Sponsoer by :

Thursday, May 19, 2011

NY House race spotlights national spending issues (AP) : Technet

Sponsored

NY House race spotlights national spending issues (AP) : Technet

NY House race spotlights national spending issues (AP)

Posted: 14 May 2011 02:20 PM PDT

By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Beth Fouhy, Associated Press – Sat May 14, 5:20 pm ET

CLARENCE CENTER, N.Y. – The special election to fill a House seat in upstate New York was supposed to be an easy victory for Republicans.

But less than two weeks before the May 24 vote, polls show a competitive contest between Republican Jane Corwin, 47, and Democrat Kathy Hochul, 52, in what's become the first electoral test of GOP budget policies. The race also has drawn an avalanche of spending by interest groups, as well as both national parties.

"Jane Corwin said she would vote for the 2012 Republican budget that would essentially end Medicare," says a TV ad for Hochul, underscoring the degree to which the national debate in Washington is framing this race.

Corwin hits back in her own ad, saying Hochul "refuses to tell us her plan to cut the deficit."

Until recently, Democrats had all but written off the state's 26th congressional district spanning the suburban and rural communities between Rochester and Buffalo. The seat was left vacant in February, when incumbent Republican Rep. Chris Lee resigned after shirtless photos surfaced that he'd sent to a woman he'd met on Craigslist.

It's the most conservative district in New York; Republican John McCain carried it by 6 points over President Barack Obama in 2008. And it could be eliminated next year when the state loses two seats as lawmakers redraw congressional lines as required by law following the 2010 Census.

But this week, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced it would spend $250,000 on ads to help Hochul, the Erie County clerk. The campaign committee had already contributed about $100,000 to Hochul for research and other campaign operations.

The House Majority PAC, a new independent group launched to help House Democrats, announced late Friday it would also begin TV advertising to help Hochul.

The GOP isn't taking any chances. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, headlined a fundraiser for Corwin last week, the National Republican Congressional Committee has pledged to advertise and a major GOP-aligned group has gotten involved, too.

Corwin, a wealthy state assemblywoman who has lent her campaign nearly $2 million, has seen her lead in polls evaporate after endorsing the budget plan crafted by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., that would cut billions from Medicare, the government health care plan for the elderly. Corwin has defended the proposed changes to Medicare even as members of the House GOP leadership have softened their stance on the immediacy of enacting them amid an outcry from seniors.

"This is going to be a referendum on the Republican plan to end Medicare as we know it," Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., who heads the House Democratic campaign committee, told The Associated Press.

Hochul has used her television ads to hammer Corwin on Medicare and the two rivals tangled over the issue in their first televised debate Thursday.

"If we keep Medicare in the same plan we're going to run out of money by 2029," Corwin said.

Hochul argued that the Ryan plan could force seniors into poverty, adding: "It's not the American way. I won't go there."

With television ads swamping the district, several voters said they were aware of the differences between the candidates on Medicare and that the issue could affect how they vote.

"I work in a hospital and we would definitely be impacted by changes to Medicare," said Lockport resident Stephanie Douglas, an independent who was leaning toward Hochul.

And local nonprofit executive Michael Genga was urging his staunchly Republican mother to support Hochul, saying: "If Jane Corwin is supporting people who want to end Medicare, that's just way off base."

The Medicare issue aside, the race also has been complicated by the presence of a wealthy third party candidate, Jack Davis. He's a former Republican who has run for the seat three times as a Democrat and is now competing as a tea party contender. Many local tea party leaders have denounced Davis's candidacy, but he's spent heavily on the race and polls show him drawing votes away from Corwin.

Steve Greenberg, director of the Siena Poll which has conducted district surveys, said Davis's presence on the ballot had improved Democrats' chances of taking the seat.

"If Corwin can convince voters he's not the real conservative in the race, she can get them back. Or at least convince Davis voters to stay home," Greenberg said.

Republicans and independent conservative groups are trying to marginalize Davis while insisting Corwin's troubles have little to do with her support for the Ryan budget.

"This is about western New York values," Erie County Republican Chairman Nick Langworthy said. He also dismissed Davis as a "political opportunist," warning, "Don't let our friends and neighbors be fooled."

The House Republican campaign committee, for its part, has seized on a video showing Davis in a dustup with a Corwin staffer and emailed it around to reporters. And Davis is the target of a major television ad campaign by American Crossroads, the independent conservative group that spent over $70 million to help Republicans reclaim the House majority in 2010. The Crossroads ad accuses Davis of trying to buy the seat.

"You can't trust Jack," the ad warns.

The race comes eighteen months after a similar New York special election in 2009 when a Democrat, Bill Owens, won a conservative upstate district in a 3-way race that split votes between the Republican and tea party candidates.

Republicans, here and in Washington, hope this race won't be a repeat.

Playboy puts entire 57 years of magazines online (AP)

Posted: 19 May 2011 11:17 AM PDT

By DON BABWIN, Associated Press Don Babwin, Associated Press – Thu May 19, 2:17 pm ET

CHICAGO – Good news for those who thought their copies of Playboy were gone forever when their moms found them and threw them away.

Playboy launched a Web-based subscription service Thursday called i.Playboy.com that allows viewers to see every single page of every single magazine — from the first issue nearly 60 years ago that featured Marilyn Monroe to the ones hitting the newsstands today.

"They no longer have to store 57 years — 682 issues — of Playboy under their mattress," said Jimmy Jellinek, Playboy's chief content officer.

Chicago-based Playboy has seen its circulation plummet from 3.15 million in 2006 to 1.5 million today and has been trying all sorts of gimmicks to attract readers in recent years. One issue, for example, included a set of 3-D glasses to better see a centerfold shot in 3-D; another turned over the cover to a cartoon character, Marge Simpson.

But if those moves were widely viewed as efforts to attract a younger audience, this one is also aimed baby boomers and even their parents, who might recall pictorials of long gone movie stars, interviews with the likes of John Lennon and Dr. Martin Luther King and the time Jimmy Carter famously revealed the lust in his heart.

And for those who have claimed they bought the magazine for the articles, the online service also offers a way to look at the works of such writers as John Updike, Jack Kerouac, Kurt Vonnegut, Hunter S. Thompson and Norman Mailer just by typing in their names.

Jellinek is optimistic people will pony up the $8 per month or $60 per year for a service that's "meant to appeal to that sense of collective nostalgia and affinity." He calls the website "the world's sexiest time machine" and "an anthology of cool" for a magazine he refers to as "the Mount Rushmore of literary greatness."

But one industry analyst makes Playboy sound more like a tired, dusty half-empty amusement park.

"The problem with Playboy is it not only lost its powerful interviews, but it lost its lead," said Samir Husni, director of the Magazine Innovation Center at the University of Mississippi School of Journalism. "This is no longer the 50s and 60s when people talked about the interviews. And who cannot see the girl next door naked in this day and age?"

Husni doubts the service will do much for the company at all.

"The questions are: `Do I need it? Do I want it? Is it relevant to me?'" Husni said. "The answer is: `No, no and no.'"

Husni also said it is likely those who do subscribe will drop the service once they see whatever issues they were curious about.

Jellinek concedes the whole thing is something of an experiment aimed at a niche audience, but he also insists the service has value because it offers a unique window into the past.

"We're not trying to achieve mass scale here and move the needle for the company in a great way," he said.

Down at Stocks and Blondes, a tavern in downtown Chicago, opinions were mixed as to how many subscribers will be drawn to the website.

"The guy who would want to go back and see them (the magazines) already has them stacked up in his crawl space," said Internet ad salesman Bill Youngberg.

But his buddy, Ron Golminas, suggested such a guy is precisely the person who would jump — if he could — at the chance to subscribe.

"He can't get to them," Golminas said. "He's too old."

Apple fans’ brains react in a way similar to religious people (Yahoo! News)

Posted: 19 May 2011 05:03 PM PDT

By Mike Wehner mike Wehner – Thu May 19, 8:03 pm ET

Apple devotees are notorious for their steadfast dedication to the computer and gadget manufacturer, standing in line for hours and sometimes days just to be the first to try out a new piece of hardware. According to a new study, the areas of the brain which produce that tenacity in Apple fans are the same spots that fuel religious fervor.

Scientists using an magnetic resonance imagine (MRI) machine presented Apple fans with images of the company's popular gadgets. Upon doing so, they found brain activity that mirrors how a religious person's brain reacts when presented with a picture of their chosen deity.

It's hard to determine whether the reaction the researchers observed is peculiar or not, as nearly everyone has strong allegiances to a particular product or service, and the test was limited to the Apple brand alone. Still, the fact that something like an iPhone or a computer can create a reaction similar to a hardwired belief system like religion is surprising in its own right.

[Image Credit: Goodrob13]

(Source)

More from Tecca:

This auto-inspired desk costs more than your car (Yahoo! News)

Posted: 19 May 2011 03:50 PM PDT

By Mike Wehner mike Wehner – Thu May 19, 6:50 pm ET

If you're in the market for a new computer desk, but want to skip the standard fare at stores like Staples and Office Depot, perhaps you'd be interested in this limited-edition superdesk inspired by carmaker Bugatti — the French auto brand responsible for the Veyron, a $1.4 million street-legal race car. The opulent desk is built by luxury furniture brand Luzzo, and carries a slightly more affordable (but still ridiculously huge) $240,000 price tag.

The desk is inspired by the entire history of the car brand and includes several nods to classic Bugatti vehicles. An all-aluminum frame, self-closing drawers, and a retractable monitor are standard features, while the blue color scheme hearkens back to the Bugatti Type 35 Grand Prix racer, one of the most recognizable cars in the brand's history.

Included in the lofty price is a new Apple iMac, which is wired into the desk's frame to allow the entire unit to be withdrawn when not in use. Just 10 of the desks will be constructed, and each will include its own numbered nameplate and construction history, including every member of the build team. So if you've got your pennies saved, grab them, then take out a second mortgage on your home, sell the rest of your possessions, and then (maybe) place your order.

Luzzo via Jalopnik

More from Tecca:

Elaborate Marriage Proposal Delights Bride-To-Be [VIRAL VIDEO] (Mashable)

Posted: 18 May 2011 07:30 PM PDT

Charlie White Charlie White – Wed May 18, 10:30 pm ET

[More from Mashable: Droid X2, Intel Tablets, YouTube Debate Channel: This Morning's Top Stories]


Matt wanted to make a big splash when he asked his girlfriend Ginny to marry him. So he hired Atlanta wedding photographer/videographer Michael Escobar, and the two men created a dramatic and clever movie trailer that would lead up to a surprising (and very public) proposal.

After somehow getting the permission of the local movie theater to run the trailer, he created a ruse where his brother took Ginny to the movies while he "worked," and the trap was set. Here's Matt's narrative:

[More from Mashable: Baseball Fan Storms the Field, Spectacularly Evades Security [VIDEO]]

"My girlfriend Ginny gets taken to the movie theater to see "Fast Five." After a preview for the Hangover 2, a trailer for a movie comes on. A trailer I made of her father and I where I ask her father for her hand in marriage. After he gives me permission, I race off to the theater she is at to ask her to marry me.
What she doesn't know is our familiy and friends are in the theater with her watching the whole thing, along with about 100 strangers."

Nice work, Matt. That "live reaction" cam was a nice touch. We wish you all the best.

[via YouTube]

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Playboy archives entire magazine online (Reuters)

Posted: 19 May 2011 05:21 PM PDT

Sony Fixes Another Security Vulnerability on Web Site (NewsFactor)

Posted: 19 May 2011 02:08 PM PDT

Barry Levine, newsfactor.com Barry Levine, newsfactor.com – Thu May 19, 5:08 pm ET

As the Sony networks slowly come back online, a security issue that could have led to another break-in has been fixed. The company said the vulnerability was on the page where users had to reset their passwords for Sony's PlayStation Network and Qriocity music service.

The security hole enabled any user with the date of birth and e-mail address of an account holder to reset the password. Birth dates and e-mail addresses of up to a hundred million users were among the unencrypted data that Sony believes may have been stolen in the original break-in.

Accounts 'Unsafe'

After the first network breach, the company was criticized by industry observers and some members of Congress for not quickly revealing that users' personal data may have been taken. The initial breach was noticed by Sony on April 19, the PlayStation Network was shut down on April 20, and users were notified of the breach and possible loss of personal information on April 26.

A gaming site, nyleveia.com, first brought the most recent security issue to light in a posting on May 17. It said that "despite the methods currently employed to force a password change when you first reconnect to the PlayStation Network, your accounts remain unsafe."

The site reported that a hack exploiting this weakness was "currently doing the rounds in dark corners" of the Internet. By Thursday, Sony reported it had fixed the problem.

In a video recently posted on the PlayStation Blog, Sony executive Kazuo Hirai noted that, as a new security feature, all customers are required to change their passwords.

'Welcome Back'

Hirai said "aggressive actions" were being taken to address the vulnerabilities that led to the unprecedented network outage. The actions, he said, include advanced security technology, increased levels of encryption, additional firewalls, and early warning systems.

Some Sony watchers have contended that the company failed to keep up with the most recent software, leading up to the initial break-ins. The hacker collective Anonymous, some of whose members may have been involved in the attack -- although the group has denied responsibility -- has distributed server scan logs from Sony's networks.

The logs reportedly show that the company used version 4.4 of the OpenSSH software instead of the most recent version, 5.7. Additionally, Sony was apparently using an older version of the Apache server software.

The company has initiated a Welcome Back Appreciation Program in North America for all registered PSN and Qriocity users. Two free games will be available for 30 days after the PlayStation Store is restored and "can be kept forever," the company said on its PlayStation blog. The PlayStation Store is expected to be back online by May 24.

Five titles are offered for PSN, and four for PSP. Other features of the package include 30 days of free PlayStation Plus membership for non-Plus subscribers, 100 free virtual items, and other benefits.

China Telecom in touch with Apple on CDMA iPhone: chairman (Reuters)

Posted: 19 May 2011 09:05 PM PDT

– 23 mins ago

HONG KONG (Reuters) – China Telecom Corp Ltd (0728.HK), the smallest of the country's three wireless carriers, is in touch with Apple Inc (AAPL.O) on introducing iPhones based on CDMA technology, Chairman Wang Xiaochu said on Friday.

Wang, speaking to reporters after a shareholders' meeting, also said China Telecom would consider Hong Kong as first priority if issuing overseas bonds.

China Telecom, a relative newcomer to China's mobile market, operates the country's largest fixed-line network and is aggressively promoting broadband over that channel.

(Reporting by Lee Chyen Yee and Huang Yuntao; Editing by Chris Lewis)

Asian shares up after IPO splash on Wall Street (AP)

Posted: 19 May 2011 08:37 PM PDT

By PAMELA SAMPSON, AP Business Writer Pamela Sampson, Ap Business Writer – 50 mins ago

BANGKOK – A frothy IPO on Wall Street by social networking site LinkedIn helped lift Asian shares Friday despite mixed signals about the U.S. economy's health.

The Nikkei 225 index was 0.3 percent higher at 9,648.84 with Japan's central bank keeping its key interest rate unchanged at virtually zero in a bid to shore up the economy as it hobbles back to pre-earthquake levels of activity. The country's northeastern coast was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami on March 11, which washed away some 500 factories that produce key parts for Japan's manufacturing industries.

South Korea's Kospi rose 0.6 percent to 2,107.15. Benchmarks in Indonesia, Malaysia and New Zealand were higher, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.5 percent to 4,734.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng was flat at 23,155.75, although Internet shares rose on the heels of the successful initial public offering by LinkedIn, which evoked memories of the dot-com boom and bust by soaring 109 percent on the first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

The debut of LinkedIn, an online networking service for professionals, is seen as a scene setter for other social networking sites that are expected to list during the next year. The candidates includes the online messaging service Twitter, game maker Zynga, and the biggest social network of all, Facebook.

Hong Kong-listed Alibaba.com Ltd., a leading e-commerce site in China that went public last year, rose 1.2 percent. Tencent Holdings Ltd. rose 0.8 percent.

Oil prices stayed below $100 a barrel amid lackluster U.S. economic news and a warning by the International Energy Agency that petroleum prices threaten to stall the global economic recovery. The agency warned that there's "urgent need" for refineries to produce more gasoline.

Regional airlines registered gains on expectations that their fuel costs would decrease. China Southern Airlines Co. Ltd. rose 1.2 percent, Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. gained 0.4 percent and Taiwan's EVA Airways Corp. was up 0.4 percent.

Investor sentiment appeared on the upswing despite mixed economic signals out of the U.S. on Thursday.

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve reported that its measure of manufacturing activity slumped to the lowest reading since October. And the National Association of Realtors said the housing market remains weak as fewer people purchased previously occupied homes in April.

On the positive side, the Labor Department reported that the number of people applying for unemployment benefits fell sharply for the second straight week.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.4 percent to close at 12,605.32. The S&P 500 gained 0.2 percent to 1,343.60. The Nasdaq composite index rose 0.3 percent to 2,823.31.

Benchmark crude for June delivery was up 45 cents to $99.38 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost $1.63 to settle at $98.93 per barrel on Thursday.

In currencies, the euro was unchanged from late Thursday in New York at $1.4311. The dollar dropped to 81.63 yen from 81.77 yen.

Amazon Sells More E-Books Than Printed Versions (NewsFactor)

Posted: 19 May 2011 02:08 PM PDT

Jennifer LeClaire, newsfactor.com Jennifer Leclaire, newsfactor.com – Thu May 19, 5:08 pm ET

It's official. Amazon.com is selling more electronic books for its market-leading Kindle e-reader than it does printed books. So are printed books in danger of extinction?

Here's the timeline: Amazon started selling printed books online in July 1995, and started selling e-books 12 years later in 2007. In July 2010, Amazon announced that Kindle e-book sales overtook hardcover book sales. Six months later, Kindle e-books started beating out paperback books. Now Amazon has confirmed what many expected: Kindle e-books are outpacing both hardcover and paperback books combined.

"We had high hopes that this would happen eventually, but we never imagined it would happen this quickly. We've been selling print books for 15 years and Kindle books for less than four years," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "In addition, we're excited by the response to Kindle with Special Offers for only $114, which has quickly become the best-selling member of the Kindle family."

E-Books by the Numbers

With the announcement, Amazon outlined some noteworthy statistics. For example, Amazon has sold 105 Kindle e-books for every 100 print books since April 1. That includes sales of hardcover and paperback books where there is no Kindle edition. And that doesn't even count free Kindle e-books.

Year to date, the tremendous growth in Kindle e-book sales, combined with the continued growth in Amazon's print book sales, has resulted in the fastest year-over-year growth rate for Amazon's U.S. books business in both units and dollars in more than 10 years. This includes books in all formats, print and digital.

After just five weeks on the market, Kindle with Special Offers, which sells for $114, is the best-selling member of the Kindle family in the U.S. Amazon has sold more than three times as many Kindle e-books so far in 2011 as it did during the same period in 2010.

"I am not sure we're quite at the tipping point, but we are definitely getting to the point where the e-books phenomenon has crossed from enthusiasts to the mainstream consumer," said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Gartner. "That's an important milestone because it's not just the technology geeks that are buying e-books for their devices anymore."

Printed Books Safe for Now

Indeed, more mainstream consumers are making the shift from analog to digital reading. Gartenberg said that's important because it means there will be much more growth in the category, whether from new e-reader devices or new functionality on tablets and phones. As he sees it, the battle lines are getting more clear as Amazon continues working against Barnes & Noble, Apple and Kobo, among others.

Still, there are perceived and real downsides for e-books to overcome before they become totally mainstream.

"It's not simple, or in some cases even possible, for me to lend you an e-book. Oftentimes people amortize the price of a book by passing it along to someone else, who then passes it on to someone else," Gartenberg said. "There are used-book stores where I can go buy pre-owned copies of books. Certainly for many reasons, paper is going to be around for quite some time."

Netflix tops Android Apps of the Week (Appolicious)

Posted: 19 May 2011 03:30 PM PDT

Verizon eyes family data plans (Reuters)

Posted: 19 May 2011 03:38 PM PDT

By Sinead Carew Sinead Carew – Thu May 19, 6:38 pm ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Verizon Wireless expects to offer family plans at some point in the future for data services supporting multiple devices including smartphones and tablet computers, according to a top executive of parent company Verizon Communications. (VZ.N)

Verizon Wireless plans to kick off pricing changes this summer by eliminating smartphone plans that allow unlimited Web access for a flat fee. It will replace them with tiered pricing that forces heavy data users to pay more for mobile data.

After this change the company will look to soften the blow by offering more options such as family plans for data services, Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo told the Reuters Global Technology Summit.

While families can share a bucket of minutes for phone calls today, each family member with a smartphone has to pay $30 per month each for data services. If they own a tablet computer they pay another separate data fee.

"We had individual minutes for individual users. Then we eventually got to what we call family share where everyone in the family shares the same minutes," Shammo said.

"I think it's safe to assume that at some point you are going to have mega-plans (for data) and people are going to share that mega-plan based on the number of devices within their family. That's just a logical progression," he said, but did not provide a time frame for such mega-plans.

HIGH-SPEED IPHONE?

Like its rival AT&T Inc (T.N), Verizon is limiting usage of data services to avoid putting a strain on its network or increasing network costs out of proportion to monthly fees.

Operators are dependent on data services for revenue growth, and they are still figuring out how to cap usage in a way that makes data services affordable enough for consumers to use devices other than phones.

In February Verizon ramped up its competitive efforts against AT&T by launching a version of the Apple Inc (AAPL.O) iPhone, which had been exclusive to AT&T.

While Verizon has sold fewer iPhones than some analysts expected, Shammo said he was happy with sales of a "six-month-old phone" that only works in some countries. Verizon's device was a version of the iPhone 4, which AT&T had launched the previous summer.

When the next iPhone model launches, Verizon will be able to offer it at the same time as AT&T, according to Shammo, who had said in April that Verizon's next iPhone would have global coverage, like AT&T's iPhone.

Some customers held off on buying the first Verizon iPhone because they were waiting for a model that supports Verizon's high-speed wireless service, which runs on a new technology called Long Term Evolution (LTE).

Shammo said that even if the next iPhone does not support LTE, Verizon will have enough high-speed alternatives to sell.

"I think it's a bigger issue for Apple than it is for us," he said. "Depending on where Apple plays, that's where we'll sell."

PREPAID "IMPORTANT"

For voice services, Verizon focuses mainly on postpaid customers who pay monthly bills and commit to a long-term contract. It is also experimenting with prepaid services, where customers pay in advance but do not commit to a contract as this is the one area of voice services that is growing.

Until now Verizon's prepaid services have been uncompetitive with more specialist rivals and have made the biggest in-roads in the market by renting network space to prepaid provider Tracfone, a unit of America Movil (AMXL.MX).

The company has yet to decide if it will expand nationwide with a $50 per month prepaid plan it is testing in Florida and elsewhere, according to Shammo. He said Verizon would do what it needs to do in prepaid.

"We've always said we're a postpaid company," he said. "That doesn't mean that prepaid is not important to us."

Expansion of the prepaid plan would put Verizon into direct competition with smaller rivals such as MetroPCS (PCS.N) and Leap Wireless (LEAP.O).

Verizon Wireless is currently the top U.S. mobile provider, but it will be leapfrogged by AT&T next year if AT&T gains regulatory approval for its $39 billion plan to buy T-Mobile USA, a unit of Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE).

Verizon, which recently bought business services firm Terremark, may add to this deal with the purchase of boutique software companies worth less than $100 million, Shammo told Reuters.

Verizon is the majority owner of Verizon Wireless, its venture with Vodafone Group Plc. (VOD.L).

Verizon shares closed up 23 cents or 0.6 percent to $37.32 on New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Steve Orlofsky)

Adele, Avenged Sevenfold climb Social 50 chart (Reuters)

Posted: 19 May 2011 05:27 PM PDT

By Kyle Bylin Kyle Bylin – Thu May 19, 8:27 pm ET

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) – Last week, Avenged Sevenfold re-entered the Social 50 at No. 44 but now with the premiere of the band's video for "So Far Away" -- the third single off the album "Nightmare" -- on May 10, the group rises 44-37 (595,000 YouTube views).

The somber ballad serves as a tribute Avenged Sevenfold's former drummer Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan, who died in 2009.

Meanwhile, climbing 19-11, Adele matches her previous highest rank (No. 11). The singer's YouTube channel views grew 21%, which features the video for her No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 single "Rolling in the Deep."

The Social 50 ranks the most active artists on the world's leading social networking sites -- YouTube, Vevo, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and iLike -- using a formula blending weekly additions of friends/fans/followers along with weekly artist page views and weekly song plays.

Since debuting on the tally last week (No. 39), LMFAO continues to climb, rising 39-24. The duo's satirical video "Teach Me How To Shuffle" has quickly went from 47,000 to nearly 127,000 views.

After dropping off last week, YouTube cover artist Christina Grimmie has re-entered at No. 39. A 56% change in week-over-week YouTube views has helped bring her back. Grimmie uploaded a comical video on May 14 titled "Above All That Is Random 3," which has since gained 453,000 views. She also announced that she will be releasing a new EP on June 13.

Both David Guetta and Wiz Khalifa suffer similar tumbles this week -- falling 21-31 and 22-32. Each saw steep setbacks in fans, views, and plays across all monitored social networks and music outlets.

Back in the top 10, Lil Wayne reclaims the No. 10 slot after being knocked out last week by Deadmau5 (who falls 10-15). The former released a video (May 12) for his latest single "John," featuring Rick Ross, which has already achieved 2.7 cool million Vevo views.

Lady Gaga (No. 1), Justin Bieber (No. 2), Rihanna (No. 3), Akon (No. 6), and Katy Perry (No. 7) hold their positions, while Shakira (5-4), Eminem (4-5), and Beyonce (9-8) mix it up.

(Editing by Zorianna Kit)

Apple Marks 10 Years of Retail Store Success (NewsFactor)

Posted: 19 May 2011 02:40 PM PDT

Adam Dickter, newsfactor.com Adam Dickter, newsfactor.com – Thu May 19, 5:40 pm ET

Ten years ago, Apple CEO Steve Jobs offered a "private" video tour of Apple's inaugural retail store at a mall in Tysons, Corner, Va. The proud proprietor showed off areas dedicated to home and professional users and invited customers to come and see the company's latest products and "see what it's like to have wireless connection to the Internet," which was a big deal at the time.

In the video, discovered on YouTube by The Washington Post, Jobs also shows off the software gallery; shelf space for non-Apple products, including Sony camcorders and Palm Pilots; and stands behind the very first genius bar, with the disclaimer, "I'm not a genius."

Today, plenty of business analysts and Apple shareholders may disagree, as Apple now has 300 retail stores around the country, a key component in the blockbuster sales engine that has made Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple the eighth most profitable company in the U.S. and number 35 in this year's Fortune 500.

Risky Business

The direct retail push was widely considered a risk. BusinessWeek at the time said the stores might be "one step forward, two steps back in terms of getting Macs in front of customers" because it would take away business from Apple's distributors.

"Given that at that point Gateway was in the process of closing all their stores, I'd say it was a bold move, and at the time many predicted failure," said technology analyst Michael Gartenberg of Gartner Research.

He was referring to the Irvine, Calif.-based Gateway, which saw its fortunes slip after the burst of the dot-com bubble in the late 1990s and whose final outlets closed in 2004.

"Apple's success at retail underscores the level of attention they have paid to every part of the retail process and become a model for the retail industry," Gartenberg added.

With sales of iPads, iPods, iPhones and Mac computers booming, Apple is reportedly getting ready for an "Apple Store 2.0" refresh, with a heavy emphasis on personal setup of devices, according to reports.

In another clever move, reports said, the company may replace conventional signs around the stores with interactive iPads, which serve the purposes of allowing quick, detailed product information (and perhaps reducing staff demands) as well as promoting the tablet computer, which has had sales of more than 15 million in just more than a year.

The blog 9 to 5 Mac also said the company will also create bigger, better electronic displays and launch a new app for personalized store visits. There are also reports of a new product launch to commemorate the anniversary.

State of the Union

It's not all wine and roses, though.

Macworld reports that a group of workers in California's Bay area -- Apple's backyard -- are using the anniversary as an opportunity to get press attention for an effort to unionize. A person claiming to work at one such store told the magazine there are concerns about "break schedules, training opportunities, the selection and hiring process for internal candidates for open positions, and wages."

A group calling itself the Apple Retail Workers Union sent a statement to Macworld saying "we work in one of the most demanding retail environments while suffering through unfair treatment and compensation, among many other various issues ... We deserve better. Our time has come."

Apple didn't respond to our request for comment in time for publication and didn't respond to Macworld.

LiveChat Livens Up Its Features (PC Magazine)

Posted: 19 May 2011 03:16 AM PDT

Samara Lynn - PC Magazine Samara Lynn - Pc Magazine – Thu May 19, 6:16 am ET

LiveChat this week announced two new features for its real-time software and Web analytics tool for e-commerce sales and support teams, Intelligent Triggers and Conversion Meter.

With Intelligent Triggers, the LiveChat system identifies the best prospects visiting a Web site based on data gathered from the purchasing decisions of 65 million buyers. It initiates a chat invitation with a personalized, custom message. Triggers can also be set based on keywords, referring Web site, and location and can contain any combination of conditions as needed to reach the desired set of customers. LiveChat inviations are customizable.

Mariusz Cieply, Live Chat CEO said, "It's no longer about waiting for a Web site visitor to click on a chat button. E-commerce sites and brands can now initiate the conversation with their potential customers. For example, if a Web shopper experiences an error on the checkout page or is browsing for more than three minutes, triggers can be set to instantly launch shopper again. The end result is expanding sales by reaching visitors who are hesitating or encountering an error and might otherwise abandon a shopping cart at a critical purchasing point."

Conversion Meter, meanwhile, measures how many chat invitations and sessions result in a successful purchase or membership sign-up. With it, marketers can determine the success rates of their LiveChat campaigns and can make changes as needed to increase their chats to goals conversions.

LiveChat starts at $36 per month for a single agent, with additional discounts available for larger plans.
at 9:49 PM

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

My Blog List