Thursday, March 22, 2007

Technology Wars (an infinite series of reports)


An Evil Alliance against GOODTUBE

NO Bueno Senor, bet on AAPL



--- PC -360

News Corp., NBC Begin YouTube Rival to Reclaim Shows

By Cecile Daurat

March 22 (Bloomberg) -- News Corp. and NBC Universal Inc. are leading a group of media companies building an online video service designed to break the dominance of Google Inc.'s YouTube.

NBC and News Corp. will create a new Web site that features full-length films and television shows, the companies said today. Yahoo! Inc., Microsoft Corp.'s MSN and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL, Google's biggest rivals, will distribute the shows on their sites.

NBC Universal, with a TV network and movie studio, and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., owner of the MySpace Web site and Fox television, are seeking to reclaim the users who watch clips of their shows on YouTube, and those who create their own videos. The media companies are up against a site that attracted more than 130 million visitors in January, mainly because of the user-generated clips.

``It really does seem like everyone is taking sides against Google and YouTube,'' said Greg Sterling, an analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence in Oakland, California.

News Corp. and NBC Universal said they will devote ``a significant'' marketing and promotional budget to the new site, which will start in the U.S. summer.

The venture will have movies such as ``Borat'' and television shows such as Fox's ``The Simpsons'' and NBC's ``Heroes.'' Yahoo, owner of the most-visited U.S. Web site, Microsoft's MSN Internet unit, New York-based Time Warner's AOL and MySpace will feature videos from the service on their Web sites and promote them.

Google Role?

``We're willing to sit down and talk to anybody'' willing to join the venture, News Corp. Chief Operating Officer Peter Chernin said on a conference call.

Chernin said he talked about the venture with Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt earlier today.

``Eric Schmidt is considering this,'' Chernin said. ``Obviously, this is not a YouTube killer.''

The willingness of media rivals to forge a partnership underscores the pressure they feel to rein in the widening use of their shows across the Web. The companies are wrestling with their competing desire to increase the audience for their shows and maintain control over copyright and advertising revenue.

The venture also highlights a split among broadcasters. CBS Corp., which isn't part of the group, has chosen to partner with YouTube and this month is showing ``March Madness'' basketball clips on the site. CBS, chaired by Sumner Redstone, said today it will continue to pursue its own online video initiatives.

Viacom Suit

Viacom Inc., the New York-based owner of the MTV and VH1 cable-TV networks, sued YouTube last week, claiming $1 billion in damages, for allowing users to post copyrighted material on its site. Viacom said clips of its shows have been watched 1.5 billion times on YouTube.

Time Warner, the world's largest media company, and News Corp. publicly supported New York-based Viacom in its fight to protect copyrighted content, and News Corp. has also forced YouTube to take down clips of some of its shows.

Viacom, which is also chaired by Redstone and isn't part of the new site, said the venture is a ``welcome addition.'' Viacom Chief Executive Officer Philippe Dauman has said the company is working on online video initiatives of its own.

Shares of Mountain View, California-based Google, which paid $1.65 billion for YouTube last year, gained $5.49 to $462.04 as of 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. News Corp.'s Class A shares fell 10 cents to $23.33.

Fairfield, Connecticut-based General Electric Co., parent of NBC Universal, rose 33 cents to $35.81.

Advertisers including General Motors Corp., Intel Corp., Cisco Systems Inc. and Cadbury Schweppes Plc. have signed on, News Corp. and NBC said in the statement.

`Unexpected Negative'

The venture will be based in New York and Los Angeles and George Kliavkoff, NBC Universal's chief digital officer, will lead a transitional management team, the companies said.

Tim Boyd, an analyst at Caris & Co. in New York, called the new site an `unexpected negative'' for Google. He rates Yahoo shares ``above average'' and Google ``buy'' and doesn't own either.

More than 133 million people visited YouTube in January, 14 times more than a year earlier, according to Reston, Virginia- based Web-use tracker ComScore Networks Inc.

``We value our relationships with NBC and Fox as they continue to upload content to promote their signature programming and look forward to working with them in the future,'' Julie Supan, YouTube's director of global communications, said today in a statement.

MySpace Role

NBC, the fourth-ranked U.S. television network, and News Corp.'s Fox have put their shows on Apple Inc.'s iPods and their own Web sites to help retain viewers and forge advertising revenue from the Web.

New York-based News Corp. bought MySpace for $580 million to get a bigger slice of the online advertising market. The company will allow MySpace users to display shows on their pages.

Jeff Zucker, who succeeded Bob Wright as president of NBC Universal last month, has been tasked with reviving revenue and lifting online ad sales.

Earlier this month, NBC Sports teamed with Time Warner's Sports Illustrated magazine to make videos, photos and breaking news available on their respective sites and lure more users.

To contact the reporters on this story: Cecile Daurat in New York at cdaurat@bloomberg.net .

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

I failed REG CPA Exam, met Undertaker, got Diet Coke in my shoes, won the Tostitos Fiesta Belt, and had my Xbox 360 break all in one day

[20:40] AK47: when is gears

[19:06] *** Auto-response
PC: delayed 2 monthes
[19:07] PC: cpa
[19:07] CD: test didn't go well?
[19:08] PC: failed
[19:08] PC: taking again
[19:08] CD: ugh
[19:08] PC: gonna go eat
[19:08] PC: yea
[19:08] PC: ugh indeed
[19:08] PC: but I did fly back to Houston from Cleveland with the Undertaker
[19:08] PC: from WWE
[19:08] CD: haha
[19:08] PC: that was neat
*** Auto-response Ends

[20:40] AK47: Where to stephanie?
[20:41] AK47: In-Game Buddy List Added To MotorStorm - This Friday
[20:53] PC: haha
[20:53] PC: taker's wife was hot
[20:53] PC: had a huge rock on her finger
[20:53]AK47: did taker look like shit?
[20:53] PC: nah
[20:53] PC: he worked the night or two before
[20:53] AK47: he fly first class?
[20:53] PC: for sure
[20:53] PC: last row
[20:54] AK47: he has gotta be too tall for coach
[20:54] PC: yea
[20:55] AK47: the wholefoods opened today
[20:55] AK47: we bought some sushi
[20:55] AK47: it was real good
[20:55] AK47: expensive as shit though
[20:55] PC: good at a price
[20:55] AK47: and the soy sauce they gave with it was definitely not natural
[20:56] PC: still word
[20:56] AK47: and had corn syrup in it
[20:56] PC: I get fruits and veges from there
[20:56] PC: but groceries from kroger
[20:56] AK47: is everythign expensive as ballls there?
[20:57] PC: not really
[20:57] PC: it is mexico dude
[20:57] PC: no state income tax
[20:57] PC: so cost of living is actually kinda cheap
[20:57] PC: but the city is huge
[20:57] PC: so there are a lot of whole foods strategically placed
[20:58] PC: I feel like crap
[20:58] PC: woke up early
[20:58] PC: did shit all day
[20:58] PC: I won at frolf
[20:58] PC: was 2 behind with 3 holes to go
[20:58] PC: he double bogeyed
[20:58] PC: I parred
[20:58] PC: we are tied
[20:59] PC: next hole I almost bounced it in
[20:59] PC: it was windy
[20:59] PC: I birdied
[20:59] PC: it was word
[20:59] PC: I won the Tostitos Fiesta Belt
(which is what my disc golf friends call the title between us)
[21:00] PC: and it was the day I met Undertaker
[21:00] PC: I choked slammed him at the end

-=---

When is gears indeed, probably a few weeks from now, til then Nintendo Wii.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Technology Wars (an infinite series of reports)

Todays installment is about the 150 million dollars that kept Apple afloat.

You can see just how horrible Microsoft can be

Courtesy of InformationWeek.com

Microsoft Threatened To Kill Mac Office
To Gain Infamous 1997 Apple Deal, E-Mails Reveal

The coercion was revealed in court records as part of an Iowa antitrust case.

Weeks prior to bailing out a struggling Apple Computer by purchasing $150 million of its stock, Microsoft officials threatened to cut development of a key product for the Macintosh in order to coerce its rival to make the deal, according to an e-mail unearthed during a recent court hearing.

In an e-mail to Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the head of the company's Macintosh development unit told his boss that threatening to kill off Microsoft Office for the Mac "is the strongest bargaining point we have." In the e-mail, Microsoft Mac unit head Ben Waldman further noted that "doing so will do a great deal of harm to Apple immediately." The e-mail was entered into court records as part of antitrust case in which plaintiffs in Iowa alleged that unfair business practices by Microsoft allow the company to overcharge for software. The case was settled last month and terms have yet to be disclosed.

Waldman's e-mail indicates that Microsoft didn't hesitate to put further pressure on Apple at a time when Apple was reeling from big financial losses and layoffs. Several weeks after Waldman wrote his e-mail in June 1997, Microsoft announced at the Macworld conference in Boston that it had acquired $150 million in Apple stock.

The deal was greeted by tears and shouts of rage by some Apple aficionados attending the conference as they watched Gates and Apple CEO Steve Jobs announce the deal via a live satellite link.

Microsoft ultimately released an updated version of Mac Office in 1998.

I am going to buy a Mac, but I am PC

The Dumbest Drug Dealer/Trafficker in the history of the United States

This is just too stupid for me to comment on.


ORANGEBURG, South Carolina (AP) -- It might have been one of the easiest drug busts in the history of the South Carolina Highway Patrol: A car with 43 pounds of marijuana crashed into a trooper's cruiser, authorities said.

The easy bust happened after two patrolmen parked their cars in each lane of northbound Interstate 95 near Santee early Sunday morning following a series of wrecks that had tied up traffic, Highway Patrol Capt. Chris Williamson said.

A Chevrolet Malibu going about 70 mph hit one of the cruisers, causing minor injuries to the trooper behind the wheel, Williamson said.

Officers found two large duffel bags in the trunk with 43 pounds of marijuana in plastic bags, worth more than $150,000, Orangeburg County deputy Warren Pendry said.

They also found a few marijuana cigarettes and cocaine, Pendry said.

The 54-year-old driver from Daytona Beach Shores, Florida, was charged with driving under the influence, possession of cocaine and trafficking marijuana, authorities said.


Lord knows a Productive Citizen would never let this happen.

Saturday, March 03, 2007

What I sent to google help center today. RE: GOOG DOCs

Pick your topic :
Archiving/Deleting


Enter a brief, but descriptive subject : Goog "word" documents only have 512kb limit! Come on! Goog gives me 2.5 gigs yo, let me make a long enough file that can do justice to a CPA review sheet! grumble grumble armyoftechno.com

You can enter your question or more details on the next screen.

Name: productivecitizen.com
Operating System:



Browser type: Firefox 2.0

Question/details:
I said it in the headline,
but I guess here it is again...
Google documents should have a larger file size upper limit.
I ran into this while compiling a review sheet for my
CPA exam(yes they test that much information).
I had to use MS Word,
ewww, and now I am worried I failed the exam.
Please make google documents better at servicing my review sheet compiling needs and the needs of so many students using your fine free service.

PS
I have a website too,
armyoftechno.com, please buy it.
:

Please provide as much detail as possible to ensure we provide the highest quality service. For example, if you received an error message, please include the text of that message.

Friday, March 02, 2007

The Haternet (an infinite series of reports)

Today's story is about a guy who thinks that the next generation video game consoles are dissappointing, I don't disagree totally with his statement. But the sea of hate that spewed forth from the legion of videogamers/fanboys was intense. You tube this!



[14:54] jbizzlefoshizzle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtIcOanQIwM
[14:54] jbizzlefoshizzle: my directorial debut
[14:54] PC: I agree with the name of it (Top 10 Reasons New Video Game Consoles Suck)
[14:54] PC: I am very dissappointed with this gen (xbox 360, nintendo wii, and p$3)
[14:54] jbizzlefoshizzle: he posted this blog
[14:55] jbizzlefoshizzle: got like 400 comments
[14:55] jbizzlefoshizzle: everyone hating on him
[14:55] PC: word
[14:55] jbizzlefoshizzle: a few agreeing
[14:55] jbizzlefoshizzle: but he's right
[14:55] PC: PCs are better
[14:55] PC: when pimped
[14:55] PC: still but (xbox) live anywhere could be the end of that
[14:55] jbizzlefoshizzle: we'll see
[14:55] jbizzlefoshizzle: live
[14:55] jbizzlefoshizzle: need to get back on
[14:55] PC: you're a retard
[14:55] PC: ehehe
[14:56] PC: that is classic
[14:56] PC: 375 posts calling him a retard
[14:56] jbizzlefoshizzle: i like how it ends
[14:56] jbizzlefoshizzle: makes me laugh
[14:56]
PC: being hated and loved is what is important
[14:56]
PC: cuz people care
[14:56] jbizzlefoshizzle: yeah
[14:56] jbizzlefoshizzle: as long as people care
[14:56]
PC: if they don't feel strongly either way it is not worth doing
[14:57] jbizzlefoshizzle: exactly

[14:57] PC: I can check his writing?
[14:57] PC: hehehe
[14:57] PC: we are gonna edit it real nice
[14:57] PC: hehe
[14:58] PC: kicked in the face five times
[14:58] jbizzlefoshizzle: hehe
[14:58] jbizzlefoshizzle: man, i was trying not to laugh, that's why it's all shaky
[14:58] PC: noob
[14:58] PC: 32 two year old noob
[14:58] jbizzlefoshizzle: lol
[14:58] PC: hehehe
[14:59] jbizzlefoshizzle: i liked that
[14:59] PC: dude that is classic
[14:59] PC: I hate being called a noob on gears
[14:59] PC: I am 26
[14:59] jbizzlefoshizzle: yeah, wtf
[14:59] PC: I am blogging this
[14:59] jbizzlefoshizzle: haha
[14:59] jbizzlefoshizzle: thank you sir
[14:59] PC: random stupidity
[14:59] PC: gotta love it
[14:59] jbizzlefoshizzle: lol, it fits