The Main Event: HEAT vs CELTICS

The Main Event: East champ Boston vs. East challenger Miami
By John Schuhmann

Nothing against the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers, but they were just part of the warmup act. Now that the Knicks and Sixers have gone fishin', it's time for the heavyweight matchup that we've been waiting for since last July.

The Boston Celtics have ruled the Eastern Conference for the last four years. The Miami Heat are looking to rule it for the next four. When Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade joined forces, they knew they would first have to conquer the Celtics to realize their goal of winning a championship. Well, here they are. "It wouldn't be right if we didn't go through them," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after his team closed out the Sixers on Wednesday.

If the Celtics' big three didn't come together in 2007 via a pair of big trades, the Heat's big three probably wouldn't have come together last summer via free agency. Boston is the blueprint. Miami is the newer, more talented version. But the Heat don't have the experience and cohesion that the Celtics have developed over the last four years.

Still, thanks to the Celtics' late-season nosedive and a win over Boston on April 10, the Heat will have home-court advantage in this series. The Celtics' advantage, in addition to much more time spent together, is their relative comfort in late-game situations.

Will the Heat put an end to the Celtics' run atop the East on their first try? Or will Boston prove that there's no match for experience?

Those aren't the only questions:

Five quick questions

1. Have the Celtics flipped the switch? After barely beating the Knicks in two games at home, Boston seemingly found its rhythm at Madison Square Garden. But two games wasn't enough to convince Doc Rivers that all is right with his team, which has been largely inconsistent since the trade deadline. "With our team, you never know," Rivers said after Game 4 in New York.

2. Do the Heat need to make a lineup change? Yes. Over the course of their series with the Sixers, the Heat's starting lineup was outscored 92-53 in the first quarter, putting them in double-digit holes in four of the five games. Erik Spoelstra clearly had enough in Game 5, starting the second half with Mario Chalmers and Joel Anthony instead of Mike Bibby and Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

3. Which team has the better bench?On paper, it's the Celtics. And with their lineup issues, it's unclear who will be coming off the bench for the Heat. But other than a nice run in the first half of Game 4 against the Knicks, Boston's group of Glen Davis, Jeff Green, Nenad Krstic and Delonte West has been largely disappointing. So those stretches when there are fewer than seven All-Stars on the floor will be critical for both teams.

4. Why has Wade struggled so much (16-for-57 from the field) against the Celtics this season? The Celtics' big men have done a great job of defending him off the screen. He's been able to get into the paint, but not without company. Still, his awful numbers against Boston are somewhat fluky. His shooting percentage from within five feet of the basket against the Celtics (8-for-25, 32 percent) was less than half of his percentage against the other 29 teams (67 percent).

5. Can Ray Allen continue to shoot so well? If he does, the Heat are in trouble. Not only did Allen shoot 17-for-26 from 3-point range in the first round against the Knicks, he shot 16-for-28 from beyond the arc in four regular-season games against the Heat. If there's one thing the Heat want to take away (or at least limit) in this series, it's Allen's threes. The Celtics are 12-0 when he hits four or more this season, including two wins over Miami.

When the Heat have the ball ...

Ball movement is critical. The Celtics load up on the strong side of the ball, looking to keep the ballhandler out of the paint. So James and Wade will have a hard time going one-on-one, especially on their initial action in the offense. The Heat need to move the ball from side to keep the defense moving, open up lanes to the basket, and avoid settling for jump shots.

Kevin Garnett will neutralize Bosh and snuff out a lot of pick-and-rolls. The Heat will probably have more success running pick-and-rolls with James and Wade. James Jones' ability to knock down shots on the weak side will be critical.

When the Celtics have the ball ...

The Heat need to stop Rajon Rondo in transition and keep him out of the paint. They can play off him in the half-court, as long as they don't let Allen and Paul Pierce get free on the wings. If passing lanes are open, Rondo will pick apart the defense and rack up the assists.

The top priority for the Celtics will be to avoid turnovers to keep Miami from getting out on the break, where they're most dangerous. No team has turned the ball over more often (17.6 times per 100 possessions) in the playoffs than the Celtics. In many ways, their defensive success against the Heat depends on their offensive execution.

In the clutch

The Heat are famously 1-for-19 in the last 10 seconds of games with the score tied or when they trail by 1-3 points. The Celtics aren't much better (2-for-14) in the same situation, but they clearly have a better history when it comes to executing in the clutch.

The Celtics have a lot of options down the stretch, and Doc Rivers is not afraid to get creative with his play calls when his team needs a bucket. So Miami has to be prepared for anything and everything.

The Heat have had some success running pick-and-rolls with James and Wade. Wade seems to make better decisions with the ball, but no matter who starts with it, the shot needs to go to the open man, even if that guy isn't an All-Star.

Wild cards

Each team has been waiting to get a veteran big man back from injury. Udonis Haslem has been out longer, but he appears to be more likely to return for Game 1 than Boston's Shaquille O'Neal.

Both teams can survive without their recovering bigs, but Haslem and O'Neal provide additional options on the front line. Haslem is more mobile than Ilgauskas and more polished offensively than Anthony. O'Neal has size that Miami just can't match and which comes in handy on both ends of the floor.

The pick

The Celtics have the experience and the swagger. But the Heat have the talent and home-court advantage. They've also been playing better and more consistently over the last several weeks. Heat in seven.

New Transformers Movie: 'Dark of the Moon' (TRAILER)

New Transformers Movie: 'Dark of the Moon'

The highly anticipated second sequel to Michael Bay's 'Transformers,' 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon,' opens July 1, and Paramount/DreamWorks has released a brand new trailer.

The film stars Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Josh Duhamel, Patrick Dempsey, Tyrese Gibson, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, John Turturro, Kevin Dunn and Julie White.

This time round the Autobots learn of a Cybertronian spacecraft hidden on the Moon, and race against the Decepticons to reach it and learn its secrets. Naturally, the Earth (well, at least Chicago) sees the brunt of the fighting -- and destruction.

Wal-Mart shoppers are going broke

Wal-Mart: Our shoppers are 'running out of money'

Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke (left) speaking to a gathering of industry watchers in New York on Wednesday.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Wal-Mart's core shoppers are running out of money much faster than a year ago due to rising gasoline prices, and the retail giant is worried, CEO Mike Duke said Wednesday.

"We're seeing core consumers under a lot of pressure," Duke said at an event in New York. "There's no doubt that rising fuel prices are having an impact."

Wal-Mart shoppers, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck, typically shop in bulk at the beginning of the month when their paychecks come in.

Lately, they're "running out of money" at a faster clip, he said.

Wal-Mart's ready to do battle on prices

"Purchases are really dropping off by the end of the month even more than last year," Duke said. "This end-of-month [purchases] cycle is growing to be a concern.

Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500), which averages 140 million shoppers weekly to its stores in the United States, is considered a barometer of the health of the consumer and the economy.

To that end, Duke said he's not seeing signs of a recovery yet.

With food prices rising, Duke said Wal-Mart is charging customers more for some fresh groceries while reducing prices on other merchandise such as electronics.

Wal-Mart has struggled with seven straight quarters of sales declines in its stores.

Addressing that challenge, Duke said the company made mistakes by shrinking product variety and not being more aggressive on prices compared to its competitors.

"What's made Wal-Mart great over the decades is 'every day low prices' and our [product] assortment," he said. "We got away from it."

Now, with its strategy of low prices all the time back in place, Duke said making Wal-Mart a "one-stop shopping stop" is a critical response to dealing with the rising price of fuel.

Americans don't have the luxury of driving all over town to do their shopping.

Other than competing on prices and products, Duke said Wal-Mart is focused on leveraging technology -- especially social networking -- more aggressively to drive sales.

"Social networking is much more a part of the purchasing decision," he said. "Consumers are communicating with each other on Facebook about how they spend their money and what they're buying."

Elsewhere, Duke said Wal-Mart is exploring a number of e-commerce initiatives to grow the business such as testing an online groceries delivery business in San Jose.

Miami's 'Cupcakes By Hilda' Crowned "America's Cupcake Queen 2011"

Miami's 'Cupcakes By Hilda' Crowned "America's Cupcake Queen 2011"

Several weeks ago 40 different Cupcake Stylist’s from all over America stepped into the ring for a brawl. Well, not a boxing one but a social media contest commissioned by Florida based Whilly Bermudez Media as part of marketing research for one of their clients. Within the first week two challengers become engaged in hand to hand combat. They were ‘Her Majesty’s Cupcakes’ (Her Majesty’s Facebook Page) and ‘Cupcakes by Hilda’ (Cupcakes by Hilda Facebook Page). 

You’ve seen the many different online Facebook contests that friends ask you to “Like” a photo or logo image in order to win something. Well, this was no different. Except, from winning some marketing services from their sister company Media Thrasher, some of the details of the activity was recorded to measure the level of enthusiasm by the public. The contest and others take place on the company’s Facebook Page at Facebook.com/WhillyBermudezDotCom

After a grueling 3 + weeks of lining up friends and sweet toothed customers for the popularity contest there was one prevailing winner. However, it wasn’t that simple. Although there was a “winner”, the contest actually showed just how popular the two finalists were in the South Florida area. Both of them showed just how delicious their cupcakes really are – by the amount of support received. In the end, the winner was Cupcakes by Hilda.  The company cupcake stylist is Mrs. Hilda Lopez. Hilda has been providing delicious cupcakes since 2009 and is showing no signs of slowing down. You can learn more about Hilda and her cupcakes on her facebook page.

For information of Whilly Bermudez’s marketing services, social media contests, or other information visit: www.MarketingByWB.com

Consumer Desire For Android Grows, Unlike iOS And Blackberry

Nielsen: Consumer Desire For Android Grows, Unlike iOS And Blackberry
Robin Wauters

Nielsen ran monthly surveys of mobile consumers in the United States from July to September 2010, and said back then that 33 percent expressed interest for an Apple iPhone, while slightly more than a quarter (26 percent) said they desired a device with Android and 13 percent said they wanted a Blackberry device. How quickly things change.

This morning, Nielsen posited that those same surveys for January 2011 to March 2011 now show that 31 percent of consumers who plan to get a new smartphone indicated that Android was now their preferred OS. Apple’s iOS has slipped slightly in popularity, to 30 percent.

RIM / Blackberry, meanwhile, is down to 11 percent. Nearly 20 percent of consumers are unsure of what to choose next.

Perhaps surprisingly, desire for Windows Phone devices actually dropped a percent (from 7% to 6%), while interest in Symbian devices remains non-existent when it comes to the US.

At the end of last year, Nielsen posited that Apple’s iOS and Android were tied for “most desired operating system” when mobile users who planned to upgrade to a smartphone in the next year were asked about their next phone. Android comes out on top for the first time in the first quarter of 2011, according to Nielsen’s data (see chart above).

Nielsen says the trend is visible at the counter, too. Zooming in on sales, half of those surveyed in March 2011 who indicated they had purchased a smartphone in the past six months said they had chosen an Android device. A quarter of recent acquirers said they bought an Apple iPhone, and 15 percent said they had picked a Blackberry phone.

Facebook to Challenge Groupon

Facebook's new Deals product launches in 5 cities
Mashable's Jolie O'Dell reports that Facebook is going for the Jugular.

Facebook is finally launching local Deals -- a feature that will compete with Groupon's core product, not Foursquare's -- in five cities today.

The five communities in question are San Francisco, Austin, Dallas, Atlanta and San Diego.

Facebook revealed to The New York Times that the local offers made to Deals users will be delivered via email and will also appear in users' news feeds.

Any Facebook user can sign up for Deals notifications on the feature's landing page now; users in the five test cities should be able to see and use Deals.

 Mashable: We've got screenshots of the all-new Deals

Facebook's first local deals product was announced as part of Facebook's overarching locations feature, Places. Mobile check-ins were linked to deals; in this way, Deals served as an incentive for Facebook users to integrate Facebook Places in their daily lives -- and they were also an incentive for marketers and major brands to put more money into the Facebook platform.

Facebook even briefly launched a page to let web users find these checkin-focused deals on the web.

However, the new Deals are less like a Foursquare coupon awarded to the user after a checkin and more like a Groupon voucher, which means the user can buy a certificate for a certain good or service at a steep discount, typically half off its retail price, then redeem it later.

Examples of the new breed of Facebook Deals from brands include "unlimited bowling with six friends for an evening for $60 (75% off)" and "luxury winery tour and 25% off all wine purchases for $50."

Perhaps most importantly, users can buy Deals using Facebook Credits, paving a smooth path between a virtual currency and real-world goods and services.

We suspected Facebook had plans to bring Credits to the real world since around the time of f8, the company's developer conference, when Facebook announced its ambitious Open Graph.

Users are able to buy Deals with major credit cards.

See the original article on Mashable.com

Local offers made to Deals users will be delivered via email and will also appear in users' news feeds

Don’t Second-Guess Yourself

Don’t Second-Guess Yourself. You Had It Right the First Time

It’s easy to look back and see where you might have done something differently. As long as you are looking for ways to improve your performance, it’s OK to look back. But don’t waste time second-guessing yourself. Your past results are based on your past experience. If things don’t work out, use your new experience to get better results next time.

At the end of every luge run we pick up a walkie-talkie and get feedback from Coach. The feedback is rarely fun to listen to but it’s hugely important. Coach tells us how we can be faster next time. And in the evening after dinner, we watch videos of our runs to see for ourselves what we did and how we can improve.

We don’t dwell on our mistakes. We look to the future and have a plan for the future. That’s how you can have constant improvement.

Who is your Coach?

Apple's secret weapon against rivals

How Apple blocks its competition

By David Goldman

Apple is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to the supply chain for gadgets. It gives buyers what they want faster than its rivals -- and in the process, it sometimes delays the competition's products from coming to market.

Japan's earthquake, tsunami and aftershocks halted or slowed production of hundreds of components that are found in consumer electronics devices, including the iPhone and iPad. Memory chips, touch screens, image sensors, batteries and the special resins that are used to hold chipsets together have all been in scarce supply lately.

Yet Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) sold a remarkable 18.7 million iPhones and 4.7 million iPads last quarter. COO Tim Cook said Wednesday that the company would suffer "no material supply impact" in the current quarter, despite what he called "the mother of all backlogs" thanks tovery strong demand for the iPad.

Other consumer electronics makers haven't been so lucky. Sony Ericsson, for instance, said it would delay its eagerly anticipated Xperia Play "PlayStation phone" because of the Japan earthquake's impact on the supply chain. Research In Motion (RIMM) finally launched itsPlayBook tablet last week, after delaying its release by a month.

"A number of equipment manufacturers are getting delayed or shut out due to Apple's supply chain dominance," said Brian White, supply chain and Apple analyst at Ticonderoga Securities.

Not only has Apple been able to beat competitors to the market with devices, it also sells them more cheaply. Despite having a year to catch up, no major tablet competitors have been able to match Apple's $499 entry point for the iPad.

How does Apple do it?

"The products are hot, it's got $60 billion in cash, and it's a big company," White said. "Those three factors allow it to get more of its fair share of components, and ultimately market share."

Apple aggressively uses its size and vast array of resources -- including itsvery deep pockets -- to get the deals it wants with component makers. The company sent executives to its Japanese suppliers literally with cash in hand to make sure supply remained adequate, White said.

But Apple's key to supply-chain success isn't as simple as its ability to bring bigger briefcases of $100 bills to its partners than its rivals. Part of the reason Apple wins in the supply chain is simply because Apple is so successful overall.

"In times of a shortage, suppliers are going to sell to their biggest customers first," said Tom Dinges, senior electronics manufacturing consultant at IHS iSuppli.

Sales of Apple's devices have risen astronomically over the past several years, and the company has grown to become one of the world's biggest component purchasers.

But there are lots of big companies out there. What separates Apple from the rest is its ability to sell a lot of products while selling remarkably few different kinds of products.

Apple predominately sells just five different gadgets -- iPad, iPhone, iPod, Mac and Apple TV -- and a combined total of 15 different variations of those devices, excluding modifications like the amount of available memory.

That small handful of products shares many parts common to all the devices. That makes Apple's supply chain among the most precisely honed in the world.

"For a company of Apple's size, no one out there sells so few different products," Dinges said. "As a result, Apple's sourcing strategy can be much more finely tuned than other companies with very disparate products."

All of that adds up to a very well-oiled machine. Despite ongoing worldwide supply constraints, Apple's Cook said the company is "so confident in its ability to supply" that it's launching the iPad 2 in 13 more countries next week.

The Motorola (MMI) Xoom isn't even available in 13 countries yet.

Facebook posts lead to bank robbery arrests

Facebook posts lead to bank heist arrests

Two people charged in a staged Texas bank heist apparently didn't think twice when they typed messages in the "What's on your mind?" portion of their Facebook pages, court documents show.

"Get $$(;.," wrote bank employee Estefany Danelia Martinez, 19, two days before $62,201 was taken from the International Bank of Commerce in Houston, according to an affidavit from FBI Special Agent Kevin J. Katz.

According to the affidavit, filed with a criminal complaint in federal court this week, her boyfriend, Ricky Gonzalez, 18, wrote on his page on March 24, the day after the robbery, "Wipe my teeth with hundereds (sic)."

Those postings, plus an anonymous Crime Stoppers tip on March 30, landed the pair and two others in custody, according to the federal complaint. The tip advised there was information about the heist on Facebook.

Martinez's attorney said Friday the Facebook postings may show his client was immature and deserving of a short prison term or probation.

According to the Katz's affidavit, Martinez told authorities the amateurish scheme was hatched by another teller, Anna Margarita Rivera.

Rivera was a teller during a previous unsolved bank robbery "and believed staging the robbery would be easy," according to the affidavit.

"Martinez advised the plan was for herself and Rivera to pick a date where they would both be working the late shift and they would plan for the staged robbery to take place close to closing time, thus minimizing the chances of any customers being in the bank," according to the affidavit.

Gonzalez and Arturo Solano, Rivera's brother, were recruited, authorities said.

Bank surveillance video showed two masked and armed men entering the bank around 5:45 p.m. on March 23. They jumped over the counter and demanded money. One of the pistols later was determined to be fake.

One robber took money and the other ordered the tellers to place money from the vault in a bag, the FBI agent said. The tellers, the only people in the bank at the time of the robbery, remained in the vault and later called 911.

On March 24, Gonzalez wrote on his Facebook page, "U have to past the line sometimes!! To get dis money," the complaint says. Martinez allegedly wrote, "I'm rich" on Gonzalez's page on March 25.

Lance Hamm, an attorney for Gonzalez, told CNN that his client was not referring to the bank robbery in his Facebook posts. "I don't feel the Facebook thing is as relevant as everyone is making it to be," Hamm said.

"I think it was just young kids talking," said Hamm, adding Gonzalez, who could face 10 years in prison, has been "upfront" with investigators. "He knew he was in over his head."

Hamm said the incident was more akin to an employee theft. Gonzales was not a mastermind and his role "should be mitigated" in any prosecution, the lawyer said.

Richard Kuniansky, who represents Martinez, said the single mother has never been in trouble and likely will enter a plea, arguing her age and maturity should be factors in sentencing.

"They were young and immature and didn't appreciate the seriousness," he said.

CNN also left a message Friday with Rivera's lawyer. An attorney for Solano was not listed in court documents.

CNN's Phil Gast contributed to this report.