Bild via Flickr (Anmerkung: der User hat hierbei das Interface von Facebook für StudiVz genutzt)

Das war ja nur eine Frage der Zeit. Facebook verklagt StudiVz wegen Ideenklau. Und das auch noch vor einem kalifornischen Gericht, die ja bekannt dafür sind, dass die Prozesse besonders kostenintensiv sind und die Urteile meistens sehr hoch ausfallen. Auch wenn StudiVz gewinnt, wird der Prozess also dennoch enorm hohe Summen verschlingen.
Laut Facebook muss StudiVz damit aufhören "look, feel, features and services" von Facebook zu kopieren.

Facebook-Justiziar Sam O´Rourke bekräftigte die Notwendigkeit, gegen StudiVZ gerichtlich vorzugehen: „Wir haben viel in die Technik und das Design investiert und glauben fest daran, dass unser Erfolg maßgeblich mit unserem einmaligen Erscheinungsbild und dem ´Look and Feel´ von Website und Nutzeroberfläche zusammenhängt“, sagte er der „Financial Times“. Facebook wolle die illegalen Aktivitäten von StudiVZ beenden, um User nicht zu verwirren und Facebooks Ansehen nicht zu schaden.

Die Klage wurde zuerst von der Financial Times aufgegriffen, die schreibt:

Facebook said it was "seeking to end StudiVZ's illegal activity to ensure that users are not confused and that Facebook's reputation remains unharmed".

Die immense Ähnlichkeit zwischen StudiVz und Facebook ist schon lange bekannt. Viele werden sich also fragen warum Facebook erst jetzt rechtliche Schritte einleitet. Nun, Facebook ist lange daran interessiert StudiVz von Holtzbrinck abzukaufen, jedoch bis lange ohne Erfolg. Zudem startete Facebook erst vor kurzem mit einem deutschen Ableger, der aber bisher nicht an StudiVz heranreicht. Facebook versucht nun also juristischen Druck aufzubauen und so vielleicht die Eigentümer von StudiVz zu "überzeugen" die Social Community doch noch zu verkaufen.

Der Plagiatismus von StudiVz ist ja auch nicht von der Hand zu weisen. Auf gulli heißt es:

Laut Anklage wird gefordert, dass StudiVZ

"die illegalen Aktivitäten beendet um sicherzustellen, dass die Benutzer nicht verwirrt werden und dass der Ruf Facebooks unbeschädigt bleibt."

StudiVZ LogoDie letzte Äußerung kann man, wenn man will, auf die zahlreichen Skandale in Sachen Datenschutz und Verhalten der Betreiber beziehen, welche insbesondere Ende 2006 von der deutschen Blogosphäre aufgedeckt wurden. Der Imageschaden war seinerzeit immens. Die Plagiatsvorwürfe kommen nun ebenso wenig überraschend. In Anfangszeiten von StudiVZ waren selbst Dateinamen im System mit denen von Facebook identisch. Die bekannte "Gruschel"-Funktion etwa wurde mit einem Script namens poke.php aufgerufen, wobei "Poking" (Anstupsen) das Facebook-Pendant zum Gruscheln ist. Auch fand sich im System ein StyleSheet mit dem Namen myfb.css, fb ist mit größter Wahrscheinlichkeit ein Hinweis auf die ursprüngliche Herkunft der Datei.

Der Prozess könnte ja auch zu einem Präzedenzfall in Bezug auf Plagiatismus im Web 2.0 werden und egal wie er ausgeht: StudiVz wird einige schmerzhafte Narben behalten.

Hier sieht man übrigens eine sehr frühe StudiVz Seite. Dies zeigt zumindestens mal das StudiVz sein HTML und CSS mit Hilfe von Facebook erstellt hat.

Guckt man heute auf verschiedene Blognews Seiten, dann ist die Nachricht schon eingeschlagen wie eine Bombe.

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Of the thousand journalism jobs reportedly lost during the past year, 121 belonged to specialists covering music and dance, film, books and television. The music critic at the Kansas City Star was told to walk after eight years of heavy duty. The Miami Herald's critic was granted eight weeks' severance pay. The Los Angeles Times no longer employs a dance critic. The Village Voice in New York and the Los Angeles Weekly have ceased coverage of "classical" music. The Seattle Times no longer employs a music critic. Even the relatively secure New York Times has found two of its venerable critics - one in music, one in dance - to be expendable. Time and Newsweek gave up earnest arts coverage long ago.

The Financial Times does a beautiful job of summarizing why we should care, and does it eloquently:

A primary cause of our imminent extinction must be the internet. An impatient generation is succumbing to the free and easy lure of computer enlightenment. Sure, not all those who cover the arts in old-fashioned print are paragons - still, most do have sufficient education and/or experience to justify their views. On the web, anyone can impersonate an expert. Anyone can blog. Credentials don't count. All views are equal. Some sort of criticism may survive the American media revolution, but professional criticism may not.

Essentially, our civilisation is tilting towards anti-authoritarian contests. Audiences, not judges, select winners. Call it the American Idolisation of culture. On TV, contestants get voted off without explanation. Quality is measured by thumbs, up or down. Scholarly analyses have turned into irrelevant extravagances for snobs.

This is too important a time for the arts in Kansas City without raising our voices in protest to The Star's decision. Have you spoken out in support of the arts?

The Financial Times reports that, according to consultancy RSM McGladrey, "[n]early 80 percent of senior executives at small and medium-size U.S. manufacturing companies are pessimistic about the prospects for economic growth." The Times attributes the fact that "[m]anufacturing has held up better than the service sector" recently to the "resilience of companies that employ fewer than 2,000 workers," which "account for about 40 percent of U.S. manufacturing production and make up 99 percent of the country's manufacturers." However, in the McGladrey survey, "[f]ewer than 40 percent of respondents said their businesses were 'thriving and growing' -- down by 10 percent from last year and 19 percent from 2006." Also, the report "[w]orringly" indicates that "small and mid-size manufacturers are retreating from the global economy just as large manufacturers...have offset falling sales at home by increasing market share internationally." Still, "those companies with a global strategy reported on average a four percent higher gross margin."

B'Man: I call on companies of every size, from a 3 or 4 man shop to several thousand employees (Nissan, Honda, Delphi, etc). With very few exceptions, they all are complaining about business and many have informed me that if something doesn't give, they will be foirced to close their doors, or, at the very least, conduct massive layoffs (massive means up to half or more of their employees).

By and large, I don't think it is that Big Money thinks the economy is good, but that if they begin to address the truth, they realize that it could all fall apart.

It is similar to sticking their heads in the sand to ignore the truth.

But just look at the "indicators" and see how bad things actually are. To understand the truth of the matter, please turn off your TV (especially Fox Noise) and read. Print media, especially Finacial publications, most especiially foreign, are addressing what the American Media is staying away from, by and large.

No use causing a panic by telling the truth. Right?

The New York Times Co. vill stärka sin attraktionskraft hos annonsörer genom att öka sin globala räckvidd genom att låta nytimes.com och iht.com gå samman.

Ännu är det inte klart om man skall låta den internationella editionen av nytimes.com ha kvar både varumärket Herald Tribune och New York Times. En idé är att låta läsarna ha möjligheten att här kunna klicka på adresserna för antingen iht.com eller nytimes.com.

Designers förbereder nu en ny digital arkitektur för Herald Tribune som troligen skall ha sex eller sju olika internationella sektioner med bl.a. affärsnyheter, kultur, sport, lyx och resor.

Målet är att mer aggressivt kunna konkurrera med sina främsta rivaler Financial Times och Wall Street Journal.

International Herald Tribune - som sedan 2003 kontrolleras fullt ut av The New York Times Co. - har idag underrubriken "the global edition of The New York Times". 

Nättidningen iht.com har sju miljoner besökare per månad medan nytimes.com ligger på 58 miljoner.

... the Bush administration's greatest contribution to rising oil prices is its steady stream of threats to attack Iran, if it does not back down on the nuclear issue. The Iranians have made it plain that they would retaliate by attempting to block the flow of Gulf oil and otherwise cause turmoil in the energy market. Most analysts assume, therefore, that an encounter will produce a global oil shortage and prices well over $200 per barrel. It is not surprising, then, that every threat by Bush/Cheney (or their counterparts in Israel) has triggered a sharp rise in prices. This is where speculators enter the picture. Believing that a U.S.-Iranian clash is at least 50 per cent likely, some investors are buying futures in oil at $140, $150 or more per barrel, thinking they'll make a killing if there's an attack and prices zoom past $200.

It follows, then, that while the hike in prices is due largely to ever-increasing demand chasing insufficiently expanding supply, the Bush administration's energy policies have greatly intensified the problem. By seeking to preserve an oil-based energy system at any cost, and by adding to the "fear factor" in international speculation through its bungled invasion of Iraq and bellicose statements on Iran, it has made a bad problem much worse ....

.... And if this administration truly wanted to spare Americans further pain at the pump, there is one thing it could do that would have an immediate effect: declare that military force is not an acceptable option in the struggle with Iran. Such a declaration would take the wind out of the sails of speculators and set the course for a drop in prices.

Klare's article obviously hung around in the back of my mind when, earlier, I considered a cynical proposition regarding the Bush administration:

But look what stays on the back burner. Health care? Education? Prison reform? Even something so fundamentally necessary as general poverty relief is cast into doubt by the spectres raised over the last seven and a half years. If the Bush administration has succeeded at anything, it has laid stumbling blocks of all size and manner along the path to American progress. It seems almost a cynical proposition, since everyday life has no obligation to make any sense whatsoever, but Bush may have accomplished one of the greatest evil coups in American history: If you can’t beat 'em, just make it impossible for 'em to do what they do.

And indeed it seems ludicrous to consider that the whole New American Century promoted by the Bush administration should be an atrocious sleight of hand. Indeed it sounds nearly schizophrenic, a conspiracy theory of cyclopean proportion: National security is just a cover story, a convenient excuse to stem the natural flow toward a more complete justice, a stronger democracy, and a more communal American endeavor.

While it sounds crazy, though, how does the whole national security argument really look under close scrutiny? Critics of Bush's War on Terror point out that the administration has largely ignored our Public Enemy #1, Osama bin Laden, and most of those would also suggest that the Iraqi Bush Adventure has, at best, done nothing to increase American security at home and abroad. Certainly, there are plenty who would claim the conduct of the Bush Wars has only increased the terrorist threat by denigrating American prestige in general and inspiring new generations of extremists to action. And even the extremists are confused by the Bush agenda. It does not really seem like four months ago that I considered that point:

Atrocity, egocentrism, ineptitude: So many people have flung so many bitter words at President Bush over the years that it seems at best an exercise in futility. Indeed, what supporters he has left still pretend the criticism is politics as usual or, worse yet, some sort of vapid pop-culture fad. Yet, as Bush has become the public face of the New American Century, we are left to wonder at the pax Americana that seems to demand wars and rumors of wars. The point is not lost even on embittered Fatah extremists such as Khalid Jaberi, who told Rose that "since the takeover, we’ve been trying to enter the brains of Bush and Rice, to figure out their mentality. We can only conclude that having Hamas in control serves their overall strategy, because their policy was so crazy otherwise."

And yet ....

It has been a while since prominent Republicans were willing to extol the president's intelligence, although Bush's apparent "toxic" effect on GOP campaigns might have something to do with this. Either way, we must consider that, on some level, the president knows damn well what he's doing. Despite all the appearances of bumbling incompetence and blissful idiotic cluelessness about Bush's tenure in the White House, he has brought conservative necessities to the fore.

The disparity between earlier positive economic outlooks and sentiments among American workers that things were not so rosy only highlights the point. Almost any route to economic recovery will be painful, but the conservative prescription—which slashes jobs in favor of executive earnings for some perverse variation on a trickle-down theme—will certainly find fertile ground in the foreseeable future. Even in trading over the White House to Democrats, the GOP will be well-positioned to sell their snake oil. A four-year loss of the Oval Office seems a steep gamble, indeed, but no society is ever refashioned in such a period. Long-term economic woes bode well for a broader conservative outlook, one that seeks to stave off the natural evolution of a society toward something that many fear.

The rich and powerful have no reason to care who occupies the White House if their fortunes and influence increase in the meantime. And a consolidation of wealth and power serves well the conservative tradition that, despite its attractive appeals to independence and personal accountability, aims to throw the greater portion of a society to the wolves—to turn people against each other in socioeconomic competition—in order widen the chasm separating them from the commoners.

So while the average American feels the pressures borne of economic spectres, the elite are positioned to increase their gains over the common. Exxon Mobil, for instance, reported its second-highest quarterly profit ever after a period that saw production decline. BP and Shell, meanwhile, saw impressive profit increases for the first quarter of the year that defied flat production trends. We may be paying thrice over for a gallon of gasoline compared to when President Bush took office, and those increases may have outpaced costs, but why should we expect otherwise?

Certainly, seven years ago, the answer would have had something to do with cynicism. The fact of an oil man as president was not cause to predict this outcome. How cynical, how shallow a presumption. Yet from Bush's inauguration in January, 2001, to the present, the average price of gasoline has shot up from $1.511 per gallon to $4.131. And what some of us would give to pay $4.13 a gallon. (It's up around $4.46 in my neighborhood.)

Which brings us back 'round to Bush and Iran. Shall we pretend that any amount of offshore drilling or befouling of Alaskan wilderness will bring us any real relief? The payoff for those proposals comes years down the line, if ever at all. And while it seems that sooner or later we will need that oil, the political value of such proposals far outweighs any real potential benefit. After all, the more Bush & Co. can hand to major corporations—in this case the oil companies—the better he's done his job.

And in the meantime, energy and the economy move to the fore. Health care? Education spending? Those move to the back burner, at least until conservatives figure out how to maximize corporate profits from such reforms while building and selling a system that will only require even greater reform down the line. How long, we might wonder, before deregulation and privatization become the hot issues in solving our economic woes? With terrorists running amok amid the constant, buzzing rumors of wars, it seems remote at best that we might rein in as much of our economic chaos as possible by simply coming to our senses.

B'Man: I feel like I am screaming at the top of my lungs to totally deaf and blind people. They can't hear me, nor can read my lips. Maybe they view me as the crazy preacher-type on the street corner screaming doom and gloom?

But I believe I have a pulse on what is happening to a certain sector of business in the SE USA. My business is set up to call specifically on manufacturing in the SE USA. If you read anything I write about, you understand that I am seeing American companies dry up and blow away or move out of country (furniture has been hard hit, along with American automakers). Many folks who work (worked) in these factories know exactly what I'm talking about. Good jobs are scarce and even harder to obtain nowadays.

There is an influx of foreign manufacturers coming in (transportation costs are getting high combined with our labor force getting cheaper to hire). If you are swift on your feet, you will find products that these foreign companies like and try yo sell them, but by and large they prefer their country of origin (if Japanese automaker, they try to buy Japanese products to manufacture with... understandably). But Americans lose.

Stephen Pizzo writes about the financial side and how many Big Banks in the world see the US as on the very brink of financial failure and doom. These sources ain't just some redneck crying wolf, ya'll:

Freedom: Nothing Left to Lose?

by Stephen Pizzo

Fortis Bank predicts US Financial market meltdown within weeks
(Fortis is a large bank and insurer in the Netherlands and Belgium.)

28th of June, 9:10
BRUSSELS/AMSTERDAM - Fortis expects a complete collapse of the US financial markets within a few days to weeks. That explains, according to Fortis, the series of interventions of last Thursday to retrieve € 8 billion.

“We have been saved just in time. The situation in the US is much worse than we thought”, says Fortis chairman Maurice Lippens. Fortis expects bankruptcies amongst 6000 American banks which have a small coverage currently. But also Citigroup, General Motors, there is starting a complete meltdown in the US”

And,

Royal Bank of Scotland Warns of Global Crash
Financial Times of London

The Royal Bank of Scotland has advised clients to brace for a full-fledged crash in global stock and credit markets over the next three months as inflation paralyses the major central banks.

“A very nasty period is soon to be upon us - be prepared,” said Bob Janjuah, the bank’s credit strategist.

A report by the bank’s research team warns that the S&P 500 index of Wall Street equities is likely to fall by more than 300 points to around 1050 by September as “all the chickens come home to roost” from the excesses of the global boom, with contagion spreading across Europe and emerging markets.

“The Fed is in panic mode. The massive credibility chasms down which the Fed and maybe even the ECB will plummet when they fail to hike rates in the face of higher inflation will combine to give us a big sell-off in risky assets,” he said.”

And,

Barclays: "US central bank accused of unleashing an inflation shock that will rock financial markets.

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
Business Editor, Financial Times

"Barclays Capital has advised clients to batten down the hatches for a worldwide financial storm, warning that the US Federal Reserve has allowed the inflation genie out of the bottle and let its credibility fall “below zero”...

...

Simmons says market forces driving crude to $600
Press/Journal/ UK. 1 July 2008: The chairman of energy investment-banking firm Simmons and Company International has predicted that oil prices could double or more within a few years.

Matt Simmons said that in his view oil was “dirt cheap at $140 a barrel”, and with supplies having peaked and demand growing prices were bound to go higher.

He said: “It is not beyond the pale of imagination to see oil at $300, $400, $500 or even $600 a barrel within a relatively short time, much less than 20 years. It is not speculators who are driving oil prices. It’s simply about supply and demand.”

...

B'Man: We are treading very dangerously on the "cliff" Stephen mentions in the article (you should go read the entire thing) and we aren't really hearing any warning about this from the media and the Fed (or the American banking institutions, in general). Do you think that the rest of the world is crying wolf or that most of America is dumbed down and oblivious to what is about to happen?

Excluding tobacco-to-consumer goods major ITC, all the 12 Indian companies present on the list, including RIL, ONGC, NTPC, SBI, Bharti Airtel, DLF and Reliance Communications, saw their rankings drop in the latest FT Global 500 list, topped by American energy giant ExxonMobil with a market value of 452.5 billion dollars.

FT publishes the list based on the market capitalisation of the companies at the end of every quarter and the latest rankings are based on March-end figures for this year. The previous list was based on market cap figures at the end of December 2007.

 In the global list, ExxonMobil has replaced China's PetroChia as the most valued firm, while US industrial conglomerate GE has retained its third position. Other firms in the top 10 include Gazprom, China Mobile, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Microsoft, AT&T, Royal Dutch Shell and P&G.

Among the Indian companies, Mukesh Ambani-led RIL has been ranked the highest at 80th, down 15 places from 65th earlier, with a market cap of 82 billion dollars.

RIL is followed by state-run ONGC at 148th (down from 115), public sector power major NTPC at 206th (down from 163), Sunil Mittal-led telecom giant Bharti Airtel at 218th (down from 193), realty major DLF at 329th (down from 195) and Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications at 350th position (down from 252). However, ITC climbed six spots to the 484th place, with a market value of 19.38 billion dollars.

Courtesy :- Economic Times

As exceções, segundo o jornal, ficaram por conta do Brasil e do Oriente Médio.

O registro foi que "essencialmente, se você está em commodities, no Brasil e no Oriente Médio, você fez dinheiro".

The Financial Times has an 'In Depth' section on Carbon Trading here. The FT has this previously referenced page on Climate Change here as well.

Siemens-Chef kritisiert „weiße Männer“

MÜNCHEN. Der Chef des Siemens-Konzerns, Peter Löscher, hat Kritik an der deutschen Verwurzelung seines Unternehmens geäußert. „In der Führungsetage sitzen nur weiße Männer“, sagte Löscher der Financial Times: „Unsere 600 Spitzenmanager sind vorwiegend weiße deutsche Männer. Wir sind zu eindimensional“, sagte Löscher, der statt dessen „globale Vielfalt“ fordert. „Es geht nicht um Quoten, aber ich würde gerne einen gemischteren Vorstand sehen.“

Inzwischen soll allerdings rund ein Drittel dieser neuen Führungskräfte wieder entlassen werden, berichtet die Süddeutsche Zeitung. Der Arbeitnehmerseite versprach Löscher, daß es keinen Kahlschlag geben werde. Nach Medienberichten sollen nun allerdings bis zu 15.000 Arbeitsplätze abgebaut werden.

Donnerstag, 26.06.2008

http://www.jungefreiheit.de/Single-News-Display.154+M57f679e6237.0.html

in den letzten 10 Jahren im Schnitt alle 2 Jahre eine neue Stelle

1986–1987: Kienbaum & Partner Unternehmensberatung (Trainee)

1987–1999: Hoechst AG (Abteilungsleiter)

1999–2002: Aventis Pharma (Hauptabteilungsleiter)

2002–2004: Amersham plc (Geschäftsführer der US-Sparte)

2004–2006: General Electric Healthcare (Mitglied des Zentralvorstandes von General Electric Healthcare)

2006–2007: Merck & Co. (Marketingvorstand)

seit 1. Juli 2007: Siemens AG (Vorstandsvorsitzender)

Zitat

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_L%C3%B6scher#Berufliche_Stationen

Herr Löscher , wie wäre es mit einer taubstummen, lesbischen schwarzen Frau?

Herr Löscher, spätestens in einem Jahr werden Sie gefeuert.

Wie wäre es mit einem Job bei Robert Mugabe ?

Felix

I visited the Drudge Report today and saw a headline linking to the following story:

By Jonathan Birchall
Financial Times - FT.com
June 26, 2008
Click here for the original article

InBev, the world’s largest brewer, said on Thursday it was preparing to launch a hostile bid for Anheuser-Busch, following reports that its US rival was preparing to reject its $46bn bid for the maker of Budweiser and Michelob beers.

In a court document filed in Delaware, InBev said it was preparing to launch a proxy battle seeking the removal of Anheuser’s entire board, citing “delays and apparent plans to attempt to block the acquisition”...

Which got me thinking.... what exactly IS a "hostile takeover"? I've heard of it before but never knew exactly what it was... so here goes:

From WiseGeek.com:

A hostile takeover is a type of corporate takeover which is carried out against the wishes of the board of the target company. This unique type of acquisition does not occur nearly as frequently as friendly takeovers, in which the two companies work together because the takeover is perceived as beneficial. Hostile takeovers can be traumatic for the target company, and they can also be risky for the other side, as the acquiring company may not be able to obtain certain relevant information about the target company.

Companies are bought and sold on a daily basis. There are two types of sale agreements. In the first, a merger, two companies come together, blending their assets, staff, facilities, and so forth. After a merger, the original companies cease to exist, and a new company arises instead. In a takeover, a company is purchased by another company. The purchasing company owns all of the target company's assets including company patents, trademarks, and so forth. The original company may be entirely swallowed up, or may operate semi-independently under the umbrella of the acquiring company.

Typically, a company which wishes to acquire another company approaches the target company's board with an offer. The board members consider the offer, and then choose to accept or reject it. The offer will be accepted if the board believes that it will promote the long term welfare of the company, and it will be rejected if the board dislike the terms or it feels that a takeover would not be beneficial. When a company pursues takeover after rejection by a board, it is a hostile takeover. If a company bypasses the board entirely, it is also termed a hostile takeover.

Publicly traded companies are at risk of hostile takeover because opposing companies can purchase large amounts of their stock to gain a controlling share. In this instance, the company does not have to respect the feelings of the board because it already essentially owns and controls the firm. A hostile takeover may also involve tactics like trying to sweeten the deal for individual board members to get them to agree.

An acquiring firm takes a risk by attempting a hostile takeover. Because the target firm is not cooperating, the acquiring firm may unwittingly take on debts or serious problems, since it does not have access to all of the information about the company. Many firms also have trouble getting financing for hostile takeovers, since some banks are reluctant to lend in these situations.

Hope this helps...!

Never mind a price that is one-half the original model: Apple's new 3G iPhone's profitability will outstrip its entire iPod line, according to a study from iSuppli, a research firm. ISuppli cited the reduced costs of components and subsidies from wireless carriers as major forces behind the gains. (ClipSyndicate/Bloomberg 6/25, Yahoo!/Reuters 6/25)

Virgin Mobile USA plans to acquire SK Telecom's Helio phone service and fold it into the pay-as-you-go Virgin Mobile USA brand, according to the Financial Times. That's good news for Helio's 200,000 some odd users as rumors have been swirling that the socially-oriented MVNO was about to pack it in. (Cynopsis 6/26)

Sony will introduce a mobile phone by the 2009 holiday season that will carry the PlayStation brand and incorporate features from its PlayStation Portable, according to reports in a U.K. trade publication. (MarketingWeek 6/25)

Global gaming revenue from mobile devices should reach $4.5 billion this year, a 16.1% increase from 2007, the consultancy Gartner predicts. Despite its sluggish growth, mobile gaming carries plenty of upside because of its potential popularity across all of the industry's user base and its viability in emerging markets as a low-cost alternative to PCs and console platforms. (mocoNews.net 6/25)

If any city needs this it's LA. NBC4 in Burbank partnered with 3rd Dimension to launch a new Traffic Cam service for mobile phone users, providing live feeds of trouble spots from a network of over 270 roadside cameras in LA and San Bernardino County. To download the application, commuters can enter their mobile number by clicking on the NBC Los Angeles Traffic Cam link at KNBC.com or by calling 1-877-NBC-LA04 (1-877-622-5204). (Cynopsis 6/26)

Ecco l'articolo del Financial Times tradotto da Giulia Alliani:

Silvio Berlusconi è in carica da quasi 50 giorni. Assistere allo spettacolo del suo nuovo governo in azione è un po' come mettersi a rivedere un vecchio e brutto film.

Quando il leader di Forza Italia si trovò per l'ultima volta al governo, dal 2001 al 2006, impiegò troppo tempo a confezionare leggi utili a proteggere se stesso dalle inchieste giudiziarie e troppo poco a varare riforme utili a stimolare l'economia italiana, che si trova in stato comatoso.

Naturalmente, é ancora troppo presto per dare un giudizio definitivo, ma l'ultimo saggio fornito dal governo ha già le caratteristiche di un nuovo spettacolo dell'orrore. Ancora una volta, il settantunenne primo ministro sta dedicando le sue energie politiche alla confezione di leggi che lo proteggano dalle inchieste dei pubblici ministeri.

Vuol far approvare una legge che sospenderebbe per un anno i processi in cui il reato presunto prevede una pena superiore ai 10 anni. Se questa legge dovesse passare, affonderebbe definitivamente un processo in programma il mese prossimo in cui Berlusconi é accusato per aver pagato 600.000 dollari al suo avvocato inglese David Mills. Ovviamente l'opposizione (che non esiste, tranne il partito IDV e pochissimi altri, ndr) ha soprannominato l'emendamento "legge salva-premier".

Berlusconi non si limita a questo. Sta anche tentando di introdurre una legge che garantirebbe l'immunità alle alte cariche dello stato italiano, lui compreso. Una legge simile sarebbe impensabile nella quasi totalità degli stati occidentali (ma non continuano a dirci che ovunque le alte cariche sono immuni? ndr) e fu ritenuta incostituzionale dalla Corte costituzionale italiana, quando Berlusconi cercò di introdurla l'altra volta, nel 2004.

Adesso che è di nuovo al governo, Berlusconi ritenta. Il tutto potrebbe risultare di modesto interesse se Berlusconi dedicasse le stesse energie a riformare l'economia italiana, ormai in coma. Ma, anche qui, montano i timori. L'ultima volta che é stato al governo, uno degli errori più gravi commessi da Berlusconi fu quello di lasciare fuori controllo la spirale del deficit e del livello del debito.

E' lecito chiedersi se presto assisteremo al bis. La settimana scorsa il governo Berlusconi ha presentato un Documento di programmazione economico finanziaria che vede salire il deficit pubblico dall'1,9% del Pil del 2007 al 2,5% del 2008.

L'aumento può essere giustificato dal rallentamento della crescita economica ma, da parte di questo governo, non si vede ancora nessun indizio della volontà di esercitare una decisa stretta sulla spesa pubblica. Per il bene dell'Italia, le cose ora devono assolutamente migliorare. Il Paese ha un livello di crescita tra i più lenti della zona Euro. Ha bisogno di un governo serio e responsabile che faccia ripartire l'economia.

Mercoledì, Berlusconi ha detto che i pubblici ministeri italiani l'hanno sottoposto ad un interminabile "Calvario". Ma, in questa storia, l'unico vero Calvario é quello toccato all'Italia, che ha un disperato bisogno di dare una nuova direzione al proprio destino politico ed economico.

]]> http://the8thcircle.wordpress.com/?p=157 Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:39:43 +0000 Vitaliy http://the8thcircle.wordpress.com/?p=157 [/caption]

What's the matter with Russia and Georgia? The latest increase in tensions, and I'm not talking about the shooting down of unmanned spy-planes, does not appear to be a cyclical high, but a systematic trend toward escalation. Ever since NATO's failure in Bucharest to extend a Membership Action Plan to Georgia (also Macedonia and Ukraine), Moscow has stepped up its military actions against Tbilisi.

At first, it denied involvement by, for example, claiming that it was Abkhazia's air force rather than RFAF that kept shooting down Georgia's aircraft. Now it openly admits being involved.

Why is Russia behaving this way? Here is Georgia's president Mikheil Saakashvili speaking in Yalta, Ukraine:

Georgia is a test case," adding, "Today, Georgia. Tomorrow, Ukraine and then other countries in the region that they [the Russians] see as falling within their sphere of influence. They will be looking carefully at the Western reaction and will act accordingly.

Russia's reply: it was angered by Georgia's hopes to join NATO and the European Union and said it acted to defend the breakaway regions from Georgian aggression.

What aggression is not clear. Presumably, Georgia's flying unmanned aircraft over its sovereign territory was interpreted by Russia as "aggression." More unsettling for Moscow however is Tbilisi's application to join NATO.

In that case, what does Russia want?Alexander Rondeli, at the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (GFSIS), has the following take on it in an article for openDemocracy.

Russia wants Georgia to remain within its political, military and economical orbit. But what can Russia offer: democracy, prosperity, security, protection? Russia wants to keep Georgia for itself but Georgia wants to escape from the claws of the former “big brother”. Georgia is a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional society and it has to become a genuine democracy in order for it to survive as a viable nation-state. Thus it is a strategic imperative that impels its core national goal - to join the European and Euro-Atlantic structures; rather than (as it is often assumed to be) Russophobia.

Rondeli then goes on to note another reality of European diplomacy - the tepid diplomatic involvement of Europe as a mediating party between Moscow and Tbilisi.

At the same time, western well-wishers routinely turn a blind eye to this unequal confrontation, with the smell of oil and gas prevailing over feelings of sympathy and understanding.

Here is why Europe needs to be involved, according to the Financial Times (FT):

Georgia matters to the west because it is the current standard-bearer of the democratic revolt against Moscow that began in central Europe in 1989. While the flags of freedom flying in Tbilisi are stained by Mr Saakashvili’s authoritarian lapses, Georgia’s leaders still generally embrace democratic values. Also, Georgia straddles the only non-Russian route taking Caspian oil and gas to world markets. Lose Georgia, and Russia wins an even bigger say over energy supplies. The risks were highlighted by this week’s cut, for technical reasons, in Russian oil flows to the Czech Republic after Prague agreed to host part of the US missile shield.

Certainly, the west should try to engage Russia in talks over Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as long as they are based on preserving Georgian sovereignty. It should also redouble efforts to restrain hotheads in Tbilisi from resorting to violence. But when Russia bullies Georgia. the west must back its vulnerable ally.

Do you think Rondeli is right or wrong? What about the FT? Voice your opinion in the comments.

Our recent Enterprise Performance Improvement Briefing, hosted by the Financial Times in New York City, provided us with the opportunity to interview some key delegates on the topic of reducing operational costs and delivering at the right price.

In this podcast, the last of 4 from our FT event, we have for you Larry Sobin, Chief Operating Officer of Corporate Investment Banking in North America for BNP Paribas. Larry explains what matters most with respect to operational efficiency and how to improve service delivery, globally. He also offers his prediction of what IT cost takeout strategy changes we will be seeing over the next two years.
[audio http://www.bearingpoint.com/Media/StaticFiles/Larry-Sobin.mp3](Financial Times 2008 - Larry Sobin, Chief Operating Officer (COO) for BNP Paribas North America)

About Larry
Larry is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) for BNP Paribas North American activities, responsible for overseeing the Finance & Tax departments, Information Technology, Capital Markets and Banking Operations, Operational Risk, Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery, Premises and Logistics, and Territory Corporate Governance.  Mr. Sobin is also the Chief Operating Officer of BNP Paribas Securities Corp.  and, President of BNP Paribas RCC Inc.  Prior to the merger of Banque Nationale de Paris and Paribas, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of BNP Capital Markets from 1998 to May 2000.

La era digital no deja de arrojar casos de manipulación fotográfica. El último se ha colado hasta las mismísimas portadas de diarios como 'Los Ángeles Times', el 'Chicago Tribune' o el 'Financial Times', entre otros muchos, informó el diario El Mundo.

Lo que todavía se desconoce es de dónde surgió la manipulación, desvelada por 'The New York Times' dejando en evidencia a sus competidores.

Al parecer, no eran tantos en realidad. El diario neoyorquino muestra en una infografía cómo el tercer misil que aparece es en realidad la suma de otros dos de los que aparecen en la imagen. Los contornos del humo son en realidad una réplica de los que aparecen bajo el cuarto proyectil, y el misil es una réplica del segundo.

Sólo un pequeño punto negro en el área rojiza de los gases en combustión parece diferenciarse del misil de su izquierda.

France-Press ha explicado que la imagen la consiguió el miércoles en el portal de la Agencia de Noticias Sepah, el brazo mediático de las Guardias Revolucionarias Iraníes. Sin embargo, poco tiempo después había desapecido de este sitio. Hoy, Associated Press ha distribuído otra casi idéntica de la misma fuente, pero sin el cuarto misil.

"¿Han utilizado los medios iraníes el photoshop?", se preguntan en 'The New York Times' sin ofrecer una respuesta aclaratoria. Al parecer, Sepah publicó la versión de tres misiles sin la manipulación.

Sin embargo, France-Press, que ha retirado esta mañana su versión de cuatro misiles, asegura que la imagen, al parecer, fue "modificada digitalmente" por medios de comunicación iraníes estatales. Según afirman, el montaje se habría preparado para tapar otro misil que podría haber fallado durante la prueba.

Their thoughts on ... the overall show
I've now read 7 different reviews of the show (you can find the full links at the end of this post), and they are all extremely positive about the show. All of the newspapers that gave starred ratings to the review - Guardian, Times and Evening Standard - gave it four stars, an impressive achievement.

Given his usual lack of excitement about musical theatre, Michael Billington was more positive than expected, praising the show as a "joyous Chichester revival" and "a surprisingly innovative show". Charles Spencer (Telegraph) also loves the show, observing that"Rachel Kavanaugh’s revival of this sweet-natured show proves a continuous delight"

Their thoughts on ... the music
Billington loves the musical range of the show, noting the composer's use of styles including a capella, patter songs and barbershop quartets. In fact, he goes as far as to say:

"The other key fact is Willson's ability to play around with musical form... It is one of the best scores of Broadway's Golden Age as it expresses the ethos of a community."

 

Their thoughts on ... the choreography
The choreography is also well-praised. Billington (Guardian) mentions "Stephen Mear's witty choreography", and Charles Spencer (Telegraph) writes about "Stephen Mear’s superbly inventive choreography."

One scene in particular receives particular praise, as Fiona Mountford (Evening Standard) highlights:

"Delicious choreography from Stephen Mear, who has the actors choo-choo-ing like steam trains to start and bounding about with books on their heads for the library scene"

 

Their thoughts on ... the actors
Overall, both of the leads (Strallen and Conley) get good press from the reviewers, despite occasional niggles.

Scarlett Strallen "perfectly captures the heroine's romantic coming out" (Guardian), but Nightingale in The Times refers to her as "always attractive if sometimes insufficiently feisty" . But it's Anthony Thorncroft (Financial Times) who is her biggest fan, describing her as "a lyric soprano of the old school – one who vibrates beautifully and who looks a dream."

Brian Conley "does a fine job as Harold Hill" (Guardian) and "has the genial charm and cheeky charisma to carry you with him" (Times). Anthony Thorncroft (FT) is the only real doubter, suggsting that he "moves well but the voice is wooden, and sometimes the charm is closer to smarm". But if Conley does read his own reviews, he'll particularly enjoy the words of Charles Spencer (Daily Telegraph):

"He is in magnificent form as Harold Hill, combining smiling charm and irrepressible confidence with a hint of darkness." 

 

Or, as the Evening Standard says, "the oomphiest bit of oom-pa in ages."

In case you're wondering what I thought, take a look at my review here.

**********************************************************************************
Recap: Links to Reviews of The Music Man:
Guardian review: Michael Billington 
The Times review: Benedict Nightingale
Daily Telegraph review: Charles Spencer
Financial Times review: Anthony Thorncroft 
Daily Mail review: Patrick Marmion 
Evening Standard review: Fiona Mountford
The Stage review: Nick Smurthwaite

1. Leader - growth of middle class, expansion of credit, shift to formal sector. But state reform of pensions, labour & tax growing more urgent.

2. Stability & The Workers Party - Kicked off with the appointment of Fernando Meirelles as head of the central bank in 2003 and maintained throughout 2nd term.

3. Confident and growing middle class - Rising living standards and increased spending by lower income groups is changing society fast.

4. Violence coming down - Recent economic performance and targeted policies bearing fruit.

5. Consumer credit boom - catering to  the previously unbanked.

6.Traffic in Sao Paulo - 1000 new vehicles a day constraining productivity & quality of life

7. Party Politics - Coalitions are the norm.

8. Presidential ambitions - A look at 4 potential aspirants to President in 2010

9. Oil revenues - Shared production and SWF creation for post-oil society

10.Infrastructure risks - Can the accelerated growth programme and private investment meet the country's needs?

11. Productive conservation in the Amazon - Commodity prices vs gov. policy and police enforcement

12. IPO market  - Steering a course beyond last years boom and this year's credit crunch.

During our recent Enterprise Performance Improvement Briefing with the Financial Times in New York City, we interviewed the experts to give their input into the latest strategies for cost reduction.
In this podcast, the third of 4 from our FT event, we have for you Awi Federgruen, Professor of Management, and Chairman of the Decision, Risk & Operations Division at Columbia Business School, as he discusses reducing operation costs and the key issues that people should be informed about. Awi explains the need for cost reductions and how you can still delivery the right technology at a reduced price.

[audio http://www.bearingpoint.com/Media/StaticFiles/Awi-Federgruen.mp3](Financial Times 2008 - Awi Federgruen, Professor of Management at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business)

About Awi
Awi is Charles E. Exley Professor of Management at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business at Columbia University. He was Senior Vice Dean from 1997-2002. Professor Federgruen is known for his work in the development and implementation of planning models for supply chain management and logistical systems. His work on scenario planning is widely cited, the field has gained prominence as computers now allow the processing of large masses of complex data. His work on supply chain models has wide applications in, for example, flu vaccine and the risks of relying too heavily on a single vaccine supplier.

That said. How do we digest this? On one hand they say the hedge funds are driving up commodity prices and yet are they? Others say China's huge demand for raw materials is the culprit. I think its a little of all of the above. Its called Globalisation.

We are now feeling the effects of The EU coming to fruition. The European United States as it were. We are also feeling the effects of what happens when you tweak the price of the worlds number one commodity, Oil.

Oil is used in everything. It also affects things its not made with. We can't escape it no matter what we do. But look at some of what becoming "Green" has done to the prices of commodities like Rice, Palm Oil and Sugar. Record Prices !! All for the sake of Bio Fuel. Now i'm all for being as green as possible, but I really think this Bio fuel thing is out of hand. No one clearly thought that on a large scale it would drive up commodity prices? I mean cmon !!!!! These poor Malaysian people who exist on nothign but a cup of rice a day now have to eat less !! How do you eat less of nothing ???

The only long term viable answer is Hydrogen Fuel Cells. GM and Toyota have developed them. They just need to ramp up the process. This battery idea of hybrids is just a band-aid on the situation. All those batteries will deplete in less than 8 years and where will those be dumped? Landfills? that's SOOOO GREEN !!!! Hybrids are not the solution either.

$200 Oil is here to stay. get used it and start adapting to it.

The United Kingdom has announced plans to adopt U.S. style anticorruption practice intended to discourage companies from bribing when conducting business abroad. The full story is in today's Financial Times: Bribe-case deals win support by Michael Peel. Here is the gist of it: Richard Alderman, the head of the Serious Fraud Office told Peel that "companies involved in bribery abroad could avoid prosecution by admitting guilt and paying financial penalties under US-style plans."

Mr Alderman told the Financial Times in an interview he was "very impressed" by the US Department of Justice, which concludes a number of big corporate corruption cases successfully each year...

Aha, "very impressed" is that a compliment or an example of British sarcasm?

Under Mr Alderman's plans, businesses would be offered a deal under which they would escape prosecution in exchange for admitting wrongdoing; agreeing to forfeit the proceeds of corruption; and submitting to some kind of official monitoring to ensure that they were no longer involved in bribery.

Sounds like an overdue plan (see for example the "it takes two" point discussed here). Will it work in the U.K.? Has this approach proved effective elsewhere?  What impact, if any, will this have on reducing corruption in Eastern Europe?  All are good questions.

Traduzione:

Ancora una volta Berlusconi si focalizza su se stesso, non sull'Italia!

Silvio Berlusconi è al potere in Italia da 50 giorni. Guardare il suo nuovo governo in azione è come stare seduti a vedere un vecchio e brutto film già visto. Quando il leader di Forza Italia ha governato l'Italia l'ultima volta dal 2001 al 2006, ha speso troppo tempo a legiferare per proteggere sé stesso dai procedimenti giudiziari e troppo poco per riformare l'economia italiana lumaca. Certamente è ancora troppo presto per dare giudizi. Ma l’ultima prova del governo di Berlusconi ha già i connotati di un'altro show dell'orrore.
Ancora una volta, il settantunenne primo ministro sta spendendo molta della sua energia politica legiferando per proteggersi dai pubblici ministeri italiani. Vuole fare approvare una legge che sospenderebbe per un anno molti processi le cui sentenze  prevedono condanne inferiori ai 10 anni. Se questa legge verrà approvata, un processo previsto per il mese prossimo, nel quale il signor Berlusconi è accusato di aver pagato 600.000 dollari al suo avvocato inglese David Mills, verrà affondato. Non c'è bisogno di dire che l'opposizione ha bollato la legge come "Decreto Salva-Premier".

Ma Berlusconi non si ferma qui. Sta cercando di introdurre una legge che darebbe l'immunità da processi alle alte cariche dello Stato, incluso sè stesso. Una legge del genere sarebbe impensabile in molti stati occidentali, ed è stata dichiarata anticostituzionale dalla Corte Costituzionale italiana quando, nel 2004, ha provato ad introdurla. Ora, ritornato al suo ufficio, Berlusconi ci riprova. Tutto ciò desterebbe un modesto interesse se Belrlusconi ci mettesse la stessa energia per riformare la lumaca economia italiana. Ma anche qua le paure crescono. L'ultima volta che è stato al potere, l'errore più grave che avesse potuto fare è stato lasciare incontrollata la spirale dei debiti e del deficit. Ci si domanda se stiamo per rivedere la stessa cosa. La scorsa settimana il governo Berlusconi ha introdotto un budget che risanerà il deficit pubblico passando dall'1,9% del prodotto interno lordo del 2007 al 2,5% del 2008. Tale crescita può essere giustificata da una crescita economica bassa; ma non c'è ancora traccia di un controllo sulla spesa pubblica attuale da parte del governo. Per il bene dell'Italia, i miglioramenti devono partire da qui. La nazione ha una delle più basse crescite economiche della zona-euro. C'è bisogno di un governo serio e responsabile per invertire il processo. Ieri il signor Berlusconi ha affermato che i Pubblici Ministeri italiani lo hanno sottoposto ad un calvario senza fine. Ma l'unico calvario a cui sia mai stato sottoposto qualcuno in questa storia è quello sopportato dall'Italia, che necessita una drammatica inversione di tendenza delle sue sorti politiche ed economiche.

Il Financial Times di oggi scrive:
“Oh no, non ancora.
Ancora una volta il focus di Berlusconi è sé stesso e non gli italiani.
Silvio Berlusconi è in carica in Italia da 50 giorni. Guardare il suo nuovo governo in azione è un po’ come mettersi a sedere per guardare un cattivo vecchio film ancora una volta. Quando il leader di Forza Italia governò l’Italia dal 2001 al 2006, spese troppo tempo a legiferare per proteggere sé stesso dai procedimenti giudiziari e troppo poco per riformare l’economia italiana. E’ presto per dare giudizi definitivi, naturalmente. Ma l’ultima prova di governo di Berlusconi assomiglia già a un altro film dell’orrore.
Ancora una volta, il settantunenne primo ministro sta spendendo molta della sua energia politica per fare leggi che lo proteggano dai pubblici ministeri italiani. Vuole fare approvare una legge che sospenderebbe per un anno molti processi per i quali è prevista una condanna inferiore ai 10 anni. Se la legge sarà approvata verrà affondato il processo previsto per l’inizio del mese prossimo nel quale Berlusconi è accusato di aver pagato 600.000 dollari al suo avvocato inglese, David Mills. L’opposizione ha soprannominato la legge: “salva premier”.
Berlusconi non si ferma qui.
Sta anche cercando di introdurre una legge che garantirebbe l’immunità dai processi alle principali cariche dello Stato, inclusa la sua. Una tale legge sarebbe impensabile nella maggior parte degli Stati occidentali ed è stata giudicata incostituzionale dalla Corte costituzionale quando Berlusconi cercò di introdurla nel 2004. Ora che è ritornato, Berlusconi ci prova un’altra volta.
Tutto questo sarebbe di modesto interesse se Berlusconi spendesse la stessa quantità di energia per riformare la declinante economia italiana. Ma anche qui le paure stanno crescendo. L’ultima volta che ebbe il potere, uno de peggiori errori di Berlusconi fu di lasciare fuori controllo il deficit italiano e la spirale dei debiti. Ci si interroga se stiamo per rivedere la stessa situazione.
Il governo Berlusconi ha introdotto una previsione finanziaria con una crescita del deficit pubblico dall’1,9% del prodotto interno lordo del 2007 al 2,5% del 2008. La crescita può essere giustificata dalla bassa crescita economica; ma non si sono ancora segnali che questo governo stia mantenendo una stretta presa sulla spesa pubblica.
Per la salute dell’Italia, le cose devono migliorare da qui. Il Paese ha una delle crescite più basse nell’area dell’euro. C’è bisogno di un governo serio e responsabile per invertire il processo economico. Ieri Berlusconi ha detto che i pubblici ministeri italiani lo hanno costretto a un “Calvario” senza fine. Ma l’unico “Calvario” sofferto in questa storia è quello sopportato dall’Italia, che ha bisogno di una drammatica inversione di tendenza delle sue fortune politiche ed economiche.”