Nafas Bertasbih

Boston Herald - Boston Herald

Written By Unknown on Senin, 23 September 2013 | 00.52

Boston Herald - Boston HeraldPope offers hope to Sardinia's poor, unemployedAP: Records show Maine gov. tried to jam wind planCasinos tap intelligence network to beat cheatersVenezuela's president in China, signs agreementsGreece resumes talks with its creditorsComputer mishap delays space station supply shipCo. shows how garden growsHarvard launches a record $6.5B fundraising campaignHarvard launches $6.5 billion capital campaignWal-Mart driver honored for 4 million accident-free milesWest Hollywood institutes nation's first fur banChiquita seeks dismissal in Colombian caseRussia warns Ukraine against EU dealGunman's employer sought Navy consulting workMicroloans surging in Silicon ValleyUK charges 4 in cyber theft from Barclays BankBay State defense firms get work despite cutsCambridge penthouse could be your castleMIT study: U.S. needs to step up manufacturingColonial Drug departs from Harvard Square

http://bostonherald.com/feed/4 en http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/pope_offers_hope_to_sardinias_poor_unemployed CAGLIARI, Sardinia — Pope Francis denounced what he called big business's idolatry of money as he traveled Sunday to one of Italy's poorest regions to offer hope to the unemployed and entrepreneurs struggling to hang on."Where there is no work, there is no dignity," he said.Francis left aside his prepared remarks and spoke off the cuff to thousands of people in Sardinia's capital, telling them he knew well what it was like to suffer from financial crisis. He recalled that his Italian parents, who immigrated to Argentina before he was born, spoke about it often at home. Business & Markets Sun, 22 Sep 2013 13:19:58 -0400 Associated Press 1063310211 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/ap_records_show_maine_gov_tried_to_jam_wind_plan AUGUSTA, Maine — Before its public push to have Maine reconsider wind energy proposals, Gov. Paul LePage's administration worked behind the scenes to explicitly derail Norwegian company Statoil's multimillion-dollar agreement with the state for an offshore wind project, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. Business & Markets Sun, 22 Sep 2013 12:16:28 -0400 Associated Press 1063310861 http://bostonherald.com/business/technology/technology_news/2013/09/casinos_tap_intelligence_network_to_beat_cheaters UNCASVILLE, Conn. — The man at the poker table had a ball cap pulled down almost to his nose, but his glance up at a television screen revealed a familiar face to Mohegan Sun's surveillance cameras: A photograph of the known card cheater had been sent by bulletin to casinos around the country.Within hours, the bettor was arrested, accused of marking cards with invisible ink."The officer who identified him, basically she had a 'Holy crap!' moment," said Jay Lindroos, the casino's surveillance director. "She saw the face and said, 'I recognize that guy!'" Technology News Sun, 22 Sep 2013 11:11:22 -0400 Associated Press 1063310971 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/venezuelas_president_in_china_signs_agreements BEIJING — China and Venezuela signed several agreements Sunday during a visit by the Venezuelan president that is meant to strengthen economic ties between the South American nation and its leading creditor.President Nicolas Maduro told his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, that the main goal of his trip was to further consolidate and expand the strategic partnership between the two countries that late President Hugo Chavez began with Chinese leaders. Chavez died in March after 14 years in power. Business & Markets Sun, 22 Sep 2013 10:22:01 -0400 Associated Press 1063310456 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/greece_resumes_talks_with_its_creditors ATHENS, Greece — Greece has resumed talks with the so-called troika of creditors — the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund — to review progress in stabilizing the indebted country's finances. Business & Markets Sun, 22 Sep 2013 08:57:34 -0400 Associated Press 1063310511 http://bostonherald.com/business/technology/technology_news/2013/09/computer_mishap_delays_space_station_supply_ship CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A brand new commercial cargo ship making its orbital debut experienced trouble with a computer data link Sunday, and its arrival at the International Space Station was delayed at least two days.The rendezvous was aborted less than six hours before the scheduled arrival of Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Cygnus capsule, packed with 1,300 pounds of food and clothes for the space station crew.The Virginia-based company said it is working on a software repair, but it will be at least two more days until another approach is attempted. Technology News Sun, 22 Sep 2013 07:17:08 -0400 Associated Press 1063310376 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/co_shows_how_garden_grows Before this fall, Samantha Swanick had eaten vegetables many times, but the 8-year-old had never thought she would actually grow one."After a few days, you can see them get bigger and bigger," she said Friday at Centerville Elementary School in Beverly, where she and other third-graders carefully tend to three, raised-bed, organic vegetable gardens each week. "You have to put the tall stuff like tomatoes in the back and the small stuff in the front so all of them can have sun and grow. I like the lettuce." Business & Markets Sun, 22 Sep 2013 00:00:00 -0400 Marie Szaniszlo 1063308361 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/harvard_launches_a_record_65b_fundraising_campaign Harvard University launched a $6.5 billion fundraising campaign yesterday, an effort that — if successful — will be the biggest fundraiser ever in higher education and will allow the Cambridge university to expand its mission, the university said."No institution of higher education has a more exciting opportunity for innovative growth," Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust told an audience of university officials, alumni and donors. "This campaign must help us support the structures and modes of academic inquiry." Business & Markets Sun, 22 Sep 2013 00:00:00 -0400 Jordan Graham 1063308471 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/harvard_launches_65_billion_capital_campaign BOSTON — Harvard University launched a $6.5 billion capital campaign Saturday that, if successful, would be the largest fundraising effort in the history of higher education.The school said the campaign had broad goals spanning all its schools and would fund research into neuroscience, stem cell science and low-cost energy for the developing world.The campaign would target major renovations of the university's undergraduate housing and increase its study of new learning and teaching strategies. Business & Markets Sat, 21 Sep 2013 19:02:35 -0400 Associated Press 1063306361 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/wal_mart_driver_honored_for_4_million_accident_free_miles LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A long-distance truck driver for Wal-Mart has been recognized for traveling 4 million miles without an accident.Warren Greeno of Loveland, Colo., reached the milestone this year. Today, Wal-Mart executives in Arkansas presented him with a new rig painted red.The 59-year-old rolled up the mileage over 31 years and four months, an average of about 500 miles each working day.Greeno said in an interview this week that there were half-dozen near-collisions. He said he waited for "the thump and the crash" but they never came. Business & Markets Sat, 21 Sep 2013 15:49:52 -0400 Associated Press 1063306511 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/west_hollywood_institutes_nations_first_fur_ban WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — West Hollywood is now the only city in America where it's a crime to sell fur apparel.The Los Angeles Times reports that after years of debate, the ban took effect Saturday.It only applies to apparel that's made to be worn, such as shoes, hats and gloves. Ugg boots can't be sold because they contain shearling, a sheepskin or lambskin pelt that's had limited shearing.The Southern California city calls itself a cruelty-free zone for animals and is famous for animal-friendly laws. Business & Markets Sat, 21 Sep 2013 15:11:44 -0400 Associated Press 1063306406 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/chiquita_seeks_dismissal_in_colombian_case MIAMI — Faced with potentially billions of dollars in legal liability, Chiquita Brands International is asking a federal appeals court to block lawsuits filed against it in the U.S. by thousands of Colombians whose relatives were killed in that country's bloody, decades-long civil war. Business & Markets Sat, 21 Sep 2013 13:57:43 -0400 Associated Press 1063305776 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/russia_warns_ukraine_against_eu_deal YALTA, Ukraine — A top Russian official on Saturday warned Ukraine against signing a landmark trade and cooperation agreement with the European Union, saying Moscow would retaliate with trade restrictions that could push this ex-Soviet republic toward default. Business & Markets Sat, 21 Sep 2013 11:10:22 -0400 Associated Press 1063305806 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/gunmans_employer_sought_navy_consulting_work WASHINGTON — A little more than 24 hours after an IT contractor shot dozen workers at the Washington Navy Yard, the company's CEO told the Navy secretary he had the experience to help improve military security.The email from The Experts chief Thomas Hoshko, which included descriptions of his background and expertise, stunned some Navy leaders in the wake of the shootings Monday that left 13 people dead, including the gunman, former Navy reservist Aaron Alexis. Business & Markets Sat, 21 Sep 2013 11:03:33 -0400 Associated Press 1063305866 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/microloans_surging_in_silicon_valley SAN JOSE, Calif. — A daycare provider needed cribs and high chairs. A coffee truck needed a generator. A couple renting party supplies needed to move into a storefront.When these Silicon Valley small businesses needed cash, and fast, they didn't find help at a bank. They turned instead to a type of financing more commonly associated with buying a sewing machine for a Guatemalan tailor or a tractor for an African farmer.Microlending, a decades old form of financing for the world's poorest, is now booming in Silicon Valley. Business & Markets Sat, 21 Sep 2013 10:51:07 -0400 Associated Press 1063305801 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/uk_charges_4_in_cyber_theft_from_barclays_bank LONDON — British police have charged four men in connection with the theft of 1.3 million pounds ($2.1 million) from a Barclays Bank branch.The men — aged between 26 and 47 — were arrested Friday and accused of installing a device on the bank's computer system made it possible to carry out the cyber theft.Police said cash, jewels and thousands of credit cards were found in related searches of addresses in the greater London area. Business & Markets Sat, 21 Sep 2013 04:59:08 -0400 Associated Press 1063305441 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/bay_state_defense_firms_get_work_despite_cuts Massachusetts companies that work with the U.S. Defense Department are still getting contracts in spite of federal budget cuts, but the firms say those contracts tend to be smaller.The Defense Department this week announced more than $865 million in contracts, including $9.9 million to Boston Dynamics of Waltham for work on the Legged Squad Support System, or LS3, a legged robot to help service members carry their gear, following them through rugged terrain and interpreting verbal and visual commands. Business & Markets Sat, 21 Sep 2013 00:00:00 -0400 Marie Szaniszlo 1063304391 http://bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/2013/09/cambridge_penthouse_could_be_your_castle This four-bedroom duplex penthouse condo, the home of former Channel 4 meteorologist Mish Michaels, features a dramatic sweeping staircase that joins what were two separate units.Part of the 113-unit Bay Square condo complex built in 1989, Michaels and her husband, Wes Atamian, combined two units in 2006 to create a showpiece custom-designed penthouse highlighted by a dramatic two-story vaulted turret with a living area overlooking a great room connected by a curving metal staircase. Real Estate Sat, 21 Sep 2013 00:00:00 -0400 Paul Restuccia 1063304401 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/mit_study_us_needs_to_step_up_manufacturing The nation's booming innovation economy is in danger of losing steam and moving overseas unless there is a significant increase in manufacturing in the U.S., according to a new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but Massachusetts is poised to take advantage of such an increase, a state official says. Business & Markets Sat, 21 Sep 2013 00:00:00 -0400 Jordan Graham 1063304411 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/colonial_drug_departs_from_harvard_square Another vestige of the much lamented Harvard Square of old will close its doors today.Colonial Drug, known for its stock of more than 1,000 fragrances, is relocating after 66 years on Brattle Street to combine with the Stoddard's cutlery store in Newton at month's end."We did business with (Stoddard's owner David Marks') father, and his grandfather did business with our father," co-owner J.P. Botindari said. "We said someday we should get together, and we are. We complement each other." Business & Markets Sat, 21 Sep 2013 00:00:00 -0400 Donna Goodison 1063304531

00.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Japanese delegation in Maine to talk tidal power

Written By Unknown on Senin, 16 September 2013 | 00.52

ORONO, Maine — A delegation of scientists and industry officials from Japan is visiting the University of Maine for a three-day conference on tidal power.

The 11-member group is attending the Marine Energy International Symposium, which runs Monday through Wednesday. The conference is designed as a collaborative exchange between researchers in the Maine Tidal Power Initiative, which is based at the university, and various Japanese institutions.

The group also plans to travel to Eastport, the site of Ocean Renewable Power Co.'s tidal power generator that converts the energy of the ocean tides into electricity.

This is the second marine energy symposium. For the inaugural event last year, several University of Maine researchers traveled to Japan to discuss tidal power development and research opportunities in Maine and Japan's Aomori district.

00.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

DeLoreans getting 'Back to the Future' makeovers

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — It may not time travel, but the DeLorean sports car is finding its way into the future even without a flux capacitor.

People are spending thousands of dollars to have DeLoreans outfitted to resemble the one that starred in the 1985 movie "Back to the Future."

About 9,000 DeLorean DMC-12 cars were produced from 1981-82 before the original company went bust. About 6,500 are believed to still exist, easily recognizable with their boxy, stainless steel bodies and gullwing doors.

The current brand owner, DeLorean Motor Co. of Huntington Beach, handles everything from oil changes to full reconstructions. But as the 30th anniversary of "Back to the Future" approaches in 2015, there's been an increase in requests to recreate the movie's iconic car, according to the Orange County Register (http://bit.ly/19MDv5j).

"I've grown up around DeLoreans my entire life. I was dropped off to kindergarten in the actual 'Back to the Future' car. A DeLorean was my first car at age 16," said Cameron Wynne, DeLorean Motor Co. general manager. "'Back to the Future' has been a huge part of the business. The car is so well known from a 90-year-old person to a 4-year-old because of that movie. That shows how timeless the car and the brand is."

Some replicas have been ordered for movie cameos, corporate appearances and even as the ride for a newlywed couple.

DeLorean Motor Co. mechanic Danny Botkin has built six movie replica cars so far, relying on photos he took when he helped restored the original "Back to the Future" car.

"'Back to the Future' is getting bigger and bigger, especially among kids who watched the movie in 1985 and now have enough money to own a piece of it," Botkin said.

Each replica costs about $45,000. Passengers can punch in a "destination time" on the control panel and pull a lever to activate the pulsing lights of the time circuit. The parts are recreated using military surplus and other equipment, such as a jet engine oil cooler.

"We've never advertised that we build these," Botkin said. "It's just been a side thing we do. If people ask us to do it, we'll do it."

The current DeLorean Motor Co. was started by Wynne's father, Stephen Wynne.

He bought the original company's remaining parts. The parts, including 1,000 gullwing doors, fill 40,000 square feet of warehouse space in Houston, Cameron Wynne son said.

Seven years ago, DeLorean began re-manufacturing the sports car using donor cars that are stripped and fitted with remaining or remanufactured parts.

"We constantly have customers calling us that have had their cars in storage for 10, 20, 30 years, and they want to get rid of it," Cameron Wynne said.

But the DeLorean isn't resting on its laurels. The company, which has a handful of locations nationwide and one in the Netherlands, is working on an all-electric version. The company wants it to travel 100 miles on a charge and accelerate from 0 to 60 in under 5 seconds.

However, it won't need the 1.21 gigawatts of electricity required by Doc Brown's version.

00.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Prep test for MBA goes mobile

It took Elad Shoushan five tries to master the Graduate Management Admission Test. But Shoushan turned his circuitous route to Massachsuetts Institue of Technology's Sloan School of Management to his advantage by developing an app that he claims is cheaper, more convenient and ultimately more effective than any test-prep course on the market.

The 31-year-old Israeli native used his experience as a serial GMAT underachiever and former professional basketball player to figure out what he'd been missing.

"As a basketball player, it was very simple to identify what I needed to improve," he said. "But with the GMAT, it's really hard to focus on one weakness at a time."

So in 2012, he founded LTG Exam Preparation Platform, a mobile learning platform for standardized tests. The company's first product, Prep4GMAT, is available for the iPhone and iPad, and categorizes questions based on what concepts they're testing.

When a user gets a question wrong, the app breaks it down based on keywords. Over time, Shoushan said, the app helps the user focus more quickly on keywords inside questions, associating them with the concepts learned.

"You start to see where your deficiencies are so you can really hone in on those areas," said Tarlin Ray, Shoushan's mentor in the  $1 million startup competition and accelerator MassChallenge, where he is now a finalist.

This approach of dissecting a test through pattern recognition, coupled with the fact that LTG was built "from the ground up" to be a mobile company, distinguishes it from other test-prep companies, said Ray, including Kaplan, where he worked for 3 1⁄2 years.

"It's almost like you have a coach in your pocket," he said.

Alba Medina, 28, needed a 650 on the GMAT to get into a top-10 graduate school. So for help, she turned to three programs — Manhattan Prep, Veritas Prep and Knewton.com — spending between $300 and $800 on each.

"After failing four times, I was desperate," Medina said.

So she tried LTG for $20, she said, and improved her score by 120 points, just enough to get into MIT.

"I didn't have to carry around books with me," Medina said. "The software discovered my weaknesses, so it was easy to concentrate on them."

LTG's other advantages are that it doesn't require users to log into a website that might not be available if they don't have an Internet connection, and, for the next few weeks, it's also free until Shoushan and his team finalize LTG's premium version, which will cost between $30 and $50.

00.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ponzi schemes proliferate

The Securities and Exchange Commission and law enforcement continue to see a steady stream of Ponzi schemes nearly five years after the Bernard Madoff scandal rocked the securities world.

Since fiscal year 2010 alone, the SEC has brought more than 100 enforcement actions across the nation against nearly 200 people for carrying out Ponzi schemes, prompting the commission to launch a Web page in 2011 for whistle-blowers to report violations of federal securities laws and apply for a financial award.

"Investors should continue to be wary of Ponzi schemes, which we steadily uncover and prosecute in regions throughout the country," said Kevin Callahan, an SEC spokesman. Red flags, such as promises of extraordinarily high returns with little or no risk, can signal that something may be amiss."

Among the recent local cases is that of Steven and Lori Palladino of West Roxbury, who were indicted earlier this year for allegedly running a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. Prosecutors allege the couple used their company, Viking Financial Group, to borrow investors' money, which often went into the Palladinos' personal bank accounts to fund their lavish lifestyle. Money from new investors then allegedly was used to repay earlier ones and make monthly payments to all of them. But prosecutors allege it didn't stop there. Earlier this month, Palladino also was charged with one count of usury, or loan-sharking, for allegedly demanding a 40 percent interest rate on a loan his company made to a businesswoman.

"He's continuing to buy time, but inevitably, he needs to answer where our money is," one of their alleged victims, who declined to give his name, said of Steven Palladino. "History tells us we don't always get back what we've lost. But we do want to see justice served."

Prosecutors in the Economic Crimes Unit of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston make a point of bringing victims to perpetrators' sentencings so that judges can see firsthand that the impact of the crimes goes beyond dollars.

"People literally find overnight that they're destitute," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Levenson, whose unit has prosecuted 13 Ponzi schemes in the last five years.

Beginning in November, Levenson's office will hold a series of forums to warn the elderly in particular of the dangers of investing with people who promise inordinately high returns.

"It's clear that it is prevalent. It's a form of violence, a form of sociopathology.  And I think it's becoming increasingly defined that way," said Gaytri Kachroo, a lawyer who has represented hundreds of Madoff victims.

People frustrated with low bank and bond rates "make a very appetizing opportunity" for perpetrators, said Secretary of State William Galvin, whose office has taken action against seven schemes in the past five years.

"The problem with Ponzi schemes is finding them," Galvin said. "They strive for secrecy. When we hear about them, all you have to do is follow the money. The problem is you don't hear about them until they default. It's like a game of musical chairs. Ultimately, the music has to stop, and you're going to be one chair short."

Antonio Planas contributed to this report.

00.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

The Ticker

Wal-Mart to open more smaller stores

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to increase the number of so-called "Neighborhood Market" stores, its smaller concept store, by nearly 75 percent over the next 18 months.

The world's largest retailer plans to have 500 of the smaller stores open within the next 18 months, up from a current 290.

In an effort to reach more customers in urban settings and geographies that can't support a traditional "Supercenter," the Bentonville, Ark.-based company is focusing on two small-store concepts: its Neighborhood Market and Walmart Express, that are meant to compete directly with grocery stores, discount/dollar stores and drug stores.

Wal-Mart's Neighborhood Market stores are sized on average at 38,000 square feet and the small-concept Walmart Express stores average about 15,000 square feet.

TOMORROW

Federal Reserve releases industrial production for August.

TUESDAY

Labor Department releases Consumer Price Index for August.
National Association of Home Builders releases housing market index for September.
Federal Reserve policymakers begin a two-day meeting to set interest rates.

WEDNESDAY

Commerce Department releases housing starts for August.
Federal Reserve policymakers meet to set interest rates.
FedEx Corp. reports quarterly earnings before the market opens.
Oracle Corp. reports quarterly earnings after the market closes.

THURSDAY

Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims.
Commerce Department releases current account trade deficit for the second quarter.
Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, releases weekly mortgage rates.
Conference Board releases leading indicators for August.
National Association of Realtors releases existing home sales for August.

THE SHUFFLE

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in New England announced that Lauren Rabb, left, has been appointed sales manager of the company's Newton and Chestnut Hill offices. Rabb will be responsible for the day-to-day sales and operations of 74 sales associates serving Newton, Brookline and the surrounding communities.
Putney Inc., a pharmaceutical company focused on the development and sale of generic prescription medicines for pets, has named Ellen Tobias as vice president of technical operations.

00.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hasselbeck: Fox News feels like home

NEW YORK — To Elisabeth Hasselbeck, the "Fox & Friends" morning show felt like home long before she actually got to work there.

It was regular viewing at home for Hasselbeck, whose 10 years on "The View" ended in July. She'll debut as Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade's new partner on "Fox & Friends" Monday, after the departing Gretchen Carlson offered farewells Friday.

"I'd almost make the analogy that it's being called up to play for one of your favorite teams in the major leagues," said Hasselbeck, whose opening week will include a series of reports with the cast of "Duck Dynasty."

Although its viewership is typically less than a quarter of leading broadcast morning show "Good Morning America," ''Fox & Friends" thoroughly dominates cable. It is averaging 1.1 million viewers a day this year, the Nielsen company said. MSNBC's "Morning Joe" is at 392,000. CNN's "New Day" has averaged 308,000 viewers since its launch in the spring, enabling the network to slip past "Morning Express" on sister network HLN (249,000).

Carlson, a former Miss America, will get her own show on Fox's afternoon lineup.

She was serenaded by Gloria Estefan on her final day at "F&F" Friday, and watched a clip reel of past exploits: skipping rope, shooting basketballs, doing pushups, singing a Christmas carol and sharply questioning Robert Gibbs.

As Hasselbeck rehearsed for her new job last week, Fox News executive Bill Shine jokingly called her a "survivor." He wasn't referring to her time spent on a tropical island with Jeff Probst.

Her conservative viewpoints often left her alone among her co-hosts on "The View," or the subject of barbs from the also-departed Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg. Hasselbeck said everybody has challenging days on the job, whether they're in broadcasting, medicine or education.

If they haven't had challenging days, "there hasn't been that growth moment," she said. "I've had the privilege of having a lot of growth during those 10 years, let's just say that."

On her last day in July, Hasselbeck was magnanimous, particularly to "The View" creator Barbara Walters and Goldberg, but clear-eyed. She left the day after her hiring at Fox was announced.

Whether she jumped or was pushed is still murky. Us Weekly reported on May 8 that Hasselbeck was being "ousted" from "The View," which the show denied. Shine said he's long admired Hasselbeck, and said her move was triggered by running into Hasselbeck's agent at a launch party for the Fox Sports 1 cable network, which took place March 5. Shine said he followed up a few days later by calling the agent and asking if Hasselbeck would be interested in working at Fox.

"She's very smart. She's very outgoing," said Shine, Fox's executive vice president for programming. "She's a great on-air talent, a great personality and I think that will do very well for her in the morning."

Hasselbeck said she didn't want to talk about her departure from "The View."

Her views will be much more at home on "Fox & Friends." She said the show is No. 1 in the cable ratings for a reason.

"You have an entertainment, wake-up show that delivers important information but also meaningful conversation with content that's able to be viewed by your entire family," said Hasselbeck, a mother of three.

She talked about other shows not always being suited for families but did not specify which ones. "I can't speak for the other shows because I'm not watching them," she said.

Hasselbeck said she had appeared several times on Fox to talk about pastry (she's written two cookbooks) and politics, among other topics.

"I am privileged to call myself a team member," she said, "but I have felt like family there for a long time."

Her immediate challenge is the same as morning show hosts everywhere: making sure she has alarm clocks that work. "Fox & Friends" runs from 6 to 9 a.m. Eastern.

"I definitely trend toward the natural night owl end of the spectrum," she said. "This has been a physical change for me. I actually think the morning hours are kind of peaceful when you have the house to yourself."

___

Online:

http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/fox-friends/index.html

___

EDITOR'S NOTE — David Bauder can be reached at dbauder@ap.org or on Twitter@dbauder. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/david-bauder.

00.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Military court starts trial of Egyptian journalist

CAIRO — The military trial of an Egyptian journalist accused of spreading false information about the army's counterinsurgency operations in the volatile Sinai Peninsula briefly opened behind closed doors on Sunday, only to be postponed for a few days for lawyers to review his case, a security official said.

The detention and trial of freelancer Ahmed Abu-Draa, a resident of Sinai, by military tribunal has caused an outcry among journalists in Egypt, which relies on local reporters to send news from the lawless northern Sinai.

Dozens of journalists protested Abu-Draa's detention and trial outside the courtroom where he is being tried in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia. Reporters Without Borders, the press watchdog, has called for his immediate release.

The court adjourned the session until Wednesday, the official who attended the session said on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Abu-Draa's detention comes as authorities extended emergency laws granting security forces greater powers to arrest citizens and censor the press following a sharp rise in violence since last month. Local and international rights groups have called on Egyptian authorities to halt the harassment of journalists seeking to cover the ongoing political crisis in the country.

The Sinai-based journalist was detained 11 days ago after he wrote on Facebook that airstrikes ostensibly targeting militants had hit civilian areas and accused military officials of misinforming the public. Abu-Draa questioned the military's statements about its operations against militant groups in Sinai.

Few journalists have direct access to what is happening in Sinai because of security restrictions and concerns, forcing many to rely on statements by officials. Abu-Draa, an award-winning reporter who has done investigation stories in Sinai, works for several Egyptian and foreign newspapers and television channels.

Egyptian military spokesman Col. Ahmed Ali told reporters Sunday that Abu-Draa's fate is now in the hands of the military court, but that spreading false information as part of an "information war" is a national security threat. The colonel said Abu-Draa is accused of lying about the army attacking mosques and relocating families in Sinai, spreading false reports locally and internationally about what is happening in Sinai and of being in a military-restricted area.

"The army respects very much the journalistic community in Egypt," the army spokesman said. "But this is a war of information... which leads to strife and the destruction of nations."

The Committee to Protect Journalists said in a recent statement that through a series of arrests, prosecutions, assaults and censorship, the Egyptian government has made it clear that journalists operate at their own risk if they deviate from the official narrative.

Five journalists have been killed since the military ousted President Mohammed Morsi from office July 3 after nationwide protests against him. Reporters Without Borders says another 80 have been arbitrarily detained— most from outlets that authorities accuse of being pro-Islamist or sympathetic to Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group.

00.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Old mining town fills with elite business leaders

HELENA, Mont. — Butte, a mining town almost a century removed from its heyday, is the unlikely landing spot this week for some of the business world's biggest names.

Google's Eric Schmidt and Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg will be joined by CEOs from companies like Ford, Boeing, Delta Airlines, FedEx, electric super car-maker Tesla, ConocoPhillips and Hewlett-Packard.

The glittering luminaries, drawn by the invitation of retiring Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, will be joined by other business leaders in an economically struggling city that was once one of the largest west of the Mississippi and dubbed "the world's richest hill." The Democrat readily admits his sway over tax and budget issues gets the business leaders to his home state.

Butte is about a third of its peak size today, at about 34,000 citizens. Gone is the bustle and famous red light district. Although it remains a colorful place, its aging population hasn't kept pace with improving economies elsewhere in a state that features one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country.

For at least two days this week, though, it again becomes a bustling hotbed of entrepreneurial dynamos as several thousand people are expected for the Montana Jobs Summit.

Jon Sesso, a state senator and Butte booster, said that Butte make sense in many ways. Butte, still known for its parades and festivals, always loves a party.

"In some other cities it might be perceived as, ho-hum another day at the office," Sesso said. "We really open up the town to these kind of events. We put on the best face for Montana and the area."

This is the sixth such gathering Baucus has orchestrated — the third in Butte. They keep getting bigger. And Montana benefits.

Last time in 2010 an audience member asked Warren Buffett — whose business empire includes BNSF Railway Company — why Montana didn't have an inland port facility needed for big, efficient shipments. That got the ball rolling on a transportation hub being built in the northern town of Shelby — expected to create 320 jobs.

A visit from the General Electric CEO led to a deal with a manufacturing firm in Butte to make airplane parts for the large multinational. GE also opened a processing center in Billings.

Locals will be looking for more deals like those once the private jets start dropping off the bigwigs.

"Butte is always digging. We have suffered through some obstacles in terms of our economic diversity away from the mining," Sesso said. "With any luck, we will walk away with a couple of real solid leads to create more jobs."

Butte is quick to credit Baucus, whose third-ranking seniority and chairmanship of the committee that writes federal budgets and tax policy gives him a rolodex full of bigwigs, with orchestrating the event.

"People come in part because I ask them to come. The Finance Committee is very important to these companies," Baucus said. "I am impressed, and flattered, with how quickly people say yes."

Baucus said many of the businesses attending are driven by self-interest to finding new deals.

Baucus, in the Senate since the 1970s, isn't running again and the summit full of big names could be his last. He also helped draw former presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, and ambassadors from China, Japan, Peru, Canada and Germany.

Patrick Barkey, an economist who runs a research arm of the University of Montana business school, said outsiders assume that Montana is all about cows, wheat, coal and oil, and are often surprised at some of the manufacturing and high tech companies that can thrive thanks to the state's ability to attract people who want to live among the mountains and rivers.

Still, the really big names do make quite a splash in little Butte.

"To me, it reminds me a little bit of the old Woodstock rock festival, all the headliners that went all the way out there," Barkey said. "It is real important for Montana. As a less urban, more spread out state, we simply don't have the networking opportunities even in our larger cities that the larger urban areas have."

00.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Twitter flies from obscurity to the height of fame

NEW YORK — The Pope. President Obama. Queen Elizabeth. Oprah. You.

When Twitter started seven years ago as an obscure medium for geeks, critics dismissed it as an exercise in narcissism. Some thought it would be as intriguing as watching people gaze at their bellybuttons. But it quickly matured into a worldwide messaging service used by everyone from heads of state to revolutionaries to companies trying to hawk products.

Now, Twitter is taking the next critical step in its evolution — selling stock to the public. It promises to be the most hyped and scrutinized initial public offerings since Facebook's Wall Street debut in May 2012. To be successful, the company will need to become an advertising behemoth and prove that the same service that has already helped change the course of history can also make money.

Twitter quietly slipped out news of its plan to go public in a tweet on Thursday afternoon. By the next morning, nearly 14,000 of Twitter's 200 million users had retransmitted the message.

"Twitter epitomizes the revolution of social media ...more than Facebook, more than YouTube," says Fordham University communications professor Paul Levinson, author of "New New Media." ''It caters to the immediacy, the equality of all users."

And yet, Twitter really isn't that big. Only about 15 percent of Americans say they've ever used Twitter, according to an August poll by the Pew Internet and American Life Project. That's up from 9 percent in June 2010. At the time of Facebook's IPO, an AP-CNBC poll found that 56 percent of Americans said they had pages on Facebook. Some 17 percent said they used the site several times a day.

Twitter's 200 million global users represent about one-sixth of Facebook's 1.16 billion. If Facebook were a country, it would be the world's third-largest behind China and India. Twitter would clock in at No. 6, edging out Pakistan.

Even so, Twitter generates more news than Facebook. A big part of that is its public nature, Levinson says. With their messages of 140 characters or less, most people tweet openly, for better or for worse, allowing the world a glimpse at their thoughts. Facebook, in contrast, gives its users a plethora of controls to hide or show posts to as many or as few people as they'd like. That means many users share updates only with people they already know.

"You can rub elbows with famous people instantly," Levinson says, noting that people can send a message to the president or a movie star just as easily as they communicate with a friend. "That's what makes communication in the 21st century radically different from any time in the past. It wasn't until Twitter that the combination of speed and access to anyone became available for everyone."

Twitter might never have become the world's digital watercooler if Noah Glass and Evan Williams had convinced more people to tune into a podcasting service called Odeo started in 2005. Less than a year after its birth, it became apparent that Odeo was destined to be a dud. Not even its own employees were using it that much.

By early 2006, Glass and fellow Odeo programmer Jack Dorsey began work on a new project. They were given the go-ahead to work with co-worker Christopher "Biz" Stone on a way to corral the menagerie of text messages typically sent over a phone. It was an offshoot of Dorsey's longtime fascination with the dispatch systems used by police cars, fire trucks, delivery trucks and taxis. Dorsey even wrote dispatch software in one of his first jobs.

It was Glass who came up with the original name Twttr in a reference to chirping birds. (The two vowels were added later.) On March 21, 2006, Dorsey posted the world's first tweet: "Just setting up my twttr". Glass posted the same words just 10 minutes later.

By 2007, Twitter was incorporated with Dorsey as the original CEO and Williams as chairman. Dorsey and Williams would eventually swap roles. Both remain major shareholders, though neither runs the company. Dick Costolo, a former Google executive and once an aspiring stand-up comedian, is now CEO.

Despite his early involvement in Twitter, Glass was never promoted as one of the company's founders along with Dorsey, Stone and Williams. Glass, though, proudly boasts of his role on a Twitter account that he rarely uses. His Twitter profile states: "I started this."

Perhaps Twitter's greatest appeal is that it allows users to see news unfold in real time. People can follow and even communicate with newsmakers. And they can witness history. In 2009, Twitter became an essential communication tool in Iran as the country's government cracked down on traditional media after a disputed presidential election. Tech-savvy Iranians took to Twitter to organize protests. As the events unfolded, they used the service to send messages and pictures to the outside world. Twitter played a similar role in the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings in Egypt and other countries.

Today, a billion tweets are sent every two and a half days. To be fair, most tweets don't comprise the world's weightiest matters. They are ruminations about lunch, the weather and Justin Bieber —and occasionally they involve career-crashing missteps of the Anthony Weiner sort.

Like Facebook, Twitter reaps most of its revenue from advertising. Research firm eMarketer estimates that Twitter will generate $582.8 million in worldwide ad revenue this year, up from $288.3 million in 2012.

While companies are flocking to Twitter to woo consumers, not all of them are convinced of its usefulness. More than 60 percent of U.S. marketers use Twitter, according to Forrester Research analyst Nate Elliott, but he says they are not "fully satisfied with the results." Twitter, he says, still needs to improve the way it targets advertisements to users and it needs to find more types of ads to sell.

Still, by 2015, eMarketer expects Twitter's annual ad revenue to hit $1.33 billion.

Liedtke reported from San Francisco. AP Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this story from Washington.

Find Barbara Ortutay on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BarbaraOrtutay and Michael Liedtke at https://twitter.com/liedtkesfc

00.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Nafas Bertasbih

Mengenai Saya

Popular Posts Today

Boston Herald - Boston Herald

Written By Unknown on Senin, 23 September 2013 | 00.52

Japanese delegation in Maine to talk tidal power

Written By Unknown on Senin, 16 September 2013 | 00.52

DeLoreans getting 'Back to the Future' makeovers

Prep test for MBA goes mobile

Ponzi schemes proliferate

The Ticker

Hasselbeck: Fox News feels like home

Military court starts trial of Egyptian journalist

Old mining town fills with elite business leaders

Twitter flies from obscurity to the height of fame

Links

Arsip Blog