tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37724364140912932582013-09-22T09:08:31.219-04:00Whilly Bermudez for WB MEDIA Web DevelopmentVisit www.GoWB.netWhilly Bermudezhttps://plus.google.com/113565071762947238554noreply@blogger.comBlogger222125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772436414091293258.post-32721813793110897172013-08-02T09:07:00.003-04:002013-08-02T09:07:55.220-04:002013-08-02T09:07:55.220-04:00Whilly Bermudez Publishes First In A Series Of Positive & Inspirational Children’s Books<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Whilly Bermudez Publishes First In A Series Of<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Positive & Inspirational Children’s Books<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Critically acclaimed
children’s book aims at instilling the value of good deeds in children. Book
Signing Event planned for Miami Lakes, Florida. </span></i></b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">MIAMI, FLORIDA, August 5, 2013, Many people think it is about time
that a children’s book was published that has the ability to skillfully instill
positive and inspirational values. Whilly Bermudez has stepped-up to the plate
with his latest book entitled, <a href="http://www.wbkidsonline.com/index.php"><span style="color: blue;">“WB & The 10 Good Things”</span></a>. Whilly has
authored a brilliantly conceived illustrated book for children ages 5-8. This
is a “feel-good” book that parents will enjoy sharing with their kids.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">With all of the negative images and stereotypes shown in all
media, this new children’s book is a breath of fresh air. The author has a
writing style that makes the child feel that they are part of the story. There
isn’t a parent anywhere who hasn’t marveled over their experience of reading<a href="http://www.wbkidsonline.com/index.php"><span style="color: blue;"> “WB
& The 10 Good Things” </span></a>to their kids. In this book holds the
secret of instilling in a subtle manner, a very profound message. Whilly
strategically uses a “Grandfather figure”, to be the character in the story
that develops the message.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.wbkidsonline.com/index.php"><span style="color: blue;">“WB & The 10 Good Things”</span></a> uses a “sweater” as
a mechanism to transform a little boy into a super hero. The young reader can
easily relate to the “Grandfather figure” and the “sweater”. Our main
character, WB, is the stereotypical little fella, oblivious to the moral
opportunities that abound all around him. Once he puts on the sweater his
grandfather gave him, presto.......he is a superhero with the ability to fully
understand the good in everyone, and how doing right should be done just for
its own sake.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In this world where people show contempt for superheroes of
compassion, WB must make the decision to not be influenced by the negativity of
others, as the kids at school make fun of him. His lesson is learned when the
magical sweater is damaged, and he fears he has lost his superhero powers, only
to learn that the sweater really had no magical powers, that the magic came
from within.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.wbkidsonline.com/index.php"><span style="color: blue;">Whilly Bermudez</span></a> has scheduled a Book-Signing
Event befitting a superhero. Parents and kids are invited to come-on down to
Don Shula’s Athletic Club, at 15150 Bull Run Rd., Miami Lakes, FL 33014, on
<b>October 5<sup>th</sup>, 2013</b>, from 10:00am to 2:00pm. Imagine what a thrill it
will be for the kids to meet the book’s main character - “WB”, and get a signed
copy of the book, and a photo with him to cherish forever. Activities will also
be featured like Rock Climbing and Face Painting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">It should be no great surprise that the author
is a genuine nice guy. Whilly Bermudez is not just a successful American
entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is also an author with a tremendous </span><br clear="all" style="page-break-before: always;" />
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">hunger to help others, supporting
various causes and donating to them throughout the year. He is the founder of
“Ignite Social Help”, a global movement set in motion to help heal and inspire
others in the world through the broadcast of inspirational posts and updates
via social media. A novel approach to spreading hope and understanding. The
world can surely benefit by having more people of the caliber of Whilly
Bermudez.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Complete information about the new book and the book-signing event
are available at:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.wbkidsonline.com/index.php"><span style="color: blue;">WB & The 10 Good Things</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Media Contact: Ben Castro<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">WB & The 10 Good Things<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Attn: Press</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">305.807.1621<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Whilly Bermudezhttps://plus.google.com/113565071762947238554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772436414091293258.post-48587468518650992212013-08-01T08:34:00.005-04:002013-08-01T08:34:56.057-04:002013-08-01T08:34:56.057-04:00MEET THE HERO OF NEW CHILDREN’S BOOK “WB & THE 10 GOOD THINGS” AT SPECIAL MIAMI LAKES EVENT<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MEET
THE HERO OF NEW CHILDREN’S BOOK “WB & THE 10 GOOD THINGS” AT SPECIAL <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">MIAMI</st1:place></st1:city> LAKES EVENT<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Miami,
Florida – Local kids can meet the hero
of a new illustrated children’s book, “WB & The 10 Good Things,” at a
special event on Saturday October 5th.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">WB,
the book’s main character will be wearing his magical sweater and posing for
photos with everyone who attends. The book’s creator and author, Whilly
Bermudez, will also be present to autograph copies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It
all takes place at Shula’s Athletic Club, <st1:address w:st="on"><st1:street w:st="on">15150 Bull Run Road</st1:street>, <st1:city w:st="on">Miami</st1:city></st1:address>
Lakes between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. along with rock climbing, rides face
painting, and other activities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“WB
& The 10 Good Things” was created for children ages five through eight and
tells the story of a little boy who doesn’t pay much attention to others until
his trusted and kindly grandfather gives him a magical sweater. WB dons the
sweater and instantly becomes a superhero who goes to the aid of a girl being
bullied, helps a boy with his backpack and assists a girl on crutches. WB is
proud of his achievements in spite of other kids who poke fun at him and don’t
appreciate a compassionate superhero. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In
the book’s moving climax WB loses his special powers when he tears his sweater rescuing
a cat stuck in a tree. The lesson he learns is that being a superhero has
nothing to do with the ‘magical’ sweater but that it’s a belief in himself and
the value of acting lovingly towards others that counts the most. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Says
Whilly Bermudez, the marketing entrepreneur and philanthropist who is the
creator and face behind WB, “My mission is to instill and encourage positive
living in young children of all ages and young people all over the world. The
lesson in this book is that the best kind of life is one spent in recognition
of the significance of others. I hope that we will have the opportunity to
share that message with a lot of kids at this special event.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“WB
& The 10 Good Things is Whilly’s second book following the success of “WB
& The Ring of Power.” Whilly, affectionately known as “the WB”, is the
founder of WB Media, a national marketing and web development firm with an impressive
portfolio and client base. One of the best-known marketers in <st1:place w:st="on">South
Florida</st1:place>, Whilly has developed business concepts for clients since
1997 and produced more than 1,000 events and live shows. He has received
endorsements from educational institutions as well as major newspapers and
organizations. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Driven
by a hunger to help, Whilly combines all that he does with charitable causes.
In one of his philanthropic endeavors he founded Ignite Social Hope, an online
global movement to help heal and inspire people throughout the world through
inspirational posts and updates. WB Kids donates books annually to children and
families in need to foster a joy of reading among the most at-risk youngsters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Says
Whilly, “We are only on the earth for a fragment of time, and we cannot wait
for a ‘defining moment.’ All moments define us. We should spend all of our time
moving towards love, happiness, and making our mark in the world through good
deeds.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can find out more at: <a href="http://www.wbkidsonline.com/">www.wbkidsonline.com</a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Whilly Bermudezhttps://plus.google.com/113565071762947238554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772436414091293258.post-8296835754160278372013-07-30T21:11:00.001-04:002013-07-30T21:11:50.864-04:002013-07-30T21:11:50.864-04:00Next iPhone might read your fingerprints<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: orange;">Next iPhone might read your fingerprints</span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;">By </span><strong style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Brandon Griggs</strong></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we store more and more of our personal lives on smartphones,
mobile security is becoming increasingly crucial. A password offers some
protection, but it may not deter a serious hacker.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For users of Apple devices, more
help might be on the way.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to several reports, the
next version of Apple's mobile operating system suggests future iPhones will
have biometric scanners that read fingerprints. A user could register his or
her prints with the device, then place a thumb on the home button to unlock the
phone.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fingerprint verification could
also add an extra layer of security when making mobile payments, for example.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A biometric sensor has been a
rumored feature on the next iPhone for months. But the rumors got a boost when
a beta version of iOS 7 was released Monday night to Apple developers. At least<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/hamzasood/status/361913613683937280" style="font-style: inherit; outline: 0px;" target="_blank"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #004276; padding: 0in; text-decoration: none;">one developer</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>found
a file called "BiometricKitUI" containing numerous references to
"fingerprint," according to reports by<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://9to5mac.com/2013/07/29/new-iphone-with-biometric-fingerprint-sensor-seemingly-confirmed-by-ios-leak/" style="font-style: inherit; outline: 0px;" target="_blank"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #004276; padding: 0in; text-decoration: none;">9to5Mac</span></a>,<a href="http://www.extremetech.com/computing/162573-iphone-5s-biometric-fingerprint-sensor-confirmed-by-ios-7-leak" style="font-style: inherit; outline: 0px;" target="_blank"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #004276; padding: 0in; text-decoration: none;">Extreme Tech</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and
other blogs.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"You can then unlock your
phone by putting your thumb on the home button. No longer will friends and
family be able to pick up and peruse your phone -- no longer will you have to
key in your passcode every time you want to do something," wrote Sebastian
Anthony for Extreme Tech.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, many blogs trade in
feverish rumors about Apple products that later prove unfounded, and there's no
proof that such a feature will show up on the next iPhone, expected to be
launched this fall.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="cnnstorypgraphtxt" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 14.25pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Observers expect the
as-yet-unnamed phone (iPhone 5S?) to have a faster processor, better battery
life and an improved camera, possibly with a slow-motion video function.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="cnnstorypgraphtxt" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 14.25pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="cnnstorypgraphtxt" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 14.25pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Apple also has been<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/22/tech/mobile/larger-screen-ipad-iphone/index.html?iref=allsearch" style="font-style: inherit; outline: 0px;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #004276; padding: 0in; text-decoration: none;">experimenting with larger screens</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>for the iPhone and iPad.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Whilly Bermudezhttps://plus.google.com/113565071762947238554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772436414091293258.post-8524541751747952482013-07-24T09:19:00.000-04:002013-07-24T09:19:12.569-04:002013-07-24T09:19:12.569-04:00Should Facebook offer a paid, ad-free version?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LOaiAYq-3kQ/Ue_TxFjMV1I/AAAAAAAADM8/Ng3UCxAJAw8/s1600/Facebook-Premium-Membership.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LOaiAYq-3kQ/Ue_TxFjMV1I/AAAAAAAADM8/Ng3UCxAJAw8/s1600/Facebook-Premium-Membership.png" height="160" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 22.5pt;">Should
Facebook offer a paid, ad-free version?</span></b><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 24pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">By Heather Kelly</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Twitter co-founder Biz Stone has been using Facebook quite a bit
lately, and he has some friendly advice for the company, from one social
network to another.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Stone thinks Facebook should offer an ad-free subscription version
for $10 a month.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">A premium version of Facebook could appeal to people who don't
want to wade through the barrage of ads for a juice-cleanse delivery service or
Edward Snowden fan fiction (these are the actual ads I currently see on my
Facebook account).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">"In general, the ads on Facebook don't seem particularly
useful or engaging. However, ads on the service are universally tolerated
because that's what makes Facebook free, and free is nice," Stone said</span><a href="https://medium.com/the-biz-stone-collection/47715441d0be" target="_blank"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #004276; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding: 0in; text-decoration: none;"> </span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #004276; padding: 0in; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in a post on Medium</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">The company could also throw in some special features for these
Premium customers to sweeten the pot, according to Stone, though he doesn't
suggest anything specific.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">He does a bit of math to show how lucrative a paid tier could be.
If just 10% of the service's 1 billion active users dropped $10 each month, the
company would make $1 billion a month.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">For the first quarter of 2013, Facebook reported making just $2.85
per user from ads in the U.S. and Canada. That number is lower globally.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Advertising makes up 85% of Facebook's revenue. The rest comes
from payments and other fees, which include social games and virtual goods, and
amounts to about 65 cents per user for the quarter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">The subscription model is common among tech companies offering
content, such as music or TV shows on Pandora, Hulu and Netflix. But it hasn't
taken off with many social networks. LinkedIn offers premium accounts that have
beefed-up search, mail and other features starting at $20 a month.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 14.25pt;">As an April Fool's joke this year, Twitter announced a premium
service that, for the low cost of $5 a month, would include all letters in
tweets, including vowels. The lowly free service would be rebranded </span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Twitter</span><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 14.25pt;"> and
include only consonants.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Stone isn't joking with his new suggestion, though. In his post,
he also said that Facebook was too complicated.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">"The truth is, if I can't figure an application out in a
minute, I usually move on to something else. Too many settings and options
frustrate and confuse me. I like making simple stuff because I enjoy simple
stuff," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">He recently hired a few ex-Facebookers for his new startup, and
they guided him through optimizing all the settings for the least overwhelming
experience. He's now using Facebook regularly too keep in touch with family,
but like any regular Facebook user, he still has gripes about how it works.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">This isn't the first time someone has suggested a paid, premium
version of Facebook. But because he's Biz Stone and Twitter is a hugely
successful social network, people are paying attention -- unlike when your
distant cousins or people you knew in high school complain in Facebook's news
feed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Whilly Bermudezhttps://plus.google.com/113565071762947238554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772436414091293258.post-83847676851967459182013-07-23T17:14:00.000-04:002013-07-23T17:15:08.953-04:002013-07-23T17:15:08.953-04:00World Premiere: New WB Media Video<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's the sneak peeek of the World Premiere: <b>New WB Media Video</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Sv2UD2nXajA" width="360"></iframe></div>
Whilly Bermudezhttps://plus.google.com/113565071762947238554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772436414091293258.post-18680007847582647282013-07-21T10:04:00.004-04:002013-07-21T10:10:12.703-04:002013-07-21T10:10:12.703-04:00World Striking Challenge Website is Now Near Completion<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FSuofRAJhU8/UevmjgKwmXI/AAAAAAAADMA/ScsiJMH5_TY/s1600/World+Striking+Challenge+in+RED.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FSuofRAJhU8/UevmjgKwmXI/AAAAAAAADMA/ScsiJMH5_TY/s320/World+Striking+Challenge+in+RED.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Official World Striking Challenge website is now near completion. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After last night's action packed inaugural fighting event at the<a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.631740553517069.1073741825.440880782603048&type=1" target="_blank"> Magic City Casino</a>, the website will soon launch and serve as the hub for all things WSC and Striking Arts. The site will sit on 2 domains:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>www.WSCFight.com</b> and <b>www.WorldStrikingChallenge.com </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The founder and CEO of WSC, Wayne Bermudez says "the WSC website is being created to be friendly for the users as well as very visually appealing".</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Look out for the release of the site in the coming few weeks!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>For Photos of last night's event and info on WSC, visit the Facebook Page</i> <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.631740553517069.1073741825.440880782603048&type=1" target="_blank">here.</a></b> </span></div>
Whilly Bermudezhttps://plus.google.com/113565071762947238554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772436414091293258.post-12362029628428519052013-07-20T10:34:00.001-04:002013-07-20T10:34:09.930-04:002013-07-20T10:34:09.930-04:00Web Design Mistakes Small Businesses Make<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PsDaIUj4asw/UeqfXk4pxVI/AAAAAAAADLg/9LWMKcJmYL0/s1600/web+design+mistakes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PsDaIUj4asw/UeqfXk4pxVI/AAAAAAAADLg/9LWMKcJmYL0/s1600/web+design+mistakes.jpg" height="124" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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As a small business, your website is a vital piece of your marketing and branding efforts. Visitors are coming to your website for a specific reason, and you want to ensure that you answer their questions and use your website to sell your product or service.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
If you get your website designed wrong, you can easily lose thousands of dollars initially, and ultimately lose even more money in potential revenue that you could be making from a well designed, properly functioning website.</div>
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Grow your bottom line by avoiding many of these common mistakes among business owners:</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1. Putting urgency over understanding your target market.</strong></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></strong></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></strong></div>
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Instead of focusing on getting your website done as soon as possible, you must first research your target audience in your specific market. Then, design your website around your research.</div>
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For instance, if your target market is older, perhaps the font size should be larger. Or if your product is geared towards a younger demographic, then you need to think about catering your site to be smartphone compatible.</div>
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You’re going to have to determine where should your users go once they get to your site? That question is easily answered if you know your market.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></strong></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></strong></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2. Design is too busy or flashy.</strong></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></strong></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></strong></div>
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My company, <a href="http://www.gowb.net/" style="border: 0px; color: #666666; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">WB Media</a>, is a web design and development company, and we know that in order to be successful on the Internet you need to focus on marketing your website — not a flashy design. Your design should not just be focused on bringing users there, but also getting them to the right place once they reach your homepage.</div>
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Plus, flashy websites don’t look good on mobile phones or tablets, and a large majority of Internet users now visit websites from these wireless devices.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></strong></div>
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Remember: when a visitor comes to your website, they probably already know what they want out of it. If within three seconds they can’t figure out what to do next, you might need to go back to the drawing board.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">3. No clear call to action.</strong></div>
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What do you want users to do once they’ve found your website? Do you want them to buy your product, contact you, or subscribe to your business e-newsletter? You need to tell visitors what the next step is and when (ideally, now!). Your content should answer the question, “What’s in it for me?” and then the call to action tells them what to do next.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">4. Paying too little or too much.</strong></div>
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You don’t know how many times people come to my company after they’ve hired a cheap designer, let them make business decisions that are poor, and ended up with a horrible product. At the same time, companies get distracted by expensive agencies that work with big brands, and don’t realize these agencies might not be able to help a small business that’s ROI focused. Simply put: don’t blow your budget on your website, but do your research to ensure you’re receiving a quality product.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">5. Stale, out-of-date content.</strong></div>
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Customers expect your website to contain the latest information about your products, services, and company. When it doesn’t have this, they may assume you’re not in business any longer, or simply aren’t innovative and ahead of the competition. Your content must address the needs of your customers (or potential customers) and be updated as things change. If you have a blog, updating it at least once a week — if not more — can help you drive visitors to your website and keep search engines happy.</div>
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Additionally, avoid putting links to your Facebook or Twitter pages if you only have a small following. People may think your business is too small and end up not hiring you.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">6. Trying to target everyone.</strong></div>
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This goes back to knowing your target market; your website will be a mess if you try to accommodate every kind of visitor you might end up getting. It’s best to figure out your most frequent users and focus on creating the best possible experience for them. If you try to please the masses you’ll likely end up not pleasing anyone.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">7. Taking the DIY route.</strong></div>
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Your website is often your customers’ first experience with your brand. If you don’t have design experience, do you really think you can do it justice? Remember first impressions <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">are</em> everything. Don’t allow your customer to make assumptions about your business because of a poorly designed website.</div>
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<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What do you think? What web design mistakes really drive you crazy?</em></div>
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www.GoWB.net</div>
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Whilly Bermudezhttps://plus.google.com/113565071762947238554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772436414091293258.post-84060391227239883072013-07-17T17:26:00.000-04:002013-07-17T17:26:23.938-04:002013-07-17T17:26:23.938-04:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qR55xcY_O9U/UecL6MJufXI/AAAAAAAADJQ/MQssuAlFjK4/s1600/WB+MEDIA,+Whilly+Bermudez,+Web+Development.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qR55xcY_O9U/UecL6MJufXI/AAAAAAAADJQ/MQssuAlFjK4/s320/WB+MEDIA,+Whilly+Bermudez,+Web+Development.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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In the media world, its always the celebrities of sports, music, and films that are interviewed. This time, I wanted to focus on the web development industry and one of the leading designers that is leading the way.<br />
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His name is Sean Wills and is giving insight into his work and the world of web.<br />
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<b>Tell us a little bit about yourself.</b><br />
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I'm Sean Wills, a designer/ developer working for WB Media.<br />
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<b>Why be a web developer and what led you down this career path?</b><br />
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The internet doesn't turn off, you don't clock out. You have a 24/7 opportunity to create, help and invent. I can't really pin point what first grabbed me about web development, but it just felt right, something I could really get stuck into. Web work is always evolving and I kinda like the fact that you can't know everything about it, so it puts you on the level playing field with a lot of people.<br />
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<b>What was the first website you made and how was that experience?</b><br />
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It was for a guy who had just started his own business, he paid me $30. I can't say I learnt too much from it (it was very basic HTML with inline style tags!) and a little bit of Flash I copied from another site, but I guess it got me in front of a real person who judged my work.<br />
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<b>If you can tell us, what are the projects you are currently working on?</b><br />
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Most of my time is, happily, spent building WB's next generation of software; a JavaScript web application talking to a REST API. It's gonna be ace. I'm also really into SalesForce right now, so I'm building a small web app that's going to make it effortless to gain critique for your designs. Also a large project which is going to make learning JavaScript a whole lot easier.<br />
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<b>What are the best projects you've worked on? Tell us about them.</b><br />
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My most successful project is Ignite Social Hope dot com- a very geeky, niche site, but a whole load of good happens here!<br />
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<b>Could you tell us what's in your personal "toolbox"? Software, apps, hardware, books?</b><br />
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Software: Sublime Text 2, Chrome and Photoshop. Books: every JavaScript book I can lay my hands on, I just like to absorb it all! There's so much knowledge out there to pick up.<br />
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<b>Tell us about your best experience as a developer.</b><br />
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Getting my current job - it allowed me to specialize in JavaScript and there's not too many companies willing to think ahead enough to switch their product over to something as new as a JavaScript only web application, allows me to constantly try new things and play with new tools and technologies.<br />
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Aside from those things, working for the owner Whilly Bermudez has been great! He simply gets it. He's tough but fair and honest. Great guy.<br />
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<b>Tell us about your worst experience as a developer.</b><br />
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I guess, working with some clients, it's the bits outside of coding/developing/ designing that sometimes get in the way - emails, invoices, etc...<br />
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<b>In your opinion, what is the difference between a good web designer and a great web designer?</b><br />
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The amount of work you put in outside of the work you are told to do, either at your job or by a client. It's the effort that you put in off of your own passion and desire that really sets great web designers apart.<br />
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<b>What advice would you give young web guys?</b><br />
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Build products, sites, plugins, etc as soon as you can to compliment your learning. Take the theory that you're learning and apply it as soon as possible! It'll highlight what areas you need to improve on immediately...<br />
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<b>Want to know more about Sean?</b><br />
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<a href="http://www.gowb.net/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #0287ee; text-decoration: none;" target="_new">http://www.GoWB.net</a></div>
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Whilly Bermudezhttps://plus.google.com/113565071762947238554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772436414091293258.post-25048967298386535692011-08-22T11:36:00.000-04:002011-08-22T11:36:08.412-04:002011-08-22T11:36:08.412-04:00It's a love-hate relationship with technology<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N7-5OYX4xi8/TlJ3X2wdgkI/AAAAAAAACcc/dFURaFG5rPM/s1600/texting+obsession.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N7-5OYX4xi8/TlJ3X2wdgkI/AAAAAAAACcc/dFURaFG5rPM/s320/texting+obsession.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><b>It's a love-hate relationship with technology</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">By Marco R. della Cava</span><br />
So here's the tech question of the moment:<br />
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Have we fallen so in love with gadgets that allow us to e-mail, text, friend, like and tweet that face-to-face connections will soon feel as awkward as first dates?<br />
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Or is there a failure to appreciate how these social network-tethered devices are enabling us to reach new levels of global connectivity?<br />
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The answer is, of course, yes and yes.<br />
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Novelist Jonathan Franzen, author of Freedom and The Corrections, recently took up one side of this debate in a widely republished commencement address at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. It touted his rediscovered passion for environmental activism as an antidote to the illusion of connection offered online.<br />
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But dip your toe into the vast national tub of tech users, thinkers and analysts, and one senses both excitementand concern — often expressed by the same people — about how technology has fast become the furious love of our lives.<br />
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<b>Parents are prime offenders, and kids are taking notice</b><br />
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Being in love is a many splendored thing, but it can also be obnoxious if you insist on nuzzling and uttering sweet nothings in public. The same may apply to our infatuation with technology and its myriad devices. Social science researchers at chipmaker Intel have been conducting occasional surveys on the subject, and they recently found that nine out of 10 adults surveyed said they’ve seen people misuse technology, including:<br />
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• Using a mobile device while driving: 74%<br />
• Talking loudly while in public: 64%<br />
• Using a device during a performance or event: 40%<br />
• Divulging private information in a public area: 37%<br />
• Using a mobile device at a funeral: 24%<br />
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And young users picking up those bad habits, too:</b><br />
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• 50% of children ages 8 to 12 have two or more mobile devices.<br />
• A third of children would rather forgo summer vacation than give up their mobile devices.<br />
• 49% of children say they don’t see anything wrong with using technology at the dinner table.<br />
• 40% of parents admit they spend too much time using a device in front of their kids, and 42% of children think their parents need to disconnect more while they’re at home.<br />
• But 49% of parents prohibit mobile device use during school, 43% during family time; 18% set limits on whom kids can contact, 14% on picture texting and 31% on Internet use. <br />
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Source: Intel<br />
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"My life is rooted in technology, but because I don't want to miss real relationships, my attitude is everything in moderation," says Janet Stauble, 27, social media community manager at Bankrate.com in Jupiter, Fla.<br />
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When Stauble walks her dogs, she deliberately leaves her cellphone at home. "I love that I can shoot a picture off to friends by text or a Facebook update, but at the same time, I want to be sure I can have time to myself," she says.<br />
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Frank Rice, 67, is in love with his PDA, but he isn't a fan of the way people text while walking and bump into him without apologizing.<br />
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"Overall, my attitude toward technology is I can't wait to see what's going to happen tomorrow," says Rice, a telecommunications consultant in Atlanta. "But I also grew up walking in the woods with my father, who showed me how to spot mushrooms that wouldn't kill you. We need more of that these days."<br />
<br />
In Franzen's speech, titled "Liking Is for Cowards. Go for What Hurts," he lamented facile infatuations with tech devices (as a BlackBerry fan, he included himself in that crowd), contending that "the ultimate goal of technology is to replace the natural world that's indifferent to our wishes — a world of hurricanes and hardships and breakable hearts, a world of resistance — with a world so responsive to our wishes to be, effectively, a mere extension of the self."<br />
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<b>Relationships are intact</b><br />
The writer isn't commenting on his controversial speech; his book agent says everything the author wanted to impart on the topic is in his address. But Franzen is far from alone in analyzing our current addiction to technology. One recent survey indicates that, contrary to Franzen's argument, the ultimate byproduct of technology may be to take us outside ourselves.<br />
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The study by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project suggests that those heavily invested in online relationships tend to be more altruistic offline than the unwired crowd. Specifically, Pew found that 80% of Internet users participate in voluntary organizations, compared with 56% of non-Internet users. "It's clear technology does not negatively impact our friendships or our engagement with the world," says project director Lee Rainie.<br />
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He says human beings have been "shifting signal-sending processes" for centuries and that our mushrooming technological bounty simply means getting used to new codes and signals.<br />
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"What stands out today as a gesture is the handwritten note or shutting off your phone to sit and talk with someone," Rainie says. "We're navigating new spaces with new norms of etiquette."<br />
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Etiquette is in fact a huge part of this tech love debate. No one is pining for the inconvenient days of the rotary pay phone; what is being objected to is the intrusive nature of our gizmos.<br />
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Many companies already mandate that some meetings be "topless" (no laptops or PDAs), while children's camps often require that portable electronic devices be left at home. Just recently, lawmakers in the Michigan towns of <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Royal+Oak">Royal Oak</a> and <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Sterling+Heights">Sterling Heights</a>voted to ban all digital communication between city council members during meetings. The move was made to discourage any deal-making that the public could not hear.<br />
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A survey this year by chipmaker Intel revealed that 91% of adults have seen people misuse mobile technology, and 75% say mobile manners are worse today than in 2009. "We haven't yet worked out for ourselves, our families, communities and societies what all the right kinds of behaviors and expectations will be," says Genevieve Bell, head of interaction and experience research at Intel Labs.<br />
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David Polk found similarly high numbers in conducting his annual Professionalism in the Workplace study for the Center for Professional Excellence at York College of Pennsylvania, where he also teaches.<br />
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"The kids I see in my classes are part of a generation that expects to be always reachable, and as a result, they tend to text, surf the Internet and even take calls at inappropriate times," says Polk, who runs the Polk-Lepson Research Group.<br />
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In his 2010 survey of 430 human resource professionals, the majority reported that younger employees text (78%), use the Web (77%) and make personal cellphone calls (72%) when they should be working. When Polk asked the participants if they would describe those staffers as unfocused, 20% said yes, a jump from 6% in 2009.<br />
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"For the younger generation, it's clear tech and social media are ruling their lives," says Polk. "They just can't seem to go a few minutes without checking in."<br />
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Few in this tech love debate will argue that what's being sacrificed at the altar of technology is solitude.<br />
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Being connected means never having to be alone — and that's a shame, says <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Mark+Bauerlein">Mark Bauerlein</a>, author of The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future, a deliberately provocative title that has won its author public boos and even death threats.<br />
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"Solitude is important," says Bauerlein, agreeing with Franzen's argument that getting truly involved with a person or a cause often is messy and painful, but ultimately richly satisfying. "Our tech tools make everything so easy. What that means is in a person's formative years, there's no pain and no gain."<br />
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Bauerlein laments the erosion of reading and writing skills in the age of txt msgs and says students at his lectures complain when he scolds that "99% of what happens to you is of no interest to anyone" and "online friendships aren't real friendships."<br />
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"Kids say I'm unpleasant and that I don't understand them, but what I want is a dialogue with them, and they're too busy e-mailing each other," he says. "My concern is that a society in which a younger generation is not involved in a constant dialogue with the older one is inherently dangerous. Look what happened in the '60s."<br />
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<b>Means to same end</b><br />
<br />
But is there really that big a generational divide? In the '60s, there was a stark contrast between staid Eisenhower-era parents and LSD-dropping hippie offspring. Today, Facebook and Twitter are hardly the exclusive domain of the young.<br />
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Though the Gen Y crowd may indeed process and relay signals differently from the pre-cellphone gang, they don't differ all that much from their parents, says T. Scott Gross, an Austin-based consumer research expert who constantly engages with twentysomethings.<br />
<br />
"I find that deep down, these kids are not as obsessed (with tech) as we think they are," Gross says. "Sure, they may not be that well-read, and you can tick them off by leaving them a note in cursive, but overall, this is a poised, articulate generation who use a different set of skills to accomplish the same thing an older generation did."<br />
<br />
Gross loves one particular anecdote from a recent focus group he conducted. A woman in her 30s said her husband wasn't particularly talkative, but he texts that he loves her many times a day. "There is no lumping technology, pro or con, into one boat," he says.<br />
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Just as there's no turning back the tech clock, says Peter Sealey, a longtime <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Places,+Geography/Regions/Silicon+Valley">Silicon Valley</a> adviser and founder of the Sausalito Group consultancy.<br />
<br />
"It's a strained argument that we need to be careful where technology is taking us, because we're never going back to Walden Pond," says Sealey, who is passionate about his iPhone.<br />
<br />
"When Gutenberg started printing, there were negative repercussions, things being printed that people thought were outrageous," he says. "As with all tech, it's a one-way street."<br />
<br />
Go unplugged<br />
<br />
So where does that leave us on the question of tech love? On the one hand, we have to take the good (momentous revolutions fueled by Twitter) with the bad (senseless deaths as a result of drivers being digitally distracted at the wheel). On the other, we have the power to enjoy our tech toys while at the same time acknowledging their boundaries. We can, in a word, just turn it off.<br />
<br />
That's the approach of telecom expert Rice, who says he continues the tradition his father started and often takes his thirtysomething nieces and nephews into the nearby Georgia woods to hunt for mushrooms, where the only buzzing comes from bees. "I'd like to think that at some point, people will realize how special it is to truly communicate with another person, one on one, without technology," he says.<br />
<br />
So maybe author-turned-bird-lover Franzen has a point. Maybe the best way to make sure technology's magnetic march doesn't trample our social instincts is to take a walk in the woods and leave the smartphone/tablet/laptop in the car.<br />
<br />
After all, love them or hate them, those shiny, beckoning gizmos aren't going anywhere.</span></div>Whilly Bermudezhttps://plus.google.com/113565071762947238554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772436414091293258.post-65598660314194205512011-08-22T11:15:00.000-04:002011-08-22T11:15:22.866-04:002011-08-22T11:15:22.866-04:00AT&T to simplify texting plans<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eLbfvg33u9c/TlJyhPE2ysI/AAAAAAAACcQ/uQAomkos5vc/s1600/AT%2526T+to+simplify+texting+plans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eLbfvg33u9c/TlJyhPE2ysI/AAAAAAAACcQ/uQAomkos5vc/s320/AT%2526T+to+simplify+texting+plans.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><b>AT&T to simplify texting plans</b></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">By Mike Isaac, WIRED</span><br />
AT&T confirmed today that it will slim down its text-messaging service plans, offering customers either unlimited messages for a flat monthly fee, or a pay-per-text service.<br />
<br />
The company is eliminating its middle-of-the-road option, a plan that allots customers 1,000 text messages for $10 monthly.<br />
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"The vast majority of our messaging customers prefer unlimited plans," an AT&T spokesman said in a statement provided to Wired.com. "With text messaging growth stronger than ever, that number continues to climb among new customers."<br />
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AT&T's change in service, which was first <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/17/atandt-streamlining-individual-messaging-plans-august-21st-leavin/">reported by Engadget</a>, will begin on Sunday. AT&T made a point to note that its existing customers aren't required to make the switch if they'd rather stick with 1,000 monthly messages, the spokesman said, "even when changing handsets."<br />
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Text messaging services are in a state of tumult, as a carrier-backed SMS (or short message service) is no longer the only texting option.<br />
<br />
Apps like <a href="http://www.pinger.com/content/home.html">Pinger</a> provide free SMS to users through its ad-supported system. Facebook recently released its <a href="http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/08/facebooks-messaging-app-sms/">Messenger application</a>, which allows users to send chat, text or e-mail messages to one another using the Facebook platform alone.<br />
<br />
RIM has offered its BlackBerry Messenger platform, which allows BlackBerry smartphone owners to trade text messages freely to one another using instant messaging protocols, skipping out on carrier fees.<br />
<br />
And Apple, of course, plans to introduce a similar service for iOS device users when <a href="http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/06/apple-icloud-lion-ios5/">iOS 5 launches later this year</a>.<br />
<br />
Still, the majority of the world's mobile phones are still "dumbphones" -- not BlackBerrys, not iPhones, and not smartphones that run Facebook's app -- so SMS isn't going anywhere in the short term.<br />
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We've <a href="http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/08/sms-text-message-att-options/">compiled a chart</a> showing what other carriers are offering in the way of SMS. Check it out, and make sure you're paying for the plan that works best for you.</span></div></div>Whilly Bermudezhttps://plus.google.com/113565071762947238554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772436414091293258.post-7840803042693947662011-08-15T10:34:00.000-04:002011-08-15T10:34:30.180-04:002011-08-15T10:34:30.180-04:00Google Aquires Motorola Mobility & Time Warner Cable Buys Insight<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wHI0zTKQcRM/TkkuaFZJy8I/AAAAAAAACbY/nObqWHioVF0/s1600/google+motorola.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wHI0zTKQcRM/TkkuaFZJy8I/AAAAAAAACbY/nObqWHioVF0/s320/google+motorola.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;">Google Goes Soup-To-Nuts On Android With Bid For Motorola</span></b><br />
<br />
Google’s surprise <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/15/breaking-google-buys-motorola-for-12-5-billion/">$12.5 billion bid</a> for Motorola Mobility this morning is a bold attempt to move the needle for Google on several fronts. Google is going all in, dipping into its $39 billion of cash to make its biggest acquisition ever. The deal signals that mobile will be one of Google’s main growth drivers and that growth will come from entering new markets, specifically mobile hardware. With the acquisition, Google gains a portfolio of 17,000 patents and another 7,000 patents pending globally, an area where it is a<a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/04/googles-patent-problem/">currently a laggard</a>. But more than anything, it signals how crucial it is for Google to control the Android experience from soup to nuts.<br />
<br />
There may now be <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/supercharging-android-google-to-acquire.html">150 million Android phones</a> and phones running the Android operating system command the <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/11/gartner-android-os-sales-top-ios-rim-and-nokia/">largest smartphone market share</a>, but Android the most popular single smartphone by far is still the iPhone. Buying Motorola is an acknowledgement on Google’s part that it must control the experience from software to hardware if it hopes to unseat Apple.<br />
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Up until now, Google has taken the Windows approach to mobile—create an OS that all manufacturers can build on top of and just concentrate on the software—but that approach is not enough. More than 550,000 Android phones are activated every day across 39 manufacturers, but there is no single phone or Android manufacturer that can best the iPhone. By owning Motorola, Google can create Android phones to its exact specifications and take advantage of the latest advances in the operating system, just like Apple does. When CEO Larry Page says that buying Motorola will “supercharge” Android, that is what he means I suspect.<br />
<br />
Page is careful to note that “Android will stay open” and that Motorola will remain but one of many licensees. But there is no doubt that if the deal passes antitrust review, Motorola’s Android phones will be the first among equals. Google also gains a strong foothold in the living room with Motorola’s set-top box business, which could help its <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/27/google-tv-already-in-trouble-sony-offering-25-off-blu-ray-google-tv-units/">lackluster Google TV</a> efforts<br />
<br />
It’s a big bet. What if Google messes it up? Well, it will still have all those mobile patents, which arguably could be worth a good portion of the total acquisition price. Remember, Nortel’s patents went for <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/01/apple-microsoft-rim-google-nortel-patents/">$4.5 billion to Google’s competitors</a>. During today’s conference call explaining the deal, Page noted that Motorola’s “strong patent portfolio” will help Google defend Android against “Microsoft, Apple, and other companies.” The first two questions on the call went right to the patent issue as well. With <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/14/larry-page-android-patent-problems/">Android under attack</a> on the patent front by <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/03/google-rips-android-competitors-over-patents/">Apple, Microsoft, Oracle</a> and others, buying Motorola is very much a defensive move as well.<br />
<br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;">Time Warner Cable Buys Insight For $3B In Cash</span></b><br />
NEW YORK — Time Warner is buying cable operator Insight Communications Co. for $3 billion in cash as it bolsters its presence in the Midwest.<br />
<br />
Insight serves more than 750,000 customers in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. The privately held company has about 537,000 high-speed data subscribers, 679,000 video subscribers and 297,000 voice subscribers.<br />
<br />
Insight is owned by The Carlyle Group, Crestview Partners, MidOcean Partners, members of Insight management and others. It<br />
<br />
Time Warner Cable Inc., based in New York, said Monday that it expects the deal to create annual cost savings of about $100 million, with the majority of those savings coming within two years of the deal closing.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="Time Warner" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/20527/thumbs/s-TIME-WARNER-large.jpg" /></span></div></div>Whilly Bermudezhttps://plus.google.com/113565071762947238554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772436414091293258.post-88056732640642376952011-08-10T17:23:00.000-04:002011-08-10T17:23:54.159-04:002011-08-10T17:23:54.159-04:00The Starbucks Conspiracy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--6eYE4OP33g/TkL25GUasvI/AAAAAAAACbU/9vdYZaKjuBo/s1600/The+Starbucks+Conspiracy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--6eYE4OP33g/TkL25GUasvI/AAAAAAAACbU/9vdYZaKjuBo/s1600/The+Starbucks+Conspiracy.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>The Vast Starbucks Conspiracy: Jonathan’s Card Wasn’t Faked</b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="sbux-card" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/sbux-card1.png?w=192" /></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 17px;"></span><br />
<div style="line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 25px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Internet (namely the corner populated by some dude with a coffee blog) is a place where no good deed goes unpunished. A few days ago, <a href="http://jonathanstark.com/card/#give-a-coffee" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: none;">Jonathan Stark</a> posted his Starbucks card online asking people to buy coffee and then recharge the card when it was falling low. The result? Lots of good will, lots of people with free coffee, and my day was improved immensely by being able to <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/08/i-am-jonathans-starbucks-card-a-social-payment-experiment-with-free-coffee/" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: none;">write about something nice for a change</a>. Then <a href="http://www.coffeestrategies.com/2011/08/08/starbucks-and-the-starkbucks-jonathan-card-viral-marketing-campaign" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: none;">this post</a>started circulating claiming that Jonathan was a viral shill for the Starbucks chain and that he was, in fact, mercenarily driving up Starbucks sales through his act of kindness.</span></div><div style="line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 25px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You see, Stark works for a company called <a href="http://mobiquityinc.com/" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: none;">Mobiquity</a> and, at some point, the company did work for Starbucks. When the negative post went up, the Mobiquity client list disappeared down and – get this – the Google cache of the page disappeared. It was then that author, Mr. Hetzel, really found out how deep this rabbit hole was about to go:</span></div><blockquote style="font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="font-style: italic; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 25px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UPDATE AUGUST 9, 2011 7:30AM HST: The Mobiquity Inc “Client” page cache has been deleted from Google; clearly someone is following this post and cleaning up loose ends on the Jonathan’s Card scheme to make it appear more organic. Don’t worry boys, I got screenshots.</span></div></blockquote><div style="line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 25px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don’t worry, boys. He’s got screenshots. Clearly Starbucks has their hands in some pretty powerful pockets if they can convince Google to erase all knowledge of an insidious caffeinated crime. Concerned that I was being conned, I talked to Jonathan who said, when I asked him about his relationship to Starbucks, “My only connection to Starbucks is that I spend a lot of time at the Wayland Square Store in Providence, RI.” I then contacted Starbucks itself, expecting to see a curt reply and a whole mess of Google cache pages to mysteriously disappear relating to the Zapruder film and the source of solar flare activity. Instead, I got a nice note:</span></div><blockquote style="font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="font-style: italic; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 25px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks for reaching out. Starbucks had no knowledge of Jonathan’s plans, and has no official relationship with him or the company he works for. We do think his project is interesting and we’re flattered that he is using Starbucks as a part of his ‘pay-it-forward’ experiment and look forward to watching it develop.</span></div></blockquote><div style="line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 25px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Case closed, but not quite. The saddest thing about this is that Jonathan is actually upset by the accusations. He wrote:</span></div><blockquote style="font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="font-style: italic; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 25px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The thing that really bothers me is that the accusation threatens to erase the good feelings generated by this. He’s turning hope into remorse.</span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="font-style: italic; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 25px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While doing so might be disruptive to my friends and family, I feel strongly that I owe it to believers everywhere to take a stand against cynics who are too jaded to believe that anyone would ever do something nice for others for the simple reason that it feels good.</span></div></blockquote><div style="line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 25px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think Mr. Hetzel owes Jonathan an apology and all of us a coffee. After all, sometimes a social payments experiment is just a social payments experiment.</span></div><div style="line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 25px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UPDATE – Mobiquity replied:</span></div><blockquote style="font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="font-style: italic; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 25px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jonathan Stark is a creative and innovative thinker, who pushes the limits of technology. And that’s what Mobiquity is all about: innovation in mobile technology. To be clear, the “Jonathan’s Card” experiment was in no way a paid viral campaign conducted with or on behalf of Starbucks. Rather, as Jonathan has explained, the idea came about as he was researching mobile payment ideas for another organization.</span></div><div style="font-family: helvetica, arial, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 25px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Mobiquity has no professional affiliation with Starbucks. As a young company launched this past March, Mobiquity had initially included on its website the logos of companies with whom members of our team had worked with in the past, as we stated on the page. Mobiquity took down the l page in late July as part of an ongoing site redesign – complete coincidence, not conspiracy. Jonathan Stark was not the Mobiquity team member who had previously worked with Starbucks. But he does admit to liking their coffee. If you read Jonathan’s original post on the subject on July 14th, you’ll see he was as surprised as anyone else that his experiment in “broadcasting money” (by taking a screenshot of his Starbucks card barcode via his iPhone and emailing it to himself to use on his Nexus S) was successful. Jonathan’s exact quote was, “I bought a coffee with a picture.”</div></blockquote></div>Whilly Bermudezhttps://plus.google.com/113565071762947238554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772436414091293258.post-20761661922842029602011-08-10T13:15:00.001-04:002011-08-10T13:15:46.954-04:002011-08-10T13:15:46.954-04:00Hacker Group Anonymous Promises To 'Kill' Facebook<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Z44f3xWSUHo/TkK8llLyqbI/AAAAAAAACbM/rHo_tGR0nhc/s1600/hacker+group.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Z44f3xWSUHo/TkK8llLyqbI/AAAAAAAACbM/rHo_tGR0nhc/s320/hacker+group.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><h1 class="title-news" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; font: normal normal bold 32px/36px Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">Hacker Group Anonymous Promises To 'Kill' Facebook</span></h1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">UPDATE:</strong> Some Anonymous participants are distancing themselves from "Operation Facebook."</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"#OpFacebook is being organised by some Anons. This does not necessarily mean that all of #Anonymous agrees with it," <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/anonops/status/101194056008351744" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #0088c3; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">read a tweet posted by @AnonOps</a> on Wednesday.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://gizmodo.com/5829353/anonymous-to-destroy-facebook-on-november-5th" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #0088c3; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">Gizmodo spoke with Anonymous IRC sources</a> and concluded that the group's "prominent operators" don't seem to be behind the purported Facebook offensive. "#OPFacebook is not endorsed by Anonops at this time," <a href="http://gizmodo.com/5829353/anonymous-to-destroy-facebook-on-november-5th" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #0088c3; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">an Anonymous member told Gizmodo</a>.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">PREVIOUSLY:</strong> The hacker group known as Anonymous reportedly has a new target: Facebook.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This <a href="http://www.neurope.eu/articles/Anonymous-targets-Facebook/107842.php#ixzz1UVAM4qJ2" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #0088c3; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">announcement</a> comes in the form of a <a href="http://youtu.be/SWQTS8zqYXU" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #0088c3; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">YouTube video</a> titled <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/FacebookOp#p/a/u/0/SWQTS8zqYXU" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #0088c3; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">"Message from Anonymous: Operation Facebook, Nov 5 2011"</a> uploaded to the site on July 16th under the username "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/FacebookOp" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #0088c3; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">FacebookOps</a>." As of this writing, the user has no other videos under its account.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"If you are hactivist or a guy who just wants to protect the freedom of information then join the cause and kill Facebook for the sake of your own privacy," <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/FacebookOp" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #0088c3; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">the video's narrator says</a> in an eerie, modulator-disguised voice, which ends the video with the sign off "we are Anonymous. We are legion. Expect us." "Everything you do on Facebook stays on Facebook regardless of your privacy settings, and deleting your account is impossible."</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to the video, November 5, 2011 is the day Anonymous will allegedly launch its operation against Facebook.</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Think for a while, and prepare for a day that will go down in history," the voice in the video says (You can read the full statement on<a href="http://www.zdnet.com/blog/violetblue/anonymous-vows-destruction-of-facebook-on-guy-fawkes-day/601" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #0088c3; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">ZDNet here</a>). "This is our world now. We exist without nationality, without religious bias. We have the right to not be surveilled, not be stalked, and not be used for profit. We have the right to not live as slaves."</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whether the message is a real threat from Anonymous remains to be seen. Security expert Eugene Kaspersky, co-founder and CEO of Kaspersky Lab, <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/e_kaspersky/status/101179429040037888" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #0088c3; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">tweeted</a> that he doubts the veracity of the message. "The news around #Anonymous to attack #Facebook on Nov 5 most probably is fake," he <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/e_kaspersky/status/101179429040037888" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #0088c3; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">wrote</a>.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Facebook declined to comment on the video and threat. The social networking site offers <a href="http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=842" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #0088c3; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">information on how to deactivate and delete accounts on its help center,</a> where users can also find <a href="http://www.facebook.com/privacy/explanation/" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #0088c3; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">more information about its privacy settings</a>.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Facebook has been <a href="http://www.allfacebook.com/facebook-steps-up-security-following-hack-2011-01" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #0088c3; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">hacked before</a>, but attacks by Anonymous are known for causing victims more than just a headache.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Prior attacks carried out by Anonymous have targeted <a href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/02/virtually-face-to-face-when-aaron-barr-met-anonymous.ars" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #0088c3; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">security company HBGary Federal</a>, which had thousands of emails stolen, according to <a href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/02/virtually-face-to-face-when-aaron-barr-met-anonymous.ars" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #0088c3; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">Ars Technica,</a> Booz Allen Hamilton, which had <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/11/booz-allen-hamilton-hack_n_895147.html" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #0088c3; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">90,000 email addresses </a>belonging to military officials, among others, revealed, as well as PayPal, <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/06/MN911KKB3V.DTL" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #0088c3; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">U.S. police forces,</a> and others.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anonymous allegedly <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/21/anonymous-lulzsec-fbi-raids_n_905855.html" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #0088c3; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">told the FBI earlier this year,</a> ""Your threats to arrest us are meaningless to us as you cannot arrest an idea. [...] [T]here is nothing - absolutely nothing - you can possibly to do make us stop."</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">WATCH:</strong><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="459" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/SWQTS8zqYXU" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" width="360"></iframe></div><div style="font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"></div></span></div>Whilly Bermudezhttps://plus.google.com/113565071762947238554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772436414091293258.post-19808127841891917332011-08-09T14:42:00.000-04:002011-08-09T14:42:15.768-04:002011-08-09T14:42:15.768-04:00Flavor Flav, Dee Snider to swap wives<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 15px;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZT-SDRDd-Vk/TkF_f_OdWEI/AAAAAAAACaw/btTX2n69j_4/s1600/Flavor+Flav%252C+Dee+Snider+to+swap+wives.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZT-SDRDd-Vk/TkF_f_OdWEI/AAAAAAAACaw/btTX2n69j_4/s320/Flavor+Flav%252C+Dee+Snider+to+swap+wives.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><h1 class="cnnBlogContentTitle" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Arial, Verdana, 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 30px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 20px; padding-top: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; word-spacing: -1px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #e06666;">Flavor Flav, Dee Snider to swap wives</span></h1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #010101; line-height: 18px;"><div class="cnn_first" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-right: 20px; margin-top: 12px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now that <a href="http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/04/abc-greenlights-celebrity-wife-swap/?iref=allsearch" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #004276; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">ABC has given "Celebrity Wife Swap"</a> the green light, <a href="http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/08/05/flava-flav-dee-snider-wife-swap/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #004276; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Entertainment Weekly</a> reports that the midseason reality show is filling out its cast.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-right: 20px; margin-top: 12px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Among the "Wife Swap" contenders are none other than aging music stars and reality show vets Flavor Flav and Dee Snider. The two will reportedly swap spouses in an as-yet-unscheduled episode of the spinoff series.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-right: 20px; margin-top: 12px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Snider and Suzette, his wife of 30 years, have four kids together, and Flav asked for his current wife Liz's hand in marriage during a 2008 reunion episode of "Flavor of Love."</span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-right: 20px; margin-top: 12px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Celebrity Wife Swap" is exactly what it sounds like - a Hollywood spin on the network's "Wife Swap" series, which has participants "switch lifestyles for a week." Back in May it was reported that ABC had ordered six episodes of the show and that casting was underway.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-right: 20px; margin-top: 12px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Who else would you want to see trade lives on TV?</span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 15px;"><div><br />
</div></span></div>Whilly Bermudezhttps://plus.google.com/113565071762947238554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772436414091293258.post-4137403943672544792011-08-08T11:11:00.000-04:002011-08-08T11:11:29.051-04:002011-08-08T11:11:29.051-04:00Captain Morgan's Ship Found<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ooA49LT50FQ/Tj_8lPZ168I/AAAAAAAACZs/1zLY3r51e38/s1600/Captain+Morgan%2527s+Ship+Found.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ooA49LT50FQ/Tj_8lPZ168I/AAAAAAAACZs/1zLY3r51e38/s320/Captain+Morgan%2527s+Ship+Found.jpg" width="257" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;">Captain Morgan's Ship Found: Famed Pirate's Vessel Found Near Panama</span></b><br />
he lost wreckage of a ship belonging to 17th century pirate Captain Henry Morgan has been discovered in Panama, said a team of U.S. archaeologists -- and the maker of Captain Morgan rum. <br />
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Near the Lajas Reef, where Morgan <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/08/05/captain-morgans-lost-liquor-locker-found/#">lost</a> five ships in 1671 including his flagship "Satisfaction," the team uncovered a portion of the starboard side of a wooden ship's hull and a series of unopened cargo boxes and chests encrusted in coral.<br />
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The cargo has yet to be opened, but Captain Morgan USA -- which sells the spiced rum named for the eponymous pirate -- is clearly hoping there's liquor in there. <br />
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"There's definitely an irony in the situation," Fritz Hanselmann, an archaeologist with the <a href="http://www.rivers.txstate.edu/">River Systems Institute</a> and the Center for Archaeological Studies at Texas State University and <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/08/05/captain-morgans-lost-liquor-locker-found/#">head</a> of the dive team, <a href="http://www.kvue.com/news/TSU-researcher-discovers-pirate-shipwreck-126814238.html">told KVUE Austin</a>. The Captain Morgan rum group stepped in on the quest for Captain Morgan after the team -- which found a collection of iron cannons nearby -- ran out of funds before they could narrow down the quest.<br />
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The new funding let the team run a magnetometer survey, which looks for metal by finding any deviation in the earth's magnetic field.<br />
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"When the opportunity arose for us to help make this discovery mission possible, it was a natural fit for us to get involved. The artifacts uncovered during this mission will help bring Henry Morgan and his adventures to life in a way never thought possible," said Tom Herbst, brand director of Captain Morgan USA, in a statement.<br />
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In the 17th century, Captain Henry Morgan sailed as a privateer on behalf of England, defending the Crown's interests and pioneering expeditions to the New World. In 1671, in an effort to capture Panama City and loosen the stronghold of Spain in the Caribbean, Morgan set out to take the Castillo de San Lorenzo, a Spanish fort on the cliff overlooking the entrance to the Chagres River, the only water passageway between the Caribbean and the capital city. <br />
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Although his men ultimately prevailed, Morgan lost five ships to the rough seas and shallow reef surrounding the fort.<br />
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The underwater research team included archaeologists and divers from Texas State University, volunteers from the <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/08/05/captain-morgans-lost-liquor-locker-found/#">National Park Service's</a> Submerged Resources Center and NOAA/UNC-Wilmington's Aquarius Reef Base. And pirate booty or no, they said the story of Captain Henry Morgan was the real treasure.<br />
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"To us, the ship is the treasure -- the story is the treasure," <a href="http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/08/04/7245795-capt-morgans-lost-fleet-found">Hanselman told MSNBC's Alan Boyle</a>. "And you don't have a much better <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/08/05/captain-morgans-lost-liquor-locker-found/#">story</a> than Captain Henry Morgan's sack of Panama City and the loss of his five ships."<br />
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Artifacts excavated by the dive team in 2010, including the six cannons, as well as any future relics will remain the property of the Panamanian government and will be preserved and displayed by the Patronato Panama Viejo.<br />
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</span><div><img 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" 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<img alt="Captain Morgan's ship found" height="224" src="http://a57.foxnews.com/static/managed/img/Scitech/660/371/Captain%20Morgans%20ship%20found.jpg" width="400" /><br />
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</div></div>Whilly Bermudezhttps://plus.google.com/113565071762947238554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772436414091293258.post-69612583145513891972011-08-05T11:40:00.000-04:002011-08-05T11:40:31.451-04:002011-08-05T11:40:31.451-04:00Court says: Bacardi’s Havana Club not misleading<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mNPgxiIH4KQ/TjwO06FisWI/AAAAAAAACY4/A8tVUH2ZSMc/s1600/Bacardi%25E2%2580%2599s+Havana+Club.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mNPgxiIH4KQ/TjwO06FisWI/AAAAAAAACY4/A8tVUH2ZSMc/s1600/Bacardi%25E2%2580%2599s+Havana+Club.png" /></a></div>Court says: Bacardi’s Havana Club not misleading</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">BY ELAINE WALKER</span><br />
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An appellate court ruled that Bacardi U.S.A.’s marketing of Havana Club rum is not misleading to consumers.<br />
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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit unanimously ruled in Bacardi’s favor in the ongoing dispute with Pernod Ricard. The Appellate Court reaffirmed that Bacardi has accurately portrayed both the geographic origin and the Cuban heritage of the Havana Club.<br />
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Bacardi’s labeling of the product says that the product is made in Puerto Rico based on the original Cuban recipe from the creators of the brand, the family of Jose Arechabala.<br />
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Pernod Ricard had argued that using the Havana Club name for a rum not made in Cuba was misleading to consumers. Pernod has been trying to block Bacardi from selling Havana Club in the U.S.<br />
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The Appellate Court found that the packaging is “factually accurate” and “unambiguous” regarding the geographic origin of Havana Club rum. The Court added “no reasonable consumer could be misled by those statements and the rest of the label does not put those statements in doubt.” The ruling upheld the original ruling on April 6, 2010 by the Wilmington, Delaware, District Court.<br />
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Bacardi re-launched Havana Club rum in the U.S. in August 2006 based on the original recipe created in Cuba in the 1930’s.<br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is just the latest ruling in a fight that has dragged on for more than a decade, through multiple courts and government agencies, over who has the rights to the Havana Club trademark. Pernod Ricard sells Havana Club internationally and in Cuba through a partnership with the Cuban government.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="
An appellate court ruled that Bacardi U.S.A.’s marketing of Havana Club rum is not misleading to consumers.
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</span></span></div></div></div>Whilly Bermudezhttps://plus.google.com/113565071762947238554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772436414091293258.post-79238466469552028552011-08-04T14:14:00.000-04:002011-08-04T14:14:02.248-04:002011-08-04T14:14:02.248-04:00LeBron Defends Tebow After ESPN Analyst Criticizes QB<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cHTe-Ob2Wks/TjrhZJrQ47I/AAAAAAAACX8/SM0YuP-llJE/s1600/LeBron+Defends+Tebow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="129" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cHTe-Ob2Wks/TjrhZJrQ47I/AAAAAAAACX8/SM0YuP-llJE/s320/LeBron+Defends+Tebow.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><b>LeBron Defends Tebow After ESPN Analyst Criticizes QB</b></span></span><br />
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<div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif;">T</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">im Tebow defended himself and got a little backup from LeBron James after ESPN’s Merril Hoge was critical of the Broncos’ second-year quarterback. This all came about on Wednesday as the Broncos officially <a href="http://www.thedenverchannel.com/sports/28762436/detail.html" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;"><u>named Kyle Orton their starting quarterback</u></a>.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tebow <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/TimTebow/status/98927763821563904" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;"><u>posted on Twitter</u></a> early Wednesday, saying, “Hey Merrill ….. ‘ppreciate that”.</span></div><div class="embedded-article-image" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: left; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 6px; margin-top: 6px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 340px;"><img src="http://dy.snimg.com/story-image/4/58/194058/43389-330-0.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 13px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><span class="storyDeck" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 13px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tim Tebow is trying to win the Broncos' starting quarterback job, and has one believer in LeBron James. (AP Photo)</span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Later, James, who dealt with his fair share of criticism in the past year <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/KingJames/status/98944982429343745" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;"><u>said via Twitter</u></a>, “Guys get on that TV and act like they was all WORLD when they played. How bout encouraging him and wishing him the best instead of hating!!”</span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hoge played fullback for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1987-1993 and ended his career in 1994 with the Chicago Bears. He ran for 3,139 yards and 21 scores as well as catching 254 passes for another 13 touchdowns. The Steelers did not reach a Super Bowl during Hoge’s tenure.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">James continued, “Tim Tebow will succeed in the NFL. He's a hard worker, a student of the game, a natural born leader and most of all a WINNER! It takes time and he'll be nice."</span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Twitter volleys were in response to <a href="http://aol.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2011-08-03/merril-hoge-embarrassing-to-think-broncos-could-win-with-tebow" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;"><u>Hoge posting a series of earlier tweets</u></a> saying, "It's embarrassing to think the Broncos could win with Tebow!! ...That throwing motion he changed? You can't change who you are!... College credentials do not transfer to NFL, rah-rah speeches do not work! You must possess a skill set to play! Tebow struggles with accuracy!"</span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hoge also said on ESPN’s SportsCenter that Tebow has poor fundamentals that prevent him from being an accurate passer, particularly when he must move outside the pocket.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Broncos could have a quarterback controversy on their hands, with many fans clamoring for a glimpse of the quarterback who led the Florida Gators to two national championships. SN’s Clifton Brown reported Tuesday that if Orton isn’t traded, it sounds like <a href="http://aol.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2011-08-02/orton-ahead-of-tebow-broncos-watching-locker-room-ramifications" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;"><u>many Broncos players would prefer</u></a> that the veteran be the starting quarterback.</span></div><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div>Whilly Bermudezhttps://plus.google.com/113565071762947238554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772436414091293258.post-83280018171578593482011-08-03T11:59:00.000-04:002011-08-03T11:59:39.036-04:002011-08-03T11:59:39.036-04:00Miami condo rents rise in double digits<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CEmpZMzD3ew/TjlwZe5LkmI/AAAAAAAACXA/GwHHg_rbSW0/s1600/Miami+condos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CEmpZMzD3ew/TjlwZe5LkmI/AAAAAAAACXA/GwHHg_rbSW0/s1600/Miami+condos.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><b>Fueled by strong demand, Miami condo rents rise in double digits</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">By Marilyn Bowden</span><br />
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Strong demand and rapidly diminishing inventory is significantly boosting rental rates in Brickell's condos, brokers say"Rents have gone up by 12%-15%," said Edgardo Defortuna, president of Fortune International Realty. "In our luxury buildings, we used to rent for $1.85-$1.90 a foot. Now it's $2.20-$2.35 a foot."</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
In some properties such as Icon Brickell, he said, there's a waiting list for rentals. At the same time, units that were initially rented by their owners are being marketed for sale when leases expire.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
"There are several rental markets going on," said Melanie Hyer, leader of the Revest Group at Keller Williams Miami Beach. "There are investors who purchased in the past four years and got wonderful deals. They will hold the unit for five to 10 years, renting them while they wait for really good appreciation.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
"Then there are developers who have rented out some units until they can sell. They will enter them into the market a few at a time. Icon is a good example of that."</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
For one-bedroom units, said Alicia Cervera Lamadrid, managing partner of Cervera Real Estate, the median rent over May, June and July of this year was $1,650 — an increase of $100-$150 a month over the same period the year before.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
The median rent for two-bedroom units from May-July 2011 was $2,200, up from $1,950-$2,000 in 2010.<br />
The median time a Brickell condo stays on the rental market, Cervera's researchers find, is 30 days. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cervera's survey covers the whole of the Brickell area, from the south bank of the Miami River to the Rickenbacker Causeway. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
Demand, Ms. Lamadrid said, continues to be extremely strong.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
"Inventory is dropping dramatically, and rates are increasing," she said. "That's one of the first strong indicators that prices are going to move up, because there's a tipping point where renters become buyers. We are getting close to that point as it gets harder to find a nice rental unit."</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
Renters, she said, are typically young professionals who work in the downtown area, "and those tenants will grow up to be our buyers. Long term, they will give us a much more interesting city and a much more affordable base."<br />
"We also have some foreigners who are looking into the area," Mr. Defortuna said, "and some people who were renting in Kendall, South Miami, West Dade and Broward and now find Brickell is much more convenient."</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
The trend for condo units to be occupied by renters, Mr. Defortuna said, is the opposite of the rage a few years ago to convert rental properties to condos.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
Since cash is still king in the residential market, buyers tend to be Latin Americans looking for investments in a relatively stable economy.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
"We see a big demand among international buyers," Ms. Hyer said, "some Europeans, but largely people from Brazil, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Venezuela.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
"Upper-class Latins love Brickell, and especially when they can buy foreclosed units as investments and then rent them out, it really makes sense. They can't buy this quality in their own countries at this price.<br />
"These are people who still believe in the long-term future of Miami real estate."</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
About 75% of these buyers paid cash, Mr. Defortuna said, and are under no pressure to resell. "They're happy to keep them rented and generate cash flow," he said.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
Ms. Hyer said the numbers of younger renters, many migrating from older and more expensive properties in South Beach, are not only eating up excess rental inventory but also changing Brickell's image.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
"There are so many young professionals here now that it's become very cool," she said, "and more people want to live there. So while in 2008-'09, when a lot of new projects came on at the same time, there were so many beautiful units, all empty, and a lot of competition, now there's not so much rental inventory left."</span></div></div>Whilly Bermudezhttps://plus.google.com/113565071762947238554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772436414091293258.post-15754936903681678952011-08-02T17:30:00.000-04:002011-08-02T17:30:51.855-04:002011-08-02T17:30:51.855-04:00Police: Man tries steal cop's car, blames 'Batman'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lrHABdhJvR0/TjhsgrC0rwI/AAAAAAAACWA/L7M9uZi1KSw/s1600/whilly+bermudez.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lrHABdhJvR0/TjhsgrC0rwI/AAAAAAAACWA/L7M9uZi1KSw/s320/whilly+bermudez.jpg" width="268" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;">Police: Man tries steal cop's car, blames 'Batman' </span></b><br />
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Pittsburgh police say a man tried to carjack a plainclothes officer near filming for the latest Batman movie -- and allegedly told him it was part of the script.<br />
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Detective Robert DiGiacomo was in an unmarked vehicle around 7:15 p.m. Saturday, looking for a suspect in an assault. That's when police say a man opened the car door, sat down and told the officer to get out.<br />
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The officer drew his gun and ordered the suspect, 21-year-old Micah Calamosca, out of the car. He says the suspect told him he was part of filming for "The Dark Knight Rises" and that taking the vehicle was in the script.<br />
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Calamosco was taken into custody and faces a charge of robbery of a motor vehicle. It's unclear if he has an attorney.</span></div>Whilly Bermudezhttps://plus.google.com/113565071762947238554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772436414091293258.post-73516571898017341452011-08-02T12:16:00.000-04:002011-08-02T12:16:33.592-04:002011-08-02T12:16:33.592-04:00Should Your Boss Be Able to Fire You Because of Facebook Posts or Photos?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ab1GRE6V_lE/Tjgi2MWbpfI/AAAAAAAACV8/bNhSa0Ukcvc/s1600/facebook+firings.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ab1GRE6V_lE/Tjgi2MWbpfI/AAAAAAAACV8/bNhSa0Ukcvc/s320/facebook+firings.png" width="320" /></a></div>Facebook Firings: Feds, Managers Navigate 'New Territory' In Employment</b></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WASHINGTON -- The <a href="http://www.nlrb.gov/" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #2b0073; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">federal agency</a> tasked with enforcing labor law has been fielding complaints from workers across the country who have been fired or disciplined for their work-related indiscretions on Facebook. Although the feds have taken up the cases of a number of jaded workers, others have essentially been told they have no one to blame for their workplace troubles but themselves.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That includes a Walmart worker who referred to his manager as a "puta" -- Spanish for "whore" -- on the social networking site after a spat over store displays, as well as a frustrated Illinois bartender who took to Facebook to air his desire to see the "redneck" patrons on the other side of the bar "choke on glass" as they drove home drunk.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The latter worker was canned and the former admonished for their respective online outbursts, and<a href="http://www.laborrelationstoday.com/2011/07/articles/nlrb-decisions/nlrb-division-of-advice-provides-additional-guidance-on-social-media-issues/" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #2b0073; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">both appealed to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)</a> in hopes that their employers' actions would be deemed unlawful. In both of those cases, the NLRB declined to issue complaints on the workers' behalf, essentially saying the punishments were legitimate.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like others that have preceded them, the two cases give workers, managers and lawyers a better idea of where the labor board stands in what is still a largely unexplored area of employment law. Although the NLRB deals primarily with issues surrounding union elections, the board has stood out in recent months as an agency willing to grapple with the question of when <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/26/fired-over-facebook-posts_n_659170.html#s115707&title=Swiss_Woman_Caught" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #2b0073; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">firing someone over a Facebook missive</a> is fair game.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The NLRB is the one making big splashy decisions, and people are drawing conclusions from those," said Tina Hsu, a lawyer specializing in employment and social media at <a href="http://www.shulmanrogers.com/" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #2b0073; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">Shulman Rogers</a> in Potomac, Md. "They seem to be trying to discern whether private or non-work postings are having an adverse effect on the workplace. That's a difficult or blurry line to draw."</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"It's new territory," said Nancy Cleeland, spokeswoman for the NLRB.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cleeland said the agency received "several dozen" pleas from fired or otherwise punished workers in the wake of a complaint the board issued last fall in a Facebook case. Because of the inundation, board officials have asked that the NLRB's regional offices steer any Facebook cases toward the agency's Washington headquarters, where the general counsel is currently drafting a report that will outline certain Facebook scenarios and how the board has acted upon them.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"It's to give more guidance and to help employers understand where we're coming from on these," Cleeland said.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the case from last fall, an employee at a Connecticut ambulance company was <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/09/business/09facebook.html?src=ISMR_AP_LO_MST_FB" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #2b0073; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">fired for knocking her boss</a> on Facebook. "Love how the company allows a 17 to become a supervisor," Dawnmarie Souza wrote, "17" being an insider's term for a psychiatric patient. The company, American Medical Response, had a policy that forbid employees from criticizing the company online. The NLRB took up Souza's complaint, arguing in part that such a policy was too broad.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In its complaint, the board's counsel said that Souza's online griping amounted to "protected concerted activity," for which, under American labor law, an employer cannot fire a worker. The agency basically argued that the Facebook chatter was no different from workers gathering around the water cooler to discuss working conditions. The case was settled in February, with American Medical Response agreeing to no longer punish employees for such online discussion.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The agency has applied that virtual water cooler argument to a handful of other Facebook cases, including that of a Chicago-area car dealership worker who was <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/24/facebook-posting-worker-fired_n_866353.html" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #2b0073; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">let go after criticizing his employer</a>. The employee mocked management for serving hot dogs from Sam's Club at an event designed to promote a luxe new BMW model. The NLRB filed a complaint in May arguing that the firing violated labor law.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But according to the board's counsel, a worker's sniping doesn’t always amount to protected activity.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In <a href="http://www.laborrelationstoday.com/stats/pepper/orderedlist/downloads/download.php?file=http%3A//www.laborrelationstoday.com/uploads/file/WalMart_17_CA_25030_doc.pdf" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #2b0073; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">the Walmart case</a>, an employee at one of the retail giant's Oklahoma stores alighted on Facebook after an argument with an assistant manager, as reported on <em style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; font-style: italic !important; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Labor Relations Today</em>. "Wuck Falmart!" he wrote. "I swear if this tyranny doesn’t end in this store they are about to get a wake-up call because lots are about to quit!" His Facebook friends included several Walmart co-workers. One responded with "bahaha like! :)" and another with "Lol."</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In response to his friends' comments, the employee called the manager a "super mega puta," going on to say that if the situation at the store didn't improve, then Walmart "could kiss my royal white ass!" A co-worker who saw the posting provided the boss with a printout of the exchange.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The manager prepared a written disciplinary report saying that the worker's behavior reflected poorly upon the company and that he would be fired if it continued. The worker appealed to the NLRB, but the board's counsel threw out the case last month, finding that the Facebook tirade was nothing more than "an expression of an individual gripe," rather than concerted activity with other co-workers. "Mere griping," the dismissal noted, "is not protected."</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NLRB counsel dismissed <a href="http://www.laborrelationstoday.com/stats/pepper/orderedlist/downloads/download.php?file=http%3A//www.laborrelationstoday.com/uploads/file/JT_13_CA_46689_doc.pdf" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #2b0073; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">the bartender's complaint</a> for similar reasons. In that case, a bartender at JT's Porch Saloon & Eatery in Lombard, Ill., had a back-and-forth on Facebook with his stepsister, complaining that waitresses at the bar didn’t share their tips with bartenders and that he hadn't seen a raise in five years. He threw in the comments on the "redneck" drinkers for good measure. The night manager later informed the bartender that he would probably be terminated for the remarks.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a cruel bit of irony, the owner of the establishment then fired the bartender via Facebook message.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As in the Walmart worker's case, NLRB counsel found that the bartender's complaint fell short of concerted activity since the posting didn’t involve an earnest discussion about working conditions with any of his co-workers.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to Cleeland, the NLRB will probably release its report on Facebook cases sometime in the coming weeks. Careful not to call it a guide, Cleeland said it will merely detail particular complaints that have come before the agency and what the outcomes were.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hsu said employers and workers alike could use a little guidance on social media, however small.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"You can't stick your head in the sand and tell your workers to abstain," she said. "They're not going to. A lot of people growing up, they don’t know anything but communicating through Facebook. You have to teach them how to navigate this new area."</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img src="http://opalfusionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/fired-300x200.jpg" /></span></div></div></div>Whilly Bermudezhttps://plus.google.com/113565071762947238554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772436414091293258.post-60273179255168260162011-08-02T08:44:00.000-04:002011-08-02T08:44:56.809-04:002011-08-02T08:44:56.809-04:00Kobe says folks should ease up on LeBron<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0RH1vAR2kTs/TjfxQ1qD7jI/AAAAAAAACVI/doRUG3btI6c/s1600/whilly+bermudez.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0RH1vAR2kTs/TjfxQ1qD7jI/AAAAAAAACVI/doRUG3btI6c/s320/whilly+bermudez.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"><b>Kobe says folks should ease up on LeBron </b></span><br />
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<a href="http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2011-08-01/kobe-says-folks-should-ease-up-on-lebron?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl4%7Csec3_lnk2%7C82740#">Kobe Bryant</a> wishes everyone would just leave LeBron James alone.<br />
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During a Sunday conversation “SportsCenter,” ESPN’s George <a href="http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2011-08-01/kobe-says-folks-should-ease-up-on-lebron?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl4%7Csec3_lnk2%7C82740#">Smith</a> asked Bryant, “There was a lot of venom toward the Heat, and particularly toward LeBron James. What did you make of that?”<br />
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“I think people need to lay off that kid,” Bryant responded. “That’s what I think. I’ve gotten to know him pretty well, playing with the <a href="http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2011-08-01/kobe-says-folks-should-ease-up-on-lebron?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl4%7Csec3_lnk2%7C82740#">Olympic team</a>. I think they need to back up off him and just let him play, and let him live his life, and let him make his decisions, and let him mature as a player.<br />
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“It’s tough to be under the microscope like that all of the time. I would like everybody to back off of him and let him play.”</span><br />
<div><img height="266" src="http://cdn.giantmag.com/files//2009/05/kobelbj.jpg" width="400" /></div></div>Whilly Bermudezhttps://plus.google.com/113565071762947238554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772436414091293258.post-54303340995427869762011-08-01T11:00:00.002-04:002011-08-01T11:00:56.016-04:002011-08-01T11:00:56.016-04:00Are Internet Explorer users dumb?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wOniQwlhcOk/Tja_kT2XnbI/AAAAAAAACUM/Tf_pOQ-qaXE/s1600/whilly+bermudez.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wOniQwlhcOk/Tja_kT2XnbI/AAAAAAAACUM/Tf_pOQ-qaXE/s320/whilly+bermudez.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;">Are Internet Explorer users dumb?</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">By Doug Gross, CNN</span><br />
Are users of other Web browsers smarter than the people who use Microsoft's Internet Explorer?<br />
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A new survey doesn't quite say so. But it sure as heck suggests it.<br />
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<a href="http://www.aptiquant.com/news/is-internet-explorer-for-the-dumb-a-new-study-suggests-exactly-that/">The survey</a> by AptiQuant, a Vancouver-based Web consulting company, gave more than 100,000 participants an IQ test, while monitoring which browser they used to take the test.<br />
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The result? Internet Explorer users scored lower than average, while Chrome, Firefox and Safari users were slightly above average.<br />
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And users of the more obscure Camino and Opera browsers, as well as those using Explorer with Chrome Frame (a plug-in designed to let users view emerging HTML5 content), had what AptiQuaint called "exceptionally higher" IQ levels.<br />
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Those numbers, it should be noted, probably aren't very scientific. The field of test-takers was self-selecting -- people who chose, on their own, to take an IQ test instead of a scientifically selected study group. They found the test through Web searches or ads the company placed online.<br />
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The report suggests that people using Explorer, the built-in, default browser for Windows-based computers, may be more resistant to change. A similar study in 2006 showed users on the then-current IE browser scored above average.<br />
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Internet Explorer is the world's most popular browser, with about a 43% share, <a href="http://gs.statcounter.com/press/firefox-4-becomes-leading-firefox-version">according to StatCounter.</a> Firefox has just under 30%, and Google's Chrome has 19%, according to a report from May.<br />
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Users of Internet Explorer 6, released in 2001, scored the lowest on the tests, at just over 80. Users of Opera, the Norway-based browser, scored the highest at well over 120. (What AptiQuant called its complete results included a bar graph showing the scores, but didn't appear to have text giving the exact numbers.)<br />
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IQ scores have a "population mean" of 100.<br />
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If this all smacks of a little good, old-fashioned Microsoft hate, the language the company uses in its report doesn't do much to downplay that.<br />
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"It is common knowledge that Internet Explorer Versions 6.0 to 8.0 are highly incompatible with modern web standards. In order to make websites work properly on these browsers, web developers have to spend a lot of unnecessary effort ...," said the report from AptiQuant, which offers online tools for employers to measure employee, and potential employee, aptitude.<br />
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"Now that we have a statistical pattern on the continuous usage of incompatible browsers, better steps can be taken to eradicate this nuisance."<br />
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What do you think? Cheap shot or telling results? Let us know in the comments.</span><br />
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</span></div></div>Whilly Bermudezhttps://plus.google.com/113565071762947238554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772436414091293258.post-26620840610583740162011-07-29T11:35:00.001-04:002011-07-29T11:35:47.655-04:002011-07-29T11:35:47.655-04:00Man Has Himself Shot To Win Sympathy From His Ex<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nw6uF_amZP8/TjLTQL9d5zI/AAAAAAAACTI/PJ1XL9n1wkI/s1600/Jordan+Cardella.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nw6uF_amZP8/TjLTQL9d5zI/AAAAAAAACTI/PJ1XL9n1wkI/s320/Jordan+Cardella.jpg" width="203" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><b>Man Has Himself Shot To Win Sympathy From His Ex</b></span></span><br />
<div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jordan Cardella wanted to win back his girlfriend. So, to gain her sympathy, he hatched a plan to have a friend shoot him in the back.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Surprise, surprise ... his plan backfired.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In what Wisconsin prosecutors called "the most phenomenally stupid" case they had ever seen, two Wisconsin men pleaded guilty to felony weapons charges, the <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/126225293.html" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #ed7d00; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink"><em style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; font-style: italic !important; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Milwaukee Journal Sentinel</em> reports</a>.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to the complaint, last January Cardella asked his friend Anthony Woodall to "shoot him in the back three times," but Woodall refused. Instead, he referred Cardella to Michael Wezykl, who agreed to carry out the bizarre hit in exchange for money or pills.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20084482-504083.html" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #ed7d00; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">Cardella would have shot himself</a>, but being a convicted felon, he didn't want to touch a gun, according to CBS.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After retrieving the firearm from Wezyk's home, the trio made their way to a nearby park. The complaint says that, "Wezyk then shot Cardella in the arm, and Cardella immediately slumped over. He asked to be shot again, <a href="http://thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/07/daniel-zimmerman/irresponsible-gun-owner-of-the-day-michael-wezyk/" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #ed7d00; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">but Wezyk stated, 'I'm done</a>.'"</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So Cardella never did receive the three wounds he thought would be necessary to find pity from his former girlfriend.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Sorry to bring something so stupid into your courtroom," Wezyk later told Circuit Judge Rebecca Dallet, according to the Journal Sentinel.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wezyk, 24, and Woodall, 20, must each serve two years probation and 100 hours of community service.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The good news for Cardella is that the charges against him were dropped, so he'll only have to live with a shameful scar story.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The bad news? His ex never visited him.</span></div></div>Whilly Bermudezhttps://plus.google.com/113565071762947238554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772436414091293258.post-92226355997628684312011-07-28T14:00:00.000-04:002011-07-28T14:00:46.343-04:002011-07-28T14:00:46.343-04:00My First Million: A.J. Khubani, TeleBrands<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RRsybrVr5t4/TjB1OYrasdI/AAAAAAAACR0/YW8NYvVz_Cw/s1600/A.J.+Khubani%252C+TeleBrands.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RRsybrVr5t4/TjB1OYrasdI/AAAAAAAACR0/YW8NYvVz_Cw/s320/A.J.+Khubani%252C+TeleBrands.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><b>My First Million: A.J. Khubani, TeleBrands</b></span><br />
<b>How a part-time pizza-delivery guy took $7,000 and turned it into a $1 billion "As Seen on TV" infomercial empire</b><br />
<a href="http://smallbusiness.aol.com/writers/alicia-ciccone/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">ALICIA CICCONE</span></a><br />
<br />
Ajit "A.J." Khubani has built a career convincing consumers to buy products they never knew they needed. As the founder and CEO of Fairfield, N.J.-based<a href="https://telebrands.com/?uid=BF2C4BE12BFC20153F1F89FA9D3FD96B">TeleBrands</a>, he considers himself the "Infomercial King" -- a retail monarch who now oversees a reported $1 billion empire.<br />
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The son of Indian immigrants, Khubani started out at 23, spending a few thousand dollars on an ad in National Enquirer -- a move that led to his first big hit. Since then, he's sold hundreds of millions of "As Seen on TV" products, including AmberVision sunglasses, the PedEgg and Doggy Steps. He has bolstered the careers of ubiquitous TV pitchmen, including the late Billy Mays, who enthusiastically hawked products now found on the shelves of more than 100,000 retailers. Today, Khubani is the leader in the $20 billion direct consumer marketing industry, turning out more "low-tech" products than ever before.<br />
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Khubani knows better than anyone that being successful doesn't mean being bulletproof, however. Having taken the company through bankruptcy and costly litigation with the Federal Trade Commission, he knows just how fragile an empire can be. But TeleBrands is bigger than ever now and seems to have perfected a formula for predicting retail success -- an American Idol-esque search process that allows him to navigate the onslaught of inventors vying to be the next big idea.<br />
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Surprisingly soft-spoken for an infomercial impresario, Khubani says the best products all have one thing in common -- they solve everyday problems.<br />
<br />
"My father immigrated to the U.S. from India in 1957 by boat. He got his first job as a busboy but eventually started an electronics-importing business. He was a self-made millionaire and a major influence on my life. Growing up, I always thought someday I'd want to follow in his footsteps and become an entrepreneur myself, but when I graduated from Montclair State University, I thought I'd get a job first and get some experience before starting my own business. The economic environment in the early 1980s was very similar to the situation today. We were in the middle of one of the worst recessions ever in the country and unemployment was over 10 percent. So the prospects of finding a job were pretty dim. I was working as a pizza man and tending bar and I didn't want to continue doing that after I graduated. I wanted to take the next step up and use my education to facilitate my income and my personal growth.<br />
<br />
"So I thought of this idea of selling products through mail order. I had connections to suppliers of electronics through my father, and I started looking through some trade journals. I found a product -- an AM/FM Walkman-style radio -- that I thought would sell really well. It was 1983, when one of the bestselling products on the marketplace was the Sony Walkman. It was selling for $60, which was a lot of money back then. I found that I could sell this particular AM/FM style radio that looked like a Walkman for about $10, so I spent about $7,000 -- a third of my life's savings when I was 23 -- wrote an ad, put it in the National Enquirer and waited for the orders to come in. I didn't have any employees, so I shipped everything myself, typing all the labels on an IBM typewriter and delivering the goods to the post office. It was very exciting. I broke even, which gave me the encouragement to keep on going. I thought if I could break even my first time out, then the more I learned the business, the better I would get. I continued with a couple more items and nothing really made money. The first two years I didn't make any profit at all -- I just continued to break even.<br />
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"By 1985, I came across a product -- massage slippers. They were like beach slippers with bumps on the bottom that massaged your feet as you walked. I sold those for $10 and they were a relatively big success. My profit that year was about a quarter of a million dollars, which was a lot of money back then, at 25 years old. I think that's when I knew I made it. I finally started to make a profit and I said, 'This is going to work. This is something I can actually make a living off of and continue building the business.' I was getting a lot of pressure from family members to go out and get a 'real job,' and they would say, 'What are you doing wasting your time with this?' It was a lot of pressure, but once I made that money, I decided I would continue to pursue it. The following year I really started to figure it out and I came across a few more products -- a folding knife, an ultrasonic pest repellent -- that were making money, and all of a sudden the business got really big. That year, in 1986, the business grew to $11 million, and I made a profit of $3 million. So I made my first million dollars at the age of 26. It was pretty good. It was a very exciting time to break through. In that year, I bought my first house in Wanaque, N.J., for $200,000 and was able to pay in cash.<br />
<br />
"Experiencing all this success, I was very ambitious and said, 'How do I take this to the next level? How do I expand?' I thought about going on TV and taking it to another medium. With TV, the best thing you can do is identify a product that the consumer wants. We know from experience the types of products consumers are willing to buy -- things that solve an everyday problem, that are a good value for the money, that are innovative and sometimes things that put a smile on people's faces. Then, you need a good TV commercial, something that gets people's attention. Because it's visual, we like strong demonstrations. The commercials are a little bit campy, but we find that a little bit campy works better than serious commercials. I started experimenting with TV and produced three commercials in 1986. All three were successful. One was for an ultrasonic flea collar, one was for a home bicycle exercise product and the other was for AmberVision sunglasses.<br />
<br />
"I was really surprised at how big AmberVision sunglasses became -- we sold 15 million of them. AmberVision became a household name and by 1987, anyone I spoke to had heard of AmberVision because we were advertising so much. It occurred to me that if it became a brand everyone knows, it would probably sell in more places than just off of TV, so I started approaching retail stores. I got turned down one store after another. They had no interest in dealing with a startup company with a line of sunglasses that were just one style. Finally, after about a year of knocking on doors I got my first break from Herman's Sporting Goods in New Jersey, which decided to try 200 pairs. They sold out in one day, so they reordered 20,000 pairs. I was able to take that story around and start knocking on more doors. I went to all the local retailers first in the New York area and got all of them to buy. Our buyer at Jamesway was a guy named Angelo Bianco. He was very skeptical, but we had a connection with his boss. Reluctantly, he bought some of our products, and he was really surprised at how well the products sold. He was so surprised that he decided to join TeleBrands full time, and he's been here ever since. He was instrumental in taking TeleBrands to the next level and building up a retail distribution. Within a couple of years of the Herman Sporting Goods account, we were selling to every major retailer in the country, including Walmart, Target, Walgreens and CVS. We found a business model that worked with launching a product on TV and then taking the product into retail chains and the next step was to take the product internationally, so we now sell our products all over the world.<br />
<br />
"We use an American Idol-like setup for our Inventor's Days, with a panel of judges and a time limit. We look for things that solve an everyday problem, that are innovative, that can be fun and that demonstrate well on TV, so people in the company look through thousands of submissions and decide which ones come closest to that criteria. Out of those, we usually select at least a couple of items and we test market them further. The ones that are successful in test marketing are fairly few, because the odds of coming up with a success are pretty slim, which is just the nature of the business. We mostly go through manufacturers and inventors for products, but being in it so long I just -- out of necessity -- started inventing some of the products myself. I would see an opportunity in a particular category like the Doggy Steps. I said, 'There has to be a less expensive Doggy Steps that's portable and lightweight, that we could sell for $19.99 versus these multi-hundred-dollar steps made of wood and carpet.' So we came up with a cost-effective solution to get dogs onto the sofa and bed. That was maybe the first successful item I invented. The most successful product that we ever sold -- the PedEgg -- I invented, which is huge. We've sold over 45 million PedEggs, and it continues to sell well.<br />
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"The vast majority of our products has a very high degree of consumer satisfaction. We're very happy with our products, we're very happy with the claims we make, and we actually find that consumer satisfaction is higher if you under promise and over deliver, so that's what we try to do. Our business is not an exact science. We get initial test data and react to that, but not everything has the sales we anticipate. That's why it's a good thing that we launch many products within a year. From a business standpoint, if we launch 10 products in a year and eight are successful and two are not, we're still successful overall.<br />
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"We have hit bumps. We had a litigation with the FTC a long time ago, but that has been settled and we haven't had anything since then. Companies don't grow without having growing pains, and we hit a very rough patch in 2000, in which the company actually went through a Chapter 11 filing. We re-emerged out of Chapter 11 in three months and rebuilt the company. I think as a result of going through those bumps, you definitely emerge stronger as a company. I know I'm much stronger as an individual and as a leader of the company for having gone through the rough roads. What's the saying? Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.<br />
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"I've worked really hard, so I appreciate everything I have, and I don't take anything for granted. I'm very happy that I can provide my family with security and certain privileges and luxuries. It makes me feel good. I believe that if you work hard and you're successful, you deserve to treat yourself -- after all, why do you work so hard?<br />
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"Having your own business is the hardest job you're ever going to have. It's all-consuming and you work harder than you ever imagined you'd have to work, and you'll think about it 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You've got to put that much attention, thought process and work into a business if it's going to succeed. It's not for everybody. Some people don't want to be thinking about work seven days a week. Some people don't want to work 12, 14 hours a day. If that's the case, then you shouldn't be in business. But if you're willing to do that, it's more rewarding than anything you can imagine. I work very hard -- I work harder today than I worked when I was in college starting the business, but for me, it's so rewarding that I never feel I'm working."</span></div>Whilly Bermudezhttps://plus.google.com/113565071762947238554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772436414091293258.post-5004163249163947862011-07-27T12:30:00.001-04:002011-07-27T12:33:17.394-04:002011-07-27T12:33:17.394-04:00GET BEAT UP THIS HALLOWEEN: Casey Anthony Halloween Mask On Sale<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SwF3pAZJnLo/TjA9FjYKu_I/AAAAAAAACQ8/t9WEQoi2w6M/s1600/Casey+Anthony+Halloween+Mask+On+Sale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SwF3pAZJnLo/TjA9FjYKu_I/AAAAAAAACQ8/t9WEQoi2w6M/s320/Casey+Anthony+Halloween+Mask+On+Sale.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;">Casey Anthony Halloween Mask On Sale</span></b><br />
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MIAMI -- Halloween is only a few months away and if you're looking for something other than Freddy Krueger, this may be the answer.<br />
<br />
A Casey Anthony latex rubber mask is now for sale on ebay.<br />
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The mask was one of nine used for a parody video and is reportedly in excellent condition.<br />
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The auction currently has more than 83 bids, the highest is $24,000.<br />
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Bidding ends Wednesday afternoon.<br />
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Anthony, 25, was acquitted of all felony charges in her 2-year-old daughter Caylee's death. She was found guilty of 4 misdemeanor charges of lying to law enforcement.<br />
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She was released from prison on July 17.</span>Whilly Bermudezhttps://plus.google.com/113565071762947238554noreply@blogger.com0