By Tara Parker-Pope
Eating fatty food appears to take an almost immediate toll on both short-term memory and exercise performance, according to new research on rats and people.
Other studies have suggested that that long-term consumption of a high-fat diet is associated with weight gain, heart disease and declines in cognitive function. But the new research shows how indulging in fatty foods over the course of a few days can affect the brain and body long before the extra pounds show up.
To determine the effect of a fatty diet on memory and muscle performance, researchers studied 32 rats that were fed low-fat rat chow and trained for two months to complete a challenging maze. The maze included eight different paths that ended with a treat of sweetened condensed milk. The goal was for the rat to find each treat without doubling back into a corridor where it had already been. The maze was wiped down with alcohol, so the rat had to rely on memory rather than sense of smell.
All of the rats studied had mastered the maze, finding at least six or seven of the eight treats before making a mistake. Some rats even found all eight on the first try.
Then half the rats were switched to high-fat rat chow (comprised of 55 percent fat), while the remaining rats stayed on their regular chow (which had 7.5 percent fat). After four days, the rats eating the fatty chow began to falter on the maze test — all of them did worse than when they were on their regular chow. On average, the rats on the fatty diet found only five treats before making a mistake. The rats who stayed with their regular food continued the same high level of performance on the maze, finding six or more treats before making a mistake.
read the rest> http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/fatty-foods-affect-memory-and-exercise/
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Flip-flops are a magnet for dangerous, deadly bacteria
Flip-flops are the most disgusting thing I see on people’s feet. We need to somehow influence more people that flip-flops are dangerous and people should stop wearing them. NYC people unite and have flip-flops banned from city streets.
By Leah Chernikoff AND Jacob E. Osterhout
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Tuesday, August 11th 2009, 4:00 AM
Life on the street: Our reporters' germy flip-flops.
The flip-flop is the preferred summer shoe for many New Yorkers. But on city streets, the flimsy footwear can be deadly.
That film of grime that coats your feet at the end of a day of flopping around town is some dangerous dirt.
Lab tests of two reporters' flip-flops, worn for four days, revealed a potentially deadly germ - Staphylococcus aureus - lurking on the rubber.
If it seeps into a cut on your foot - an entirely common summer affliction - the bacteria can enter the bloodstream and, if left untreated, kill you.
"It can make you pretty sick if it got into a wound and into your blood, where it could attack any of your internal organs," says Dennis Kinney, Ph.D., the manager of the microbiology lab at EMSL Analytical. "If you didn't treat it with antibiotics, you could die from it."
read the rest > http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2009/08/11/2009-08-11_flipflops_are_a_magnet_for_dangerous_deadly_bac.html
By Leah Chernikoff AND Jacob E. Osterhout
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Tuesday, August 11th 2009, 4:00 AM
Life on the street: Our reporters' germy flip-flops.
The flip-flop is the preferred summer shoe for many New Yorkers. But on city streets, the flimsy footwear can be deadly.
That film of grime that coats your feet at the end of a day of flopping around town is some dangerous dirt.
Lab tests of two reporters' flip-flops, worn for four days, revealed a potentially deadly germ - Staphylococcus aureus - lurking on the rubber.
If it seeps into a cut on your foot - an entirely common summer affliction - the bacteria can enter the bloodstream and, if left untreated, kill you.
"It can make you pretty sick if it got into a wound and into your blood, where it could attack any of your internal organs," says Dennis Kinney, Ph.D., the manager of the microbiology lab at EMSL Analytical. "If you didn't treat it with antibiotics, you could die from it."
read the rest > http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2009/08/11/2009-08-11_flipflops_are_a_magnet_for_dangerous_deadly_bac.html
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
G.M. Says Volt Will Get Triple-Digit City Mileage
Hello oil producing countries, the Volt technology revolution is coming to your front door.
By BILL VLASIC
WARREN, Mich. — General Motors said Tuesday that its Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle, scheduled for release in 2011, will achieve a fuel rating of 230 miles a gallon in city driving.
The rating is based on methodology drafted by the Environmental Protection Agency, and most other automakers have not revealed the mileage for the electric cars. Nissan, however, announced last week that its all-electric vehicle, the Leaf, which comes out in late 2010, would get 367 m.p.g., using the same E.P.A. standards.
Figures for highway driving and combined city and highway use have not been completed for the Volt, but G.M.’s chief executive, Fritz Henderson, told reporters and analysts at a briefing that the car is expected to get more than 100 miles a gallon in combined city and highway driving.
read the rest here> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/12/business/12auto.html?hp
By BILL VLASIC
WARREN, Mich. — General Motors said Tuesday that its Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle, scheduled for release in 2011, will achieve a fuel rating of 230 miles a gallon in city driving.
The rating is based on methodology drafted by the Environmental Protection Agency, and most other automakers have not revealed the mileage for the electric cars. Nissan, however, announced last week that its all-electric vehicle, the Leaf, which comes out in late 2010, would get 367 m.p.g., using the same E.P.A. standards.
Figures for highway driving and combined city and highway use have not been completed for the Volt, but G.M.’s chief executive, Fritz Henderson, told reporters and analysts at a briefing that the car is expected to get more than 100 miles a gallon in combined city and highway driving.
read the rest here> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/12/business/12auto.html?hp
Monday, August 10, 2009
States End Up Losers in Gambling Pullback
Consumers' Timid Betting Leads to Drop in Income From Commercial Casinos and Lotteries, Exacerbating Budget Deficits
By CONOR DOUGHERTY
States' revenue from casinos, slot machines and lotteries is falling for the first time in many of the 48 states that have grown to depend on gambling as a crucial source of income.
View Full ImageAssociated Press
A technician looks over one of the 3,000 plus on the floor of the new Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh.
Revenue contributed by commercial casinos to state and local governments was down 2.2% in 2008, to $5.7 billion, according to the American Gaming Association, an industry trade group. In many states, the declines have continued.
Eight of the 12 states that allow commercial casinos saw their take of gambling revenue fall in the fiscal year ended June of this year, compared with the same period a year ago, according to data from states and the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government at the State University of New York.
In five of those states, including Illinois and Nevada, gambling income fell by a greater percentage than the state's overall revenue did. Nevada's gambling-tax revenue fell 15% in the fiscal year ended June compared with the same period a year earlier. That contributed to a drop of 10% in the state's overall revenue.
Many lotteries also are hurting. In a sampling of 20 state lotteries, including California and Illinois, 14 had year-over-year drops in revenue for the fiscal year ended in June, according to Rockefeller Institute.
It is a harsh reversal for states that had come to count on the gambling industry's rapid expansion to provide steady revenue growth. States saw total gambling revenue including casino games, lotteries and horse-racing wagers rise 65% from fiscal year 1998 to $23.9 billion in 2008. Overall state revenue over the same period grew to $774 billion, up 65%.
read more hear > http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124985382195717807.html
By CONOR DOUGHERTY
States' revenue from casinos, slot machines and lotteries is falling for the first time in many of the 48 states that have grown to depend on gambling as a crucial source of income.
View Full ImageAssociated Press
A technician looks over one of the 3,000 plus on the floor of the new Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh.
Revenue contributed by commercial casinos to state and local governments was down 2.2% in 2008, to $5.7 billion, according to the American Gaming Association, an industry trade group. In many states, the declines have continued.
Eight of the 12 states that allow commercial casinos saw their take of gambling revenue fall in the fiscal year ended June of this year, compared with the same period a year ago, according to data from states and the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government at the State University of New York.
In five of those states, including Illinois and Nevada, gambling income fell by a greater percentage than the state's overall revenue did. Nevada's gambling-tax revenue fell 15% in the fiscal year ended June compared with the same period a year earlier. That contributed to a drop of 10% in the state's overall revenue.
Many lotteries also are hurting. In a sampling of 20 state lotteries, including California and Illinois, 14 had year-over-year drops in revenue for the fiscal year ended in June, according to Rockefeller Institute.
It is a harsh reversal for states that had come to count on the gambling industry's rapid expansion to provide steady revenue growth. States saw total gambling revenue including casino games, lotteries and horse-racing wagers rise 65% from fiscal year 1998 to $23.9 billion in 2008. Overall state revenue over the same period grew to $774 billion, up 65%.
read more hear > http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124985382195717807.html
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Mexico and Canada Tussle Over Immigration
It continues to amaze me that Mexico blames their own problems on it's neighbors to the north. Mexico has to start to acknowledge their internal problems, correct them, and most of these tussles would be avoided.
Mexico and Canada Tussle Over Immigration
By MARC LACEY
GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Ahead of President Obama’s arrival in Mexico on Sunday night for a summit meeting of North American leaders, immigration was prompting significant behind-the-scenes debate. But it was Mexicans entering Canada, not the United States, that was the contentious issue.
Too many Mexicans, the Canadian government complained, were fraudulently claiming political asylum in Canada, overwhelming the system. So Canada announced last month that it would begin requiring Mexican nationals to secure visas before entering the country, a decision that sparked outrage in Mexico.
The Mexicans struck back with an announcement that Canadian diplomats and government officials would now require visas to enter Mexico.
Although some angry Mexican lawmakers urged President Felipe Calderon to go further and require visas for all Canadian visitors, Mr. Calderon held off, not wanting to further damage Mexico’s tourism industry, which relies heavily on North American visitors.
Aides to Mr. Calderon said he planned to use his one-one-one meeting Sunday with Stephen Harper, Canada’s prime minister, to push Canada to reconsider its decision. No breakthrough was expected, though, with Canadian officials saying beforehand that they did not plan to immediately change the policy.
The annual summit, an outgrowth of North American Free Trade Agreement signed in 1994, is designed to put the United States and its northern and southern neighbors on the same page when it comes to policy. In fact, officials said Mr. Obama, Mr. Calderon and Mr. Harper intended to forge common strategies for climate change, fighting the swine flu virus and responding to the debilitating economic crisis.
read the rest >http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/world/americas/10prexy.html?_r=1
Mexico and Canada Tussle Over Immigration
By MARC LACEY
GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Ahead of President Obama’s arrival in Mexico on Sunday night for a summit meeting of North American leaders, immigration was prompting significant behind-the-scenes debate. But it was Mexicans entering Canada, not the United States, that was the contentious issue.
Too many Mexicans, the Canadian government complained, were fraudulently claiming political asylum in Canada, overwhelming the system. So Canada announced last month that it would begin requiring Mexican nationals to secure visas before entering the country, a decision that sparked outrage in Mexico.
The Mexicans struck back with an announcement that Canadian diplomats and government officials would now require visas to enter Mexico.
Although some angry Mexican lawmakers urged President Felipe Calderon to go further and require visas for all Canadian visitors, Mr. Calderon held off, not wanting to further damage Mexico’s tourism industry, which relies heavily on North American visitors.
Aides to Mr. Calderon said he planned to use his one-one-one meeting Sunday with Stephen Harper, Canada’s prime minister, to push Canada to reconsider its decision. No breakthrough was expected, though, with Canadian officials saying beforehand that they did not plan to immediately change the policy.
The annual summit, an outgrowth of North American Free Trade Agreement signed in 1994, is designed to put the United States and its northern and southern neighbors on the same page when it comes to policy. In fact, officials said Mr. Obama, Mr. Calderon and Mr. Harper intended to forge common strategies for climate change, fighting the swine flu virus and responding to the debilitating economic crisis.
read the rest >http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/world/americas/10prexy.html?_r=1
Friday, August 7, 2009
Sirius Widens Quarterly Loss
NEW YORK (AP) -- Satellite-radio operator Sirius XM Radio Inc. said Thursday its second-quarter loss widened to $157.4 million as one-time charges offset growing revenue.
Sirius has been struggling to turn a profit amid the recession's disastrous effect on auto sales -- a pivotal factor for the company because it signs up many of its new subscribers when they buy vehicles. It took a $530 million loan from Liberty Media Corp. in February in order to stave off a bankruptcy filing.
The downturn continued to hurt the company in the most-recent quarter. Sirius ended the April-June period with roughly 18.4 million customers, down about 1 percent from the year before. Its ''churn,'' or customer turnover rate, climbed to 2 percent from 1.7 percent.
Sirius helped mitigate those declines by cutting $187 million from expenses. It also boosted the average revenue it got from each subscriber per month to $10.66 from $10.55.
The company now expects $400 million in adjusted income from operations this year, up from a May forecast of $350 million.
Sirius said its per share loss amounted to 4 cents for the three months ended June 30. It reported a loss of $83.9 million, or 6 cents per share, a year ago. But those results did not yet reflect its July 2008 acquisition of XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. Sirius also had more shares outstanding in the second quarter of 2009.
The latest results included $108 million in charges related to paying off debt and other one-time costs. Before special items, the adjusted loss came to a penny per share, in line with analysts' expectations, according to a Thomson Reuters survey.
Sirius said its revenue more than doubled to $590.8 million, largely because of the XM acquisition. Assuming the acquisition had already been completed in the same quarter a year ago, revenue was up 1 percent to $607.8 million, matching expectations.
Sirius has been struggling to turn a profit amid the recession's disastrous effect on auto sales -- a pivotal factor for the company because it signs up many of its new subscribers when they buy vehicles. It took a $530 million loan from Liberty Media Corp. in February in order to stave off a bankruptcy filing.
The downturn continued to hurt the company in the most-recent quarter. Sirius ended the April-June period with roughly 18.4 million customers, down about 1 percent from the year before. Its ''churn,'' or customer turnover rate, climbed to 2 percent from 1.7 percent.
Sirius helped mitigate those declines by cutting $187 million from expenses. It also boosted the average revenue it got from each subscriber per month to $10.66 from $10.55.
The company now expects $400 million in adjusted income from operations this year, up from a May forecast of $350 million.
Sirius said its per share loss amounted to 4 cents for the three months ended June 30. It reported a loss of $83.9 million, or 6 cents per share, a year ago. But those results did not yet reflect its July 2008 acquisition of XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. Sirius also had more shares outstanding in the second quarter of 2009.
The latest results included $108 million in charges related to paying off debt and other one-time costs. Before special items, the adjusted loss came to a penny per share, in line with analysts' expectations, according to a Thomson Reuters survey.
Sirius said its revenue more than doubled to $590.8 million, largely because of the XM acquisition. Assuming the acquisition had already been completed in the same quarter a year ago, revenue was up 1 percent to $607.8 million, matching expectations.
Governors Fear Added Costs in Health Care Overhaul
The fraying of the nation’s Medicaid system has many indicators, and one of them is Connie Baugh’s stockings.
Ms. Baugh received a letter the other day from the state saying that as a result of budget cuts, Medicaid could no longer pay for the compression stockings that support her circulation and keep her aching leg ulcers from flaring. “I thought, oh God, another problem,” recalled Ms. Baugh, a 77-year-old retired dietitian.
At $239 a pair, the stockings are more than one-third the value of the monthly Social Security check she lives on.
Such cutbacks, in response to the recession that has eroded state finances even while swelling Medicaid ranks, is the reason Washington’s Democratic governor, Christine Gregoire, is among governors from both parties who fear the implications of the health care overhaul now being devised in Washington, D.C.
The governors worry Congress will give the states expensive new Medicaid obligations without providing enough new money to pay for them.
“We can’t afford to have Congress raise the eligibility for Medicaid coverage without paying for it,” Ms. Gregoire said in an interview.
If anything, the states’ fears were stoked further last week when House lawmakers drafting health legislation reached a cost compromise with conservative Blue Dog Democrats that would force states to take on a greater Medicaid spending burden than an earlier version of the bill.
read the rest> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/07/business/07medicaid.html
Ms. Baugh received a letter the other day from the state saying that as a result of budget cuts, Medicaid could no longer pay for the compression stockings that support her circulation and keep her aching leg ulcers from flaring. “I thought, oh God, another problem,” recalled Ms. Baugh, a 77-year-old retired dietitian.
At $239 a pair, the stockings are more than one-third the value of the monthly Social Security check she lives on.
Such cutbacks, in response to the recession that has eroded state finances even while swelling Medicaid ranks, is the reason Washington’s Democratic governor, Christine Gregoire, is among governors from both parties who fear the implications of the health care overhaul now being devised in Washington, D.C.
The governors worry Congress will give the states expensive new Medicaid obligations without providing enough new money to pay for them.
“We can’t afford to have Congress raise the eligibility for Medicaid coverage without paying for it,” Ms. Gregoire said in an interview.
If anything, the states’ fears were stoked further last week when House lawmakers drafting health legislation reached a cost compromise with conservative Blue Dog Democrats that would force states to take on a greater Medicaid spending burden than an earlier version of the bill.
read the rest> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/07/business/07medicaid.html
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Each New Employee at the New AMD Plant in Malta NY Is Worth $685,000 Dollars according to New York State ... WOW
A decade ago, it was 200 acres of pine trees near Saratoga Lake. A decade from now, it could be the booming heart of a new high-tech corridor, filled with some of the most sophisticated labs and plants in the country.
After years of haggling and setbacks, officials finally broke ground Friday on a $4.2 billion plant that will manufacture advanced microprocessors and would be the most advanced facility of its kind in the world. The plant, to be built on a 222-acre site, will be bigger than the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan.
Elected officials are counting on the expected completion of the factory in 2011 to provide a major boost to the ailing upstate region, where for years they have promised, and mostly failed, to deliver an economic resurgence.
The plant, which will manufacture chips for California-based Advanced Micro Devices and other chip design firms, will generate 1,400 new manufacturing jobs, officials say.
With the new factory as an anchor, they say, they can attract more investment to the area, building a cluster of businesses and academic centers that could ultimately rival Route 128 outside of Boston or North Carolina’s Research Triangle.
“You’ve got everything in place here to make the whole upstate region a leader in chip fab manufacture and high technology generally,” said Charles V. Wait, president of Adirondack Trust Corporation, a bank that helped finance early efforts to bring tech companies to the area. “When I grew up, you couldn’t find a job here in Saratoga, and everyone left after college.”
read the rest > http://bit.ly/2K8oEv
After years of haggling and setbacks, officials finally broke ground Friday on a $4.2 billion plant that will manufacture advanced microprocessors and would be the most advanced facility of its kind in the world. The plant, to be built on a 222-acre site, will be bigger than the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan.
Elected officials are counting on the expected completion of the factory in 2011 to provide a major boost to the ailing upstate region, where for years they have promised, and mostly failed, to deliver an economic resurgence.
The plant, which will manufacture chips for California-based Advanced Micro Devices and other chip design firms, will generate 1,400 new manufacturing jobs, officials say.
With the new factory as an anchor, they say, they can attract more investment to the area, building a cluster of businesses and academic centers that could ultimately rival Route 128 outside of Boston or North Carolina’s Research Triangle.
“You’ve got everything in place here to make the whole upstate region a leader in chip fab manufacture and high technology generally,” said Charles V. Wait, president of Adirondack Trust Corporation, a bank that helped finance early efforts to bring tech companies to the area. “When I grew up, you couldn’t find a job here in Saratoga, and everyone left after college.”
read the rest > http://bit.ly/2K8oEv
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
The Security Swamp - Will a new TSA passenger-screening program end up being a nightmare for travelers?
The name on my passport, my preferred form of travel identification, is Joseph Angelo Brancatelli. I was born on May 22, 1953. And I am a male.
I tell you these admittedly prosaic bits of personal trivia because I want you to know that I am not against giving this information to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). And if you want to fly, you, too, will soon be required to disclose this data to the TSA, the lumbering, leaderless, secretive bureaucracy that has spent the years since 9/11 alternately keeping us safe and infuriating us.
Secure Flight, the official name of this latest bit of data mining by the federal bureaucracy with the power over your freedom of movement, kicked in last week in typical TSA style: suddenly, with virtually no public discussion and even fewer details about its implementation. According to the agency's press release, which is buried half-a-dozen clicks deep on the TSA website, Secure Flight is now operative on four airlines. Which airlines? The TSA won't say. When will Secure Flight be extended to other carriers? Sometime in the next year, but the agency won't publicly disclose a timeline or discuss the whys, wherefores, and practical details.
read the rest > http://www.portfolio.com/business-travel/seat-2B/2009/04/07/TSA-Launches-Secure-Flight?PMID=alsoin/The-Security-Swamp
I tell you these admittedly prosaic bits of personal trivia because I want you to know that I am not against giving this information to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). And if you want to fly, you, too, will soon be required to disclose this data to the TSA, the lumbering, leaderless, secretive bureaucracy that has spent the years since 9/11 alternately keeping us safe and infuriating us.
Secure Flight, the official name of this latest bit of data mining by the federal bureaucracy with the power over your freedom of movement, kicked in last week in typical TSA style: suddenly, with virtually no public discussion and even fewer details about its implementation. According to the agency's press release, which is buried half-a-dozen clicks deep on the TSA website, Secure Flight is now operative on four airlines. Which airlines? The TSA won't say. When will Secure Flight be extended to other carriers? Sometime in the next year, but the agency won't publicly disclose a timeline or discuss the whys, wherefores, and practical details.
read the rest > http://www.portfolio.com/business-travel/seat-2B/2009/04/07/TSA-Launches-Secure-Flight?PMID=alsoin/The-Security-Swamp
Foie Gras Palates, Hot Dog Pocketbooks
“The donut wars,” several blogs and news organizations called them, as if a platoon of cinnamon crullers were advancing on a phalanx of glazed. The dispatches from the front were numerous — and impassioned. This was clearly a contest of the utmost consequence.
It pitted Tim Hortons, a Canadian doughnut leader, against Dunkin’ Donuts, an American one. Last weekend, Hortons invaded Manhattan, displacing a dozen Dunkin’ stores and girding for battle with the rest.
But while this development could have been covered and discussed merely as a business story or even a parable of international comeuppance, it was almost instantly analyzed in epicurean terms. Which of the two fast-food chains fried a finer circle of dough? And how did the Hortons nuggetlike Timbit stack up against the shrunken Dunkin’ Munchkin?
The New York Daily News staged a taste test. So did the blogs Urbanite (affiliated with amNY), the Feed (affiliated with TimeOut New York) and Diner’s Journal (affiliated with The New York Times).
In so doing, they showed how the humblest of foodstuffs have come to be treated in the most exalted and rapt of fashions — worthy of probing, pondering and ranking.
This elevation of what was once considered junk food to the subject of vigorous aesthetic analysis represents the convergence of two trend lines. The first is many Americans’ growing sophistication about, and fascination with, what’s for dinner (or breakfast or lunch): the variety of it; the vocabulary for it; where to buy the best this; how to cook the best that. More and more people seem to insist on deliciousness, and more and more seem to have readily articulated opinions to go along with that demand.
read the rest >
It pitted Tim Hortons, a Canadian doughnut leader, against Dunkin’ Donuts, an American one. Last weekend, Hortons invaded Manhattan, displacing a dozen Dunkin’ stores and girding for battle with the rest.
But while this development could have been covered and discussed merely as a business story or even a parable of international comeuppance, it was almost instantly analyzed in epicurean terms. Which of the two fast-food chains fried a finer circle of dough? And how did the Hortons nuggetlike Timbit stack up against the shrunken Dunkin’ Munchkin?
The New York Daily News staged a taste test. So did the blogs Urbanite (affiliated with amNY), the Feed (affiliated with TimeOut New York) and Diner’s Journal (affiliated with The New York Times).
In so doing, they showed how the humblest of foodstuffs have come to be treated in the most exalted and rapt of fashions — worthy of probing, pondering and ranking.
This elevation of what was once considered junk food to the subject of vigorous aesthetic analysis represents the convergence of two trend lines. The first is many Americans’ growing sophistication about, and fascination with, what’s for dinner (or breakfast or lunch): the variety of it; the vocabulary for it; where to buy the best this; how to cook the best that. More and more people seem to insist on deliciousness, and more and more seem to have readily articulated opinions to go along with that demand.
read the rest >
Monday, July 20, 2009
The Gift Economist - The marketplace has spoken. The marketplace wants free - Questions for Chris Anderson
As the editor of Wired magazine and a champion of the online life, you have just written a controversial book, “Free: The Future of a Radical Price,” that suggests that companies can profit by giving away digital services and products. It’s paradoxical. By giving away products to lots of people, you can make money. Free is the greatest marketing tool there is. It allows you to expose the biggest audience to what you do, and then the question is: Who’s going to pay? Google is the poster child of free. It’s one of the most profitable companies in America, but it doesn’t show up on your credit-card statement.
Several critics have already pointed out flaws in your argument, citing YouTube as an example of a mass sensation that is losing enormous sums of money. YouTube is owned by Google and today loses money. But Google has achieved something extraordinary, which is a network-television-size audience. The problem with YouTube is not that it costs too much to deliver that video but that we have not found a way to migrate television advertising as quickly as the television audience has migrated.
Why not just sell subscriptions, as in the HBO model, which proves that people are willing to pay for quality?
The original concept of the information superhighway from the early ’90s was going to be exactly that. We’re now 15 years past that, and the marketplace has spoken. The marketplace wants free. Consumers want free, and if you decide to set up a subscription service, then your competitor will make a free one.
read the rest > http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/magazine/19fob-q4-t.html?ref=technology
Several critics have already pointed out flaws in your argument, citing YouTube as an example of a mass sensation that is losing enormous sums of money. YouTube is owned by Google and today loses money. But Google has achieved something extraordinary, which is a network-television-size audience. The problem with YouTube is not that it costs too much to deliver that video but that we have not found a way to migrate television advertising as quickly as the television audience has migrated.
Why not just sell subscriptions, as in the HBO model, which proves that people are willing to pay for quality?
The original concept of the information superhighway from the early ’90s was going to be exactly that. We’re now 15 years past that, and the marketplace has spoken. The marketplace wants free. Consumers want free, and if you decide to set up a subscription service, then your competitor will make a free one.
read the rest > http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/magazine/19fob-q4-t.html?ref=technology
Monday, July 13, 2009
Exxon to Invest Millions to Make Fuel From Algae
The oil giant Exxon Mobil, whose chief executive once mocked alternative energy by referring to ethanol as “moonshine,” is about to venture into biofuels.
On Tuesday, Exxon plans to announce an investment of $600 million in producing liquid transportation fuels from algae — organisms in water that range from pond scum to seaweed. The biofuel effort involves a partnership with Synthetic Genomics, a biotechnology company founded by the genomics pioneer J. Craig Venter.
The agreement could plug a major gap in the strategy of Exxon, the world’s largest and richest publicly traded oil company, which has been criticized by environmental groups for dismissing concerns about global warming in the past and its reluctance to develop renewable fuels.
Despite the widely publicized “moonshine” remark a few years ago by Exxon’s chairman and chief executive, Rex W. Tillerson, the company has spent several years exploring various fuel alternatives, according to one of its top research officials.
“We literally looked at every option we could think of, with several key parameters in mind,” said Emil Jacobs, vice president for research and development at Exxon’s research and engineering unit. “Scale was the first. For transportation fuels, if you can’t see whether you can scale a technology up, then you have to question whether you need to be involved at all.”
He added, “I am not going to sugarcoat this — this is not going to be easy.” Any large-scale commercial plants to produce algae-based fuels are at least 5 to 10 years away, Dr. Jacobs said.
Exxon’s sincerity and commitment will almost certainly be questioned by its most galvanized environmentalist critics, especially when compared with the company’s extraordinary profits from petroleum in recent years.
read the rest> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/14/business/energy-environment/14fuel.html?_r=1&hp
On Tuesday, Exxon plans to announce an investment of $600 million in producing liquid transportation fuels from algae — organisms in water that range from pond scum to seaweed. The biofuel effort involves a partnership with Synthetic Genomics, a biotechnology company founded by the genomics pioneer J. Craig Venter.
The agreement could plug a major gap in the strategy of Exxon, the world’s largest and richest publicly traded oil company, which has been criticized by environmental groups for dismissing concerns about global warming in the past and its reluctance to develop renewable fuels.
Despite the widely publicized “moonshine” remark a few years ago by Exxon’s chairman and chief executive, Rex W. Tillerson, the company has spent several years exploring various fuel alternatives, according to one of its top research officials.
“We literally looked at every option we could think of, with several key parameters in mind,” said Emil Jacobs, vice president for research and development at Exxon’s research and engineering unit. “Scale was the first. For transportation fuels, if you can’t see whether you can scale a technology up, then you have to question whether you need to be involved at all.”
He added, “I am not going to sugarcoat this — this is not going to be easy.” Any large-scale commercial plants to produce algae-based fuels are at least 5 to 10 years away, Dr. Jacobs said.
Exxon’s sincerity and commitment will almost certainly be questioned by its most galvanized environmentalist critics, especially when compared with the company’s extraordinary profits from petroleum in recent years.
read the rest> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/14/business/energy-environment/14fuel.html?_r=1&hp
Golfers Have Clothes Laid Out for Them
As Tiger Woods prepares to putt on the 18th green this weekend at the British Open, he will assess many variables: the speed of the green, the grain in the grass, the wind, the slope, even the moisture underfoot.
But there is one thing about Woods at the 138th British Open that has been set in stone for more than a year: the color and design of his shirt, pants and hat.
For Thursday’s first round, his shirt will be navy and striped. It will be a bright coral color Friday and white with a stripe Saturday. And Sunday, Woods will wear a new, textured red argyle shirt with black pants.
Golf is notoriously fickle, yet golf apparel manufacturers leave no marketing opportunity to chance. What Woods wears each day at every major championship this year has been scripted for him by his sponsor Nike since last summer. To ensure that retailers have a new design or color modeled by Woods on their shelves this weekend, Nike had its first meetings about Woods’s 2009 British Open wardrobe 17 months ago.
read the rest > http://bit.ly/zOMOh
But there is one thing about Woods at the 138th British Open that has been set in stone for more than a year: the color and design of his shirt, pants and hat.
For Thursday’s first round, his shirt will be navy and striped. It will be a bright coral color Friday and white with a stripe Saturday. And Sunday, Woods will wear a new, textured red argyle shirt with black pants.
Golf is notoriously fickle, yet golf apparel manufacturers leave no marketing opportunity to chance. What Woods wears each day at every major championship this year has been scripted for him by his sponsor Nike since last summer. To ensure that retailers have a new design or color modeled by Woods on their shelves this weekend, Nike had its first meetings about Woods’s 2009 British Open wardrobe 17 months ago.
read the rest > http://bit.ly/zOMOh
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