo un poco más amigable claro.

PD: Parece como si en la red el negocio de la publicidad tenga que acabar como la experiencia esperada, al estilo Digg.

Straight from the BLS:

—–

The U.S. Import Price Index rose 0.7 percent in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. 
The increase was attributable to higher prices for both fuel and nonfuel imports and followed a 0.2 percent
decline in February. Export prices also rose 0.7 percent in March after declining 0.4 percent the previous
month.

Imports

All Imports: In March, import prices increased for the seventh time in the past eight months, rising 0.7
percent. The March upturn followed a 0.2 percent decline in February and was largely driven by a
turnaround in fuel prices, which accounted for approximately 80 percent of the increase. Import prices
advanced 11.4 percent for the year ended in March after decreasing 14.9 percent for the March 2008-09
period.

Fuel Imports: Import fuel prices resumed an upward trend in March, rising 2.9 percent following a 1.2
percent drop in February. A 4.0 percent increase in petroleum prices was slightly offset by a 12.4 percent
decline in natural gas prices, which decreased for the first time in six months. Over the past year, the price
index for petroleum increased 70.2 percent and natural gas prices rose 19.0 percent, driving overall fuel
prices up 63.3 percent for the same period. The 12-month increase in fuel prices followed a 50.7 percent
drop for the March 2008-09 period.

All Imports Excluding Fuel: Prices for nonfuel imports rose for the eighth consecutive month, advancing
0.2 percent. The increase was led by higher prices for nonfuel industrial supplies and materials, consumer
goods, and foods, feeds, and beverages.  Lower prices for capital goods and automotive vehicles partly
offset the overall advance. Over the past 12 months, nonfuel import prices rose 2.7 percent, the largest 12-
month increase since the index went up 4.8 percent for the October 2007-2008 period.

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After a not-so awful tango earned her a mini-breakthrough with judges on Monday’s Dancing with the Stars, Kate Gosselin is hitting the promo track in anticipation of the release of her new book, I Just Want You To Know, an eight chapter memoir of personal letters penned to each of the star’s eight children.

In a chat with TODAY’s Meredith Vieira Tuesday, Gosselin chatted about her latest book and dismissed her ex-husband’s claims that she has chosen fame over her family. The single mother argues that entertainment gigs, like her appearance on the ABC ballroom series and her forthcoming TLC reality docu-series — Twist of Kate, help her support the Gosselin brood.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s latest figures, combined, during the first quarter venture capital and private equity funds invested $2.9 billion in renewable energy companies, compared to $1.7 billion in the last quarter and $1.6 billion in the first quarter of 2009. Notable deals included — not surprisingly — an electric car transaction, the $350 million Series B round for US electric vehicle infrastructure firm Better Place and the $219 million raised by Brazilian wind developer Energimp.

Of concern though, is that the amount invested by venture funds remains far from the levels reached before the global financial meltdown. According to the National Venture Capital Association across all industry VC funds raised $3.6 billion, down 31 percent from the first quarter of 2009 — see chart below. If this trend continues, it means that cleantech companies, among others, will have a harder time finding capital. For the full year the NVCA expects VC funds to raise $15 billion, about half of what was raised in 2008.

China continues to be the other major story emerging from the various “quarter in review” now being circulated. The country attracted some $6.5 billion in new renewable energy investments last quarter. The Brussels-based Global Energy Wind Council (GEWC) even predicts that the country is slated to add more than 20 gigawatts of new wind capacity annually by 2014. By that time GEWC expects Asia will get 148.8 gigawatts of electricity from wind power plants compared to 136.5 gigawatts in Europe and 101.5 gigawatts of installed capacity in North America.

In North America first quarter clean energy investments grew to $3.5 billion from $2.4 billion in the previous quarter. Post financial crisis credit committees are stricter but are still approving some loans, in part motivated by government programs like the U.S. Treasury’s direct cash-grants. What will happen when that ends remains an open question. Investments in Europe slowed down to $4 billion during the first quarter, from $6 billion in the previous quarter and $7.6 billion during the first quarter in 2009.

Worldwide investment in clean energy totaled $27.3 billion in the first quarter of 2010, up from $20.8 billion during the same time period a year ago but significantly down compared to the $31.6 billion invested in the fourth quarter of 2009. Bloomberg New Energy Finance CEO Michael Liebreich maintains his bullish 2010 forecast predicting total new investment in clean energy will end up between $175 billion and $200 billion compared to $162 billion invested last year.

Two reports from the Bank of Canada suggest a healthy outlook for the economy and more upside than downside for inflation.

In terms of lending, the Senior Loan Officer Survey pointed to an overall easing of lending conditions in the first quarter of 2010.

“Credit markets are thus no longer an impediment to the recovery,” National Bank Financial chief economist and strategist, Stéfane Marion, said in a note.

As for the economy, the Business Outlook Survey demonstrated growing confidence among firms. A vast majority of respondents are planning to increase production, investment and employment in the next few months.

The survey also indicated that a record share of firms (28%) also plan to raise ouput prices. Mr. Marion noted that this measure leads CPI inflation by two quarters. Such a development has always been followed by a signficant acceleration in CPI inflation, he added.

It is also worthy to note that only three months ago 70% of survey respondents expected CPI inflation to be below 2% this year. In the first quarter of 2010, that figure has plunged to 54%.

Jonathan Ratner

The AP reports that Gen. Ray Odierno, who’s been commanding U.S. Forces-Iraq since mid-2008, when it was called Multinational Force-Iraq, will be succeeded by Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin, who used to helm the corps-level command in that war. Odierno will go to the Joint Forces Command, the equivalent of a regional-level command (so he’ll be promoted.) That raises the question of whether the highly-regarded Marine Gen. James Mattis, the current JFCOM commander, will receive a new job — and there don’t appear to be many open that would constitute a promotion, like Marine Commandant — or retire from military service.

Unnamed administration officials quoted by David Cho of The Washington Post say the federal deficit is lower than the White House’s initial projections. The budget gap for the first six months of the year is eight percent lower than estimated; were the trend to continue, the annual deficit would be $300 billion lower than initial estimates. The officials cited higher tax revenue and lower spending on the financial-system bailout as the reason for the improved numbers.

But other White House officials — namely Kenneth Baer, spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget — expressed dismay at the tentative data, calling it “premature and irresponsible.” The annual deficit figure is not due to come out until late summer. The new estimate sets a higher bar for the White House to clear, and is based on higher tax-withholding by employers in March and April (a positive sign, but a preliminary one) and lower spending on helping the financial sector (premature, particularly given the possibility of housing market troubles later in the year).

Still, using Office of Management and Budget data, I created a graph to show just how much lower the annualized projection might be, and presumed similar savings in the coming years. The blue line is official White House data, either confirmed or projected; the red shows the estimated savings.

The new MacBook Pros are here, and as expected, the 15 and 17-inch models are loaded with Intel’s Core i5 and i7 processors and new display options, but the 13-inch model stays behind with a Core2Duo and an unchanged price. More »

Depois da explosão de lançamentos de veículos híbridos que utilizam em conjunto os motores movidos a gasolina e a eletricidade, a BMW anunciou que já vem desenvolvendo um sistema hibrido, no qual o motor a gasolina trabalha em conjunto com um movido a hidrogênio. De acordo com a companhia alemã, o projeto já está em uma fase bastante avançada e até 2014 é possível que alguns modelos já estejam utilizando o sistema.

Utilizando da sua polemica decisão de a partir de agora utilizar a tração dianteira em seus modelos compactos (antes todos seus veículos tinham o sistema de tração traseira), o novo sistema hibrido terá tração nas quatro rodas. Dessa forma, o tradicional motor a combustão/gasolina será responsável pela tração dianteira, enquanto que a celula de combustível que funciona a hidrogênio com super-capacitores elétricos que tracionarão eletricamente as rodas traseiras.

Segundo explicações da BMW, uma das vantagem desse sistema em relação aos atuais híbridos movidos a gasolina/eletricidade é que ele possibilita a sua utilização nos centros urbanos apenas com o propulsor movido a hidrogênio e com emissão zero de poluentes. Os modelo que poderão utilizar o novo sistema são o Mini e o Serie 1, mas ainda é muito cedo para se especular essa possibilidade.

Embora o projeto já esteja em uma fase bastante avançada, ainda não existe nenhuma data oficial de chegada de um modelo que utilize o sistema ao mercado. Isso porque primeiramente o projeto deverá passar pela aprovação do grande escalão da BMW, que estudam se suas vendas serão suficientes para gerar uma viabilidade financeira do mesmo. Outro ponto a ser estudado nesse projeto, é quanto a necessidade de escolher as cidades que receberão os postos de abastecimentos de hidrogênios.

Fonte: 4WheelsNews

[JURIST] The government of Angola should take a stronger stand against corruption, according to a report released Tuesday by Human Rights Watch (HRW). Despite the nation’s large economic growth and increased stability following the end of the nation-wide civil war in 2002, the majority of its citizens’ lives fail to reflect the improvements, according to the report. HRW suggests that while some limited measures to fight pervasive corruption have been taken since the release of their 2004 report, which documented the disappearance of billions of dollars of oil revenue from the central bank, little headway has been made. Following the economic downturn and the subsequent drop in oil prices, Angola entered a financial agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). HRW has called on the IMF and its board members, namely the US and China, to ensure that Angola adhere to the provisions set forth by the IMF, and more specifically that it comply with the call to publicly audit the state oil company Sonangol and provide frequent updates on the nation’s expenditures.
In January, Angola approved a new constitution that will end the popular election of the president. The new constitution replaces an interim constitution that had been in place since 1975. It provides for the appointment of the country’s president by parliament’s majority party, ending the direct election of the country’s president. It also replaces the position of prime minister with a vice president appointed by the president, and limits the president to two five-year terms. Opponents of the constitution argue that it is merely a way to expand the power of current President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who has been in power since 1979. Members of the ruling party say that it will allow him to rule the country more effectively.

This is something that has happened to me numerous times, so I assume it happens to others with some frequency. It usually happens after I either haven’t used my BlackBerry for a while, or otherwise am coming out of a non-reception zone, like the subway. I’ll see that I have no new emails and think I’m unpopular. Then I’ll try to load a website and wait for the Request bar to fill up, to no avail. What first comes to mind is to do what any good geek would do and pull the battery. That can be a pain, though. Especially on the Tour, which can take forever to boot up.

(more…)

We can think of few things more frustrating than trying to slice an apple with a plastic knife or picking through a bland salad for lack of black pepper. Enter the Office Lunch Survival Kit: just a few essentials that can be tucked away in a drawer and that make a world of difference come lunch time!

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Are you tired of turning hot laps on your new BMW S1000 RR? Looking for some other way to impress your friends and neighbors? Why not rent an airplane hanger, set up for a formal dinner and do the old “pull the tablecloth off without disturbing the place settings” trick with your bike?

Cool vid, courtesy of BMW.tv and my buddy Dan. Personally, I’d have gone for a surface with a little more traction than polished concrete, but these guys pulled it off anyway.

The Recording Academy of America has set a day for the next big night in American music: The 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards will take place at The Staples Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011.

Mark your calendars!

David got suckered into Chase’s Payment Protection plan and was stuck with a monthly charge of nearly $30, all because he unwittingly authorized his membership by accepting information about the program.

He writes:

Chase charged $27.48 to my credit card – by enrolling me in their “Payment Protector” plan without my consent!

Here’s how. I said no, I wouldn’t enroll in their plan. They then offered to send me information about it. But they didn’t tell me that requesting that information AUTOMATICALLY ENROLLS YOU IN THE PLAN!

That’s what I was told today by a Chase supervisor.

Chase had then sent me an envelope with a catchy slogan on the outside. (“The Chase Payment Protector Plan now has you protected.”) I figured I’d review the plan they were offering me later, so I didn’t even open it. So I was shocked when the $27.48 monthly fee began appearing on my next credit card statement.

Chase says it’s a 30-day trial — but if for some reason you don’t notice it on your statement, then you’re enrolled. I’m ashamed to say that’s what happened to me. I hit the roof when I discovered the $27.48 on my statement, and was even angrier when I realized they’d also taken out $27.48 the month before!

I’m not the only person who’s been enrolled in this program without their consent. I saw several others when I Googled it on the web. I also found people who’d paid the money to enroll in the plan — only to discover that Chase wouldn’t even deliver the promised “payment protections” when the supposedly-covered situations actually occured.

So when I called Chase, I was insulted that their rep first tried to explain the benefits of this plan to me. (“If you’ve already enrolled me in this plan, then shouldn’t I know these benefits already?” I asked.) She claimed that everyone who enrolls in this plan is recorded — but then she later contradicated that claim. (She said that when you’re activating your card, it’s possible to select the “Payment Protection” option just by pushing the wrong button!) Her name was Suman Vandam, and she tranferred me to a supervisor named Tim.

To be fair, the supervisor did promise to refund all of my money and to get me out of the program. But he said it might take two billing cycles before that would appear on my credit card statement. He said there was a possibility that it might appear in my online statement within 10 business days. Someone on the web says they received this promise, but then did not actually receive the refund — so honestly, now I worry that they’re lying to me again.

The Payment Protector people also refuse to accept phone calls about this over the weekend. I even began wondering if Chase timed the delivery of my statement to arrive on Saturday, just so I’d have to wait another 48 hours before being allowed to follow up.

I call this “stealth enrollment”. I think it’s outrageous. They pretend they’re just sending you information. Then they enroll you without your knowledge, and make you jump through their hoops to try to get out of the program. I had to spend 15 minutes on the phone before I finally got a promise of a refund.

I was so upset that I just filed a complaint with California’s State Attorney General.

If you’ve wound up in one of these near-useless programs by accident, please tell us what it took to get out and get your money back.

The Barnes & Noble Nook, the Android powered e-reader soon will be hitting a bigger audience. Barnes & Noble and Best Buy just announced a partnership that’ll allow Best Buy to sell the Nook in their stores. Previously, the Nook was only available online or through Barnes & Noble retail stores–that sort of limited distribution severely hindered the potential growth of a rather powerful e-reader. Now with the Nook at 1,070 Best Buy stores across the nation and online at bestbuy.com, we can see if the Nook can really take off.

We haven’t kept up with the Nook since its launch but we always expected it to do great things. If anything, you can root it to make it so. The Nook will be available for $259 on April 18th. Will you buy a Nook now that it’s easier to get? [businesswire]

First American CoreLogic has released data showing that Long Beach foreclosed homes figures have declined by a healthy three percent compared with March 2010. The statistics compiled covered the first week of April 2010 until the 7th.

Along with the number of foreclosed homes for sale in California, the number of loan default notices issued to Long Beach homeowners also declined by a hefty six percent. Real estate observers have asserted that both figures are significant indicators of foreclosure activities for the coming months.

In a more detailed breakdown of the statistics, it has been reported that the hardest hit area, the 90805 zip code, recorded a seven percent decrease in foreclosures compared with the previous month. The area also recorded a decrease in the number of bank owned real estate and in loan default notices issued to home owners.

Decreasing numbers of Long Beach foreclosed homes in the 90805 part of the city is seen as indicative of a healthy future for the housing market in the city. This part of the city is expected to have few distressed homes in the coming months and is also projected to play a major role in stabilizing the residential real estate market of the state.

Meanwhile, the 90814 and 90803 zip codes recorded increased foreclosure activities in the same period, albeit slight ones. The former recorded an eight percent rise in foreclosure, while the latter has a five percent increase.

The rise in foreclosures at the two zip codes is believed to be due to the declining market value of high end foreclosed homes for sale in California. These two areas were not hit hard by foreclosure during the worst part of the crisis compared with other counties of Long Beach.

Industry observers are looking at the numbers positively and are predicting that foreclosure activity figures will continue to traverse a downward path for the whole month of April and until the summer period.

The decrease in the number of Long Beach foreclosed homes is being seen as a sign that the city will have a more stabilized residential real estate market in the coming months. Analysts are also optimistic that the positive trend will continue for the rest of the year.

It’s one of the leakiest phones of the year, but it looks like BGR has the official specs, courtesy of a well-placed source at Verizon—rumored to be the exclusive carrier for this Android phone. More »

Watch out Hollywood, Hurricane Kate may be headed your way.

Now that her headline-grabbing divorce and custody battle with ex-husband Jon have made Kate Gosselin a tabloid star, television’s original Octomom is itching to ditch her mundane life in suburban Pennsylvania for a new beginning in sunny California, celebrity tipsters dish.

Pals say Kate’s busy making plans to move her brood of eight across country once her stint on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars comes to a close.

“Now that Kate has tasted the excitement of Hollywood, there is no way that she is going to return to Pennsylvania,” a friend of Kate’s blabbed to PopEater’s “Naughty or Nice Column” this week. “She is looking at homes in the Hollywood Hills in gated communities in the $2 million range. Kate is insisting the properties she sees have a pool, at least six bedrooms, an outdoor hot tub and, bizarrely, a recording studio!”

And what’s life in Tinseltown without an agent! We hear Kate’s got her sights set on career in acting — which could pose a problem if her screen presence is anything like her ballroom dancing!

“Kate thinks that after Jennifer Aniston’s last few films didn’t do so well, America needs a new girl next door. And who better to fill Jen’s shoes than Kate!”

Last week, TLC announced that it had ordered a full season of Twist of Kate, a new network reality soap starring Gosselin.