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Oil Futures Slump -Oil price fluctuations are major problem

2008-12-19T07:23:00.000-08:00

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned Friday that a failure to tackle volatility in oil prices could cost the global economy trillions of dollars and hurt both producers and consumers.

Brown told an energy summit in London that the wild variation in crude prices was the "most pressing challenge" facing the international community and called for improved regulation of oil markets to stabilize prices.

Oil prices have fallen to four-year lows this week despite OPEC's agreement on Wednesday to slash global output.

The British leader pushed for greater investment in clean energy technology as he addressed energy and oil ministers from 27 key oil-producing and consuming countries.

The meeting, also attended by OPEC leaders, is a follow up to June's gathering of oil ministers in Saudi Arabia when prices were at record highs above $140 per barrel and talks centered on how to increase supply to keep up with demand. Crude has since tumbled to around $40.

"Wild fluctuations in market prices harm nations all round the world," Brown said. "They damage consumers and producers alike."

"The risk now is that investment in oil and other energy sources will once again stagnate, supply capacity will begin to tighten just as demand responds to improving economic conditions," he added.

Such failure to invest could cost the world economy an estimated $1.3 trillion a year by 2030, Brown warned.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries attempted to boost prices this week by slashing a record 2.2 million barrels from its daily production as of Jan. 1, while the bloc's outsiders Russia and Azerbaijan announced their own cutbacks of hundreds of thousands of barrels from the market.

But oil prices tumbled despite the announcement, a clear indication of the growing belief that the world is heading for a long and painful recession in which energy use will continue to erode.

Brown said that the "visionary internationalism" highlighted in the response to the global banking crisis in recent months should now be applied to energy challenges.

When oil prices sink too low, oil-producing countries have less money to invest in production for the future — creating the risk of a spike in prices down the line.

"We all know that extreme oil prices whether too high or too low are as bad for producers as they are for consumers," said OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah El-Badri.

Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali Naimi agreed that the high volatility was the biggest issue facing the oil market. Saudi Arabia is OPEC's de-factor leader.

"The world's present financial climate is clearly one that inhibits innovation," he said. "Oil prices must be maintained at a level that encourages investment, especially in alternative energy sources."
......................
Oil futures slumped in New York as concern mounted that rising stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, will leave little room to store supplies for delivery next year.

“World crude oil prices are currently driven by barrels of crude in Cushing and not by the OPEC announcement of a 4 million barrels a day cut,” said Olivier Jakob, managing director of Petromatrix GmbH in Switzerland.

Crude oil stockpiles at Cushing, where oil that’s traded on in New York is delivered, climbed 21 percent to 27.5 million barrels last week, the highest since May 2007, the government said in a report on Dec. 17. OPEC’s biggest production cut in more than a decade this week has failed to stop the slump in prices as the deepening global recession saps demand.

Crude oil for delivery in January fell as much as 7.7% to $33.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract expires today.

The more active February contract fell as much as 77 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $40.90 a barrel. It traded at $41.78 a barrel at 1:43 p.m. London time.

“Front-month WTI has been much weaker than anything else in the oil market,” said Mike Wittner, head of oil research at Societe Generale SA in London. “There is a lot of physical crude at Cushing.”

Brent crude for February settlement was at $43.78 a barrel, up 42 cents, on London’s ICE Futures Europe exchange at 1:08 a.m. local time. Brent oil has traded above West Texas Intermediate since Dec. 12 as the build-up in U.S. supplies suppresses New York prices.

Full Capacity

Crude inventories in Cushing may increase to full capacity within “a matter of two or three weeks,” Barclays Capital analysts led by Paul Horsnell said in a research note Dec. 17.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which pumps 40 percent of the world’s oil, agreed on Dec. 17 to cut output by 2.46 million barrels a day starting on Jan. 1. Still, prices have slumped 37 percent this month and are headed for the second-biggest decline in more than five years.

World oil consumption next year will drop by 0.2 percent to 85.68 million barrels a day, OPEC said in a Dec. 15 report. The U.S. Energy Department said on Dec. 9 that global demand will decline 0.5 percent to 85.3 million barrels a day.

OPEC may meet again in Kuwait on Jan. 19 to discuss further production cuts, Chakib Khelil, the president of the group, said today. OPEC will continue reducing output as demand falls, Khelil said in an interview in London.

Fog forecast for Port Arthur today may prolong the closure of the ship channel used to supply crude oil to local refineries. Dense fog is likely in coastal southeast Texas this morning, the National Weather Service said in the latest forecast on its Web Site.

To survive GM and Chrysler Will Get $13.4 Billion in U.S. Loans

2008-12-19T05:57:00.000-08:00

The fall economy of US is showing the mystery of US history ,To survive against the fallen economy the US govt initiated to support General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC .
General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC will get $13.4 billion in initial government loans to keep operating in exchange for a restructuring under a rescue plan that President George W. Bush will announce this morning.
The money will be drawn from the Troubled Asset Relief Program and the automakers will get an additional $4 billion from the fund in February for a total of $17.4 billion in assistance, according to a statement from the Bush administration. The money would allow GM and Chrysler to keep operating until March.
Under the terms of the plan, if the companies can’t demonstrate financial viability by March 31 the loans will be called and the money must be returned, the statement said. The government’s debt would have priority over any other debts. The companies also must provide the government with warrants for non-voting stock.
The companies also must accept limits on executive compensation and management and labor must negotiate new wage and benefit agreements by the deadline, according to an administration official who briefed reporters on the plan.
Government officials will examine all financial statements and records of the car companies. The government has the authority to block any transaction over $100 million.
The package is intended for GM and Chrysler initially; Ford Motor Co. has said it can continue operations under current circumstances.
Bush is scheduled to announce the plan at 9 a.m. Washington time from the White House.

Previous related post http://businesstension.blogspot.com/2008/12/us-economy-car-market-frastation-just.html

US Economy : Car Market Frastation just BAD TIME

2008-12-18T07:22:00.000-08:00

GM, Chrysler Shutter Factories, Await Bush Decision
NOT BAD ITS JUST WORST,THE US ECONOMY IS POSSED IN THE POSITION THAT THE BIG INDUSTRY CANNOT RUN FURTHER.....SEEMS SO

Struggling U.S. automakers are launching a round of severe cutbacks as they wait for a government rescue, with Chrysler saying yesterday it will idle all 30 of its U.S. factories for one month.

General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC will shutter about 59 factories over the next month as they struggle to adapt to the worst sales in 26 years and await a verdict on a U.S. rescue of the industry.

The closings show how far automakers are going to conserve cash and prune output under the pressures of a shrinking U.S. market, dwindling access to credit for dealers and demands for advance payments by some GM and Chrysler parts suppliers.

“No one is immune,” said Ed Kim, director of industry analysis for consulting firm AutoPacific Inc. in Tustin, California. The industry is “imploding to a degree I’ve never imagined could happen, and at a speed I’d never expected.”

GM, the biggest U.S. automaker, and No. 3 Chrysler are counting on President George W. Bush to approve emergency loans to help them stave off a collapse that would threaten millions of jobs. Without $14 billion in federal aid, the manufacturers will be out of money by early 2009, they say.

Bush told Fox News Channel yesterday he was still “thinking through” details of any government assistance. Congress deadlocked on a bailout last week, spurring the White House to reverse its stance and consider tapping money from the $700 billion bank-bailout fund.

Closing Plants

GM, Ford and Chrysler began another round of pullbacks yesterday, burdened by U.S. sales declines this year of 22 percent, 19 percent and 28 percent, respectively, compared with the 16 percent industrywide average.

Chrysler will shut all 30 of its plants for at least a month starting Dec. 19, and Ford plans to idle nine of 15 North American assembly plants in the first week of January.

Ford said its move was part of a previously announced plan to reduce first-quarter North American production by 38 percent. The second-biggest U.S. automaker acted after Detroit-based GM’s Dec. 12 decision to cut 250,000 units of production from its first-quarter North American plans, affecting 20 plants. That was equal to almost 30 percent of GM’s 2008 first-quarter sales.

GM said yesterday that a new $370 million factory making engines for the Chevrolet Volt electric car is being delayed to conserve cash.

‘Bad Times’

“You need to have a hoard of cash built up from the good times to get you through the bad times,” said Dennis Virag, president of Automotive Consulting Group in Ann Arbor, Michigan. “The bad times are here, the bad sales are here and GM and Chrysler just don’t have the cash.”

GM, which reported having $16.2 billion as of Sept. 30, needs at least $11 billion to pay monthly bills. Chrysler ended last quarter with $6.1 billion and needs at least $3 billion to operate, Chief Executive Officer Robert Nardelli told Congress on Nov. 18. Ford has said it doesn’t need emergency aid.

The Wall Street Journal said yesterday that Chrysler owner Cerberus Capital Management LP reopened talks on a GM merger. GM spokesman Tony Cervone said the company isn’t in negotiations and hadn’t altered its Nov. 7 position to end discussions on a “strategic acquisition” while it seeks government loans.

GM fell 10 cents to $4.27 at 9:41 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, while Ford slid 5 cents to $3.09. GM’s 82 percent plunge this year through yesterday is the most among the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford was down 53 percent.

Lending Shutoff

Chrysler Financial, the automaker’s credit arm, said it may temporarily halt the loans used by dealers to buy vehicles as the retailers drain $60 million a day from the account that helps finance their borrowing.

GM is awaiting the results of lender GMAC LLC’s bid to convert to a bank through a debt swap in order to tap the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the bailout fund that Bush may now use for the automakers. Detroit-based GMAC provides financing for about 75 percent of GM’s inventory.

GM and Auburn Hills, Michigan-based Chrysler both have been pressed by a small number of suppliers for cash payments for parts on concern that the automakers might file for bankruptcy, people familiar with the matter said last week.

The Pontiac division at GM may be pared to a single model from six following a drop in sales every year since 1999, Mark LaNeve, North American sales chief, said in an interview.

North American output for Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co., Japan’s three biggest automakers, is being reduced, too, down more than 300,000 units from a year earlier. All three have announced cuts to scheduled production.

Toyota stopped assembly work at its San Antonio pickup truck plant for 15 weeks this year because of rising inventory and this week, it indefinitely halted construction of a Mississippi plant that was to produce Prius hybrids by 2010.

“When you’ve got the economy in the situation that it is now, it’s not just the Big 3’s customers that are affected,” said AutoPacific’s Kim. “It’s everyone’s customers. It is all interconnected.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Mike Ramsey in Southfield, Michigan, at mramsey6@bloomberg.net; Greg Bensinger in New York at

Japanese currency surges to 13-year high against greenback following U.S.

2008-12-18T02:02:00.000-08:00

Dollar falls against yen, euro.Central bank slashing rates...

The U.S. dollar fell to a 13-year low against the yen and weakened against the euro Wednesday, a day after the Federal Reserve cut its key short-term interest rates to historic lows.
The Japanese currency reached a 13-year high against the dollar Wednesday, falling to ¥87.23 from ¥88.95 late Tuesday. The last time the yen was this strong was July 1995. Since mid-September, the yen has gained nearly 15% against the dollar.
The Bank of Japan will make an interest rate announcement on Friday. Many of the bank's watchers expect it to hold the rate firm at 0.3%, according to Steve Malyon, currency strategist at Scotia Capital. Japan has the second-lowest interest rate among the world's major economies.
The euro jumped 3.8 cents against the dollar Wednesday, to $1.4418 from $1.4038 late Tuesday. The last time the euro was this strong against the dollar was in late September. Since then, the dollar has gained 2.57% against the 15-nation currency.
The European Central Bank's next meeting is set for January, and investors are watching to see whether the bank will keep its rate firm after slashing it to 2.5% earlier this month.
The dollar made a slight gain Wednesday against the pound, on news of a high level of U.K. jobless claims and that the Bank of England held back when it lowered interest rates to 1 percentage point at its Dec. 4. meeting, fearing a bolder move could pose a risk to the economy.
The rate holds at 2%, the lowest in the bank's history, and it is expected to be lowered once again when policymakers meet in January, according to a note Malyon wrote to investors.
The pound dropped to $1.5534 from $1.5581 late Tuesday. The dollar has gained 14.3% against sterling since mid-September.
Concerns ahead
On Tuesday, the U.S. central bank cut its federal funds rate from 1% to a range between 0% and 0.25%, the bank's 10th cut since September 2007.
While interest rate cuts are the Federal Reserve's main tool for boosting economic activity, many currency analysts worry about the long-term effects of lower interest rates on the dollar.
Cutting interest rates to such historic lows could drive up inflation and reduce the appeal of many assets that are priced in dollars.
Meanwhile, the dollar's status as the world's reserve currency is being hampered by lower rates and the cost of the government's bailouts, according to Ashraf Laidi, currency strategist at CMC Markets.
In addition to aggressive rate cuts, the government has been forced to essentially print more money to help pay for several new initiatives aimed at aiding the weak economy. Flooding the economy with cash has helped ease the credit crunch, but it has also worked to undermine the dollar's strength, Laidi said.
Having interest rates approaching 0% gives rise to "ominous prospects for the greenback once global economic stability starts to build up," Laidi said.
Economy
Oil sank to a 4 1/2-year low after OPEC reported it will cut production in a bid to prop up prices driven lower by global economic downturn.

Track 17 major currencies
U.S. crude for January delivery sank $3.54 to settle at $40.06 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest settlement price since July 13, 2004, when oil settled at $39.44.
Kiss the dollar rally goodbyeMorgan Stanley suffers $2.3 billion lossOil rises as

France is going to invest $480 million in nanotechnologies-European sessions on innovation

2008-12-17T10:56:00.000-08:00

The first "European Sessions on Innovation" on 9th December aimed to launch a process of dynamic innovation in Europe, as part of Europe's response to the economic and financial crisis in the context of globalisation. This process should continue throughout 2009, the European Year of Innovation. French President Nicolas Sarkozy suggested a new innovation policy in Europe. He put forward the creation a European Acadamy for Science and Technology and suggested to European countries which already dedicate more than 2% of the GDP to research the signature of an "innovation pact" that will then be open to the 27 Member State in order to "turn our research potential into growthAt the first European sessions on innovation, on Dec. 9 in Paris, the President of the French Republic and President of the European Council, Nicolas Sarkozy, announced the French government plans to double its research credits and strengthen the development of clusters in the French cities of Saclay, Grenoble and Toulouse, as a prelude to The European Year of Innovation in 2009.
The research investment will amount to 350 million euros over a period of five years, said Sarkozy.
In his speech at the first European sessions on innovation, the French president declared: "We will create, in Saclay, centers of nanotechnology integration, where fundamental research will collaborate with companies so as to develop technologies, file patents and make products."
He added: "We will double our annual contribution to research projects in nanotechnologies, to 70 million euros per year, resulting in 350 million euros over five years. We will create a fund to invest in patents based on these technologies and valorize them within companies."
Sarkozy concluded: "I want France to be at the forefront of nanotechnologies, notably in the research on their impact on health. This will be financed as part of the Grenelle of the environment."
The setting up of the European sessions on innovation was based on the diagnosis that, despite the efforts undertaken within the framework of the European Research Area, there is still too great a disassociation between fundamental research and applied research in Europe and private funding of technological research remains insufficient.
Topics included "Improving the funding of innovative start-ups", "Better valuing public research and transferring results to the socio-economic world", "Mobilizing all the necessary human, financial and political resources to stimulate creativity and innovation in Europe" and "Regional policies for innovation".
The event gathered players of innovation from all European countries, including researchers, academics, large and small innovative enterprises, scientific culture actors, specialists of intellectual property and funding of small and medium enterprises, experts in capital risk and investment funds specializing in risk financing and business creation and managers of companies and research valuation bodies.

A series of initiatives to combat the financial crisis by Obama

2008-12-16T23:55:00.000-08:00

The Bush administration came under renewed pressure from fellow Republicans who urged the government extract stiffer concessions from labor and other groups than Democrats and the White House previously agreed were needed to qualify for aid.

The incoming Obama administration is considering a series of initiatives to combat the financial crisis, including some efforts to help banks that the Bush administration has tried with limited success.

On Tuesday, members of President-elect Barack Obama's economic team briefed Mr. Obama on ways to address the financial crisis and also on plans for an economic-stimulus package.
While Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has seized on equity investments in banks as Treasury's primary mechanism to help resolve the financial crisis, the Obama team is developing a broader approach that would likely incorporate multiple remedies.
The new administration is "trying to put components together that...will be complementary...while recognizing there's no easy answer," said a person familiar with its plans.
The Obama team, hoping to avoid the criticism leveled at Mr. Paulson by lawmakers that he lacks a consistent strategy, is also working to come up with a way to cogently explain the rationale behind its approach.
One key distinction will be in the approach to helping homeowners facing foreclosure. Mr. Paulson and the White House have resisted calls to embark on a government rescue of homeowners. The Obama team, by contrast, sees that as a critical leg of its financial-crisis rescue plan, people familiar with the matter said.
Democratic lawmakers are pushing for Mr. Obama to take steps quickly to help at-risk borrowers. Details of the Obama foreclosure plan aren't known, in part because they are still being hashed out.
In a fresh sign of the magnitude of the financial crisis, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. braced for more bloodletting in the U.S. banking industry. The five-member board of the FDIC, which is in charge of unwinding failed banks, voted Tuesday to increase the agency's 2009 budget to $2.24 billion, an increase of $1 billion, compared with 2008, and said it planned to beef up its bank-examination and supervisory staff by more than 500 to 6,269. It would pay for the increase by levying higher fees on banks.

While it is unclear exactly what the Obama financial rescue will look like, it is expected to continue Mr. Paulson's attempts at addressing the lack of capital at financial institutions. That could mean additional equity injections, as well as an effort to have the government boost the value of troubled assets, such as mortgage-backed securities.
"We are looking at a number of initiatives that will allow us to move aggressively and responsibly to address the economic and financial crisis both on Wall Street and Main Street, including programs to provide targeted foreclosure relief," said Stephanie Cutter, an Obama spokeswoman.
Mr. Paulson initially planned to help financial institutions by purchasing troubled assets through the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program approved by Congress in October. Banks are struggling with a glut of those assets, which continue to fall in price, forcing the banks to write down the losses and take a financial hit.
But Mr. Paulson jettisoned that idea in favor of taking $250 billion of equity stakes in banks, arguing that was a quicker and more effective way to encourage banks to lend money to consumers, businesses and each other. However, the credit crisis has continued despite Treasury's efforts, prompting criticism from lawmakers and Wall Street.
On Tuesday, Mr. Paulson acknowledged that banks aren't lending enough money despite the government infusion, but said the U.S. didn't want to nationalize the industry and dictate the loans banks make.
Much of the Obama team's financial rescue package likely won't be known until the new administration takes office next month. Some of it depends on whether Mr. Paulson seeks the second half of the promised $700 billion. Treasury's initial $350 billion batch is rapidly dwindling and could be further drained by aid to struggling U.S. auto makers.
Lawmakers have made it clear that if Treasury wants to get the next tranche, it will need to come up with a foreclosure-mitigation plan and enact stricter requirements on banks that get government funds. Mr. Paulson has said he wants the Obama team to support any new programs, but the Obama team has yet to engage with Treasury on current efforts.
Mr. Paulson, in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, said the government had enough "firepower," and suggested he had no current plans to tap the second tranche.
Some lawmakers want Mr. Paulson to request the funds. House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D., Mass.) said he has told the Obama team it should work with Mr. Paulson to request the second $350 billion and embark quickly on a foreclosure-prevention plan.
"My hope is for them to agree with Paulson that he should request the second $350 billion as soon as we [Congress] reconvene," Mr. Frank said in an interview.

SBA Chief vs real story -Interviews on Small Business and the Economy

2008-12-16T06:19:00.000-08:00

World economy fallen down! specially US economy.

As the numbers roll in -- jobs lost, financial markets fall, bailouts -- I'm sitting in the middle of a 40-person company I started in 1988 and wondering, as I assume so many others are, how bad this is for other small businesses.

Sandy K. Baruah, Acting Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, has media availability in Detroit, MI Wednesday, Dec. 17 to discuss the auto industry's impact on small business, the current economy, what SBA is doing to help small businesses, and how to keep America's entrepreneurs competitive.
Baruah will lead a small business town hall hosted by the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce that morning, from 7:30am - 9am, to address the challenges confronting entrepreneurs in the Detroit region. Information on the town hall can be found at http://www.detroitchamber.com/. Media is welcome to interview him at the event or schedule an interview at another time.
WHO: SBA Acting Administrator Sandy K. Baruah
WHAT: Media interviews on the auto industry's impact on small business, the current economy, what SBA is doing to help small businesses during the economic downturn, and how to keep America's entrepreneurs competitive.
WHERE: Detroit, MI
WHEN: Wednesday, December 17, 2008
CONTACT: Christine Mangi at 202-205-6948 or Christine.mangi@sba.gov to arrange an interview.
BACKGROUND:
Sandy K. Baruah was designated Acting Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration on August 15, 2008. He has served in the Bush Administration since 2001. Prior to SBA, he was the Assistant Secretary for Economic Development at the Department of Commerce, and comes to SBA with a keen understanding on how to promote local business growth, manage organizational change, and respond to federal disasters.
Before joining President Bush's team, he spent seven years with a Portland, Oregon-based corporate management consulting firm. As a business consultant, he worked on engagements with clients such as Walt Disney World, Intel, Key Bank and Citizens Bank.
SOURCE: U.S. Small Business Administration U.S. Small Business Administration
Christine Mangi, 202-205-6948
Internet Address: www.sba.gov/news/
Copyright Business Wire 2008.

Real story on Small business:

I've been through recessions before. I was looking for my first job in 1971, buying our first house in 1982, and moving a company in 1992. In 2001 I laid off five people (of 33) in a single day.
That one was really hard. Our sales dropped steeply when the tech stocks fell, and we waited too long, got into real trouble, before we finally bit the bullet and cut the staff. What I discovered then was 1.) the 28 people who didn't get laid off were relieved to see we were dealing with the problem; they thought our response was long overdue; and 2.) hard as it is to lay off several people at once, it's not as hard as laying off an individual. An individual feels personal failure, but when it's a group, it's the company, or the economy, that caused it.
Now in this recession, which is certainly the worst in my lifetime, there's so much we don't know. I've read a lot of the available information of course, but it's pretty hard to gauge. For example, I've been watching as the official stats showed half a million jobs lost last month. And I followed as ADP showed small businesses increased jobs in September, but lost them in October and again in November. At the same time the SBA released a report showing that small businesses generate 80% of the new jobs.
But things are not that simple. Scott Shane asked Can Entrepreneurs Fix the Job Loss Problem on Small Business Trends earlier this week, and his answer is "the scale of the economic downturn is so large that we can't offset it just by boosting our level of entrepreneurial activity."
And then there are surveys like this one, which supposedly shows that 43% of small businesses aren't feeling the recession, and 4% say they're better off. Which is why I'm suggesting the survey we're going do to here.
One of the most important realities of small business in this country is how diverse and disconnected we really are. Small business owners don't vote alike, don't think alike, and don't respond to business crisis alike either. Four out of five small businesses are personal businesses with no employees. They're freelance writers, business consultants, graphic artists, designers, real estate brokers, butchers, bakers ... well, you get the idea.
While economists and politicians give "small business" credit for creating jobs, and there are several well meaning public agencies and business groups, we're still mostly out here in the trenches minding our own businesses, worrying, and wondering how bad things are and how bad they'll get. And when they'll turn around.
So I'd like to ask any and all small business owners, and yes definitely including those 21 million personal businesses, how are you doing? How bad is (or isn't) it?
With that in mind, please join me in collecting some real information, one person at a time, on what's going on throughout the economy with all those businesses that aren't big enough to attract news media attention, but are still there and, presumably, hurting as much as Wall Street and Detroit.
And to make this work, we want to start with the basics: Do you own the business? Do you have employees? How many people did you have six months ago, and how many today? What do you see happening to sales -- in percent growth or percent decline -- next year?
And from there, the stories. Add your own story. How are you weathering it, how bad is it, when will it turn around, what do you need, what have you done, what surprised you, what are you hoping, and what are you fearing?
And we'll be tracking responses and general results, so you can check back here to see what we come up with!

Forcing people to look at things in new ways!

2008-12-13T08:51:00.000-08:00

Economy is emerging to force people to look at things in new ways...........
source :www.bloomberg.com

Bob Corker said yesterday that a crisis like the U.S. automakers’ fight for survival can create opportunities by forcing people to look at things in new ways.
The first-term Republican might just as well have been talking about his own career.
Corker, a former mayor of Chattanooga who became a senator just two years ago and ranks last in seniority among the 10 Banking Committee Republicans, emerged from relative obscurity to become a key figure in the 11th-hour negotiations over a proposed $14 billion auto-industry loan package.
While the effort ultimately collapsed in partisan discord over union wages, Corker, 56, stands as a rare winner in the debate.
“I’m hard-pressed to think of another member who’s been here such a short period of time who’s made such an impression on colleagues of both sides of the aisle,” says Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
Majority Leader Harry Reid seconded McConnell’s assessment. “I’ve been extremely impressed with Bob Corker,” says Reid, a Nevada Democrat. Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat, says Corker did a “magnificent job.”
Corker tried to broker a deal after Senate Republicans turned their backs on appeals from Vice President Dick Cheney and White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten to support the bailout package. The House had approved a plan, backed by President George W. Bush, for short-term loans to keep General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC from running out of cash early next year.
Plan B
Corker’s proposal became Plan B. His package sought to overcome Republican doubts, without alienating Democrats, by making creditors exchange some bonds for stock, and by cutting union wages to levels competitive with amounts paid at U.S. factories owned by European and Asian automakers.
“Crisis is when good things happen -- when you make people do things” they wouldn’t ordinarily do, Corker says.
When executives from Detroit’s Big Three automakers appeared before the banking committee last month, Corker originally suggested bankruptcy as a way to restructure the industry. He started moving toward efforts to broker a compromise after a Dec. 3 briefing on GM’s restructuring plan and a meeting with GM Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson.
The following day, he proposed a plan that became the blueprint for possible compromise, saying he was willing to give the automakers a chance to solve the crisis without bankruptcy if the government got a “big stick” to force reforms.
Closed-Door Talks
As the Senate considered the House-approved bailout on Dec. 11, the freshman Republican holed up for seven hours behind closed doors on the first floor of the Capitol with the Democrats’ top negotiator, Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, as dozens of reporters crowded the ornate hallway outside, waiting for news.
The talks included Stephen Feinberg, founder of Cerberus Capital Management LP, which owns Chrysler; Ford Motor Co. lobbyist Ziad Ojakli; GM lobbyist Ken Cole, and United Auto Workers union lobbyist Alan Reuther. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and GM’s Henderson kept tabs by telephone, Corker later said.
The sticking point, which ultimately killed prospects for an agreement, was a Republican demand to set a specific date for cutbacks in auto-worker wages and benefits. Corker says lawmakers were “three words” away from a deal. “Had we agreed on a date, any date that’s reasonable, I think it would have passed the Senate with 90 votes,” he says.
Falling Short
Instead, on a 52-35 tally, supporters of the package fell short of the 60 votes they needed to end Senate debate and proceed to a vote to approve the measure.
Dodd says wage-reduction demands had more to do with jabbing the Democrats’ loyal union constituency than with reforming the automobile industry.
The banking committee chairman, in response to a question, later acknowledged that Corker’s lack of seniority may have hindered his ability to sway more Republican colleagues. Still, “you’ll hear no criticism from me about how Bob Corker handled himself,” Dodd says. “I respect him immensely for stepping up and making the effort.”
Corker will have to make an even greater effort to build clout when the Senate reconvenes next month. There he’ll find himself in a minority wielding less influence, with Republicans holding 41 or 42 of the body’s 100 seats compared to 49 now.
Frist’s Successor
Before this week, Corker was perhaps best-known for prevailing in a hard-fought 2006 race against then-U.S. Representative Harold Ford for the Tennessee seat vacated by former Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist.
Corker founded Bencor Corp., which got its start by installing drive-through windows at fast-food restaurants and grew into a shopping-center construction company with operations in 18 states. After selling his construction business, Corker ran commercial real estate companies. He was elected in March 2001 to a four-year term as mayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee’s fourth-largest city.
After the bailout failed in Congress, the Bush administration said yesterday that it may provide short-term auto-industry aid from the $700 billion financial rescue package approved earlier this year. Corker says an aid plan should include conditions similar to those he proposed, which Paulson could impose “by fiat.”
Reid says Corker’s efforts will “pay dividends next year” when a new Congress is likely to renew consideration of ways to bolster the automobile industry.
“We weren’t able, based on his good work, to arrive at something on which we could get enough Republicans to agree,” Reid said on the Senate floor after negotiations collapsed. “But he did some wonderful work, and I think the work he did is going to pay dividends next year.”

Emergency rule boosts Bangladesh garment exports: industry

2008-08-29T23:59:00.000-07:00

Emergency rule boosts Bangladesh garment exports: industry

explorexdark— Bangladesh's garment exports are booming thanks to a new, stable business climate under the country's state of emergency, officials said Wednesday.

The nation's exports of knitted and woven items rose by nearly 17 percent to a record 10.7 billion dollars in the financial year to June 2008.

"We had an image as a strike-prone country. Buyers from all over the world used to worry a lot about whether our manufacturers could meet shipment deadlines," Export Promotion Bureau chief Shahab Ullah told AFP.

"But the state of emergency brought much-needed stability as there have been hardly any strikes."

The garment export growth rate in the last financial year was up only marginally from the previous year's 16 percent rise.

But industry officials said the headline figure masks a big achievement considering exports fell 5.37 percent in the first quarter of the last financial year, amid concern about the country's political outlook.

It took a while for buyers to realise that Bangladesh could be a stable supplier of garments and after that "export orders jumped," Ullah said.

"To buyers, stability means a lot," said Anwar-ul Alam Chowdhury Parvez, head of the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association, which covers 4,200 factories.

Chowdhury said global buyers -- mainly from the US and the European Union -- started looking towards Bangladesh from October.

Exports leapt by 51 percent year-on-year in January and by more than 20 percent in the other months until the end of the financial year.

A state of emergency was imposed in Bangladesh in January 2007, banning strikes after months of bitter political and industrial unrest that left dozens killed and closed factories and ports.

The military-backed government has promised elections in December 2008 after it completes political, electoral and economic reforms.

Garment industry officials said they hoped the industrial climate would remain stable after democracy is restored.

Constant general strikes paralysed the country amid a duel between Bangladesh's two main rival political parties, the Awami League and the Bangladesh National Party, before the imposition of emergency rule.

The garment trade accounts for 40 percent of all industrial jobs in Bangladesh, with women making up more than 80 percent of the workforce.

Some 40 percent of Bangladesh's 144 million people live below the poverty line. Poor households spend nearly 70 percent of their income on food.

Garments, which make up three-quarters of the impoverished country's export earnings, helped boost total exports by 16 percent to a record 14.11 billion dollars in the last financial year.

FCC Delays Its Wireless Network Plans

2008-06-07T09:06:00.000-07:00

The Federal Communications Commission’s plan to offer free high-speed wireless Internet all across the country has reached its first speed bump, as the FCC’s Chairman Kevin Martin announced that the proposal will not be voted as initially scheduled during the June 12 meeting and will be postponed until July.
According to the Associated Press, Mr. Martin added that his announcement must not be misunderstood, as the wireless network plan is still considered to be a priority and an excellent technological opportunity for everyone and also that he is very supportive of the cause.
Apparently, the decision was made in order for the commission to investigate and respond to a series of concerns raised by several wireless carriers and also for the commissioners to be fully informed with the proposal’s details.
The plan consists in setting up an auction for a 25 MHz piece of spectrum in the 2155 MHz band and its winner would be required to offer free wireless-Internet access across the United States territory. The process would be completed over the next few years.
According to FCC’s Chairman Kevin Martin, the buyer would also have to build the network for at least 50 percent of the population during the first 4 years and should reach 95 percent in 10 years at the most. Internet would be offered free, but restricted and verified through a content filter for any kind of obscene materials.
The auction procedures are expected to require at least six months, so the postponement of June 12’s meeting will significantly delay the process to set up the pricing plans, minimum data rates, content filtering and many other issues.

Hybrid resources unlives Company logo

2008-01-27T21:53:00.000-08:00

HD DVD supporters and vendors pause and regroup

2008-01-06T08:13:00.000-08:00

Warner Bros. Entertainment unit will release its high-definition DVDs exclusively using Sony's Blu-ray DVD format (R) as of June 1 this year, according to U.S. media reports Saturday

Warner's Blu-ray Endorsement Boosts the Buzz at CES
HD DVD supporters and vendors pause and regroup after Warner's surprise vote in the format war.
The decision by Warner Bros. to drop HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray Disc for high-definition movies has set the electronics industry abuzz. Announced on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show, the move put a single question in the minds of thousands of industry-insiders heading to the show in Las Vegas: Could the high-definition format wars be over?

Long Skirmish

Since both formats launched they have been locked in a battle that pitted some of the industry's biggest consumer electronics companies against each other. Backing Blu-ray Disc has been Sony, Panasonic and Samsung, while HD DVD's main supporters have been Toshiba, Microsoft and Intel.

The battle also divided Hollywood and left consumers with a difficult choice: their favorite movies were likely split between the two formats and there was a risk the player they bought would become irrelevant. As a result consumers kept away from the formats and sales have been sluggish.

Warner's decision will give Blu-ray Disc an advantage in terms of content. With the move, five of the big seven Hollywood studios now back Blu-ray Disc with only two, Paramount and Universal, backing HD DVD.

The Warner announcement certainly put the HD DVD Promotion Group's CES plans in disarray. Within hours of the announcement, the group cancelled its scheduled Sunday-evening news conference and subsequent media interviews at CES.

Consumer Benefit?
"They're definitely regrouping and considering their options at the moment, this could be extremely important," said Tom Coughlin, a storage analyst at Coughlin Associates. "This could be the beginning of a major pivotal turning point in the high-def format war, which if we could define the format which is going to win would be extremely important for the industry because this would free up consumers to start making decisions on the purchase of their systems."

Better sales would help consumer electronics manufacturers increase production and that would in turn lead to lower prices, said Coughlin. Those lower prices would then lead to better sales and that would help the entire industry, he said.

Warner touched on the format battle's impact on the consumer electronics industry in a statement announcing its move.

"A two-format landscape has led to consumer confusion and indifference toward high definition, which has kept the technology from reaching mass adoption and becoming the important revenue stream that it can be for the industry," said Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warner's home entertainment group in a statement.

Whether or not the fight is really over remains to be seen.

Toshiba said it was "quite surprised" by the announcement from Warner "despite the fact that there are various contracts in place between our companies concerning the support of HD DVD."

"We will assess the potential impact of this announcement with the other HD DVD partner companies and evaluate potential next steps. We remain firm in our belief that HD DVD is the format best suited to the wants and needs of the consumer," Toshiba said in a statement.

Just the Latest Win
For some, the Warner decision marks the end of the format battle.

"I think the war is over. HD DVD has lost. It really is game-over for Toshiba and the other vendors," said Robin Harris, an analyst with Data Mobility Group. "The basic issue is not technology. It's about distribution, it's about marketing, it's about content and Blu-ray has been winning the content war for sometime. I don't know why [Toshiba] keeps pouring money into it, it's time to stop."

Harris credited Sony's inclusion of Blu-ray Disc in the PlayStation 3 with being one of the instrumental moves in winning the fight for Blu-ray Disc.

"I think Sony's brilliant move and one of the few they have made in this effort is putting Blu-ray into PS3," he said. "Even though PS3 hasn't sold so well in the console wars, in terms of being a platform for Blu-ray distribution it's been a success for them and I think that's what really put Blu-ray over the top."

The praise comes as Sony has finally started to see PlayStation 3 sales pick-up after a year of sluggish sales. Ironically the company has been often criticized by analysts and the media for the inclusion of Blu-ray Disc in the device as that contributed to a high price that put many consumers off buying the high-def games console.

See PC World's ongoing coverage of the Consumer Electronics show at the CES InfoCenter.

Warner Bros. to release Blu-ray DVDs exclusively

Warner Bros. Entertainment unit will release its high-definition DVDs exclusively using Sony's Blu-ray DVD format as of June 1 this year, according to U.S. media reports Saturday.
Time Warner's Warner Bros., Hollywood's biggest seller of DVDs, represents about 18 to 20 percent of sales in the U.S. and was one of the few studios that backed both formats.

The news was announced by the company Friday afternoon, Warner, which had been supporting both formats, will drop HD DVD by the end of May in favor of Tokyo-based Sony Corp.'s Blu-ray.

"We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass-market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers," said Barry Meyer, chairman and CEO of Warner Bros.

This is seen as a major victory for Sony as it attempts to make Blu-ray the high-definition standard over rival Toshiba's HD-DVD format, according to the reports.

Warner Bros. studio, the second-largest in 2007 U.S. box-office receipts, joins Walt Disney Co. and News Corp.'s Fox in backing Blu-ray exclusively. The top studio, Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures, uses HD DVD, as does DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. and General Electric Co.'s Universal Pictures.

Some saw the move as an end to the war that has confused consumers about which standard to choose. Players using one standard are unable to play DVDs made using the other standard.

"We expect HD DVD to 'die' a quick death, versus a prolonged format war," Pali Capital analyst Rich Greenfield said.

Blu-ray and HD DVD players read DVDs with a blue-violet laser to play videos in high-definition. Blu-ray discs are generally able to process data at a higher rate than HD.

Technorati : DVD, HD, news, technology, vendors

Macy's going to close Valley View Center store

2007-12-29T07:58:00.000-08:00

Following a 34-year run, a Dallas Macy's store is among nine Macy's closing nationwide in light of slow sales, the company announced Friday.
The Macy's Valley View Center location, which employs 132, will go into sales-clearance mode on Jan. 13, and once it sells out of merchandise, its doors will close, said Macy's spokesman Ed Smith.
Macy’s Inc., the owner of its namesake chain and Bloomingdale’s, said Friday that it would close stores deemed to have inadequate sales and eliminate 899 jobs.
Macy’s will shut locations in Akron, Canton and North Randall, Ohio; Lake Charles, La.; Riverdale, Utah; Indianapolis; Oklahoma City; Houston; and Dallas. Final clearance sales will begin in the next few weeks, the retailer said.
The company will operate 815 Macy’s after shutting the stores, all of them locations the chain acquired when it bought May Department Stores in 2005, a spokesman, Jim Sluzewski, said. The retailer’s sales growth has been hurt by the former May stores, which were converted to the Macy’s name last year, analysts said.
“They are certainly muddling through, but not muddling through very well,” Patricia Edwards, a portfolio manager at Wentworth, Hauser & Violich in Seattle, said of the merger. “It’s a big bite to chew off, and these customers are used to different things.”
Former May shoppers want coupons and national brands, Ms. Edwards said, while Macy’s clients are accustomed to that chain’s own labels. She holds shares of retailers including Target.
Shares of Macy’s rose 44 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $25.48, on the New York Stock Exchange.
In a statement, Macy’s chief executive, Terry J. Lundgren, said: “While the decision to close stores is difficult, it is necessary that we do so selectively in locations with declining sales and where we have been unable to identify sufficient growth opportunities.”
The company, based in Cincinnati, opened 10 new stores and one furniture gallery in 2007. In 2008, it expects to open five stores, and has six to eight new locations planned for 2009.
Macy’s $11 billion acquisition of May made it the second-largest department store company after Sears Holdings. Macy’s converted more than 400 May locations, including Marshall Field’s and Hecht’s, to the Macy’s name, doubling the size of the chain, in September 2006. It operates 40 Bloomingdale’s stores.

Bhutto's death likely to roil Pakistan markets

2007-12-28T03:07:00.000-08:00

Bussiness stopped!!! plitical stablity reached 0 in Pakistan,
The assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto will likely rattle the country's equity markets, eroding confidence at least in the short term in a market that's been one of the best performers in Asia, observers said.
Bhutto, a former prime minister of Pakistan, was killed Thursday in an attack that also killed at least 20 others at the end of a political rally in Rawalpindi. Read full story.
World leaders condemned the assassination, which sent shock waves through the Pakistani political system ahead of Jan. 8 parliamentary elections. It immediately raised questions about whether the elections would proceed on schedule and whether President Pervez Musharraf would reimpose a recently lifted state of emergency.
'The big takeaway from this horrible event is that Pakistan could slide into a civil war of sorts.'
— Win Thin, Brown Brothers Harriman
News of the assassination left U.S. financial markets unsettled, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU:
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$INDU 13,359.61, -192.08, -1.4%) falling more than 100 points. Crude-oil and gold futures rallied, as did prices of U.S Treasurys. See Market Snapshot. See Futures Movers.
Bhutto's death will likely also destabilize Pakistan's equity market, among the best-performing bourses in the region.
"In the very short term, there will be a knee-jerk reaction as you saw at the time of the imposition of the rule of emergency by Musharraf earlier this year," said Rupert Neil Bumfrey, an advisor to emerging markets asset-management companies, in a phone interview from Dubai.
"Again, the knee-jerk reaction will be don't go Pakistan," said Bumfrey, who travels often to Pakistan. "However, as we've seen with the stock market since the imposition and abandonment of emergency rule, the stock market has continued to be positive. In the long run, Pakistan remains an excellent investment. It has good value."
In Karachi, the benchmark KSE-100 stock index closed down 0.3% on Thursday. See the Karachi Stock Exchange's Web site.
It has rallied 47% year to date. By comparison, India's Sensex index has gained 46.6% year to date.
Another key indicator showed a similar advance. The MSCI Pakistan index's year-to-date gain has been 40.7%, while MSCI India has surged 70% and MSCI China has rallied 65%.
"This is going to be the first big test of sentiment since fund managers started focusing on this market in the middle of last year," said Cameron Brandt, global markets analyst at EPFR Global.
Economic growth story
"Pakistan was on the front edge of the frontier market phenomenon -- the quest for untapped value in emerging markets," Brandt said. "Pakistan is on the front end of that because its economy has been doing reasonably well with almost no fanfare."
Indeed, Pakistan's gross domestic product has averaged 6.9% growth over the past five years.
That strong economic growth, however, might be overshadowed now that Bhutto's killing thrust the volatile region, which many observers consider a breeding ground for violent Islamic extremism, back into the global spotlight.
Pakistan, which borders Afghanistan, is the recipient of billions of dollars of U.S. aid and a key front in the U.S.-declared war on terrorism. The death of Bhutto, who was expected to be a force in Pakistani politics following the election, cast U.S. policy toward the region into turmoil.
"The big takeaway from this horrible event is that Pakistan could slide into a civil war of sorts," said Win Thin, senior currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman, in a research note. "Such a development would upset the delicate balance in the region. India, for instance, has benefited from improved relations with Pakistan under Musharraf."
Pakistan equities and rupee are likely to come under pressure when markets reopen, Thin said.
Investors with a long-term perspective and mettle, however, may well find lucrative opportunities in Pakistan.
After Egypt, Pakistan is one of the first emerging markets where Persian Gulf investors look to for opportunities, Brandt noted.
Echoing this, Bumfrey said that the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have been investing a lot of money in Pakistan.
"The biggest support for Pakistan will continue to come from this region," Bumfrey said. "New refineries are being financed by Abu Dhabi. All of that will continue."
Temasek, one of Singapore's sovereign wealth-management funds, for example, also has holdings in Pakistan, he said.
Under Musharraf, the Pakistani economy has boomed in comparison with its performance in the past. The government has introduced major macroeconomic reforms since 2000, such as privatization of the banking sector.
"But it is not India. India has surged well ahead," Bumfrey said.
For Pakistan to reach India's pace of growth, "you need the liquidity. You need the external international capital. There's offshore funds that are being crated now as we speak to garner that liquidity," he said.
Bumfrey conceded that Pakistan hasn't marketed itself very well: "The big problem is one of perception by the western world."
Goldman Sachs, which coined the BRIC term to refer to Brazil, Russia, India and China, has also come up with the term "Next 11."
The list of those eleven countries that have the potential to offer tremendous investment opportunities, akin to the BRIC countries, includes Pakistan, as well as Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, South Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, the Philippines, Turkey and Vietnam.
"It's a question of people getting the liquidity and investing," Bumfrey said. "They've got to be brave. Not everyone will want to invest in Pakistan, but not everyone wanted to invest in India [back in the early 1990s

Berkshire Hathaway to buy reinsurer from ING

2007-12-28T02:48:00.000-08:00

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway on Friday reached a deal to buy a reinsurer from Dutch financial-services giant ING for $433 million (300 million euros), part of a busy week in which the Omaha, Neb.-based investment group is opening a bond insurer and buying an industrial group.
As the Dutch firm wants to concentrate on its core insurance, banking and asset management business.
ING is taking a capital loss after tax of 100 million euros this year on the sale. Berkshire Hathaway didn't immediately issue a statement on its side of the deal.
NRG, formerly called Nederlandse Reassurantie Groep, hasn't taken on new business since 1993. NRG's life reinsurance subsidiaries have been sold and a number of the remaining insurance liabilities were successfully settled, ING said.
The deal comes on the same day that Berkshire Hathaway is opening Berkshire Hathaway Assurance, a bond insurer for cities, counties and states that issue bonds to finance sewer systems, schools, hospitals and other public projects, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Many bond insurers have run into difficulty with their triple-A credit ratings in jeopardy because of the increased risk from the mortgage-related bonds they insure, which could potentially erode their capital.
The bond insurer unit will begin operations in New York before moving to California, Puerto Rico, Texas, Illinois and Florida, Buffett told the Journal.
"Ideally we'd be licensed in every state, but there's a limit to what we can do," Buffett told the newspaper.
On Christmas, Berkshire Hathaway announced a deal to buy 60% of Marmon Holdings, an industrial group owned by trusts benefiting members of the Pritzker family of Chicago, for $4.5 billion. The investment firm will buy the rest of the company over the next five to six years.
Marmon, with annual revenue of around $7 billion, holds more than 125 manufacturing and service businesses worldwide,

Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway is a conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S., that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. Berkshire Hathaway's core business is insurance, including property and casualty insurance, reinsurance and specialty nonstandard insurance. The Company averaged a 25%+ annual return to its shareholders for the last 25 years while employing large amounts of capital and minimal debt.
Warren Buffett is the company's chairman and CEO. Buffett has used the "float" provided by Berkshire Hathaway's insurance operations (a policyholder's money which it holds temporarily until claims are paid out) to finance his investments. In the early part of his career at Berkshire, he focused on long-term investments in publicly quoted stocks, but more recently he has turned to buying whole companies. Berkshire now owns a diverse range of businesses including candy production; retail, home furnishings, encyclopedias, vacuum cleaners, jewelry sales; newspaper publishing; manufacture and distribution of uniforms; and manufacture, import and distribution of footwear.

Sallie Mae's stock, decladed sales raise $3 bln

2007-12-27T17:42:00.001-08:00

Sallie Mae , the largest educational lending company in the United States, said it sold $1 billion of convertible securities and $2 billion of common stock, raising more money than it had expected to pay off bad derivatives bets.
Sallie Mae sold common stock at $19.65 a share, equal to the company's closing share price on Thursday. The common stock sale offering was increased from an originally planned $1.5 billion, signaling strong demand.
The mandatory convertible preferred securities will offer a dividend of 7.25 percent, until investors convert them into common stock, or until their mandatory conversion on Dec. 15, 2010.
Sallie Mae, formally known as SLM Corp, said on Wednesday it was issuing $2.5 billion of convertible preferred securities and common shares, with about $2 billion of the proceeds going to pay off derivatives known as equity forward contracts.
Sallie Mae used equity forwards as part of its share buyback plan for years. The contracts allowed the company to reduce the cost of buying back its shares as long as its stock price kept rising.
But if Sallie Mae's share price fell far enough, the company had to buy back a large number of shares at above-market prices.
In this case, Sallie Mae will use about $2 billion from its offering to buy back about 44 million shares, now worth closer to $865 million at current market prices. The rest of the proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes.

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Sallie Mae is launching public offerings of both common stock and mandatory convertible preferred stock to raise up to $2.5 billion in capital.
The Reston-based student lender, which manages $160 billion in education loans, plans to use about $2 billion of the net proceeds from the two proposed offerings to settle its outstanding equity forward purchase contract, pursuant to which Sallie Mae will repurchase more than 44 million shares of common stock, the company said in a statement.
Sallie Mae (NYSE: SLM), formally known as SLM Corp., said any proceeds remaining from the public offerings after settling this contract will be used for general corporate purposes.
UBS Investment Bank and Citi will serve as joint book-running managers for the offerings, which include the issuance of $1.5 billion of common stock and $1 billion of convertible preferred stock.
Separately, Sallie Mae disclosed in a regulatory filing the terms and conditions of a separation agreement with Kevin Moehn, the company's executive vice president of sales and originations, who is leaving Sallie Mae.
Moehn will receive a cash payment totaling $1.5 million as well as a cash bonus of $285,000. He has also agreed to provide consulting services for 12 months following his termination of employment for a monthly fee of $16,500, Sallie Mae said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The agreement also provides that Moehn will not compete with Sallie Mae for six months following his termination of employment, and that he will not solicit or hire company employees for 24 months following his termination of employment.
Earlier this month, Sallie Mae announced that Moehn and June McCormack, the company's executive vice president of servicing, technology, sales and marketing, would be leaving the firm. Sallie Mae has promoted two executives to replace them.
Stock in Sallie Mae fell more than 11 percent on Thursday, to close at $19.65 per share. The company's shares have fallen about 43 percent in the last month and more than 57 percent over the past year.
Investors haven't reacted well to news that Sallie Mae's proposed acquisition by two private equity firms and two banks is not going through.
In April, the buyout group of J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC, Friedman Fleischer & Lowe LLC, Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) agreed to purchase Sallie Mae for about $25 billion.
The buyout group sent a revised offer to Sallie Mae's board in October, arguing that new legislation which cuts federal subsidies to student lenders could materially hurt Sallie Mae's financial performance.
Sallie Mae's board didn't accept the revised -- and lower -- offer. The Reston company then filed a lawsuit against the buyout group, seeking a $900 million breakup fee that was part of the original deal.
In recent weeks, Sallie Mae said that it held discussions with representatives of the buyout group to resolve their dispute. But the buyout group indicated to Sallie Mae that it would not submit a new proposal to buy the student lender, according to Sallie Mae.

Home price fell in USA 6.1%

2007-12-26T07:58:00.000-08:00

The demand of homeHome price fell in USA 6.1% price fall specialist is watching their invest conciously,
Home prices in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas fell in October by the most in at least six years, a private survey showed today.
Property values fell 6.1 percent from October 2006, more than forecast, after dropping 4.9 percent in September, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index. The decrease was the biggest since the group started keeping year-over-year records in 2001. The index has fallen every month this year.
Prices will probably remain under pressure as the jump in foreclosures puts even more homes on the market just as stricter lending rules make it harder for buyers to find financing. Declining values make it harder for owners to tap home equity for extra cash, posing a risk to consumer spending.
``With supply overhang enormous and mortgage financing tougher to obtain, home prices are going to decline considerably further in the quarters ahead,'' said Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at Maria Fiorini Ramirez Inc., a New York forecasting firm.
Compared with a month earlier, home prices dropped 1.4 percent, the biggest one-month decline since records began. The figures aren't seasonally adjusted, so economists prefer to focus on the year-over-year change.
The median forecast of 12 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News projected a 5.7 percent decline.
Broad Decline
The index is a composite of transactions in 20 metropolitan areas. Seventeen cities showed a year-over-year decline in prices, led by 12 percent slumps in Miami and Tampa, Florida. Three, including Charlotte, North Carolina, Seattle and Portland, Oregon, showed an increase from a year earlier.
All 20 areas covered showed a drop in prices compared with September.
``The current state of the single-family housing market remains grim,'' Robert Shiller, chief economist at MacroMarkets LLC and a professor at Yale University, said in a statement.
Shiller and Karl Case, an economics professor at Wellesley College, created the home-price index based on research from the 1980s.
A report on Nov. 21 from the National Association of Realtors showed home prices fell in one third of U.S. cities last quarter.
The housing market may continue to weaken as an increase in foreclosures adds to a glut of unsold homes on the market, spurring sellers to cut prices, economists said.
Sales Report
Figures this week from the Commerce Department may show new homes sold at an annual rate of 718,000 in November, down from October's 728,000 rate, based on the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.
Sales of new houses probably will fall 8.9 percent in 2008 after a 25 percent drop this year, according to a Dec. 13 forecast from Fannie Mae, the largest mortgage buyer.
``The market is too challenging to make predictions for fiscal 2008,'' Ara Hovnanian, chief executive officer of Hovnanian Enterprises Inc., said on a conference call on Dec. 19. ``It will be a difficult year.'' The Red Bank, New Jersey- based company reported a net loss of $467 million for the three months ended Oct. 31.
Residential investment has subtracted from economic growth for the past seven quarters. Home building dropped at a 20.5 percent annual pace in the third quarter, the most since 1991.
The S&P/Case-Shiller index and another by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight track the same home over time and more accurately reflect price trends, economists said.
Price gauges from the Commerce Department and the Realtors group can be influenced by changes in the types of homes sold. Higher sales of cheaper homes relative to more-expensive properties will bias the figures down.

Restructuring Aims to Give Canada’s Debt Market a $33 Billion Lift

2007-12-26T06:51:00.000-08:00

The Crawford Committee managed to secure its rescue effort to restructure $33-billion in asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) in time for exhausted negotiators to take a holiday break, but some of the banks have still not signed on.

Sources familiar with discussions said some of the Canadian banks have thus far declined to sign an agreement to provide funding support to the sector because the formal request came late last week, when a number of senior executives had already left for the Christmas break.

The committee that's working to fix the sector wanted the banks to contribute more than $2-billion to a $14-billion margin facility that will be key to the restructuring.

A tentative restructuring agreement should unlock a $33 billion portion of Canada’s debt market that has been frozen since August, its chief architect said on Monday.

Fears about subprime lending in the United States led to a liquidity crisis in Canada’s market for asset-backed commercial paper that had been sold by dealers not owned by the country’s six major banks.

A standstill agreement in August prevented the collapse of the market but created problems for some investors, particularly businesses that had bought the short-term debt to park cash they planned to use later.

Under the agreement reached Sunday night, the asset-backed paper, which is mostly made up of auto loans, market rate mortgages and credit card receivables, will be repackaged to make it more attractive.

A crucial element of the plan involves segregating 3 billion Canadian dollars (about the same in American dollars) in subprime mortgage debt, and then packaging it with a similar amount of higher quality debt.

“They’ve decided quite wisely to firewall that off from the other debt,” said Huston Loke, who heads the structured finance group at DBRS, a debt rating agency in Toronto. “That’s the portion that everyone globally has the biggest question marks around.”

Most debt will be transformed into medium terms notes that will probably mature in five to seven years, Purdy Crawford, the Toronto lawyer who coordinated the negotiations, said in a conference call. That debt will be managed by one of two trusts.

To guarantee liquidity in the market for the restructured paper, several dealers have agreed to provide about 12 billion Canadian dollars to cover margin calls on the notes. Mr. Crawford declined to identify the firms or even to say how many were participating.

Five of six major banks indicated that they might add about 2 billion Canadian dollars to that fund, Mr. Crawford added. If those banks do not ultimately come through, however, Mr. Crawford said that another, non-Canadian financial institution will cover that amount in a contingency plan. He declined to identify the backup financier.

“It will be good paper,” Mr. Crawford said, after indicating that most owners of the restructured debt would probably be repaid if they held it until maturity. The agreement followed the first lawsuits by holders of the paper against dealers as well as threats of more litigation. If the agreement is approved, debt holders will be required to waive their right to sue.

Two ratings agencies, which remain undisclosed, will rate the debt, which was previously only valued by DBRS. As part of that process, Mr. Loke said, investors will be given a detailed breakdown of their debt’s structure. Previously, they were offered general guidance and descriptions from the ratings agency.

“The lesson everyone is taking away from this is that disclosure is very important,” Mr. Loke said.

The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the large pension fund that is a major holder of the paper and a participant in the talks, said in a statement that it was “very satisfied” with the agreement. The deal requires approval from debt holders, various government agencies and departments. It is not expected to close until March.

Deal :Berkshire to Pay $4.5 Billion for Pritzkers' Marmon

2007-12-26T06:40:00.000-08:00

Warren E. Buffett may be a choosy shopper, but when he sees a firm he likes, he moves fast.
After just two weeks of negotiations, Mr. Buffett, who has been looking for acquisitions on which to spend his company’s billions of dollars, snagged an industrial conglomerate in a deal announced Tuesday. The Pritzker family of Chicago will sell to Mr. Buffett’s firm, Berkshire Hathaway, a 60 percent stake in Marmon Holdings for $4.5 billion.
The deal would go a long way toward unwinding the business holdings of the Pritzkers, a process that started in 2001. For Mr. Buffett, the deal represents his largest acquisition outside the insurance industry and suggests that he is finally finding some deals he can get excited about.
Berkshire will acquire the remaining 40 percent of Marmon over the next five or six years at a price that will be based on the future earnings of the company. In 2006, Marmon posted revenue of $7 billion and profit of $1 billion from operations like wire and cable, railroad tank cars and water treatment systems.

Dec. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. will pay $4.5 billion for 60 percent of Marmon Holdings Inc., adding another family run company that prospered without shareholder demands for short-term profits.
Chicago's Pritzker family, which controls Global Hyatt Corp., built Marmon into a group with $7 billion in annual sales and 125 units including operations serving the railroad and energy industries. Operating income more than tripled from 2002 to 2007, Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire said in a statement yesterday.
Marmon has ``businesses that are fairly niche-oriented where they have dominant positions established over time,'' said Thomas Russo, who manages about $3.5 billion at Gardner Russo & Gardner in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and counts Berkshire as its largest holding. ``They have a history under the Pritzkers of being liberated from the quarterly earnings game.''
Buffett, 77, built Berkshire over four decades, buying out- of-favor stocks and manufacturers to transform a failing textile maker into a $210 billion holding company. His biggest investment last year was the $4 billion purchase of Iscar Metalworking Cos. from Israel's Wertheimer family.
Marmon is ``our kind of company,'' Buffett said in an interview with CNBC today. ``It's in some very basic businesses but good businesses.''
Berkshire, which had more than $45 billion in cash as of Sept. 30, is as prepared as it has ``ever been'' to buy a ``big business outright,'' Buffett told shareholders at an annual meeting in May. He's said he'd be willing to spend as much as $60 billion on the right company.
The Marmon acquisition is set to be completed in the first quarter of 2008, with Berkshire acquiring the remainder of the company by 2014 at a cost based on future earnings.
Trains, Cranes
Marmon employs 21,500 people, mostly in North America, the U.K., Europe and China, according to the company's Web site. Its businesses include a dozen companies that manufacture wire and cable products for energy and construction use.
The Chicago-based group also has a transportation-services operation that produces railroad cars and leases tank containers in China. Operating income was $794 million last year, according to the Web site.
The businesses ``are not prone to widespread technical obsolescence,'' Russo said. ``They would have a relationship with their suppliers and customers that give them an ongoing partnership.''
Berkshire had about 217,000 employees as of Dec. 31 in businesses ranging from auto insurer Geico Corp. and carpet manufacturer Shaw Industries to ice cream company International Dairy Queen Inc. and business-jet fleet operator NetJets Inc.
Largest Since 2005
The Marmon takeover is the largest announced by Buffett since 2005, when Berkshire's utility company agreed to buy PacifiCorp from Scottish Power Plc for $5.1 billion in cash and assume $4.3 billion in debt. Buffett has also been investing in railroads, disclosing in April that he purchased a $3 billion stake in Fort Worth, Texas-based Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., the second-largest railroad in the U.S. after Union Pacific Corp.
Buffett prefers buying companies outright rather than investing in stocks because ``that way he can control the reinvestment decisions,'' Russo said. ``He would have the appetite and the balance sheet to underwrite almost limitless investments through their operating entities.''
Marmon has an ``impressive record of growth and profitability,'' Buffett said in the statement. ``The decision to purchase and work out the details of this transaction was done without delay.''
Berkshire spokeswoman Jackie Wilson and Chief Financial Officer Marc Hamburg didn't return calls seeking comment. David Dees, a spokesman for Marmon, had no comment.
Pritzker Breakup
The Pritzker family has discussed breaking up its holdings since the 1999 death of Jay Pritzker, who began the hotel company in 1957 by buying the Hyatt House in Los Angeles. The family's investments range from a global credit-check company to a maker of artificial joints. Marmon was acquired in 1953 by Jay and his brother Robert, according to the statement.
``This transaction is being done in the context of the previously reported restructuring of our family business interests,'' Marmon Chairman Tom Pritzker said in the statement.
In August, the family said it would sell a minority stake in Global Hyatt to investors including Goldman Sachs Capital Partners for $1 billion. In 2006, the family agreed to sell snuff maker Conwood for $3.5 billion to Reynolds American Inc.
In January 2005, actress Liesel Pritzker and brother Matthew Pritzker, settled a $2 billion suit accusing Tom Pritzker and other relatives of cheating them out of their inheritance.
Inheritance Suit Settled
The siblings claimed their trust-fund assets were being transferred to accounts benefiting other relatives and the family foundation. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.
Tom Pritzker was ranked by Forbes as the 117th wealthiest person in the U.S. with a net worth of $3 billion. Buffett was second with $52.4 billion, the magazine said.
Buffett will work with Tom Pritzker, Marmon Chief Executive Officer Frank Ptak and former CEO John Nichols over the next five to six years ``in continuing to build Marmon,'' Berkshire said in the statement.
Berkshire, which traded at $2,950 on Dec. 31, 1987, is poised to post its 17th annual gain in 20 years. It climbed $3,980 Dec. 24 to $137,980 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock is up 25 percent in 2007, outpacing the 5.5 percent gain for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.
The company's largest purchase was the acquisition of General Re, the largest U.S. reinsurance company. The stock deal was valued at $16 billion when it was completed in 1998.
`Simple' Businesses
Buffett's investment criteria include companies with ``good returns on equity,'' little or no debt, ``simple'' businesses that he can understand, and consistent earnings, he said in Berkshire's latest annual report. Buffett doesn't participate in auctions for companies and can tell prospective sellers within five minutes of an offer if he is interested in completing a deal, he said in the report on March 1.
The Marmon acquisition ``was done just the way Jay would have liked,'' Buffett said in the statement. ``No consultants or studies.''

Toyota announces plan to sell 9.85M vehicles in 2008

2007-12-25T15:09:00.000-08:00

Toyota (TM - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) said Tuesday that it expects to increase worldwide vehicle sales by 5% to 9.85 million in 2008.

That figure includes the company's Daihatsu and Hino units. Toyota estimates that total worldwide production also will rise by 5%, to 9.95 million vehicles.
In a news release, Toyota also published expected results for all of 2007 and estimated worldwide sales of 9.36 million, up 6% from 2006.

Toyota plans to sell 9.85 million vehicles worldwide in 2008, the company said Tuesday, setting itself an ambitious target despite worries about a slowing U.S. car market as it tries to become the world's top automaker.
Toyota also said it plans to produce 9.95 million vehicles worldwide next year, up 5% from this year — the same projected on-year percentage jump for Toyota's global sales.
Its recent growth has put Toyota Motor Corp. on track to beat U.S.-based General Motors to become the world's biggest automaker by sales. GM has said it estimates this year's sales to total 9.3 million vehicles, against Toyota's estimate of 9.36 million sales.
Toyota's growth has been based in large part on the popularity of models such as the Camry sedan, Corolla subcompact and the Prius gas-electric hybrid.
Soaring gas prices have dramatically boosted the appeal of smaller fuel-efficient models that are Toyota's main strength.

General Motors has been fiercely fighting back, boosting its overseas business and could yet maintain the top industry spot which it has held for 76 years.
GM has not given a forecast for the number of vehicles it expects to produce or sell in 2008. But the Detroit automaker has the industry record for annual global vehicle sales at 9.55 million vehicles, sold by GM in 1978.
Toyota executives acknowledged Tuesday worries about the U.S. market, which has been hit by the subprime mortgage crisis and soaring oil prices. But they remained upbeat about increasing sales in the key U.S. market — projecting 2.64 million vehicles, edging up 1% from this year.
They were also bullish about prospects for emerging markets such as China, Russia and South America, while being conservative in expectations for Europe at a 2% increase to 1.27 million vehicles, and seeing sales in Japan remain flat at 1.6 million next year.
But Koji Endo, auto analyst with Credit Suisse in Tokyo, said next year will likely prove a challenge even for Toyota, as U.S. economic woes weigh on sales and profits.
But he said the overall optimism for sales growth was "reasonable," given Toyota's recent performance.
"These are targets Toyota is giving, not forecasts, and so they are reasonable," he said.
After the first nine months of this year, Toyota was — at 7.05 million vehicles sold worldwide — trailing GM's sales of 7.06 million vehicles for the same period. The final tally for this year's numbers won't be out until January next year.
GM's spokesman in Tokyo Michihiro Yamamori declined to comment, citing company policy to refrain from commenting on its rivals' targets.
Toyota also said it was preparing to start mass producing lithium-ion batteries for low-emission vehicles.
Lithium-ion batteries, already widely used in laptops and other gadgets, are smaller yet more powerful than the nickel-metal hydride batteries used in gas-electric hybrids like the Prius now.
Lithium-ion batteries will not be used in the Prius, on sale for a decade and the most popular hybrid on the market, according to Toyota.
The lithium-ion battery will be used in a plug-in hybrid, which would recharge from a regular home socket, and travel longer as an electric vehicle than the Prius. Toyota has started tests on its plug-in hybrid, but has not shown a model using the new battery.
Executive Vice President Masatami Takimoto, who oversees technology, said Toyota had developed the lithium-ion battery to a level that it is almost ready for mass production, although that won't start until sometime after next year.
Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe said the hybrid will be a pillar of Toyota's growth in the years ahead, and he reiterated the plan to offer hybrid versions of all its models sometime after 2020.
As part of its strategy to be ecological and super-efficient in manufacturing — as well as with its products — Toyota will use solar energy and wind power to reduce global-warming emissions at what it called five "sustainable plants." The facility being built in Mississippi, set to be up and running in 2010, will be one such plant, Toyota said.

Weekend Surge May Not Rescue Retailers' Holiday Slump

2007-12-25T15:03:00.000-08:00

American consumers, uneasy about the economy and unimpressed by the merchandise in stores, delivered the bleak holiday shopping season retailers had expected, if not feared, according to one early but influential projection.
Spending between Thanksgiving and Christmas rose just 3.6 percent over last year, the weakest performance in at least four years, according to MasterCard Advisors, a division of the credit card company. By comparison, sales grew 6.6 percent in 2006, and 8 percent in 2005.
“There was not a recipe for a pick up in sales growth,” said Michael McNamara, vice president of research and analysis at MasterCard Advisors, citing higher gas prices, a slowing housing market and a tight credit market.
Strong demand at the start of the season for a handful of must-have electronics, like digital frames and portable GPS navigation systems trailed off in December. And robust sales of luxury products could not make up for sluggish sales of jewelry and women’s clothing.
What did eventually sell was generally marked down — once, if not twice — which could hurt retailers’ profits in the final three months of year. “Stores are buying those sales at a cost,” said Sherif Mityas, a partner at the consulting firm A.T. Kearney, who specializes in retailing.
A surge in spending during the weekend before Christmas may not have been enough to rescue Target Corp., Sears Holdings Corp. and Macy's Inc. from the slowest holiday spending season in five years.
MasterCard Inc.'s consulting unit said today that sales from Nov. 23 to Dec. 24 gained 3.6 percent. Spending in the week through Dec. 22 declined 2.2 percent, the fourth week of declines, even after sales increased almost 20 percent over the last weekend before Christmas, Chicago-based ShopperTrak RCT Corp. said yesterday.
``It's not going to overcome the negative forecasts,'' Frederick Crawford, managing director at Southfield, Michigan- based AlixPartners LLP, said of the weekend in a Bloomberg Television interview. ``It's going to be a good start, a very weak midsection, and a strong finish.''
Gasoline at $3 a gallon and rising food prices have discouraged shoppers from spending during November and December, which account for 20 percent of retailers' annual revenue, according to the National Retail Federation in Washington. Target, the second-biggest U.S. discounter, said yesterday that sales at stores open more than a year may decline in December after customer visits slowed in the weeks after Thanksgiving.
Five-Year Low
Sales in November and December this year may rise 4 percent, the slowest growth since 2002, according to the National Retail Federation. ShopperTrak has predicted a 3.6 percent increase. MasterCard's holiday growth figure was the lowest in at least three years.
Costco Wholesale Corp., the largest U.S. chain of wholesale clubs, said the holiday season ``went well,'' the Wall Street Journal reported today. Costco Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti didn't immediately return a call left at his Issaquah, Washington, office today.
Sales rose 19 percent from Dec. 21 to Dec. 23 as U.S. shoppers took advantage of discounts and extended hours, ShopperTrak said.
Less than one-fifth of consumers had finished their holiday shopping as of Dec. 16, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers in New York. J.C. Penney Co., Sears and Toys ``R'' Us Inc. tried to lure late buyers with discounts over the weekend, helping boost U.S. retailers' sales by 7.6 percent on Dec. 22, the Saturday before Christmas.
Chris Lewis, a cleaning-franchise owner, began shopping for his two children on Dec. 21, and may buy more items after Christmas.
Staying Frugal
``I try to stay kind of frugal,'' the 35-year-old resident of Silver Spring, Maryland, said. ``I'm not going to give everything I have in one day.''
Shoppers buying online led the growth in spending, with Internet sales gaining 22 percent from Nov. 23 though Dec. 24, Michael McNamara, vice president for research and analysis at MasterCard Advisors, said in an interview today.
``If you were expecting this holiday season to stimulate a new ramp-up in growth, I think you'd be disappointed,'' McNamara said. said. ``I think the vast majority of people in the marketplace had modest expectations.''
Apparel rose 1.4 percent from a year ago, McNamara said. Men's clothing climbed 2.3 percent, while clothes for women fell 2.4 percent.
Luxury Gains
Luxury goods, excluding jewelry, rose 7.1 percent compared with the same period last year, and footwear sales increased 6 percent.
MasterCard Advisors' SpendingPulse surveys retailers across the U.S. Its figures are based on sales in the MasterCard network and estimates of other forms of payment, including checks and cash. MasterCard is the second-biggest U.S. credit- card company.
Last year's holiday season grew 6.6 percent over 2005's holidays. Two years ago, retail sales grew 8 percent from the previous year, MasterCard said.
Although Target's customer visits increased for the week ended Dec. 22, ``this increase was not sufficient to compensate for the unfavorable traffic trends that carried over into December from the week following Thanksgiving,'' the Minneapolis-based retailer said on a recorded call.

Merrill raising up to $6.2 billion:

2007-12-25T04:02:00.000-08:00

Investment Contract :Merrill Lynch & Co. will raise up to $6.2 billion to be invested by Singapore-based investment firm Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd. and U.S.-based Davis Selected Advisers L.P., the investment bank said Monday.
Along with the private placement of common stock, Merrill (MER:Merrill Lynch & Co., IncNews, chart, profile, more Last: 53.90-1.64-2.95%
1:00pm 12/24/2007
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MER 53.90, -1.64, -2.9%) said it's selling its middle-market commercial finance business for an undisclosed amount. New York-based Merrill said the placement of newly issued stock is expected to close by mid-January. Chief Executive John Thain, who assumed Merrill's top position in November, said the private placement will bolster Merrill's capital position. Thain came to Merrill from NYSE Euronext (NYX:NYXNews, chart, profile, moreLast:
Delayed quote dataAdd to portfolioAnalyst Create alertInsiderDiscussFinancials Sponsored by:NYX, , ) more than one month ago, amid a difficult period during which Merrill sustained significant write-downs related to troubles in the U.S. housing market. The private placement also creates a strategic partnership with Temasek, Merrill said in a statement, describing Temasek as having "sizable investments across Asia, particularly in Singapore, China and India." Temasek will invest $4.4 billion in Merrill common stock, with the option to buy an additional $600 million in stock by March 2008. Its ownership position in Merrill won't exceed 10%, Merrill said. Davis, meanwhile, will make a "long-term investment" of $1.2 billion, Merrill said. Neither Temasek nor Davis will have any "role in the governance" of Merrill, the firm said. Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings maintained a negative outlook on Merrill following news of the investment, saying in a statement that it believes "there is a high probability that additional losses will be recognized in fourth-quarter 2007 fiscal year which collectively may result in [the firm] posting a loss for its 2007 fiscal year." Fitch had lowered Merrill's long-term issuer default rating in October. Following an initial rise early in Monday's abbreviated trading session, Merrill shares closed nearly 3% lower, ending at $53.90. Also Monday, Merrill said it is selling Merrill Lynch Capital, the firm's middle-market commercial finance business, to GE Capital (GE:GENews, chart, profile, moreLast:
Delayed quote dataAdd to portfolioAnalyst Create alertInsiderDiscussFinancials Sponsored by:GE, , ) . Financial terms were not disclosed. Merrill's commercial real-estate finance unit is not part of the unit being sold, the firm said. Fox-Pitt Kelton said in a note to clients that the sale should "free about $1.3 billion [in] capital for Merrill. Thus, the total capital 'raise' is $7.5 billion." Fox-Pitt Kelton had previously estimated that Merrill's write-downs related to subprime and other troubled mortgage markets amounted to $8.6 billion. Merrill's sale of Merrill Lynch Capital "continues to signal that problems are significant, but that [management] is taking steps to get beyond it," the firm told clients

Venezuela, Cuba Sign Accords to Increase Oil Refining, Mining

2007-12-23T10:31:00.000-08:00

Venezuela and Cuba to increase oil refining capacity and petrochemical output in Cuba, according to a statement today from Venezuela's information ministry.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez signed 14 economic cooperation agreements yesterday with Cuba's acting leader Raul Castro, deepening Venezuela's ties with the communist country.
The accords will increase oil refining capacity and petrochemical output in Cuba, according to a statement today from Venezuela's information ministry. Chavez and Castro also agreed to jointly develop mining deposits containing gold, zinc, copper, lime and chromium.
Chavez, a self-proclaimed socialist revolutionary who often refers to Cuba's convalescing President Fidel Castro as a father figure, has increased trade and investment in Cuba over the past eight years, providing economic relief to the island nation after it lost economic support from the former Soviet Union in 1991.
Trade between the two countries has risen to $7 billion a year, up from $388 million when Chavez was elected in 1998, Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage Davila said, according to the Venezuelan state news wire Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias.
Chavez and Raul Castro, Fidel's brother who took over governing duties last year when the president underwent surgery for intestinal bleeding, also signed agreements to increase food and industrial production in the two countries, according to the Venezuelan government statement.

Deal: 8 TV stations to sell for $1.1 billion by News Corp.

2007-12-23T10:14:00.000-08:00

Tribune Co.'s new venture to spread the costs of some television operations across its 23 stations and those of Oak Hill Capital Partners' Local TV LLC will get to spread those costs over an even wider swath than first announced.
News Corp., the media company controlled by Rupert Murdoch, will sell eight of its Fox network-affiliated television stations in the U.S. to Oak Hill Capital Partners for about $1.1 billion in cash.
The sale in small markets will leave News Corp. with 27 stations in major markets including New York, Boston and Los Angeles.
The media conglomerate, which owns the New York Post, a controlling stake in BSkyB satellite TV service, and 20th Century Fox movie studio, recently closed a $5.6 billion deal to buy the Wall Street Journal publisher, Dow Jones.
The sale will probably be completed in the third quarter, News Corp. said in a statement Saturday. The purchase will help Oak Hill, the buyout firm founded two years ago by Robert Bass, a Texas oil billionaire, create a broader U.S. network. In May it paid $575 million to acquire stations in Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Iowa and Arkansas from The New York Times Co.
"It is part of News Corp.'s strategic decision to shed low-growth, noncore assets," said Richard Dorfman, managing director of the investment firm Richard Alan.
For Oak Hill, the purchase is "a classic private equity play," Dorfman said. "Ad dollars are migrating to the Web, but it's a government-licensed franchise that can throw off good cash flow and reliably service debt."
Oak Hill will get WJW in Cleveland; KDVR in Denver; KTVI in St. Louis; WDAF in Kansas City, Missouri; WITI in Milwaukee; KSTU in Salt Lake City, Utah; WBRC in Birmingham, Alabama; and WGHP in Greensboro, North Carolina, according to the News Corp. statement confirmed by Teri Everett, a spokeswoman.
Oak Hill has expanded into leveraged buyouts, high-yield debt and hedge funds, raising more than $4.6 billion from investors, including Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft.
News Corp. hired the New York investment banking firm Allen & Co. to advise it on the sale of the TV stations in June. Two months later, it agreed to buy Dow Jones, publisher of Dow Jones Newswires, Barron's and The Wall Street Journal, after months of negotiations with the controlling Bancroft family.
Murdoch plans to use the Wall Street Journal brand to attract viewers to its television networks and Internet users to Web sites.
"News Corp.'s focus today is much more on Internet properties, such as MySpace, and cable," said Dorfman. The sale of the stations "will help News Corp. raise capital. News Corp. is not walking away from the healthy broadcast world."

Goldman's Blankfein collects $67.9M bonus

2007-12-22T07:15:00.000-08:00

Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein will take home nearly $68 million in restricted stock, options and cash, making it the largest bonus ever given to a Wall Street CEO.
Blankfein was awarded $26.8 million in cash and $41.1 million in restricted stock and stock options, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission issued Friday.
Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sachs Group Inc's CEO has been given a $67.9 million bonus for 2007, the firm said on Friday. This news comes in a period throughout which other top rival CEO’s lost their jobs or didn’t get any bonuses after losing billions of dollars on sub-prime mortgages.Goldman, one of the world's largest global investment banks, managed to steer clear of a meltdown and capped its fiscal year with outstanding financial results. Consequently, Blankfein’s reward for keeping the form on its right track included $41.1 million of restricted shares and options, as well as $26.8 million in cash.The CEO wasn’t the only member of Goldman’s management to be rewarded for the job well done. Co-Presidents Gary Cohn and Jon Winkelried will also receive a restricted shares and options valued at about $40.5 million each, up from $25.7 million last year.Cash payments weren't disclosed for anyone other than Blankfein, who reaped a record-setting $53.4 million last year.Goldman Sachs Group Inc. exceeded Wall Street profit records for the fourth-consecutive year and this in a period throughout which even banks and securities firms like Citigroup Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. had no choice but to take at least $96 billion of write-downs.Goldman also increased its employee’s salaries and set aside $20.2 billion for the benefits and bonuses which increased 23 percent compared to last year.“There are successful people and then there's extraordinary success, and they're trying to show as a firm that they're really extraordinary. They're rewarding him for leading such a fabulously successful ship,'' said Jeanne Branthover, managing director of Boyden World Corp., for Bloomberg.Blankfein, 53, earned a total of $53.4 million in 2006, thus becoming one of the highest paid executives on Wall Street. His bonus reflected the performance of Goldman Sachs, which reported record net earnings of $9.5 billion.
With this year's bonus, Blankfein shatters the record he set a year ago, when he was awarded $54 million.
News reports had originally projected that Blankfein will take home as much as $70 million, after helping to lead the company through this summer's market meltdown and the ongoing credit crisis.
Unlike some of its rivals, which have witnessed billions of dollars evaporate from their balance sheets, Goldman Sachs has proved unshakable. Just this week, the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, while peers like Morgan Stanley and Bear Stearns recorded steep losses.
As it stands right now, Blankfein will be among the few Wall Street CEOs to collect a bonus this year. After this week's dismal results, Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500) Chairman and CEO John Mack and Bear Stearns (BSC, Fortune 500) chief James Cayne both announced they would forsake their 2007 bonuses.
While bonuses are common throughout corporate America, they are a far bigger part of overall compensation for all levels of employee pay on Wall Street than they are at a typical corporation.
Tom McMullen of the Hay Group, a human resources and management consultant, estimates that cash bonuses typically equal between 40 and 100 percent of base salary for top executives on Wall Street, while senior managers receive between 15 to 30 percent of base pay as bonus payments. Even entry-level employees might see 10 to 20 percent of their base pay in the form of a bonus.
This year was expected to be a difficult one for finance pros given the recent market turmoil and the ongoing credit crisis. Overall, financial firms were expected to cut bonuses up to 10 percent from a year ago, according to industry projections.
A year ago, bonuses on Wall Street reached a record $23.9 billion, averaging more than $136,000 per employee, according to the New York State Comptroller's office.
Facing the biggest bonus squeeze were those individuals working in mortgage-related areas, with their bonuses declining by as much as 50 percent from a year ago, according to a report published last month by the compensation research firm Options Group.
Even though dealmaking has slowed considerably on Wall Street, investment bankers are still expected to enjoy a bump in their annual bonus from a year ago given the frenetic pace of merger-and-acquisition activity in the first half of 2007.
With so many banks underperforming, many financial firms were widely expected this bonus season to shift from cash to stock in an effort to compensate employees while retaining talent. Some firms have already said they would cap their cash compensation, including UBS, which announced a limit of $750,000 for its workers.
Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500) stock finished more than 3 percent higher in Friday trade

MIT finds new role for well-known protein

2007-10-19T07:21:00.001-07:00

Research could lead to treatments for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's,

Fluorescent micrograph (scale bar: 10 micrometers) shows yeast cells (red) with septin (green), which enables the budding of daughter cells. MIT researchers have found septin also helps neurons sprout the branch-like protrusions used to communicate with other neurons. Image / Philippsen Lab, Biozentrum B

In a finding that may lead to potential new treatments for diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, researchers at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT report an unexpected role in the brain for a well-known protein.

A study by Morgan H. Sheng, Menicon Professor of Neuroscience and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, and colleagues appearing in the Oct. 23 issue of Current Biology shows that the same protein that enables a yeast cell to bud into two daughter cells also helps neurons sprout the branch-like protrusions used to communicate with other neurons.

The work revolves around septins--proteins known since the 1970s to play an essential function in the process through which the cytoplasm of a single yeast cell divides. "In yeast, septin is localized exactly at the neck between the yeast mother cell and the bud or emerging daughter cell," Sheng said. "Amazingly, we found septin protein localized at the base of the neck of neuronal dendritic spines and at the branchpoint of dendritic branches."

Nine of the 14 septins found in mammals are found in the brain. One of them, Sept7, appears the most, but its role was unclear. Septins form long filaments and act as scaffolds, recruiting other proteins into their assigned roles of builders of the cell infrastructure.

While neurons don't divide, they do form protrusions that eventually elongate into dendritic branches. Dendrites, from the Greek word for "tree," conduct electrical stimulation from other neurons to the cell body of the neuron from which the dendrites project.

Electrical stimulation is transmitted via synapses, which are located at various points along the dendritic branches. Dendrites play a critical role in receiving these synaptic inputs. "Because dendritic spines are important for synaptic function and memory formation, understanding of septins may help to prevent the loss of spines and synapses that accompanies many neurodegenerative diseases," said co-author Tomoko Tada, a postdoctoral associate in the Picower Institute. "Septin could be a potential target protein to treat these diseases."

Moreover, in the cultured hippocampal neurons the researchers used in the study, septin was essential for normal branching and spine formation. An abundance of septin made dendrites grow and proliferate while a dearth of septin made them small and malformed.

"Boosting septin expression and function would enhance the stability of spines and synapses, and therefore be good for cognitive functions such as learning and memory," Sheng said. His laboratory is now exploring ways to prevent septin degradation and loss.

In addition to Sheng and Tada, authors are MIT affiliates Alyson Simonetta and Matthew Batterton; Makoto Kinoshita of Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine; and Picower postdoctoral associate Dieter Edbauer.

This work is supported by the National Institutes of Health and the RIKEN-MIT Neuroscience Research Center

Technorati : new role for well-known protein

Toxic Releases Down From North American Industry Leaders

2007-10-19T07:07:00.001-07:00

Source :

Pollution , and purification is always a burning question , awaring the CEC's goal ,The latest Taking Stock report from the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) reveals that a continued decline in releases of toxic chemicals to the environment--15 percent for the United States and Canada from 1998 to 2004--is being driven by a group of industrial facilities that are the largest generators of emissions
The CEC report, however, also reveals that the leading role of the largest waste-producing facilities stands in stark contrast to a substantial increase in chemical releases and transfers by a much larger group of industrial facilities that report lower volumes of emissions.

Released October 18, the annual report compares industrial pollution from a matched set of facilities in Canada and the United States--three million tonnes of chemicals released or transferred in the two countries in 2004. Over one-third of that amount was released at the location of reporting facilities, including over 700,000 tonnes released to the air, with another third transferred to recycling. For the first time, the CEC report also provides data from Mexico. Across the three countries, metals and their compounds--lead, chromium, nickel and mercury--were reported by the highest proportion of facilities.

"The evidence is clear that industry and government action to limit chemical releases is showing steady progress," said Adrián Vázquez-Gálvez, CEC's executive director. "It is equally clear that a large number of small and medium-size industrial facilities need to do a better job in reducing their waste and emissions if we are going to see even greater progress in North America. We trust the progress shown by industry leaders and the fact that pollution prevention is a proven strategy will encourage everyone to tackle pollution issues at the source."

The CEC's analysis demonstrates that facilities from Canada and the United States that reported pollution prevention activities--product and process redesign, spill and leak detection, and substituting raw materials--showed reductions from 2002--2004. Facilities not engaged in these activities did not show similar progress.

A new chapter provides a detailed look at industrial recycling, finding that over one-third of US and Canadian releases and transfers reported in 2004--more than 1 million tonnes--were recycled. Recycling has increased in recent years due to increases in production and in scrap metal prices. Most of the materials were metals, including copper, zinc, lead and their compounds.

The trilateral analysis is based on matched data from some 9 industrial sectors, 56 chemicals, and 10,000 facilities, comparing releases and transfers for similar facilities in Canada, Mexico and the United States. The report identifies a different pattern of releases and transfers in each of the three countries.

Comparisons of the three countries' industrial emissions will continue to improve as the CEC works with governments, industry and NGOs to expand the number of chemicals and facilities that are comparable.

Taking Stock compiles data from Canada's National Pollutant Release Inventory, the United States' Toxics Release Inventory, and, starting with its first year of mandatory reporting in 2004, Mexico's pollutant release and transfer register, the Registro de Emisiones y Transferencia de Contaminantes

Technorati : CEC’s goal .toxic

Nobel Awarded in economics for "mechanism design theory,"

2007-10-19T06:34:00.001-07:00

"WHAT on earth is mechanism design?" was the typical reaction to this year's Nobel prize in economics, announced on October 15th. In this era of "Freakonomics", in which everyone is discovering their inner economist, economics has become unexpectedly sexy. So what possessed the Nobel committee to honour a subject that sounds so thoroughly dismal? Why didn't they follow the lead of the peace-prize judges, who know not to let technicalities about being true to the meaning of the award get in the way of good headlines?

In fact, despite its dreary name, mechanism design is a hugely important area of economics, and underpins much of what dismal scientists do today. It goes to the heart of one of the biggest challenges in economics: how to arrange our economic interactions so that, when everyone behaves in a self-interested manner, the result is something we all like. The word "mechanism" refers to the institutions and the rules of the game that govern our economic activities, which can range from a Ministry of Planning in a command economy to the internal organisation of a company to trading in a market.

The real world rarely behaves like economics models do, so mechanism design is used to design markets and auctions that will better reflect the actions of the participants. Mechanism design is also used to look at how companies behave and to consider how governments can best provision public goods like defense or infrastructure. In general, mechanism design is applied to interactions where people or companies participating in the mechanism may have reasons to behave in a non-truthful or less than optimal way, and attempts to create rules and incentives to discourage this unwanted behavior.

The winners of the 2007 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, announced yesterday, are Leonid Hurwicz, Eric Maskin, and Roger Myerson. The three men received the prize for their work on "mechanism design theory," a field of economics that focuses on creating incentives and rules for an economics interaction such that the desired outcome or some desirable properties are achieved.

Hurwicz began working on mechanism design over 50 years ago by applying mathematical analysis to companies and economics systems like capitalism and socialism. His major theoretical contribution is "incentive compatibility," where participants in a mechanism will want to vote or play honestly. It's an important result, since we tend to want mechanisms like voting systems to encourage truthful voting, rather than encouraging people to disguise their true opinions.

Although "mechanism design theory" may not sound like something you or I would need to interact with very much, it pops up in quite a few places. Take the upcoming 700MHz spectrum auctions, for example. For this auction, the government has some set of goals, including perhaps getting some payment and fairly allocating the spectrum. The companies also have goals, which may be to gobble up as much of the spectrum as possible. By applying some mechanism design theory to the situation, economists can then design an auction mechanism that best meets the goals of all the parties. This type of game theoretical analysis of auctions has been done by Roger Myerson, whose work has influenced these types of spectrum auctions.

Software patents are another area where mechanism design comes into play. One of the Nobel laureates, Eric Maskin, has done some work on patent valuation. In particular, Maskin is critical of the software patent system, which he believes is harmful to innovation when new inventions are closely related to old ones. His (very) basic argument is that in many technology fields, competition is actually better for firms in the long run. Patents generally lead to less innovation in a particular field, and also lead to less competition since companies can't work on the same types of products. Thus, in the end, patents are bad for software and technology companies, because of how they limit competition.

If you're at all interested in mechanism design theory, I would highly recommend checking out the scientific background for the prize, since it provides a nice overview of the key results from the work of Hurwicz, Maskin, and Myerson. It can be a bit daunting to delve into, particularly since it's not a field of economics that gets talked about at your average cocktail party, but it's worth a look due to the sheer number of social and governmental situations that rely on mechanism design to operate more efficiently

Technorati : mechanism design theory

Sony Forks Over Chip Production To Toshiba :can do a better job of supplying the brains for the PlayStation 3.

2007-10-18T13:01:00.001-07:00

Sony and Toshiba are collabrating for chip development :

Sony announced on Thursday a plan to sell its loss-making multimedia microprocessor operations to Toshiba for an undisclosed amount, hoping that its trusted joint venture partner can do a better job of supplying the brains for the PlayStation 3.

Following a month of leaks to various media outlets by unnamed sources, the world's second-largest consumer electronics company made an announcement late on Thursday that it will unload production lines for its Cell processor in a joint venture arrangement for a reported amount of about 100 billion yen ($856.38 million) to Toshiba.

The sale, drawn up in preliminary form as a nonbinding memorandum of understanding, is the latest swing of the ax by Sony Chief Executive Howard Stringer, who has cut the workforce and closed factories to boost profitability. In February he promised to cut back on development costs for the expensive, loss-making chips and to consider outsourcing production to outside partners.

Toshiba appears to be the best available buyer: Along with IBM (nyse: IBM - news - people ), Toshiba helped Sony develop the Cell, which bundles multimedia game features onto a single chip using 65-nanometer technology. Cell is produced in a plant in Nagasaki, in southwestern Japan; costly investment would be needed to prepare it to produce chips using next-generation 45-nanometer technology.

In addition to the sale of the Cell line, Toshiba is also taking over the manufacturing equipment for a line of image-processing chips also used in the PlayStation 3. Both sides were mum on how much the sale was worth but Nikkei Business Daily reported before the announcement that the sale price was about 30 billion yen ($256.92 million).

In a joint announcement, the two companies said Sony would transfer to Toshiba its advanced 300-millimeter wafer line fabrication facilities installed in a plant operated by its subsidiary, Sony Semiconductor Kyushu Corp., by the end of March 2008. The facilities house the Nagasaki Technology Center, responsible for developing the Cell line.

While the ownership of the asset would go to Toshiba, Sony and its gaming unit, Sony Computer Entertainment, would jointly participate in the production process as a minority shareholder of 40% in a new joint venture to be set up in April with Toshiba, which would take the remaining 60%.

Sony (nyse: SNE - news - people ) shares swooned after initial press rumors of the sale a month ago, but on Thursday afternoon, they were up 30 yen, or 0.55%, at 5,430 yen ($46.57).

The sale allows Sony to pass on the heavy cost of microprocessor development to Toshiba, Japan's largest microchip maker. It could possibly lower Sony's procurement costs for Cell chips if Toshiba can reap production efficiencies from commercializing the chips in a broader range of applications. Sony will also be able to invest the proceeds of the sale to bolster its world-leading position in image-processing chips for its digital cameras and cell phones.

For Toshiba (other-otc: TOSBF - news - people ), buying the Cell line would give it a huge upgrade in the system chip business, where it is lagging far behind Intel (nasdaq: INTC - news - people ) and Samsung (other-otc: SSNLF - news - people ), with the anchor of having Sony as a reliable buyer.

Both companies said they would jointly advance the Cell chips to the next stage of technology: Toshiba was reported by Nikkei Business Daily as intending to roll out a 45-nanometer version of the Cell in two years and employinh the cutting-edge chips in personal computers and flat-panel televisions.

The market has been concerned about Sony's growth prospects over the longer term beyond its recent obsession with asset sales and cost cutting. The sale of Cell follows after it sold part of Sony Financial last week, bringing the unit public in a 320 billion yen ($2.74 billion) share sale. (See: " Sony Cashes In On Financial Unit")

While it is planning to sink more money into research and development to reclaim technical leadership, exciting new growth areas seem far off, and it will now have to rely on Toshiba, a competitor on the consumer electronics front, for future generations of microprocessors for its games consoles.

Technorati : chip ps3 +

Aerotropolis: A city by itself

2007-10-18T01:28:00.001-07:00

The first phase of the modernisation of Delhi International Airport by the GMR-led consortium, which will be completed by 2010 will see an investment of US$ 1.5 billion in commercial real estate development transforming Delhi airport into an airport city - an aerotropolis

According to the land concession agreement for the Delhi airport, of the 5,000-acres of land belonging to the airport only five per cent, or 250 acres can be used for commercial purposes. This will see high-density development of hotels, business centres, retail spaces, convention and exhibition centres, golf courses and entertainment centres. Says Mridul Upreti, head, Capital Markets, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, "An aerotropolis, because of its high density and high quality development, strategic location and good connectivity would soon outdo even Connaught Place in economic activity and commercial rentals."

Ever since Dr John D Kasarda, director of the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, USA, first introduced the concept of an aerotropolis, the span of an airport has gone up exponentially. In the new model, airports, besides their core infrastructure and services, have created significant non-aeronautical commercial facilities, services and revenue streams. Consequently, they are extending their formal reach and impact with development along airport arteries up to 20 kms outwards.

In fact, Hong Kong International Airport already has a mini-city on a nearby island for its 45,000 workers, and soon the SkyCity, a complex of office towers, convention centres, and hotels is also being developed. China is spending US$ 12 billion for the Beijing Capital Airport City that will accommodate four lakh people. Dubai is also looking at developing the largest aerotropolis, Dubai World Central, a US$ 33 billion airport city capable of supporting a permanent population of 7.5 lakh.

But can such a development take place in India? According to Sanjay Dutt, deputy MD, Cushman and Wakefield, whenever there is large scale economic activity, the area around it becomes vibrant. Airports are the hub of very enormous economic activity including cargo, car rentals, hotels, retail, etc. Says Dutt, "Prices shoot up because people start calculating returns on property near the airport. In a developing economy like India, the value is expected to go up significantly. It can even go up by 100 per cent".

However, DTZ director Vivek Dahiya feels that as the cantonment area on three sides and Palam Village on the fourth surround Delhi airport, no major development can take place outside the airport area. "Moreover, the DDA master plan does not allow for commercial centres like hotels to come up near the airport. Only if DDA revisits the policy and allows commercial development can the real estate prices around the airport also go up."

Interestingly, many airports are now getting a bigger of their revenues from non-aeronautical sources than from aeronautical sources (landing fees, gate leases, passenger service charges). Globally, 70 per cent of an airport revenue is generated through non-aeronautical sources, while in India it is still a lowly 30 per cent.

Due to the significantly higher incomes of airline passengers (typically three to five times higher than national averages) and the huge volumes of passengers flowing through the terminals , it should not be surprising that terminal retail sales per square metre average three to four times greater than shopping malls and downtown shops. As a result, terminal commercial lease rates tend to be the highest in the metropolitan area.

Commenting on the high commercial rentals of airports in India, Dutt says, "The passenger is bound to shop, eat, etc, and has certain needs. Therefore, outlets at the airports design and put retail items accordingly. Moreover, the quality of experience is assured. Secondly, in India, the quality of retail space is very limited and so is organised retail. With lots of airports getting privatised and developed, we will witness a rush to occupy retail space."

The new US$ 4 billion Suvarnabhumi airport in Thailand, will see more than 100 million passengers a year passing through the airport, about as many as JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark airports combined. Within 30 years, a city of 3.3 million citizens - larger than Chicago now - will have emerged around Suvarnabhumi.

Delhi International Airport, has already invited expression of interest from Indian and international real estate investors to develop a complete range of hospitality services to build various categories of hotels and related facilities at the Delhi airport. But no other airport in India is looking at developing similar facilities. According to analysts, commercial development near the Mumbai airport would affect real estate prices. "Mumbai airport is in the heart of the city, unlike Delhi. If the slums get cleared, the real estate value of the area surrounding the airport will substantially increase," Dahiya said.

Amsterdam Schiphol, through its Schiphol Real Estate Group, has been working for over a decade on the cityside commercial development. Nearly 58,000 people are employed at Schiphol, which integrates multi-modal transportation, regional corporate headquarters, retail shopping, logistics and exhibition space to form a major economic growth pole for the Dutch economy. Others, though not quite on the scale of Amsterdam Schiphol or Seoul's Incheon, have given commercial development a high priority in their master planning (Brisbane, Vienna, Calgary, Zurich and Stockholm-Arlanda). Many of these have implemented the airport city concept in their strategic development.

There are different requirements that can stipulate the developing of an aerotropolis. For companies engaged in IT services it is very important to have good air connectivity. According to a report, high-tech professionals travel by air at least 60 per cent more frequently than others. Such firms are increasingly looking at setting up their offices near airports. The Washington-Dulles Airport access corridor in Northern Virginia and the expressways leading to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport are good examples.

When commercial centres start coming up around an airport, it also leads to a high rate of employment generation faster than other suburbs situated at similar distances from other city centres, which further leads to development of an aerotropolis.

Technorati : Aerotropolis:

VIVACE R&T project delivers major improvements for future Aeronautical

2007-10-18T01:11:00.001-07:00

A Virtual Aeronautical Collaborative Enterprise" (VIVACE) Research and Technology project focuses on simulation and modelling techniques for aeronautical products during their design and development phases with the objective of reducing development time and costs .

The final results of VIVACE are presented at a public Forum held in Toulouse from 17th to 19th October.

VIVACE is a very large European Commission co-funded R&T project, grouping 63 companies and research institutions from the aeronautic sector such as Airbus, Rolls Royce, Snecma, Thales… It was launched in January 2004 and will be fully completed at the end of 2007.

Major innovation and progress has been developed within the scope of the project in seven key areas of the product development process, providing solutions in "Design Simulation", "Virtual Testing", "Design Optimisation", "Business and Supply Chain Modelling", "Knowledge Management", "Decision Support" and "Collaboration in the Extended and Virtual Enterprise".

Through industrial simulations of a part of the aircraft, of the engine or of a development process, reflecting both the Virtual Product and the Virtual Extended Enterprise, major improvements have been obtained in terms of processes, methods and tools.

VIVACE contributes to answering the Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe (ACARE) Vision of halving the time to market for new products, increasing the integration of the supply chain and maintaining a steady and continuous fall in travel costs. By using the latest innovations in advanced simulation and modelling techniques, it will provide the means to get the best possible knowledge about the product prior to its physical development, thus reducing the development cost, shortening time to market and further improving product quality.

More information on the VIVACE project can be found at: www.vivaceproject.com

Technorati : Airbus, R&T-project

FalconStor Unveils A Virtual, Virtual Tape Appliance

2007-10-17T20:58:00.001-07:00

FalconStor Software is adding to the slowly-growing number of virtual storage appliances with the introduction this week of its new virtual virtual tape library.
It is one of two new virtual tape libraries the company is introducing this week aimed at bringing down the cost of the technology.

Virtual tape libraries, or VTLs, are disk arrays configured to look to the host server and the backup software as if they are physical tape libraries. Data is streamed to and recovered from the VTL as if it were tape, so no changes are needed to the backup process. However, because they use hard drives, the backup and recover speed is much higher than when using tape drives. Data backed up to a VTL can also be backed up to a physical tape for archiving or off-site storage.

The FalconStor VTL Virtual Appliance is a pre-configured, ready-to-run software application with an operating system that can be downloaded into a virtual machine using VMware, said John Lallier, vice president of product management for the vendor.

FalconStor this week also introduced a new family of low-cost physical VTLs. The primary differences between the virtual and the physical appliances is its price and the fact that the virtual VTL performance is limited compared to the hardware versions.

Both the virtual and the physical VTL appliances include FalconStor's Single Instance Repository de-duplication technology.

De-duplication, also called "de-dupe," removes duplicate information as data is backed up or archived. It can be done on the file level, where duplicate files are replaced with a marker pointing to one copy of the file, and/or at the sub-file or byte level, where duplicate bytes of data are removed, resulting in a significant decrease in storage capacity requirements.

It is only the latest in a handful of virtual storage appliances which do the same function as hardware-based appliances but which run on a virtual machine built using VMware.

FalconStor last month unveiled its first virtual storage appliance, one which does continuous data protection between physical and/or virtual servers. It is aimed at helping customers do LAN-less data backups and archiving as well as build disaster recovery architectures which rely on virtual servers at the remote site.

Last month also saw EMC introduce a virtual data de-duplication appliance using technology it received from its Avamar acquisition.

Steve Bishop, CTO of VeriStor Systems, an Atlanta-based storage solution provider, said he is seeing a number of vendors starting to move to offer virtual storage appliances.

"Customers are asking, can their storage applications be virtualized?" Bishop said. "We're seeing a lot of interest."

Greg Knieriemen, vice president of marketing at Chi, a Cleveland, Ohio-based FalconStor partner which has already had good success with the vendor's virtual CDP appliance, said a virtual VTL could help open the market for replacing tape with disk-based storage.

"We're selling VTLs to SMBs and enterprises, across the board," Knieriemen said. "It's a 50-50 split. But there's a much larger base of SMB customers. The SMB adoption of VTLs is still marginalized. This could really open the door for VTLs in the SMB market."

Both Bishop and Knieriemen said the $8,000 list price for the FalconStor virtual VTL is a good price, when compared to physical VTLs.

However, because of the slower performance of the virtual VTL appliance compared to hardware appliances, the right choice for customers depends on a number of factors, including backup performance requirements, customer size, what virtualization environment is available, how many virtual machines are in use, and what the customer's backup window looks like, Knieriemen said.

"You have to really develop a complete profile of the customer," he said.

Wendy Petty, vice president of sales at FalconStor, said the virtual VTL appliance makes it easy for customers or solution providers to test the vendor's VTL software.

"Just download the VTL appliance, and you can test the software as a proof-of-concept," Petty said. "It's very, very simple. You don't need to send a hardware out to test it."

With their de-dupe capability, the virtual VTL appliances are also good for small remote offices, Petty said. "Partners can offer a solution that saves customers money," she said. "They can take the management from the remote offices, where backups are not normally done anyway. And they can do global de-dupe with our patented replication."

For customers looking for higher performance, FalconStor also unveiled three new VTL hardware appliances.

The VTL-S6 can be configured for up to four different tape libraries with a total of 16 virtual tape drives and 1,024 tapes, for a maximum pre-de-dupe capacity of up to 50 Tbytes. It has a backup speed of 200 Mbytes per second.

The VTL-S12 can be configured for up to eight different tape libraries with a total of 32 virtual tape drives and 2,048 tapes, for a maximum pre-de-dupe capacity of up to 100 Tbytes. It has a backup speed of 250 Mbytes per second.

The VTL-S24 can be configured for up to 16 different tape libraries with a total of 64 virtual tape drives and 4,096 tapes, for a maximum pre-de-dupe capacity of up to 200 Tbytes. It has a backup speed of 300 Mbytes per second.

The virtual VTL appliance, model VTL-V3, can be configured for up to 4 different tape libraries with a total of 16 virtual tape drives and 1,024 tapes, for a maximum pre-de-dupe capacity of up to 40 Tbytes. It has a backup speed of 60 Mbytes per second.

All four VTLs are available. The VTL-V3 is priced at $8,000, while the VTL-6 is priced at about $20,000. Replication software is available as an option for $3,000 to $8,000, depending on capacity. A Fibre Channel connectivity option is available for the three hardware appliances with a price of $3,000 to $8,000.

Technorati : Virtual Tape Appliance

Industrial Nanotech, Inc. Announces New International Supply Chain Expansion

2007-10-17T09:23:00.001-07:00

Nanotech business is becoming the most precious business in the world following the upgrowing demand and service of the sector

Industrial Nanotech, Inc. (Pink Sheets:INTK), an emerging global leader in nanotechnology, announced today that the Company has severed its relationship with Mercatus & Partners Group, of Rome, Italy as joint venture partners for a manufacturing facility in Italy and is moving to expand the Company's supply chain for Europe, the Middle East, and Asia with manufacturing in Budapest, Hungary and a fulfillment center in Shanghai, China.

Stuart Burchill, CEO of Industrial Nanotech, Inc., states, "The relationship with Mercatus & Partners Group was not productive or suitable for Industrial Nanotech, Inc. and we have terminated the relationship. However, pending deals make it a priority that we ramp up our ability to provide large quantities of product on a regular basis to Europe, the Middle East, and China. We are currently in negotiations with a facility in Budapest, where one of our key coating scientists maintains professional relationships sufficient to provide day to day quality control monitoring, to provide our Company with manufacturing capabilities and we plan to utilize the services of a fulfillment center in Shanghai. This strategy represents the most cost effective way to implement an efficient supply chain to meet our needs in these regions and without a major capital expenditure and with consideration for the protection of our valuable intellectual property."

About Industrial Nanotech, Inc.

Industrial Nanotech Inc. is rapidly emerging as a global nanoscience solutions and research leader. The Company develops and commercializes new and innovative applications for nanotechnology. Additional information about the Company and its products can be found at their websites www.industrial-nanotech.com and www.nansulate.com.

About Nansulate(R)

Nansulate(R) is the Company's patented product line of specialty coatings containing a nanotechnology based material and which are well-documented to provide the combined performance qualities of thermal insulation, corrosion prevention, resistance to mold growth and lead encapsulation in an environmentally safe, water-based, coating formulation. The Nansulate(R) Product Line includes both industrial and residential coatings.

Safe Harbor Statement

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This release includes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, the impact of competitive products, the ability to meet customer demand, the ability to manage growth, acquisitions of technology, equipment, or human resources, the effect of economic and business conditions, and the ability to attract and retain skilled personnel. The Company is not obligated to revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release.

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contacts:
bjedynak@janispr.com
lgrock@janispr.com

Technorati : Industrial Nanotech

Verizon Admits to Emergency Wiretapping

2007-10-16T12:53:00.001-07:00

sponsor: www.lustnews.blogspot.com

In an Oct. 12 letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Verizon officials said they acted under the emergency provisions of FISA (the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act). The committee is seeking information about the country's telecom carriers' cooperation, including possible violations of U.S. privacy laws, given the Bush administration's admitted domestic wiretapping program.

AT&T, of San Antonio, Texas, and Qwest Communications, of Denver, also responded to the committee's request for information, but provided no details, pointing out that they are under a federal order to not disclose any information about their activities.

"The United States, through a sworn declaration from the director of national intelligence, has formally invoked the states secrets privilege to prevent AT&T from confirming or denying certain facts about alleged intelligence operations and activities that are central to your investigation," Wayne Watts, AT&T's general counsel, wrote to the committee.

Qwest officials wrote a similar response.

However, New York-based Verizon provided details that show the Bush administration's interest in obtaining customers' electronic communications.

"Verizon would receive a classified written notice that the attorney general has authorized the emergency surveillance, stating the time of such authorization," wrote Randal S. Milch, senior vice president of legal and external affairs at Verizon. "We would provide the assistance requested as expeditiously as possible. If we do not receive a FISA order to continue the surveillance within 72 hours of the attorney general's authorization, the surveillance would be terminated."

Verizon also noted that in 2005, it cooperated with more than 90,000 legal requests backed by subpoenas or court orders issued by local, state and federal government officials. In 2006, Verizon responded to about 88,000 such requests, and through the first nine months of 2007, it had cooperated with 61,000 requests.

Verizon, AT&T and Qwest all contend they acted legally in reliance on existing federal, state and local laws.

"Current law … provides a complete defense to any provider who in good faith relies on a statutory authorization," Verizon wrote. "If the government advises a private company that a disclosure is authorized by statute, a presumption of regularity attaches."

All three carriers are involved in what AT&T characterized as a "maelstrom" of litigation over the domestic spying program. The New York Times first broke the story of the administration's warrantless wiretapping and USA Today later added that the National Security Agency is using information provided by telephone carriers to data mine tens of millions of calling records.

AT&T and others asked about government access to records. Click here to read more.

AT&T said the issue of disclosing its alleged participation in the domestic spying program rests with the White House, which is also seeking immunity for carriers in the legislation before Congress.

"Our company essentially finds itself caught in the middle of an oversight dispute between the Congress and the executive branch relating to government surveillance activities," AT&T wrote.

"Applicable legal rules make clear that much of the information you seek is under control of the executive and that disputes of this kind need to be resolved through accommodation between the two political branches of the government."

House Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell, said the carriers' response proved to him that the White House, "as the sponsor of this program and the party preventing the companies from defending themselves-is the entity best able to resolve the many outstanding issues. I look forward to meeting with representatives of the administration in short order, and I am hopeful that they will be forthcoming with the information Congress needs to properly evaluate this program."

Technorati : Verizon communication system

Broadcom unveils integrated 3G chip,

2007-10-16T12:30:00.001-07:00

Broadcom Corp (BRCM.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday it had developed an integrated third-generation (3G) high-speed wireless cell phone chip ahead of bigger rivals Texas Instruments Inc (TXN.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O: Quote, Profile, Research), sending Broadcom shares up as much as 3 percent.

Shares of Texas Instruments and Qualcomm both fell about 2 percent after Broadcom said it developed a single chip with a baseband -- the cell phone's main processor -- and a radio receiver as well as FM radio and Bluetooth, a short-range technology used for wirelessly linking handsets to headsets

Chipmaker Broadcom said Monday that it has developed a new processor that integrates all key 3G cellular and mobile technologies onto a single chip.

The processor that operates at extremely low powers will enable cell phone makers to build new 3G phones in more compact form factors with very long battery lives at a fraction of what it costs today, the company said.

The new 3G "Phone on a Chip" supports the four next-generation cellular technologies used throughout the world: HSUPA (High-Speed Uplink Packet Access), HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access), WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), and EDGE (enhanced data for GSM evolution). It also can transmit and receive FM radio for playing music on a car stereo. And it supports Bluetooth technology and processing capability for a 5-megapixel camera.

Broadcom claims it is at least a year ahead of competitors, such as Texas Instruments and Qualcomm, in terms of integrating so much functionality into a single chip. The company also said the chip is already available to a select group of Broadcom customers.

In 2006, Broadcom had only about 1.4 percent of the cell phone chip market. By contrast, TI and Qualcomm each had about 20 percent of the 2006 mobile phone chip market, according to iSuppli.

The new chip could help boost Broadcom's market share against these competitors, especially in Asia where operators are rolling out faster networks much more quickly than they are here in the U.S. market. Broadcom has been aggressively trying to get a greater share of the cell phone market for the past few years. And as a result, the company has been embroiled in a series of legal fights with rival Qualcomm.

Broadcom won an important battle earlier this year, when the U.S. government banned Qualcomm and its partners from importing devices that use Qualcomm's 3G technology, because part of the technology has been found to infringe on patents held by Broadcom.

Technorati : Cellular chip

Microsoft developing (OCS)office communication server 2007

2007-10-16T11:41:00.001-07:00

Sponsorder by : www.lustnews.blogspot.com

Microsoft Corp. is looking for develop their office communication server

While most enterprise IT shops today still don't know what Unified Communications really is, information systems leaders at Global Crossing in 2005 had a pretty good idea of what it was and how the company could benefit from it.

ADVERTISEMENT On Oct. 16, Global Crossing IS leaders will participate in the launch of Microsoft's UC platform and demonstrate how their UC implementation via Office Communications Server 2007 and Exchange Server 2007 helped improve worker productivity by streamlining exception handling.

Microsoft Corp. is expanding its work with enterprise telephony vendors to make its Office Communication Server (OCS) 2007 work more closely with office phone systems.

On Tuesday, at the launch of OCS, the company plans to unveil a formal program to certify interoperability between IP (Internet Protocol) phone systems and OCS. As part of that, Microsoft will discuss a specification to let enterprises migrate one building at a time to its software-based unified communications system and still have calls go across the organization as if on the same PBX (private branch exchange). Two models of Cisco Systems Inc.'s popular ISR (Integrated Services Router) branch-office platform will be among the products certified for this type of interoperability, according to Zig Serafin, general manager of Microsoft's Unified Communications group.

Microsoft's initiative, called the OCS 2007 Open Interoperability Program, will formalize work that has already been going on with some third parties. As that work has expanded, it's reached a point where it needs to be more organized, Serafin said. The idea is to let customers know what will work with OCS, and Microsoft will provide a table on its Web site where potential customers can check the certifications of third-party products.

Although promoted as an effort to coexist with the IP (Internet Protocol) phone systems now established or taking root in enterprises, the program also will make it easier for customers to migrate away from dedicated communications systems and phones themselves, the company acknowledges. Voice call control is new to Microsoft's unified communications system with OCS 2007, but the software giant envisions a day when separate platforms such as Cisco's CallManager won't be needed, industry analysts say.

Cisco, Avaya Inc. and other vendors have already moved the voice call-control functions of traditional circuit-switched PBXes (private branch exchanges) into server software, but they sell that software along with IP handsets and other gear. Microsoft intends OCS, together with Office Communicator 2007 client software or special OCS phones made by Polycom Inc. and LG Electronics Inc., to ultimately replace those dedicated systems.

There are three methods of interoperability that will be certified under the program.

- SIP CSTA (Computer Supported Telephony Applications) is based on a standard by the European Communications Management Association (ECMA). It lets users control calls through the Office Communicator client on the PC, though in most cases still using the handset and PBX.

- OCS Coexistence lets the user pick up a call on either the existing handset or a client that uses OCS, namely Office Communicator or a special OCS phone.

- Direct SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) interoperability allows for some parts of an enterprise to use traditional or IP PBXes and others to use OCS, with transparent connections between them using gateways, according to Microsoft. SIP is the emerging standard protocol for exchanging information on voice, videoconferencing and other communications sessions.

Microsoft has already certified gateway products from five vendors for Direct SIP interoperability, Serafin said. Among them are Cisco's Integrated Services Router 2851 and 3845. In fact, all ISRs with voice capability can interoperate with OCS, according to Mike Wood, [cq] director of product marketing in Cisco's access routing group. Gateways from Dialogic Inc. also have already been certified.

As a newcomer to telephony, Microsoft will take time to displace many standalone telephony systems, so interoperability will be critical, analysts said.

Most enterprises that adopt OCS still have phones connected to PBXes and will dial through the PBX, said Brent Kelly, [cq] a senior analyst at Wainhouse Research LLC. To start, most OCS users will keep their PBXes in place and take advantage of CSTA to gain the click-to-call benefits of OCS, he said.

"Right now, OCS doesn't have a voice model that's good enough for the enterprise," Kelly said.

However, there are a number of barriers to interoperability, too, said IDC analyst Nora Freedman. While Direct SIP interoperability is a good idea, it will take a long time to really work because SIP is so new, she believes.

"We're still battling proprietary SIP extensions from all the notable vendors," Freedman said.

Meanwhile, CSTA could be a distraction for enterprises trying to make the transition to unified communications because it brings yet another standard into the picture, she said. And for now, it's hard for early adopters to get theses kinds of systems put together, she added.

"Now we have a wealth of product but a drought of system-integrator experience in this," Freedman said. Resellers are working feverishly to build up their expertise, she said.

Microsoft's plan for telephony is bold, looking to eventually eliminate OCS as a separate product and make it, and telephony itself, just a set of features in applications, believes Zeus Kerravala [cq] of Yankee Group Inc. But for the time being, the job at hand is making OCS work with existing phones, he said.

"The first phase is just to get it out there,"

Technorati : communication server

Congratulation "Al Gore" Nobel for peace : Special work on Global Warming

2007-10-15T12:01:00.001-07:00

24hoursnews( 24 hours news)We congratulate "Al Gore"

Gore's Nobel winnings go to Palo Alto global warming alliance.A year-old Palo Alto nonprofit will receive the $750,000 former Vice President Al Gore received along with his Nobel Prize.

The Alliance for Climate Protection, which was once lauded by Gore as the planet's "PR agent," is a think tank focused on letting people know about the effects of global warming and helping them become activists against it.

The alliance also works alongside other environmental groups, such as the Sierra Club, for climate change education.

In concert with Gore's Current TV and actors that included George Clooney and Orlando Bloom, the alliance created a contest letting people submit videos on environmental action.

Gore also gave the alliance money from his documentary "An Inconvenient Truth

Last week the Nobel Foundation awarded Al Gore and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) the Nobel Peace Prize. Former U. S. Vice President Al Gore was honored for his work on climate change and his Oscar winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth. The IPCC, a joint project of the United Nations Environment Program and the World Meteorological Organization, was honored for its efforts over the past two decades to educate the world about climate change. Earlier this year, the IPCC issued its strongest statement to date, finding the evidence of climate change "unequivocal" and concluding with 90% certainty that humans are the cause.

In awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to leaders in the battle against climate change, the Norwegian Nobel Committee emphasizes that the problem's effects go beyond climate, and extend to individual security and opportunity. In the award press release they state:

"Indications of changes in the earth's future climate must be treated with the utmost seriousness, and with the precautionary principle uppermost in our minds. Extensive climate changes may alter and threaten the living conditions of much of mankind. They may induce large-scale migration and lead to greater competition for the earth's resources. Such changes will place particularly heavy burdens on the world's most vulnerable countries. There may be increased danger of violent conflicts and wars, within and between states...the Norwegian Nobel Committee is seeking to contribute to a sharper focus on the processes and decisions that appear to be necessary to protect the world's future climate, and thereby to reduce the threat to the security of mankind. Action is necessary now, before climate change moves beyond man's control."

Al Gore has argued for rising to meet the challenge of climate change from a moral perspective: "The climate crisis offers us the chance to experience what few generations in history have had the privilege of experiencing: a generational mission; a compelling moral purpose; a shared cause; and the thrill of being forced by circumstances to put aside the pettiness and conflict of politics and to embrace a genuine moral and spiritual challenge."

Technorati : Global warming, nobel

Bussines @c stocks today

2007-10-15T01:45:00.001-07:00

		ICICI Bank cuts interest rate on its special deposit schemes

		U.S. Company to Invest USD 50mln in Coffee Farm, Roasting Facility

		IT Dept may acquire space at WTC to open LTU

		VASCO Officially Introduces UK Banking Market Card Readers During London Banking Summit

		Deccan Chronicle allots 8.32 lakh equities on FCCBs conversion

		Enterprise Applications Databook is Designed to Help You Gain Insight into Key Technology Investment Patterns and Trends in Target Markets

		RIL Jamnagar plant shut for maintenance, supplies unaffected

		Wacker to invest up to 400 mln eur in Chinese siloxane plant - CEO

		Hero Honda rolls out 20 millionth bike; aims better sales

		Cookson makes open offer for 20 pc in Foseco India

		Punj bags Rs 389 cr pipeline order from Qatar Petroleum

		SC stays criminal proceedings against JJ Irani

		Covidien, BioSynthema In Exclusive Deals For Neuroendocrine Cancer Therapy Technology- Update

		NSEFULLLIST

		Hero Honda flags off bike-a-thon in Mangalore

		London shares open mixed, near seven-year high, Northern Rock slides

		RIL to spend USD 9bn in Jamnagar, adopt aggr. Growth strategy

		CRR hike would effect margins: HDFC

		Australia's AGL Energy ratings not immediately hit by cut in FY guidance - S&P

Technorati : Bussines @c stocks t

The DVR effect

2007-10-12T15:55:00.001-07:00

In so many ways this television season is shaping up as those of the past have, a flock of new shows, some surprises, more disappointments and the suspenseful wait for the axe to land on those that sink.

But this year is quite different in an important way, as the first season in which digital video recorders have really become mainstream and the ratings that really count will include not just live viewing, when the show actually airs, but delayed viewing on DVR devices like TiVo up to seven days after that original airing.

That's hugely important for media people, as Media Life learned in a recent poll of readers about the new season.

The question posed to readers: What's the biggest storyline early in the season?

By far the largest share, nearly half, 44 percent, named DVRs, agreeing with this statement: "The impact of digital video recorders on broadcast ratings, with Nielsen's DVR sample more than doubling since last year. It will be weeks until we see the full picture for this season because it will depend on live-plus-seven-day-playback ratings."

Media Life then asked readers how the DVR ratings would affect their work as media planners and buyers. There were a slew of responses.

The overall sense was that DVR ratings would forever change broadcast television and how shows, networks and TV seasons are evaluated. But beyond that there was not a lot of agreement.

What follows are some of those comments, edited for conciseness:

"I think I will be buying a lot more sports! Planners are going to have to adjust CPPs and TRP levels to account for the dramatic drop in live ratings (I think the plus three part is crap, once it's on DVR very few people are going to watch the commercials, and the stations haven't really convinced me otherwise.) And agencies are going to have figure out and then re-educate clients on what to expect and what constitutes an effective buy. I believe the DVR to be the greatest invention since the VCR for watching TV and the worst, perhaps industry-killing innovation for the advertising industry. The DVR, even more than the internet, is going to be what forces advertising to change, evolve and adapt to a completely new landscape. We completely underestimated TiVo."

"DVRs will bring the ratings down. Once a show is recorded, the viewer isn't in any hurry to watch it. Between LPMs, DVRs, the increase in cable ratings, the political season, and the Olympics, 2008 is going to be a tough year for spot buying."

"It will certainly extend the period after a show airs before ratings actually matter."

"DVRs have become the means of watching TV. Why spend an hour watching it live when you can spend 45 minutes watching it an hour later. It's the only way I watch shows anymore."

"The new motto is, 'Get used to it,' this is the way people watch television and how it will impact ratings and viewership still remains to be seen. More work will need to be done to stay ahead of the curve on this one."

"I'll continue to buy good shows that reach the demos I need for individual clients--my ads stand out so they'll continue to be watched by MOST viewers of any specific program."

"Early in the season, I tape every new show, mainly due to my job as a planner, but even as a typical viewer, I will find the shows I like and I will tape them to watch at my convenience. As we all know, DVR taping impacts the real-time ratings we use to evaluate and project program delivery. I believe that the actuals delivered are mirrored as a percentage of the programs being watched in real time. As my personal example above, I tape shows, but when I decide I do not like something, I no longer tape it and only choose to tape the best ones in my view. The industry clearly needs to develop a method to rate DVR programming, but as a planner, I believe that the real-time ratings act as a percentage of total viewers and I continue to project based on the reporting available, as I believe those ratings are equal to the total viewers."

"DVRs' penetration is still not large enough to truly make a difference. The DVR demographic, although desirable, is still only a small audience to account for in planning and buying. So much hype for DVRs and energy put into them-yet so little true buying impact on my firm"

"As ratings go down, CPPs go up. Agencies/clients are holding on to outdated cost info. There are terrific integrated options on most stations but most buyers haven't been trained how to evaluate and recommend something that isn't 'sticking to the plan.' Stations/networks can't pay any less for programming so we all have to be more creative."

"I believe it will benefit most of the more unique shows, including 'Cane' and 'Journeyman.'

"Perhaps DVRs will make networks a bit more patient, willing to stick with shows longer, hoping to build viewership as the season progresses."

"It will impact it by lowering ratings, and it'll make it a little harder to figure out what people like to watch."

"There will be a lot of uncertainty and questioning the system--internally and client-side."

""DVRs will finally help give a more accurate picture of what people watch. Let's face it, rating systems are really totally imperfect, so anything that can give a more accurate picture is progress long overdue."

"I think that Nielsen's DVR impact will be a huge bomb."

"DVRs will have only a small impact on ratings. Overall, when viewers love a show, they still want to see it in first air so they can talk about it the next day. Even when shows are recorded, it is primarily because viewers are not home or can't watch, not because they want to skip the commercials."

"DVRs will delay getting full details as to how a show is truly doing. Networks are going to have to quickly figure out how they are going to determine what makes a show popular or not and look to other avenues of getting the show watched."

"The impact will only be slight. Nielsen ratings figures have always been suspect to fraud, in my opinion. I prefer to go by first-hand viewer feedback, as well as my own opinion of the current programming offerings. If anything, DVRs will add more viewers, who can now have access to programming materials at their convenience in a manner that works better with their schedule."

"I think if people DVR a show to watch it later they obviously chose something other than that show to watch, and it shouldn't affect the ratings for that particular day one way or the other. Time-shifted ratings are a 'myth' that shouldn't be tallied or counted as viewed for that day. It's like reruns, they don't rate like a first-run show, so DVR'd shows are just taped because they came in second for the night and they shouldn't count in the overall ratings."

"This is just a continuation of decreasing ratings for traditional media as more and more mediums become available and technology allows consumers to do what they want when they want. Network TV is still the biggest reach medium there is, and local TV and radio are still strong and the best way to go for many clients. But the ways they should be planned and bought are changing."

"DVRs will continue to affect viewership numbers. Viewers will continue to do what they have to avoid watching commercials. This why I approve of widespread use of product placements, as they make the shows more realistic when the characters can bee seen using REAL products, not fake studio knockoffs. The message gets through."

"A show being DVR'd is not something that can be counted on. Plus, just because it's been DVR'd doesn't mean that it will be watched. Plus, the fast forward button is still readily available on the remote. Basically, I think it's nice for the stations to get added exposure of their shows, but the Nielson ratings are all that we can count on for this diary market."

"In evaluating shows, you now have to look at not only Nielsen's ratings but the live+7 as well to really see how effective a program is. This year is going to be based more on qualitative information than real ratings data."

"I think it will make producers a little less trigger-happy when it comes to deciding which new shows will get the ax. With live-plus-seven, they cannot determine based on overnights which show will live, unless overnights are incredibly low in the main demographics."

"Confusing in the short-run, promising in the long-run."

"It will deliver preliminary numbers for most of the hottest hits that incorrectly indicate serious erosion. Confusion will reign. But subsequent measures, such as live plus seven, may reveal little overall loss for these hits."

"It's a 'watch when you want to world,' and that will only increase as the years go by. One good thing about this is that there have always been shows that get this treatment. Finally, they will get their due."

"On ratings, it's too soon to know for sure, but I suspect it will have a major impact. On program evaluation, it will depend on the degree of ad avoidance. On my job, it will depend on how the first two points play out, but I don't see it making it easier."

"It will cause total time spent with television to increase. It will cause a nice lift for some 'appointment' programs. The new appointment shows are the ones that are recorded so you can watch them over and over again. It won't impact my job at all because after years of working in the TV biz, I'm working in internet media now."

"DVRs are going to help the ratings of many programs. The biggest impact will be on scripted dramas. The question we have to ask is, are commercials being watched during the playbacks or fast forwarded through? Right now it is a wait and see situation."

"Some shows will benefit from DVR's in my opinion, especially the serialized dramas and the most popular series ('CSI;' 'Grey's Anatomy' and 'House,' for instance). I'm betting the networks will look at the DVR ratings and give some promising new shows a chance. (After all, back in 1981, NBC renewed 'Hill Street Blues' in part because it was doing well with those who subscribed to cable TV--a relatively small number at the time.) DVR households could also become the make-or-break factor."

"The penetration of DVRs is getting high enough that their impact on ratings needs to be taken into account. What will be critical is the number of people that watch commercials on their recorded shows. If a significant number don't fast forward through the commercials then the overall impact will be small. However, it the opposite is true, then this will really have a major impact on what I buy and how I negotiate. It might actually be good for advertisers in the long run because the networks and their affiliates won't be able to justify price increases when their audiences can be shown to be not only decreasing (they already are but this hasn't impacted pricing yet for some reason) but that fewer people are actually watching commercials. It also should have an impact on how they schedule commercial blocks in order to minimize impact on commercial ratings."

"DVRs will obviously affect national TV negotiations from now on. I'm not so much concerned with the program ratings as I am with the commercial ratings. The industry needs to go to second by second data with some type of +3 or +5 data stream to accurately gauge engagement."

"As it will take longer to evaluate the ratings data, I suspect we'll see more grassroots protests to bring back canceled shows as people are actually watching them (even though the quick numbers may not indicate as such)."

"DVR makes our jobs more difficult. Who really wants to watch commercials if you don't have to anyway? I can't believe I just said that."

Technorati : The DVR effect

Something new under the sun

2007-10-12T15:37:00.001-07:00

Innovation, long the preserve of technocratic elites, is becoming more open. This will be good for the world, argues Vijay Vaitheeswaran (interviewed here)

A CRISIS is a terrible thing to waste," Vinod Khosla laments to Larry Page. The two Silicon Valley luminaries are chatting one evening at the Googleplex, the quirky Californian headquarters of Google. The crisis which Mr Khosla is concerned about is caused by carmakers' addiction to oil and the consequent warming of the planet. "The energy and car industries have not been innovative in many years because they have faced no real crisis, no impetus for change," he insists.

The two are plotting what they hope will be the next great industrial revolution: the convergence of software and smart electronics with the grease and grime of the oil and car industries. Mr Khosla is kicking around his plans for getting "chip guys" together with "engine guys" to develop the clean, software-rich car of the future. Such breakthroughs happen only when conventional wisdom is ignored and cross-fertilisation encouraged; "managed conflict", in his words.

Mr Page, co-founder of Google, had earlier hosted a gathering of leading environmentalists, political thinkers and energy experts to help shape an inducement to get things moving: the Automotive X Prize, to be unveiled in early 2008. The organisers will offer at least $10m to whoever comes up with the best "efficient, clean, affordable and sexy" car able to obtain the equivalent of 100 miles-per-gallon using alternative energy. The charitable arm of Mr Page's firm has already taken hybrid petrol-electric vehicles, like the Toyota Prius, and turned them into even cleaner "plug in" versions which can be topped up from an electric socket.

Mr Khosla believes clean cars, using advanced biofuels or other alternatives, will come about only through radical innovation of the sort that Big Oil and Big Autos avoid. Risk and acceptance of failure are central to innovation, he argues, but the dinosaurs typically avoid both. "Big companies didn't invent the internet or Google, and much of the big change in telecoms also came from outsiders," he adds.

Coming from almost anyone else such talk would sound preposterous. But Mr Khosla and Mr Page are not ordinary businessmen or armchair revolutionaries. Mr Khosla helped to found Sun Microsystems, a path-breaking information-technology firm, and he went on to become a partner at Kleiner Perkins, a venture-capital company that was an early backer of Amazon.com, America Online and many other pillars of the internet economy. Mr Page's Google is one of the internet's biggest success stories. At 34 he is a multi-billionaire.

But these men are from Silicon Valley; and Silicon Valley is not America. It is tempting to dismiss such breathless talk of revolution as just more hype from people who are seeing the world through Google goggles. After all, go beyond the rarefied air of northern California and the rules of gravity are no longer suspended. The well-established industries which they mock still move at their usual but reliably glacial pace, right?

Well no, actually. Rapid and disruptive change is now happening across new and old businesses. Innovation, as this report will show, is becoming both more accessible and more global. This is good news because its democratisation releases the untapped ingenuity of people everywhere and that could help solve some of the world's weightiest problems.

The seditious scene from the Googleplex also captures the challenge this presents to established firms and developed economies. For ages innovation has been a technology-led affair, with most big breakthroughs coming out of giant and secretive research labs, like Xerox PARC and AT&T's Bell Laboratorie.

It was an era when big corporations in developed countries accounted for most R&D spending. .

North America still leads the world in research spending (see chart 1), but the big labs' advantage over their smaller rivals and the developing world is being eroded by two powerful forces. The first is globalisation, especially the rise of China and India as both consumers and, increasingly, suppliers of innovative products and services. The second is the rapid advance of information technologies, which are spreading far beyond the internet and into older industries such as steel, aerospace and carmaking.

What is innovation? Although the term is often used to refer to new technology, many innovations are neither new nor involve new technology. The self-service concept of fast-food popularised by McDonald's, for instance, involved running a restaurant in a different way rather than making a technological breakthrough. However, innovation can involve plenty of clever gadgets and gizmos.

One way to arrive at a useful definition is to rule out what innovation is not. It is not invention. New products might be an important part of the process, but they are not the essence of it. These days much innovation happens in processes and services. Novelty of some sort does matter, although it might involve an existing idea from another industry or country. For example, Edwin Drake was not the first man to drill for a natural resource; the Chinese used that technique for centuries to mine salt. But one inspired morning in 1859, Colonel Drake decided to try drilling for oil in Titusville, Pennsylvania. He struck black gold and from his innovation the modern oil industry was born.

The men in white coats

The OECD, a think-tank for rich countries, says innovation can be defined as "new products, business processes and organic changes that create wealth or social welfare." Richard Lyons, the chief "learning officer" at Goldman Sachs, an investment bank, offers a more condensed version: "fresh thinking that creates value". Both hit the nail on the head, and will serve as the definition in this report.

According to popular notion, innovation is something that men wearing white coats in laboratories do. And that's the way it used to be. Companies set up vertically integrated R&D organisations and governments fussed over innovation policies to help them succeed. This approach had successes and many companies still spend pots of money on corporate research. But firms are growing increasingly disenchanted because the process is slow and insular. A global study across industries by Booz Allen Hamilton, a consultancy, even concluded that "higher R&D spending doesn't ensure better performance in terms of growth, profitability or shareholder returns."

Now the centrally planned approach is giving way to the more democratic, even joyously anarchic, new model of innovation. Clever ideas have always been everywhere, of course, but companies were often too closed to pick them up. The move to an open approach to innovation is far more promising. An insight from a bright spark in a research lab in Bangalore or an avid mountain biker in Colorado now has a decent chance of being turned into a product and brought to market

So why does the generation and handling of ideas matter so much? "We firmly believe that innovation, not love, makes the world go round," insists John Dryden of the OECD. Corny perhaps, but studies do show that a large and rising share of growth-and with it living standards-over recent decades is the result of innovation (see chart 2). Innovative firms also tend to outperform their peers. "We're not discovering new continents or encountering vast deposits of new minerals," Mr Dryden adds. Indeed, the OECD's experts believe that most innovation has been caused by globalisation and new technologies.

Analysis done by the McKinsey Global Institute shows that competition and innovation (not information technology alone) led to the extraordinary productivity gains seen in the 1990s. "Those innovations-in technology as well as products and business processes-boosted productivity. As productivity rose, competition intensified, bringing fresh waves of innovation," the institute explains.

That is why innovation matters. With manufacturing now barely a fifth of economic activity in rich countries, the "knowledge economy" is becoming more important. Indeed, rich countries may not be able to compete with rivals offering low-cost products and services if they do not learn to innovate better and faster.

But even if innovation is the key to global competitiveness, it is not necessarily a zero sum game. On the contrary, because the well of human ingenuity is bottomless, innovation strategies that tap into hitherto neglected intellectual capital and connect it better with financial capital can help both rich and poor countries prosper. That is starting to happen in the developing world.

Technorati : Something, new, sun, under

2007 MIT Innovations in Management Conference :Creating and Maintaining a Sustainable Business Strategy

2007-10-11T13:54:00.001-07:00

Aletter for you :

The 2007 MIT Innovations in Management Conference is scheduled for December 5-6, 2007. The annual conference is offered by MIT's Industrial Liaison Program (ILP) and co-sponsored by MIT Sloan. This year's theme is "Creating and Maintaining a
Introducing MIT's new Sustainable Business Lab (S-Lab), the conference will feature research outcomes, application concepts, emerging trends, best practices, and enabling technologies that address issues related toencouraging, planning, and measuring sustainability.

For more information on the conference, you can download the brochure or visit the ILP website.

We worked with the ILP to schedule the conference around the dates of some of our executive programs, allowing participants to attend both the conference and a program in one trip. The programs offered near the conference dates are:

Developing a Leading Edge Operations Strategy, December 3-4, 2007

IT for the Non-IT Executive, December 3-4, 2007

Understanding and Solving Complex Business Problems, December 10-11, 2007

We hope to see you in December.

Best regards,

Diana V. García-Martínez

Director, Open Enrollment Programs

Wong Auditorium, Tang Center

From climate change and deforestation to accelerating rates of social inequality and environmental degradation, our current business models are consuming natural and social capital at unsustainable rates. How can business respond? Can sustainability and profit by aligned? How can investments in sustainable products and practices create new markets and build profitable, healthy enterprises?

Developed in conjunction with senior faculty of the MIT Sloan School of Management, this program will seek to answer the following questions:

• What kinds of businesses can be built around making products and services that address the problems of sustainability?
• How can existing profit-driven companies place sustainability at the heart of what they do? What evidence do we have that such practices work?
• How does one value the long-term and intangible costs and benefits?
• What organizational and industry structures can be created to help support and diffuse more sustainable business practices (e.g., industry consortia, public-private partnerships, etc.)?
• How can business take advantage of new scientific and engineering developments to achieve sustainability targets and create new business opportunities in sustainability-related markets?
• How can you successfully manage the change process required to implement best practices around sustainability?

Registration Fees:

Full Registration Fee: $1,750
ILP Members*: complimentary

*A $50 processing fee will apply to each complimentary registrant who fails to attend without canceling in advance. Cancellations must be received in writing via email: register@ilp.mit.edu no later than November 28, 2007.

Registration Payment Methods:

Please make checks payable to MIT.
VISA, MasterCard, American Express and Discover accepted. (Payable in US dollars only.)

Cancellation Policy:

Cancellations received in writing via email register@ilp.mit.edu on or before November 28, 2007 are entitled to a full refund less a $50 processing fee. No refunds will be made after November 28, 2007. Substitutions, may also be made in writing by by November 28, 2007, however, any substitutions after that date will be made at the Conference On-Site Registration Desk.

Accommodations:

A block of rooms has been reserved at the Hyatt Regency Cambridge hotel near the MIT campus. Please call for reservations directly at 1-800-223-1234 or 617-492-1234. Rooms are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis, and reservations must be made no later than November 4, 2007. Please refer to the MIT ILP Innovations in Management Conference to receive the $169 room rate, plus local tax, single or double occupancy.

Technorati : Sustainable Business Strategy

Research :Functional divergence of former alleles may explain an asexual organism's evolutionary success

2007-10-11T13:30:00.001-07:00

Asexual organisms typically have gone extinct within one million years because a lack of genetic exchange doesn't allow for the removal of deleterious mutations or the sharing of advantageous ones. But a class of aquatic invertebrates called bdelloid rotifers have persisted for 35 to 40 million years, earning the term "ancient asexuals."

The divergence of alleles into separate genes with different but advantageous functions could explain the puzzling evolutionary success of certain asexual organisms, researchers report today in Science.

"This could point the way, in part, as to why bdelloids are so successful," David Mark Welch of the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., told The Scientist.

Alan Tunnacliffe at the University of Cambridge and his colleagues examined genes associated with surviving dry spells, or desiccation tolerance, and found two copies for lea genes, which are known to preserve enzymes during desiccation in multiple organisms. Their sequences differed by about 13 percent, which is greater than allele differences in sexual animals. The researchers also localized the genes to different chromosomes, which would be expected of alleles from the same gene, and therefore also expected in former alleles.

Tunnacliffe and his colleagues found that the two genes provide different protective benefits to the animal during desiccation. One gene protects proteins from aggregating, while the other appears to associate with the cell membrane, perhaps preventing it from leaking. "Sequence divergence and subsequent functional divergence helped these organisms survive desiccation," Tunnacliffe told The Scientist.

The evidence supports the idea that these were former alleles that accumulated enough mutations to become separate genes, a process termed the "Meselson effect." Matthew Meselson at Harvard University and Mark Welch first described the process in bdelloids in 2000 in a paper that has been cited more than 140 times. The difference in Tunnacliffe's findings, said Mark Welch, is "he was able to come up with some functional assays," rather than just divergent sequences.

Such divergence gives asexual organisms an advantage, the authors argue -- the effect could not occur in sexually reproducing animals, because alleles become homogenized during recombination. The findings suggest asexual reproduction could actually be an "evolutionary mechanism for the generation of diversity," they write.

So far the Meselson effect has not been observed in other organisms, perhaps because the phenomenon is unique and linked to bdelloid's desiccation tolerance, said Mark Welch, who wrote an accompanying commentary in Science. Another reason is that very few asexual organisms do not undergo meiosis, which is part of the definition of the effect.

However, Roger Butlin at the University of Sheffield told The Scientist that additional genes are not necessarily a straightforward solution to asexuality. "Having more copies of genes doesn't get you out of the problem of [disadvantageous] mutation accumulation," he said. "I think we have to look elsewhere for how they've managed to remain asexual for so long." Butlin said bdelloids' large population size and ability to distribute widely might have contributed to their success.

Butlin said the next step will be to look at the evolutionary fates of other gene copies in bdelloids and Tunnacliffe said he will start to look for other functionally divergent genes. "I think this must be going on throughout the genome," Tunnacliffe said.

The authors assume these genes were former alleles, rather than gene duplication, but their assumption makes sense, Mark Welch noted. "If it was a gene duplication, and if we are right about the structure of the bdelloid genome, then there should be four copies," he said. But because Tunnacliffe found only two divergent genes, it appears they were former alleles. "I personally think they've got it right."

Tunnacliffe's functional assays were done in vitro. He said he would like to do more studies on the activities of the two genes' proteins. "What we'd really like to know is, do these proteins do the same job in a living animal?"

Technorati : Genetic benefits of asexuality

This new mechanism could help explain the ear's remarkable ability to sense and discriminate sounds.

2007-10-11T13:11:00.001-07:00

MIT finds new hearing mechanism
Discovery could lead to improved hearing aids

MIT researchers have discovered a hearing mechanism that fundamentally changes the current understanding of inner ear function. This new mechanism could help explain the ear's remarkable ability to sense and discriminate sounds. Its discovery could eventually lead to improved systems for restoring hearing.

The research is described in the advance online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of October 8.

MIT Professor Dennis M. Freeman, working with graduate student Roozbeh Ghaffari and research scientist Alexander J. Aranyosi, found that the tectorial membrane, a gelatinous structure inside the cochlea of the ear, is much more important to hearing than previously thought. It can selectively pick up and transmit energy to different parts of the cochlea via a kind of wave that is different from that commonly associated with hearing.

Ghaffari, the lead author of the paper, is in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, as is Freeman. All three researchers are in MIT's Research Laboratory of Electronics. Freeman is also in MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.

It has been known for over half a century that inside the cochlea sound waves are translated into up-and-down waves that travel along a structure called the basilar membrane. But the team has now found that a different kind of wave, a traveling wave that moves from side to side, can also carry sound energy. This wave moves along the tectorial membrane, which is situated directly above the sensory hair cells that transmit sounds to the brain. This second wave mechanism is poised to play a crucial role in delivering sound signals to these hair cells.

In short, the ear can mechanically translate sounds into two different kinds of wave motion at once. These waves can interact to excite the hair cells and enhance their sensitivity, "which may help explain how we hear sounds as quiet as whispers," says Aranyosi. The interactions between these two wave mechanisms may be a key part of how we are able to hear with such fidelity - for example, knowing when a single instrument in an orchestra is out of tune.

"We know the ear is enormously sensitive" in its ability to discriminate between different kinds of sound, Freeman says. "We don't know the mechanism that lets it do that." The new work has revealed "a whole new mechanism that nobody had thought of. It's really a very different way of looking at things."

The tectorial membrane is difficult to study because it is small (the entire length could fit inside a one-inch piece of human hair), fragile (it is 97 percent water, with a consistency similar to that of a jellyfish), and nearly transparent. In addition, sound vibrations cause nanometer-scale displacements of cochlear structures at audio frequencies. "We had to develop an entirely new class of measurement tools for the nano-scale regime," Ghaffari says.

The team learned about the new wave mechanism by suspending an isolated piece of tectorial membrane between two supports, one fixed and one moveable. They launched waves at audio frequencies along the membrane and watched how it responded by using a stroboscopic imaging system developed in Freeman's lab. That system can measure nanometer-scale displacements at frequencies up to a million cycles per second.

The team's discovery has implications for how we model cochlear mechanisms. "In the long run, this could affect the design of hearing aids and cochlear implants," says Ghaffari. The research also has implications for inherited forms of hearing loss that affect the tectorial membrane. Previous measurements of cochlear function in mouse models of these diseases "are consistent with disruptions of this second wave," Aranyosi adds.

Because the tectorial membrane is so tiny and so fragile, people "tend to think of it as something that's wimpy and not important," Freeman says. "Well, it's not wimpy at all." The new discovery "that it can transport energy throughout the cochlea is very significant, and it's not something that's intuitive."

This research was funded by the National Institutes of Health

Using a stroboscopic imaging system developed in MIT Professor Dennis Freeman's lab, Freeman's team obtained this video of wave motion along the ear's tectorial membrane (at top, the actual video showing nanometer-scale displacements, and at bottom, the same video, motion magnified (Liu et al., 2005) to make the motion more apparent).
View via MIT TechTV

Technorati : hearing mechanism

passenger screening machines for Airlines"millimeter-wave passenger imaging technology"

2007-10-11T12:51:00.001-07:00

It's the newest weapon in the TSA's air safety arsenal. It's called "millemeter" wave technology" and it's on the job beginning Thursday at the Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix.

The machine creates a 3-d image of the passenger's body then sends it to a viewing station in another room where a TSA agent looks for potential threats.

"It's passenger imaging technology, so it allows us to see the entire image of the passenger's body and anything that might be hidden on the person" said Ellen Howe of TSA.

The new technology includes new privacy protection also. The screener in the viewing room can't see the passenger's face and the images from the machine are deleted, once the traveler is cleared to fly.

You'll see the new machine after passing through the first layer of airport security. It's an option for travelers selected for extra screening who don't want to be patted down by an officer.

"This way, they won't have to have anyone touch them, and they can get through the process very quickly" said Howe.

"You don't have to worry about being patted down, they don't have to have somebody there to pat you down. It'll save time, I think, if anything" said traveler Mark Bongiovi.

"Any time they can improve the process, make it more efficient for travelers, it's a good thing" said traveler Wendy Gilpin.

TSA officials say from start to finish the scan takes about 60 seconds. The field tests start Thursday in Phoenix and in the weeks ahead the TSA will be testing in other major cities.

THEnew type of walk-through security machine will debut at several U.S. airports in the coming days as the Transportation Security Administration tries out the latest in body scanning technology.

It's called "millimeter-wave passenger imaging technology," and it produces a more detailed picture than the metal detectors in use now at airports to screen for weapons and explosives..

Because it produces such a detailed image, however, technology and privacy experts at the American Civil Liberties Union are not satisfied that the new technology meets privacy standards.

In a written statement issued Thursday, Barry Steinhardt of the ACLU said the technology can pick up graphic body images and even medical details like whether a passenger has a colostomy bag.

Steinhardt called the screening an "assault on the essential dignity of passengers that citizens in a free nation should not have to tolerate."

TSA spokeswoman Elle Howe said privacy will be respected with the new millimeter-wave technique.

"We want to preserve passengers' privacy and make them feel comfortable with trying a technology like this," she said.

A TSA officer will escort a passenger to the machine for the test, but the person looking at the actual body scans will be at a different location and will not see the passenger, the TSA said.

In addition, the scans will have a "modesty filter" to blur out faces, and no images will be saved.

But the ACLU expressed concern that TSA officers would not be able to resist the temptation to save images of certain people, such as celebrities, and that the plan to blur faces might later be changed.

This is how the new scanners work. The passenger steps into a machine where he or she is quickly scanned with radio waves.

Those waves reflect off the body to transmit a three-dimensional image of the passenger that looks like a fuzzy photo negative. A TSA officer studies the image on a screen and looks for unusual shapes that might mean a passenger is carrying something suspicious.

Passengers who are asked to undergo a second screening can choose a pat-down search or the millimeter-wave test.

The TSA says the machines scan a passenger twice, each scan taking less than two seconds. But it takes another minute or two for a screener to review the scans before signaling a passenger to move on.

The TSA demonstrated the screening technology at a news conference Wednesday near Washington
Howe said the millimeter wave is harmless and "can see more than a magnetometer," which is the first screening machine airport passengers encounter.

"A magnetometer only picks up metal or weapons, so this could see other materials that might be hidden on the body and it also produces an image" rather than just a beep, she said.

Asked if the millimeter wave could detect an object hidden in a body cavity, she said only that the TSA will learn more about the technology as it's tested at U.S. airports.

The TSA has been testing another type of imaging technology called backscatter. This technology also came under some fire because it shows very detailed body images -- which led some critics to call it an electronic strip search. So, the backscatter was altered and blurred to show more of an outline of the body.

The TSA will continue to test the backscatter scanners in some airports. TSA officials said they are a long way from deciding whether they'll settle on just one of these imaging technologies.

Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, Arizona, begins using the new machines Thursday -- to be offered as an option for people who are asked to be screened a second time.

Los Angeles International Airport in California and John Fitzgerald Kennedy International Airport in New York are also slated to try the machines

Britain, Spain, Japan, Australia, Mexico, Thailand and the Netherlands are using the millimeter wave screening. In the United States, some courthouses and jails are trying it

Technorati : "millimeter-wave passenger imaging technology

Carbon Reduction Project Development & Finance

2007-10-10T12:58:00.001-07:00

Carbon Reduction Project Development & Finance is the first event to assemble experienced carbon market players, developers and financiers from throughout the world to share their insights into developing, certifying and financing profitable GHG emission reduction projects. Learn how to take advantage of the burgeoning opportunities in both international and US markets.

Carbon markets are exploding! Beyond the Kyoto-based compliance markets overseas, between 2005 and 2006 the OTC voluntary markets that comprise the bulk of activity in the US grew 200%-and this growth is expected to continue. What all these markets have in common is the need to originate carbon credits via many types of projects, creating huge opportunities for project developers. However, not all GHG reduction projects are created-and certified-equally, and the differences can produce an order of magnitude variance in the potential revenue flow from carbon reduction streams.

Carbon Reduction Project Development & Finance assembles the most experienced carbon market players, developers and financiers from throughout the world to share their insights into navigating through the complexities of developing, certifying and financing profitable GHG emission reduction projects. It will bring together leading carbon funds, carbon originators and aggregators, energy companies, clean tech companies, private equity and project developers to explore how to take advantage of carbon revenue flows in methane capture, renewable energy, geologic capture and other carbon reduction projects in both overseas and the nascent US markets.

Attendees will not only hear about the latest opportunities for project developments in the North American and global carbon markets, but will also be provided an outstanding opportunity to network with players in carbon project development field and to accurately gauge the current pulse of the financing market.

You'll get detailed discussions and analysis of:

The end-to-end process for developing carbon emission reduction projects

How to build financial models and structures for profitable carbon emission reduction projects

Practical examples of projects representing some of today's biggest development opportunities, including renewable energy and agricultural, coalmine and oilfield methane capture

To register
or obtain more information about this unique event, please visit the event website at http://www.infocastinc.com/carbonred.html, or call (818) 888-4444.

Technorati : Carbon Reduction

NaturalNano teams up on nano cosmetics research

2007-10-10T12:41:00.001-07:00

NaturalNano, Inc. (OTCBB:NNAN) (FWB:N3N) is a nanomaterials company developing proprietary technologies and processes to provide novel properties for a wide range of applications. Such applications include industrial polymers, plastics and composites; and additives to cosmetics, agricultural, and household products. NaturalNano holds over twenty issued or pending patents and proprietary know-how for extraction and separation processes, of halloysite and other nanotubes, in combination with other materials

Materials science company NaturalNano has announced that it has signed a licensing agreement with the US Naval Research Laboratory to develop a broad spectrum of controlled-release nanomaterials, a number of which will touch on both cosmetic and fragrance products.

The agreement covers ten patents that will also affect other areas, including agriculture, electronics and local drug delivery.

"This agreement is a great milestone for us," said Cathy Fleischer, president and chief technical officer of NaturalNano.

"It represents another step in our strategic plan to commercialize products across a diverse range of markets and to solidify our position as a leader in advanced nanomaterials."

The agreement means that NaturalNano can tap into the US Naval Laboratory's extensive expertise in the field of nanotechnology research, which incorportates the Nanoscience Institute - established in 2001 to conduct multidisciplinary research within this area.

The company currently has more than 25 patents or pending applications for control-released nanomaterials, which it either exclusively owns or has licensed out.

The company's research and development has focused on nanotubes, including naturally occurring nanotubes found in halloysite (HNT), which have a unique hollow-tube structure that allows chemicals, additives or other materials to be placed inside the tubes, creating a slow or controlled release of the materials.

For cosmetic and toiletry products, the development of nanomaterials for formulations has proved particularly useful to improve the efficacy of sunscreen, anti-aging products and fragrances.

NaturalNano's technology should prove particularly useful for sunscreen products as it allows for the slow release of active ingredients, allowing the product to last longer.

It is also useful in anti-aging formulations, as the technology enables the smaller particles to penetrate deeper into the skin's dermal layers, allowing for greater and longer-lasting efficacy.

For fragrance products nanotechnology has proved useful in the development of scents with time-controlled release, which means they can last longer and be used to maintain a more constant odor, as opposed to one that is strong immediately after application, but then evaporates quickly.

The inventory on nano-based consumer products, compiled by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies at the Woodrow Wilson International Centers, was updated earlier this month, with health and beauty coming out as one of the biggest product categories to use nanotechnology.

It revealed that the number of personal care products using nanotechnology has risen to 85 from 58 when it was launched in March 2006. The cosmetic product count, which the center differentiates from personal care products, rose also to 89 from 75 and sunscreens to 27 from 18.

With The Nanotech Report: 4th Edition, by Lux Research, indicating that the market for nanotechnology manufactured goods is set to be worth $2.6 trillion by the year 2015, all the indications are that this is an area that is set to boom in the coming years.

About Natural Nano.

Company Overview

Founded in 2004 in Rochester, New York, NaturalNano, Inc. develops unique and proprietary processes for refining naturally occurring nanotubes and other nanomaterials that add competitive properties to a range of applications.

The Company's near-term goal is to make commercial quantities of high-quality naturally occurring nanotubes -- along with licenses based on the Company's proprietary technologies -- available for a wide variety of uses. We have identified multiple applications including applications in engineered plastics and polymers, electronic components, cosmetics and other personal care products.

Patents have been filed covering numerous commercial applications, and additional patents are pending for processing and classification technologies being developed by NaturalNano that are related to the nanotubes found in halloysite clay.

Technorati : NaturalNano

Nobel :German Scientist Wins Nobel Chemistry Prize

2007-10-10T11:40:00.001-07:00

The Nobel Prize
Every year since 1901 the Nobel Prize has been awarded for achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and for peace. The Nobel Prize is an international award administered by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden. In 1968, Sveriges Riksbank established The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, founder of the Nobel Prize. Each prize consists of a medal, personal diploma, and a cash award

In the picture :Gerhard Ertl of Germany who won the Nobel Chemistry Prize poses for a photo at the Fritz-Haber-Institute in Berlin on his 71st birthday, 10 Oct. 2007

The 2007 Nobel Prize for Chemistry has been awarded to Gerhard Ertl of the Max Planck Society in Berlin. Kevin Billinghurst has the story from Stockholm.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences honors Professor Ertl for his groundbreaking studies of chemical reactions on solid surfaces.

He is credited with creating a methodology for demonstrating how different experimental procedures can be used to provide a complete picture of a surface reaction, observing how individual layers of atoms behave on the extremely pure surface of a metal.

Professor Gunnar von Heijne of the Academy of Sciences explains the importance of Ertl's work.

"From high school we tend to think of chemical processes as happening in water or perhaps in a gas, but in fact a whole lot of scientifically very interesting and practically important chemistry happens on solid surfaces," he noted. "Think of iron rust, think of catalytic converters on the exhaust pipes of our cars, think of technologies such as fuel cells. Gedrhard Ertl's scientific insights have laid a firm foundation for modern surface chemistry, and his careful methodological approach has become a model for both academic research and for industrial process development."

Nobel science prizes are given for contributions to basic understanding of nature, but Professor Ertl's work also has practical environmental applications. He has studied the process by which nitrogen can be extracted from air for inclusion in artificial fertilizers, a field of huge importance in agriculture. He has also explained oxidation of carbon monoxide on platinum, a reaction that takes place in catalytic converters to clean auto-exhaust emissions.

Professor Ertl was reached by telephone minutes after hearing he had been chosen, incidentally on his 71st birthday.

"I was really speechless," he said. "I am very surprised. This is the greatest honor you can think of in the life of a scientist."

On December 10, the 111th anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, Professor Ertl and the other winners of the 2007 Nobel Prizes in science and literature will come to Sweden to receive their awards in a gala ceremony at Stockholm City Hall

Technorati : Chemistry Prize, Nobel

Albert Fert & Peter Grünberg, Physics of Hard Drives Wins Nobel

2007-10-09T19:54:00.001-07:00

Two physicists who discovered how to manipulate the magnetic and electrical properties of thin layers of atoms to store vast amounts of data on tiny disks, making iPods and other wonders of modern life possible, were named winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics yesterday.

Albert Fert, of the Université Paris-Sud in Orsay, France, and Peter Grünberg, of the Institute of Solid State Research at the Jülich Research Center in Germany, will share the $1.5 million prize awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

They will receive the money in a ceremony in Stockholm on Dec. 10.

Dr. Fert, 69, and Dr. Grünberg, 68, each working independently in 1988, discovered an effect known as giant magnetoresistance, in which tiny changes in a magnetic field can produce huge changes in electrical resistance.

The effect is at the heart of modern gadgets that record data, music or snippets of video as a dense magnetic patchwork of zeros and ones, which is then scanned by a small head and converted to electrical signals.

"The MP3 and iPod industry would not have existed without this discovery," Börje Johansson, a member of the Royal Swedish Academy, said, according to The Associated Press. "You would not have an iPod without this effect."

In remarks broadcast over a speakerphone at the academy in Stockholm, Dr. Fert said: "I am so happy for my family, for my co-workers. And I am also very happy to share this with a friend."

Experts said the discovery was one of the first triumphs of the new field of nanotechnology, the science of building and manipulating assemblies of atoms only a nanometer (a billionth of a meter) in size.

The scanning heads in today's gizmos consist of alternating layers only a few atoms thick of a magnetic metal, like iron, and a nonmagnetic metal, like chromium. At that small size, the strange rules of quantum mechanics come into play and novel properties emerge.

The Nobel citation said Dr. Fert and Dr. Grünberg's work also heralded the advent of a new, even smaller and denser type of memory storage called spintronics, in which information is stored and processed by manipulating the spins of electrons.

Engineers have been recording information magnetically and reading it out electrically since the dawn of the computer age, but as they have endeavored to pack more and more data onto their machines, they have been forced to use smaller and fainter magnetic inscriptions and thus more and more sensitive readout devices.

It has long been known that magnetic fields can affect the electrical resistance of magnetic materials like iron. Current flows more easily along field lines than across them. The effect was useful for sensing magnetic fields, and in heads that read magnetic disks. But it amounted to only a small change in resistance, and physicists did not think there were many prospects for improvement.

So it was a surprise in 1988 when groups led by Dr. Fert at the Laboratoire de Physique des Solides and by Dr. Grünberg found that super-slim sandwiches of iron and chromium showed enhanced sensitivity to magnetic fields - "giant magnetoresistance," as Dr. Fert called it. The name stuck.

The reason for the effect has to do with what physicists call the spin of electrons. When the magnetic layers of the sandwich have their fields pointing in the same direction, electrons whose spin points along that direction can migrate freely through the sandwich, but electrons that point in another direction get scattered.

If, however, one of the magnetic layers is perturbed, by, say, reading a small signal, it can flip its direction so that its field runs opposite to the other one. In that case, no matter which way an electron points, it will be scattered and hindered from moving through the layers, greatly increasing the electrical resistance of the sandwich.

As Phillip Schewe, of the American Institute of Physics, explained, "You've leveraged a weak bit of magnetism into a robust bit of electricity."

Subsequently, Stuart Parkin, now of I.B.M., came up with an easier way to produce the sandwiches on an industrial scale. The first commercial devices using giant magnetoresistance effect were produced in 1997.

Dr. Grünberg was born in Pilsen in what is now the Czech Republic and obtained his Ph.D. from the Darmstadt University of Technology in Germany in 1969. He has been asked many times over the years when he was going to win the big prize, and so was not surprised to win the Nobel, according to The A.P.

He said he was looking forward to being able to pursue his research without applying for grants for "every tiny bit."

Dr. Fert was born in Carcassonne, France, and received his Ph.D. at the Université Paris-Sud in 1970. He told The A.P. that it was impossible to predict where modern physics is going to go.

"These days when I go to my grocer and see him type on a computer, I say, 'Wow, he's using something I put together in my mind,'" Dr. Fert said.

iPods, Better laptops Stemmed from Nobel Prize Discovery
The 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics goes for the discovery of Giant Magnetoresistance, a nanotechnology that enables more compact disks to be squeezed into laptops, iPods, and other such devices.

The 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to two researchers for their discovery of Giant Magnetoresistance (GMR), a sort of nanotechnology that enables more compact disks to be squeezed into laptops, iPods and other such devices.

The discovery was made separately in 1988 by Albert Fert of France and Peter Gr|nberg of Germany, though the technology didn't really take hold until the late 1990s.

GMR technology allows for data to be read from very compact disks. Here's a description from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which doles out the Nobel Prizes:

"A hard disk stores information, such as music, in the form of microscopically small areas magnetized in different directions. The information is retrieved by a read-out head that scans the disk and registers the magnetic changes. The smaller and more compact the hard disk, the smaller and weaker the individual magnetic areas.

"More sensitive read-out heads are therefore required if information has to be packed more densely on a hard disk. A read-out head based on the GMR effect can convert very small magnetic changes into differences in electrical resistance and therefore into changes in the current emitted by the read-out head. The current is the signal from the read-out head and its different strengths represent ones and zeros."

More background about the discovery is available here.

Last year, the prize went to John Mather and George Smoot "for their discovery of the blackbody form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation."

The real Nobel Prizes are being announced a week after the quirky Ig Nobel Prizes for weird science were announced at Harvard University.

Research into the mystery of wrinkles on bed sheets, the bottomless bowl of soup and the effect of Viagra on hamster jet lag dominated those awards.

For more on network-oriented research, read our Alpha Doggs blog.

Technorati : Albert Fert, Peter Grünberg

Google Buys Into Microblogging (Jaiku)

2007-10-09T19:29:00.001-07:00

That was actually a test. If you actually know what Jaiku is, you have probably already heard about the acquisition on Twitter or on Jaiku itself. In other words, you are on the vanguard of trying to evolve a new sensory organ devoted to instantly perceiving what your friends are doing at any moment (and at the same time, how to profit from the latest technology trends).
Otherwise, you probably assumed Jaiku is some game played with dice that Google will put in its employee lounges. I'll bet this second group represents something that rounds easily to 100 percent of the adult population.
For all of those people: Jaiku, like Twitter, is what has become known as a microblogging service that lets people send short blasts of information about themselves to their friends and to the public. The company is based in Helsinki, and was founded by Jyri Engeström and Petteri Koponen. Not surprisingly both have been heavily involved in the mobile phone world. (Here are Google's blog post and Jaiku's FAQ on the deal.)
Despite the obsession of a small corner of Silicon Valley with Twitter, I suspect this is hardly a blip in the evolution of the Internet. The terms of the deal were not announced, but doubtless the company was sold for an amount in the millions or low tens of millions of dollars.
Google is not picking up a significant number of users in buying Jaiku. And I don't see any evidence that Jaiku has technology that is very hard to build. So we've got to assume Google is paying a lot of money to hire a small group of engineers it likes, as it tends to do.
This may also be a sign that Google has overstaffed its business development department and is doing deals just to keep them busy.
Still, Jaiku and Twitter, which recently raised money from Union Square Ventures, are onto something. AOL Instant Messenger showed that there is something very engaging about watching what other people we know are doing - logging on and off, putting simple information in their 'away' messages. Facebook found a way to amplify this with an easy to update "status" message, brilliantly aggregated into a personal newsfeed for each user. Twitter and Jaiku, of course, are the newsfeed without the rest of the service.
So the question here, of course, is whether status updates really will become a mass product on a standalone service, or whether they will be a feature of some other more complex offering.
You've got to bet that status, presence and so on constitute a feature. It's too easy to add these to other services that are more engaging. And I suspect that there are enough other sites wanting to expand their use for social communication that there will be many offers for Twitter whenever it decides it's time to sell.
Google, after all, has decided that it is simply too complex to create a new interface for each good idea and has been on a campaign to focus on developing "features not products." The best example of this is the integration of its instant message system into Gmail. Indeed, you can already see little orange icons showing which of your Gmail contacts are online at any given moment. And it is easy to imagine that this interface could easily add a stream of text or photo blasts too.
I'm sure some users would like that. What's not clear is why Google needed to buy a standalone company to offer it.
By the way, I asked Google for comment and haven't heard back yet. I'll update this post if they reply and add anything.

UPDATE: I just ran across this bit of fan mail to Jaiku from Tim O'Reilly. He is particularly enamored of how the service can integrate into the address book of a few high-end cellphones. As you start to dial a person, you can see their latest status update and where they are. As Google moves into the phone software business, it's possible that this sort of feature might be interesting. Google certainly has a fondness for services that relates to geographical location.
Source:

Google buys Finnish startup Jaiku.

Google announced on Tuesday it is buying Jaiku, a Finnish startup specializing in letting friends use mobile telephones to share what they are doing at any given moment.

Google is making a priority of following Internet users as they go mobile and is even reported to be crafting a "gphone" with an open-source software platform tailored to its online services.

Jaiku is a social networking and mini-messaging service that enables people to keep track of each others' activities while on the move using curt missives sent to mobile telephones.

The Helsinki-based firm founded early last year by Jyri Engestrom and Petteri Koponen has been compared to the popular US-based service Twitter.

"Technology has made staying in touch with your friends and family both easier and harder," Google product manager Tony Hsieh wrote in a posting on the California firm's website.

"Living a fast-paced, on-the-go lifestyle is easier (and a lot of fun), but it's more difficult to keep track of everyone when they're running around at warp speed. That's why we're excited to announce that we've acquired Jaiku."

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Last month, Google's quest for devotees in the booming world of mobile online services led to its purchase of Zingku, a startup company that streamlines sharing pictures, messages and more via smart phones..

About Jaiku
Jaiku is now a part of Google. For more details about Jaiku and Google, see the Q&A about the acquisition.

Jaiku's main goal is to bring people closer together by enabling them to share their activity streams. An activity stream is a log of everyday things as they happen: your status messages, recommendations, events you're attending, photos you've taken - anything you post directly to Jaiku or add using Web feeds. We offer a way to connect with the people you care about by sharing your activities with them on the Web, IM, and SMS - as well as through a slew of cool third-party applications built by other developers using our API.

The most powerful instrument of social peripheral vision is your mobile phone. We've put in a special effort to create Jaiku Mobile, a live phonebook that displays the activity streams, availability, and location of your Jaiku contacts right in your phone contact list. We modestly believe it is the best solution out there for seeing what your friends are up to. Currently Jaiku Mobile is available for phones based on the Nokia S60 software platform (see the list of compatible devices).

Check out our Jaikido blog for updates about the service. We appreciate your feedback, so feel free to comment away on the blog - or join our feedback and ideas channel.

For an insider's view into things happening at Jaiku, follow the updates from Jaiku Team

Technorati : Google mobile, Jaiku

Fiber-Optic Future For Norwich

2007-10-08T15:23:00.001-07:00

As the dispatcher calls the volunteer department, a computer prints a picture and exact directions and sends them electronically to the responding station or even to a portable computer in the firetruck as it speeds out of the station bay.

Imagine a fire call to the city central dispatch for a remote location within the city limits.

That would be one way a municipal fiber-optic network could help city agencies and the general public, said John Bilda, general manager of Norwich Public Utilities.

NPU went out to bid Wednesday on installing a fiber-optic telecommunications system in the city that would connect all schools and municipal and public-utilities facilities, including automated sewer pump stations, hydropower units and electrical transformers.

The 32-mile, $2.4 million network would snake through the city in two main loops, with several spurs from the main loop lines to connect more remote systems.

The network, Bilda said, would send data 600 times faster than current speeds along privately owned data lines, and do it more reliably.

Mayor Benjamin Lathrop called officials of the city-owned utility "visionaries," dating back 104 years to when the city took over by eminent domain a private electric and gas company and converted it to a public utility.

"They were visionaries then, with the (public water) reservoirs and all," Lathrop said, "and by exploring what they did all those years ago to move their city forward. It's impressive. Our utility has done wonders."

Immediate plans would have the fiber-optic network serving only Norwich government entities - adding in agencies such as the Uncas Health District, Three Rivers Community College and Norwich Free Academy - and would provide internal communication only within Norwich borders.

A teacher in a Norwich school could draw a line on a computer and have it automatically appear simultaneously on so-called smart boards in every school in the city. But all the sites would still use AT&T for telephone service and 99 Main - the city's Internet provider - for access to "the outside world," Bilda said.

NPU plans to create wireless hot spots in key locations, such as downtown, that would be available to the public, Bilda said.

Expanding the network to local businesses and residents could follow. NPU plans to apply to the state Department of Public Utility Control for permission to offer service, according to the resolution approved by the City Council Monday.

Bilda couldn't say when that might occur, but he said the cable to make it possible could be in place by next summer. The rest could depend on the DPUC licensing process and the city's desire to open it up to the community.

NPU is a pioneer in municipal fiber-optics installation in the state, but not the first, Bilda said. About five years ago, the town of Manchester helped write the law that now allows NPU to move forward.

DPUC spokeswoman Beryl Lyons said no other city-owned utility has applied for a state license to offer fiber-optic broadband to the general public. Only the few municipally owned utilities that own their own utility poles would be able to tackle the project, she said.

Groton Public Utilities launched its own for-profit cable television company, Thames Valley Communications, three years ago. The cable television and computer broadband company now has 7,000 customers in Groton city and town, and the Groton portion of Mystic and Gales Ferry, said Carl Andersen, marketing director.

Andersen said it has taken longer than expected to get permission to build on poles outside the Groton Public Utilities service area.

NPU owns all its utility poles and many underground utility conduits in the Norwich Business Park.

NPU has no plans to start a cable television company or become an Internet provider or telephone company. Rather, Bilda said, the network would allow NPU and other city entities to greatly consolidate telephone service, buying one telephone-trunk service line from AT&T and using its own fiber-optic network to hook up to numerous telephones and computers.

One of the utilities' aims is to save on its telephone bills. "We're doing this to stay in business," Bilda said.

The city plans to continue to use 99 Main as its Internet provider, but city computers would be able to communicate with one another much faster and at higher capacities.

If the fiber-optic service is expanded to local businesses and the public, Bilda said, NPU would not make it a for-profit venture. Ten percent of the gross revenues would be turned over to the city, a deal that dates back to the founding of the public utility.

If Norwich wants to venture into cable television or telephone service, the City Council would have to authorize the move. Bilda said the initiative would have to come from NPU constituents.

"We want to do whatever the community wants us to do," Bilda said. "This provides the backbone for any of these services to happen."

At least two downtown business owners are counting the days when fiber-optic broadband data transmission service might be available.

Mike Sullivan, owner of 99 Main, said his company has been the city's Internet provider for 11 years. He said the connection would enable him to offer high-speed fiber-optic Internet connections to local small businesses that can't afford the high-speed T-1 lines that are now the standard for high-speed connections.

Fiber optics would far surpass T-1 capacities, Sullivan said. The smallest fiber cable can transmit data at a rate of 155 megabytes per second, while a T-1 line sends at one megabyte per second. Slower DSL lines are still the standard for home and small business use, he said.

Brian Kobylarz, owner of Tele-Cine Productions, served on the initial focus group NPU established several years ago when utility officials first started looking into expanding to cable television and fiber-optic broadband services.

Kobylarz said any business with electronic data needs would benefit. He produces high-definition videos and films for industrial, business and government entities.

Fiber optics would give him quicker, better quality transmissions of video clips to production studios "miles or hundreds of miles away."

Kobylarz, who also chairs the Downtown Neighborhood Revitalization Zone Committee, envisions the fiber-optic network attracting high-tech businesses to the downtown.

"Major corporations have realized the benefits of this technology for many years now," Kobylarz said. "The business model says this is the right thing to do. What we are doing in Norwich is the first step. It will be a better step when it begins to open up to the business community. That will spur economic activity and will attract new and better businesses to the area."

Technorati : Fiber-Optic

tech

2007-10-06T12:23:00.000-07:00

Acquisition ,acupuncture , Adobe ,ADR , Aeronautical engineering ,ALIEN , alien life , and technology , anesthesia , animal , animal science , anniversity ,Aotomobile , Archiological , ARM , ARM Cortex-M3 , Asteroid Probe's ,astrology , Astronomy , authentication , Authentication Technology , automation ,automobile , award , Awards , biology ,black hole , BRAIN , Brain Mechanism ,Brain reader , BRAIN SCIENCE ,btrain technology ,business , CAR ,career , CD MARKET ,chemestry , Chemichal ,chemistry ,chips ,collabration ,communication , Computer , conferance , contest , copiright , Data , Defence Tech , design , desing , Digital communications ,discover , dna ,Download , earth , ecosystem ,Education , Electronical , Electronics , energy , entertentment , Environment , Environmental sc , Exploration , Family science ,famous invention , Finance , floating , Flying Technology news ,Forum ,Future world ,GAME , Games , GAs and energy , genetic ,genius',global warming , Global policies ,global science ,Global Warming ,google ,Google birth day ,Green Center ,Green Engineering ,h ,Halo 3 ,Hardware ,Health science ,holo , HP ,huclear energy ,HUMAN BODY , IBM , iMac , INNOVATION , INSAT-4CR ,Internet , invention , iPod , ISO , ISRO , job , Kerberos ,LHC , LHC (Large Hadron Collider) , LHC(Large Hadron Collider) , Life News (Arts and Humanities) ,Mangement , marine , Marine sc , Marketing ,Mars , math , Memory and Emmotions ,memory technology ,MEN HEALTH ,mentel health , Meteorology , Microsoft's , Mind ,Mine Engineering ,MIT , MIT news ,mobile , Moon ,Myspace ,Nanotech , Nanotechnology , nasa ,Neurology ,neuron ,news ,noble ,Nokia ,NUCLEAR ,OLED. ,OLPC,Origin ,OSI model , perfume ,pharmaceutical , physicis ,planet , policy and funding , pollution ,power ,primary world , Privacy,processor ,prosthetics and orthotics ,Psychology ,Quote ,radio , Radio signal ,research , RNA ,robotic ,Robotics ,S and P ,safety , scholar , Science , science and humanity ,Science and Islam ,SCIENTISTS ,SECOND LIFE ,Security ,Serious Games , sex science ,social network , Software ,solar power , Sound , Space ,Spiritual , sputnik , STAR , SURJECAL ,survey ,tech market ,technology ,technology business ,Technology career Market , Technology contracts ,Technology events , technology law , Technology Market , Technology War ,TEEN ,telescope ,television ,treatment ,Upcoming Elecrtronics ,upgradation , Velociraptor , Vertual reality , Virtual reality , Virtualization ,vista ,wareless , Wastage Management , WEATHER ,Web tv , Wi-Fi , Wi-Fi plans ,Windows , Windows vista ,Windows xp , WIRELESS ,world biz ,world science ,Xtreme ,yahoo , Zune digital player ,

Internet explorer for all ,IE7 to all, Pirates Included

2007-10-05T21:58:00.001-07:00

24hoursnews - Users running pirated or counterfeit copies of Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 can now download Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft announced Thursday.

From the moment it released IE7 almost a year ago, Microsoft has restricted the browser to users who can prove they own a legitimate copy of the operating system. Before Microsoft allows the browser to download, it runs the user's PC through a Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) validation test, a prime part of XP's antipiracy software.

When it instituted the requirement in 2006, Microsoft said rights to IE7 was one of the rewards for being legal. It changed its mind Thursday, saying the move is in users' best interest.

"Because Microsoft takes its commitment to help protect the entire Windows ecosystem seriously, we're updating the IE7 installation experience to make it available as broadly as possible to all Windows users," said Steve Reynolds, an IE program manager in a posting to a Microsoft company blog. "With today's 'Installation and Availability Update,' Internet Explorer 7 installation will no longer require Windows Genuine Advantage validation and will be available to all Windows XP users."

Microsoft has consistently touted IE7 as a more secure browser, and post-launch patch counts back that up. In the past 11 months, IE6 for Windows XP SP2 has been patched for 22 vulnerabilities, 20 of them rated critical. IE7 for XP SP2, however, has been patched only 13 times; 10 of those fixes were ranked critical. In fact, when Microsoft announced that IE7 would not be offered to users running illegal copies of XP, some analysts questioned the company's commitment to security.

Play for Market Share?
This is the first time that Microsoft has removed a WGA check for a major product. Among those that still require validation are Windows Defender, the company's antispyware software, and Windows Media Player 11.

Several people who left comments on Reynold's post wondered if there's more to the decision than meets the eye. "I am guessing that this is in reaction to Firefox's growing market share," said someone identified as Dileepa. "I am not surprised at this at all."

Mozilla's Firefox has gained some ground on Internet Explorer since IE7's launch. According to Net Applications, a Web metrics company, Firefox's share is up by about two percentage points since October 2006, while IE's total -- IE6 and IE7 combined -- slipped by more than three points.

IE7's uptake was dramatic late last year, when it went from about a 3 percent share in October to 18 percent in December, but growth has slowed. Since April, for instance, it has increased its share by four percentage points, almost all of it at the expense of the older IE6.

The IE7 update also sports a few tweaks: The menu bar is now visible by default, for example, and a new administration kit that includes a revamped MSI installer is available to smooth corporate deployment.

Users can download IE7 from Microsoft's site immediately or wait for it to appear in Windows Update as a high-priority item. It will take several months for Windows Update to roll out IE7 to all XP customers, and anyone dissatisfied with the new browser can downgrade to IE6 by using the Add/Remove Programs control panel applet.

A blocking tool kit is still available for companies and organizations that don't use Windows Server Update Services and want to permanently prevent IE7 from automatically installing on PCs equipped with IE6.

From Windows

Windows Internet Explorer 7
Look: I realize you are all going to say she's just drinking the Kool Aid, and maybe I am. But if you are still using an older version of Internet Explorer, do yourself a favor and upgrade to Internet Explorer 7. I use IE7 on Windows Vista and on Windows XP with few or no problems. The one usability issue that jarred me is the new location of the Refresh and Home buttons, now placed on the Address bar. It did take a while to retrain myself and my mouse. I prefer IE's RSS feed reader features over Mozilla's Firefox for its ease of use and smooth integration.

IE7's most crucial upgrade over IE6 is its improved security, which includes phishing filters and pop-up blockers. Although some critics argue that IE7's security could be even greater, there is no question that you are automatically more protected over previous versions of the browser.

Technorati : Internet explorer 7, upgradation

code of this blog - find out

2007-10-05T11:51:00.001-07:00

Technorati : ADR, ALIEN, ARM, ARM Cortex-M3, Acquisition, Adobe, Aeronautical engineering, Aotomobile, Archiological, Asteroid Probe's, Astronomy, Authentication Technology, Awards, BRAIN, BRAIN SCIENCE, Brain Mechanism, Brain reader, CAR, CD MARKET, Chemichal, Computer, Data, Defence Tech, Digital communications, Download, Education, Electronical, Electronics, Environment, Environmental sc, Exploration, Family science, Finance, Flying Technology news, Forum, Future world, GAME, GAs and energy, Games, Global Warming, Global policies, Google birth day, Green Center, Green Engineering, HP, HUMAN BODY, Halo 3, Hardware, Health science, IBM, INNOVATION, INSAT-4CR, ISO, ISRO, Internet, Kerberos, LHC, LHC (Large Hadron Collider), LHC(Large Hadron Collider), Life News (Arts and Humanities), MEN HEALTH, MIT, MIT news, Mangement, Marine sc, Marketing, Mars, Memory and Emmotions, Meteorology, Microsoft's, Mind, Mine Engineering, Moon, Myspace, NUCLEAR, Nanotech, Nanotechnology, Neurology, Nokia, OLED., OLPC, OSI model, Origin, Privacy, Psychology, Quote, RNA, Radio signal, Robotics, S and P, SCIENTISTS, SECOND LIFE, STAR, SURJECAL, Science, Science and Islam, Security, Serious Games, Software, Sound, Space, Spiritual, TEEN, Technology Market, Technology War, Technology career Market, Technology contracts, Technology events, Upcoming Elecrtronics, Velociraptor, Vertual reality, Virtual reality, Virtualization, WEATHER, WIRELESS, Wastage Management, Web tv, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi plans, Windows, Windows vista, Windows xp, Xtreme, Zune digital player, acupuncture, alien life, and technology, anesthesia, animal, animal science, anniversity, astrology, authentication, automation, automobile, award, biology, black hole, btrain technology, business, career, chemestry, chemistry, chips, collabration, communication, conferance, contest, copiright, design, desing, discover, dna, earth, ecosystem, energy, entertentment, famous invention, floating, genetic, genius', global science, global warming, google, h, holo, huclear energy, iMac, iPod, invention, job, marine, math, memory technology, mentel health, mobile, nasa, neuron, news, noble, perfume, pharmaceutical, physicis, planet, policy and funding, pollution, power, primary world, processor, prosthetics and orthotics, radio, research, robotic, safety, scholar, science and humanity, sex science, social network, solar power, sputnik, survey, tech market, technology, technology business, technology law, telescope, television, treatment, upgradation, vista, wareless, world biz, world science, yahoo

BT creates Wi-Fi community

2007-10-04T20:52:00.000-07:00

BT and Fon have finally confirmed their long-expected partnership, thus creating the largest Wi-Fi community in the world.

Fon was founded in Spain in early 2006. Broadband users who sign up to Fon's community agree to share their Wi-Fi connectivity through a separate, secure channel. They do this either for a 50 percent cut of the fees charged to their visitors or for the privilege of being able to surf other users' connections for free, though the community has since changed its rules to allow its members to do both.

One of the biggest hindrances to Fon's expansion has been resistance from Internet service providers, whose terms and conditions have tended to prohibit sharing of broadband connections.

Now BT, the largest ISP in the United Kingdom, has given its approval. By doing so, the telecommunications company has effectively extended its Openzone Wi-Fi network across the 3 million BT Home Hubs--or at least those Home Hubs whose users agree to share their broadband connection.

It is not yet clear whether BT users who share their connection will get remuneration for doing so, though it is likely that they will gain access to BT's new nationwide wireless network, plus Fon's global network of almost 200,000 hot spots. It is currently unclear whether BT's business customers will be offered the same deal.

BT has also invested an undisclosed amount in Fon and gained a seat on its board.

"This is the start of something very exciting for BT," Gavin Patterson, the managing director of BT Group, said Thursday. "Today we are launching a people's network of Wi-Fi, which could one day cover every street in Britain. We are giving our millions of Total Broadband customers a choice and an opportunity. If they are prepared to securely share a little of their broadband, they can share the broadband at hundreds of thousands of Fon and BT Openzone hot spots today, without paying a penny."

Patterson continued. "We have built a public Wi-Fi network and 12 wireless cities already, but today, we are saying to customers: let's build a Wi-Fi community together, which covers everywhere and serves everyone."

Martin Varsavsky, Fon's founder and chief executive, said, "From the beginning, Fon users believed in the concept of sharing and in the people's ability to participate in building something important that would benefit everyone," he said. "With BT Fon, those beliefs have proved to be well-founded."

Rumors that BT and Fon were in talks about the deal have been circulating for over six months, but Thursday's announcement is the first official confirmation of the tie-in. The collaboration between the two companies also raises the possibility of a comprehensive global network of Wi-Fi sharers--with the blessing of ISPs.

Fon has inked similar deals with Time Warner Cable in the United States--though that service is yet to be rolled out--and Neuf Cegetel in France, so BT broadband customers who agree to share their connectivity will soon gain free access to their counterparts' broadband in those countries.

Robert Lang, Fon's European chief, told CNET News.com sister site ZDNet UK on Thursday that Fon had compromised, in that its users will have to pay, albeit at a discounted rate, to use BT's Openzone hot spots and Wireless Cities hot zones, rather than gaining access for free.

The deal means that users of BT Fusion dual-mode handsets will be able to use those devices in far more locations around the world than had previously been possible. Fon also has a software client that can be used on Nokia's Wi-Fi-enabled N series handsets.

source : www.news.com

Technorati : Wi-Fi

The Geothermal Energy Industry Connects With the Financial Community for a Major Deal Making Event

2007-10-03T10:52:00.001-07:00

Meet leading project developers, investors, lenders, power purchasers, technology experts and other active market players looking to craft deals and discover:

How to benefit from the increasing flow of available capital

Who will be making deals

What terms are available

What opportunities exist for partners & investors

About The Summit:

Geothermal is poised to meet the rapidly growing demand for renewable, zero-carbon power. Expansion opportunities across the US have enormous potential for geothermal energy growth. The opportunities for geothermal have never been more promising and the financial community sees it as the next big renewable play.

The Geothermal Finance & Investment Summit will bring together leading project developers, investors, lenders, EPC contractors, and other players to share their perspectives on the market for geothermal finance and investment. You will not only hear from this group about the latest developments in the geothermal finance and investment markets, but the Summit will also provide an outstanding opportunity to meet and network with active market players and to accurately gauge the current pulse of the industry.

The Summit is designed to provide the latest intelligence on the current market environment for putting together geothermal deals. The players in the market will discuss what they are looking for when they get involved in deals, what future opportunities exist for partners and investors, and how to successfully get deals done in 2008 and beyond. You will hear:

Developers offer their perspective on the current market

Investors discuss criteria used in evaluating geothermal investments

Lenders outline terms and structures for debt-financing

Technology companies and EPC contractors provide their perspective on physical development of projects

Utilities discuss purchasing geothermal baseload to meet RPS requirements

Pre-Summit Workshop:

Financing Geothermal Projects

An in-depth full-day workshop, Financing Geothermal Projects, precedes the Summit. The workshop will provide an in-depth tutorial by top lawyers and consultants on how to best structure your project and allocate risk for maximum project success.

To register
or obtain more information about this unique event, please visit the event website at http://www.infocastinc.com/geotherm.html, or call (818) 888-4444.

Technorati : Geothermal Energy Industry Connects

Google looking at privacy protections for users

2007-09-28T08:05:00.000-07:00

Critics say the DoubleClick buyout may give Google too much power over online advertising

Google Inc. the world's Web search leader, told U.S. Senate lawmakers yesterday that the company is pursuing new technologies to protect the privacy of Internet users as it seeks to acquire advertising company DoubleClick Inc. ("see: Congress to scrintinize Google-DoubleClick acquisition")

Google's chief legal officer, David Drummond, testified that the company was looking at the Internet display advertising business with a "fresh eye and evaluating whether changes can be made to innovate on user privacy in this space."

Critics say Google's $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick, an advertising tools supplier, may give the company too much power over online advertising. Google stores mounds of data on Internet-surfing habits of users and uses the information to make money by selling advertisements.

As a general matter, Drummond also sought to address antitrust concerns about the deal, describing it as pro-competitive.

Drummond sought to assure the lawmakers that Google was exploring new privacy protection technologies.

He cited as an example a possible new technology that Google called "crumbled cookie" in which information about an Internet user would not be connected to a single piece of identifying code, known as a cookie.

Google was also exploring better ways of providing notice within advertisements to identify who was responsible for them, Drummond said.

"We have consulted with numerous privacy, consumer and industry groups in developing these ideas and have endeavored to be responsive to their concerns," he said in written testimony for a Senate Judiciary subcommittee.

Technorati : Google, forusers, looking, privacy, protections

Survey :Nanotech skills gaps

2007-09-27T13:06:00.001-07:00

The survey was carried out as part of the EU-funded NANOFORUM project, and received responses from research managers at government institutions, not-for-profit bodies and companies.

Training in research management and toxicology, interdisciplinary Masters level programmes and hands-on training experience are some of the recommendations from the Institute of Nanotechnology following a survey identifying the skills gaps and training needs in nanoscience and nanotechnology.

Some 57.1% of respondents claimed to recruit graduates and post-graduates specifically for their nanotechnology know-how, while 23.5% indicated a preference for generalist skills and 12.5% for specialists.

Management of research and development (R&D) was identified as the most important technical competence. The Institute of Nanotechnology therefore recommends training for nanoscience and nanotechnology postgraduates in managing research within industry and academia.

Short training courses and training programmes are also recommended in the following areas: customer interfacing roles such as technical support; toxicology; health and the safety of nanoparticles; the strategic application of intellectual property rights; policy issues.

The Institute of Nanotechnology also recommends the establishment of interdisciplinary Masters level programmes that provide a grounding in material science, the nano-biology interface, nanoscale effects and selected modules from chemistry.

In addition to these extra courses, the paper also recommends that students be required to carry out hands-on training during their studies. This training should cover fabrication and synthesis techniques as well as characterisation equipment.

Partnerships between industry and academia should be strengthened with the creation of more 'science to business roles', which should be supported with increased funding from government bodies.

A total of 240 responses to the survey were received, of which 61.2% were valid. Some 64% of the valid responses came from organisations with headquarters in Europe, 21% from Asia, 8% from North America and 7% from the rest of the world.

Job Fair Planned to Add High-Tech Jobs in Support of UAlbany NanoCollege Expansion
24hoursnews
The University at Albany's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering ("CNSE") announced today that it will hold a job fair this month - the third such event it has held in the past 16 months - to assist in the recruitment of employees to fill more than 70 new high-tech positions at CNSE's Albany NanoTech complex.

The event, which is scheduled for Thursday, September 20 from 5 to 7 p.m., will give applicants an opportunity to participate in initial interviews with representatives of CNSE's faculty and technical staff. In addition, applicants will attend a presentation about the job opportunities and receive tours of CNSE's world-class, $4.2 billion Albany NanoTech complex.

The new technical, engineering, and infrastructure support positions, which will sustain further expansion and growth at CNSE, are concentrated in three primary areas: cleanroom workstation operators, who will be trained and certified to run state-of-the-art 300mm wafer tools for the fabrication of computer nanochips; facilities operations technicians, with skills in HVAC and mechanical systems, water and wastewater treatment, and electrical and control services; and, environmental health and safety/security officers.

Annual salaries range from $40,000 to over $80,000, with benefits that include medical, dental and life insurance and a generous retirement package. Individuals interested in attending and interviewing at the job fair are encouraged to pre-register at www.cnse.albany.edu, where they will find additional information, can fill out an application and upload their resume.

Congressman Michael R. McNulty said, "The Capital Region has become a hub for high tech industry, particularly nanotechnology. This event is an excellent opportunity for our local residents to take advantage of their location and find jobs within the high tech world. I am grateful that the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at the University at Albany has had the foresight to seek people to work in this exciting field. This job fair will ensure that these high tech industries will have the high-quality employees they need to continue to spur economic growth in the Capital Region."

Assembly Majority Leader Ron Canestrari said, "I am pleased to see the rapidly expanding high-tech economy in the Capital Region take another step forward with the creation of additional nanotechnology-related jobs at the UAlbany NanoCollege. This is a wonderful chance for residents of the Capital Region to learn about exciting career paths in the technology sector, and I encourage them to explore these opportunities fueled by the incredible growth of high tech in our region."

Assemblymember Jack McEneny said, "It is rewarding to see further growth and witness the creation of still more high-tech jobs at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering. These new positions provide exceptional career opportunities in the technology field for residents of Albany and the Capital District, while also underscoring the standing of this region and New York State as global leaders in nanoscale science and engineering."

Frank J. Commisso, Majority Leader of the Albany County Legislature, said, "This is an exciting opportunity for our residents to become part of the Capital District's growing high-tech industry. SUNY Albany's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering is expecting a strong turnout of candidates to apply for more than 70 new positions requiring a wide range of skills and training. This is a positive sign for our community."

Dr. Alain E. Kaloyeros, Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of CNSE, said, "The UAlbany NanoCollege is delighted to once again provide residents of the Capital Region with a chance to obtain exciting and challenging high-tech employment in their own backyard. The creation of more than 70 additional positions at CNSE's Albany NanoTech complex is testament to the pioneering leadership and strategic investment of Governor Spitzer, Speaker Silver and Senator Bruno, along with our elected officials, led by Senator Charles Schumer, Congressman Michael McNulty, Assembly Majority Leader Canestrari, Assemblyman McEneny, and County Legislature Majority Leader Commisso, who see nanotechnology as a primary enabler for economic growth that is opening up new career opportunities for New Yorkers in this region and beyond."

In May of 2006, CNSE and Hudson Valley Community College held a job fair at CNSE in which more than 160 attendees turned out to fill over 60 new cleanroom positions. This past January, more than 250 people were in attendance - and twice that many submitted resumes - as CNSE and Vistec Lithography held a job fair to fill 60 new positions to support the company's move from Cambridge, England to CNSE and the Watervliet Arsenal Technology Campus.

Technorati : Nanotech skills

a view to a kill

2007-09-27T12:34:00.001-07:00

Don't be frightened," Theo Fennell told us as we entered his Show Off! exhibit at London's Royal Academy of Arts, which opened yesterday. "It's different from any other jewelry show you've seen." The next thing we saw was a blood-splattered guillotine. Marie Antoinette may have lost her head, but Fennell's gold Burma ruby and diamond dagger earrings glimmered intact in her earlobes. The sinister but dazzling atmosphere continued in the next room, where Quasimodo, wearing a white and black diamond quiver pendant, hovered over an electric chair-bound figure sporting a massive neon-blue Brazilian Paraiba tourmaline and diamond knuckle-duster, a one-off piece that's available to interested parties for £450,000 (about $900,000). With all the skulls, scorpions, and graveyards, we wondered about Fennell's morbid inspiration. "Jewels will last longer than we ever will," said the designer. "We rarely buy a dress thinking it will become a vintage piece, but we know that jewelry will outlast us." According to Fennell, even once we are nothing but bones, our baubles will still sparkle. We didn't have to look far for evidence: His graveyard skeleton was fantastically accessorized with a Burmese peridot and diamond Griffin cross pendant and a handsome eagle ring studded with a yellow beryl, a black diamond, and a yellow sapphire.

Mission designed to unlock asteroids' secrets

2007-09-25T07:23:00.000-07:00

NASA's Dawn spacecraft aims for the curious Vesta and Ceres

A half-dozen spacecraft launched by the United States and Europe have flown past or landed on asteroids. A Japanese mission that attempted to collect samples of an asteroid is due back on Earth in three years.

But NASA's Dawn spacecraft, scheduled for launch near dawn Thursday, is designed to bring a new day to asteroid science.

Dawn will aim for the solar system's vast asteroid belt, a collection of rocky materials left over from the formation of the planets, for closeup studies of Vesta and Ceres, two of the largest celestial bodies in the belt region.

Scientists expect Dawn's eight-year, $449 million mission to provide new insight into the early phase of the planet-building process that began more than 4.5 billion years ago.

Dawn was designed to steer into orbit around Vesta to map the terrain and study the mineral makeup, then depart for Ceres to conduct a second orbital reconnaissance.

Just hints so far

The spacecraft is scheduled for launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., aboard a Delta II rocket.
If successful, Dawn will become the first spacecraft to orbit a solar system body and then travel through space to circle another.

"To go to one body, leave and go to another is sort of what science fiction has always been about," said Christopher Russell, the University of California, Los Angeles space physicist who serves as the Dawn mission's chief scientist.

The Hubble Space Telescope and other powerful observatories offer only scant clues of what Vesta and Ceres must be like, revealing hints of past volcano activity on the first and water on the second.

Most of the asteroid belt orbits the sun between Mars and Jupiter.

"So, we are going out to two bodies, which are quite different as far as we can tell. One seems dry like our moon. The other seems to have a lot of water in it," Russell said. "On our planet, water is very important. We will try to understand why some bodies are very wet out there and some very dry."

Plans to launch the mission earlier this year encountered a series of problems with the assembly of Dawn's rocket launcher, bad weather and difficulties establishing a ground tracking network.

The first stop on Dawn's journey is Vesta, an asteroid the size of Arizona that offers a glimpse at the processes that produced the solar system's rocky inner planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.

Ceres, the final stop, is about the size of Texas and was recently reclassified from asteroid to dwarf planet by astronomers. Ceres, which may have a thin atmosphere, could offer clues about the processes that folded water-born minerals into the final assembly of the icy moons of the outer planets - Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus.

Far-off sling shot

Scientists believe the thousands of rocky objects in the asteroid belt were once destined to collide and clump together until they became a full-fledged planet. However, the assembly process was interrupted by the strong gravitational forces of Jupiter, the solar system's biggest planet.
Dawn's liftoff will initiate a 3.2 billion mile journey that will swing the spacecraft into orbit around Vesta in August 2011.

After circling Vesta for seven months, Dawn will depart for Ceres. The final leg of Dawn's long journey will take nearly three years. Reaching Ceres in February 2015, the probe will orbit for at least six months of observations.

In April 2009, Dawn will speed close enough to Mars for the gravitational field of the Red Planet to sling the spacecraft outward with additional velocity.

Uncharted terrain

Ceres was discovered in 1801 by the Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi. Largest of the planetary fragments in the asteroid belt, Ceres is curiously planetlike. Ceres is spherical and possesses enough of a gravity field to pull the heaviest of its minerals to the core. It may have a weak atmosphere, a thick layer of water frozen below a dusty surface and perhaps frost-covered polar caps.
Last year, those qualities convinced the International Astronomical Union to upgrade Ceres' status from asteroid to dwarf planet - the same reclassification that resulted in the more controversial demotion of Pluto from planet to dwarf planet.

Vesta was discovered a half-dozen years after Ceres by the German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers. Distant observations reveal a somewhat spherical shape with a surface of frozen lava that oozed from a hot interior shortly after Vesta formed.

At Vesta's south pole is a large crater that was gouged out by a collision with another asteroid. Some of the material blasted away from Vesta by the powerful impact may have reached the Earth as meteorites.

Technorati : Mission, asteroids', designed unlock, secrets

New frontier for DNA team: A bar code for every animal

2007-09-16T16:00:00.001-07:00

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Step into a forest in southern Ontario and a dizzying array of diversity pummels the senses: ferns line a stream, songbirds flit overhead, lichen pepper a tree stump, a mosquito finds the soft flesh on your arm.

Unless you have a degree in taxonomy, identifying all of the flora and fauna is an insurmountable task.

University of Guelph scientists hope to change that using something retail stores have relied on for years: bar codes. Researchers at the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario are starting to assign a unique DNA identifier in the form of a genetic bar code to every animal species on the planet.

They are not alone in their quest. Since the idea was first published in 2003 by University of Guelph professor Paul Hebert, DNA bar coding has been adopted by 160 organizations in 50 countries and more than 31,000 species have been coded.

Experts believe it has a host of applications, from catching agricultural pests at the border to quickly identifying disease-carrying mosquitos.

It will help researchers discover species and trace evolutionary patterns, says David Schindel, executive secretary of the Consortium for the Barcode of Life, at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. and host of next week's second international Barcode of Life conference in Taipei.

Scientists are bar-coding as many species as possible in an effort to create a global reference library, says Schindel.

Much like a fingerprint database, DNA bar-coding only works if there is a comprehensive catalogue from which to compare samples.

Barcoding will soon allow scientists to quickly identify hard-to-distinguish species within hours, rather than days. Taxonomists usually use physical characteristics, such as colour markings, to classify an animal. But that won't always work; scientists may only have a small piece of an organism to work with.

When dead birds carrying avian flu washed up on the shores of Scotland, it took weeks to identify the species as swans because they were so decomposed, Schindel says.

"If we could have bar-coded the species, we would have known what they were within a day and, possibly, where they came from," he says. "It would have been a big help for public health officials."

Hebert, who holds a Canada Research Chair in molecular biology, had long thought DNA could be used to identify species.

Scanning an animal's entire genome would cost too much and take too long, so he pinpointed a short piece of DNA - a section of a gene called cytochrome c oxidase 1, or CO1 - that could distinguish one animal from an other. It was a successful hunch, though it can't be used for plants.

"The results of the first wave of studies have been so positive that the plan to bar code all life is simply irresistible," Hebert wrote in an email while travelling in Korea.

He believes 500,000 animal species will be bar-coded within five years.

The Biodiversity Institute of Ontario, which opened in May, houses the world's leading DNA bar-code facility. Robert Hanner, an assistant professor at the University of Guelph and co-ordinator of the Fish Barcode of Life Campaign, says the lab is able to code between 12,000 and 20,000 samples a month, for $2 a sample.

Agricultural groups have approached them to bar-code insects that affect Ontario crops, he says.

Critics say DNA bar-coding isn't nearly as accurate as promised.

Felix Sperling, a biology professor at the University of Alberta, points out bar coding seems to work best for identifying species, such as birds, that are easy to distinguish by physical characteristics.

It does not work as well for other plant and animal groups, such as lichen, fungi and parasitic insects, he adds.

That doesn't bother Spencer Barrett, a University of Toronto professor of evolutionary biology, who is looking for a piece of DNA that can be used to distinguish plant species.

"The next big frontier, the next big scientific question, is to identify all of the biodiversity on Earth," he says, noting only 1.7 million species have been named of some 20 million to 30 million species.

HOW IT WORKS

Scientists only need DNA from a single gene to identify most species of animals on Earth.

• First, a tissue sample is collected and sent to a lab, where DNA can be extracted.

• The target piece of DNA - a portion of a gene called cytochrome c oxidase 1 (CO1) - is copied many times, using a technique called polymerase chain reaction.

• The copies are sequenced to determine the exact order of the four base pairs (A,T,C,G) within the strand of DNA, which generates the specific barcode for that species.

• The barcode information, along with the animal's taxonomic name, photos, GPS co-ordinates of where it was found, and other distinguishing characteristics, are entered into the Barcode of Life data system. It's accessible to anyone at www.barcodinglife.org.

PROMISING APPLICATIONS

• Quickly identifying species of mosquitos that carry diseases, including those that carry West Nile virus or malaria.

• Checking for consumer products made from endangered plants or animals.

• Identifying invasive insect pests on agricultural shipments going in and out of Canada

• Environmental monitoring - mapping how birds shift breeding territories in response to global warming, for example.

• Tracing unwanted plant and animal ingredients in foods.

Technorati : DNA bar code

The ecosystem of the mobile phone and iPhone,

2007-09-16T13:13:00.001-07:00

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Just 74 days after launching its iPhone, Apple announced it had already sold 1 million of the things - a milestone that its previous blockbuster product, the iPod, took almost two years to reach.

And yet, to judge by the industry's chatter, the iPhone is already old news. More excitement swirls around rumours that Google, the Web-search giant that is Apple's neighbour in Silicon Valley, could enter the market with its own "gPhone." Google's boss, Eric Schmidt, has already said that the firm plans to bid for a prime slice of the wireless spectrum in a forthcoming auction, something Apple is also said to be considering.

In short, both mobile operators and handset-makers could soon be confronted with two of the world's sexiest brands as direct rivals. Publicly, Apple and Google are being diplomatic.

The industry is a stool with three legs - network service, devices, and the software and content that goes on them - and "I don't think any player in the ecosystem trying to glue it all together will be very successful," says Dipchand Nishar, who leads Google's mobile-phone strategy.

By this he may simply be conceding the obvious, which is that Google would not build hardware, even if it made the other two legs.

But Google seems to be up to something. It bought a company called Android in 2005 that specializes in mobile-phone software. It has Google Talk, a free Internet-calling service. In July it bought GrandCentral Communications, a firm that gives users one single phone number for life. And it recently filed a patent application for a new mobile-payment technology.

It would certainly be tempting to tie all these bits together into a new software "platform" for mobile phones and offer it to handset-makers as an alternative to existing smart-phone operating systems such as Symbian, Palm or Microsoft's Windows Mobile.

Naturally, Google's search, email and document services would be tightly integrated, along with its advertising technologies, which might pave the way for mobile service that is partly or wholly subsidized by advertising.

As a strategy, this might be just different enough from Apple's to assure harmony with its ally.

It would suit neither firm to open hostilities. So Google may concentrate on software for cheaper, mass-market devices, leaving Apple to make elegant, high-end hardware.

Technorati : ecosystem

IBM researchers arrange 60-nanometer gold particles to re-create a work of Renaissance art

2007-09-16T08:23:00.001-07:00

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Researchers from IBM's Zurich Research Lab and Switzerland's ETH Zurich science and technology university today announced the development of a dramatic new printing process that can manipulate nanosize particles to create larger images. The new technology promises to allow scientists, medical professionals and technologists to for the first time place particles smaller than 100 nanometers precisely where they are needed.

The process, which likely will not be commercially available for several years, is expected to have the most dramatic impact in the fields of biomedicine, electronics and information technology. It will help advance the development of nanoscale biosensors and ultratiny lenses that can bend light inside future optical chips as well as the fabrication of nanowires that could be used to build more advanced computer chips,
"This process is more reliable than any process before it at depositing particles," says Heiko Wolf, a researcher in nanopatterning at IBM's Zurich Research Lab who worked on this project with five other IBM and ETH Zurich colleagues.

The researchers are the first to print particles as tiny as 60 nanometers, more than 33,000 times smaller than a pinhead. In "dots per inch," the measurement used to indicate the number of individual spots of ink printed on a certain area, the nanoprinting method yields a resolution of 100,000 dots of print, or dpi, compared with the 1,500 dpi of common offset printing.

The research utilizes the principles behind printing technology to more efficiently place nanoparticles onto a surface. Scientists demonstrated the efficiency and versatility of their method by using it to print a copy of 17th-century mystic philosopher Robert Fludd's image of the sun (the alchemist's symbol for gold) using about 20,000 gold particles, each of them 60 nanometers in diameter. The printing method placed one particle per dot to create the tiniest piece of artwork ever printed from single pigment particles.

Still just a conceptual construct, the nanoprinting process could be applied to biomedicine to help screen for diseases by graphically illustrating the locations of, say, cancer cells or heart attack markers in a patient's body.

In the information technology world, nanoprinting could be used to achieve the controlled placement of catalytic seed particles for growing semiconducting nanowires. Such nanowires are promising candidates for future transistors in microchips. "We were looking to find some technique to grow a nanowire," Wolf says, "where you want one to grow."

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are also experimenting with a form of nanoscale printing called nanolithography, which may lead to the production of nanopatterned structures, including nanocircuits, that may be useful in a variety of fields, including electronics, nanofluidics and medicine. Once perfected, nanolithography could be used to draw nanocircuits for the electronics industry, create nanochannels for nanofluidics devices or be adapted for drug delivery or biosensing technologies.

Technorati : nanometer

IBM researchers arrange 60-nanometer gold particles to re-create a work of Renaissance art

2007-09-16T08:22:00.001-07:00

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Technorati : nanometer

New Negatively-Charged Molecule Discovered

2007-09-16T07:46:00.001-07:00

Astronomers using data from the National Science Foundation's Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) have found the largest negatively-charged molecule yet seen in space. The discovery of the third negatively-charged molecule, called an anion, in less than a year and the size of the latest anion will force a drastic revision of theoretical models of interstellar chemistry, the astronomers say.

"This discovery continues to add to the diversity and complexity that is already seen in the chemistry of interstellar space," said Anthony J. Remijan of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). "It also adds to the number of paths available for making the complex organic molecules and other large molecular species that may be precursors to life in the giant clouds from which stars and planets are formed," he added.

A team of scientists from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) found negatively-charged octatetraynyl in a cold, dark cloud of molecular gas. A second team headed by Remijan found octatetraynyl in the envelope of gas around an old, evolved star. In both cases the molecule, a chain of eight carbon atoms and one hydrogen atom, had an extra electron, giving it a negative charge.

About 130 neutral and about a dozen positively-charged molecules have been discovered in space, but the first negatively-charged molecule was not discovered until late last year. The largest previously-discovered negative ion found in space has six carbon atoms and one hydrogen atom.

Ultraviolet light from stars can knock an electron off a molecule, creating a positively-charged ion. Astronomers had thought that molecules would not be able to retain an extra electron, and thus a negative charge, in interstellar space for a significant time. "That obviously is not the case," said Mike McCarthy of the CfA. "Anions are surprisingly abundant in these regions."

"Until recently, many theoretical models of how chemical reactions evolve in interstellar space have largely neglected the presence of anions. This can no longer be the case, and this means that there are many more ways to build large organic molecules in cosmic environments than have been explored," said Jan M. Hollis of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).

Remijan and his colleagues found the octatetraynyl anions in the envelope of the evolved giant star IRC +10 216, about 550 light-years from Earth in the constellation Leo. They found radio waves emitted at specific frequencies characteristic of the charged molecule by searching archival data from the GBT, the largest fully-steerable radio telescope in the world.

Another team from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics found the same characteristic emission when they observed a cold cloud of molecular gas called TMC-1 in the constellation Taurus. These observations also were done with the GBT. In both cases, preceding laboratory experiments by the CfA team showed which radio frequencies actually are emitted by the molecule, and thus told the astronomers what to look for.

"It is essential that likely interstellar molecule candidates are first studied in laboratory experiments so that the radio frequencies they can emit are known in advance of an astronomical observation," said Frank Lovas of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Both teams announced their results in the July 20 edition of the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

"With three negatively-charged molecules now found in a short period of time, and in very different environments, it appears that many more probably exist. We believe that we can discover more new species using very sensitive and advanced radio telescopes such as the GBT, once they have been characterized in the laboratory," said Sandra Bruenken of the CfA.

"Further detailed studies of anions, including astronomical observations, laboratory studies, and theoretical calculations, will allow us to use them to reveal new information about the physical and chemical processes going on in interstellar space," said Martin Cordiner, of Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

"The GBT continues to take a leading role in discovering, identifying and mapping the distribution of the largest molecules ever found in astronomical environments and will continue to do so for the next several decades," said Phil Jewell of NRAO.

In addition to Hollis, Lovas, Cordiner and Jewell, Remijan worked with Tom Millar of Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Andrew Markwick-Kemper of the University of Manchester in the UK.

Bruenken worked with McCarthy, Harshal Gupta, Carl Gottlieb, and Patrick Thaddeus, all of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

MORE NEWS.....

Astronomers have detected negatively charged molecules in space for the first time, suggesting the molecules may be more common than previously thought.

Previously, about 130 different neutral molecules and 14 positively charged molecules had been identified in space - but no negatively charged molecules were found.

Conventional wisdom held that these were rare because ultraviolet radiation from starlight would tend to strip away extra electrons, leaving behind only positive ions.

Now, astronomers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, have found a negatively charged molecule in two nearby regions within the Milky Way. Composed of six carbon atoms, a hydrogen atom, and an extra electron, it is called a hexatriyne anion, or C6H-.

Curiously, the anion was found in two very different environments - a gas shell around the dying, red giant star IRC+10216 and the cold molecular cloud TMC-1, both of which lie about 500 light years from Earth.

Unknown cause

It is not yet clear what physical process actually led to the molecule's formation in those locations. "That's the point we're desperately eager to find out," says team member Patrick Thaddeus of the CfA.

The molecule may have formed in these gaseous regions after an extra proton was bumped off the neutral molecule hexatriyne, C6H2, or by an electron attaching to the neutral molecule C6H. The anion is present in both sources at a level of between 1% and 5% that of the neutral molecule C6H.

One clue to its formation may come from its size; C6H- is composed of more atoms than many of the neutral molecules that have been found in space.

"It was considered crazy that the first negatively charged molecule we found in space would be such a big molecule," Thaddeus says.

This large size may increase the molecule's stability. Previous research suggests electrons can attach themselves quite efficiently to carbon molecules when the molecules are composed of at least six carbon atoms.

Lurking undetected

To make the find, the CfA astronomers pored over data collected 11 years ago by Kentarou Kawaguchi at Okayama University in Japan. Kawaguchi's team found a series of spectral lines that could not be assigned to any known molecule in IRC+10216.

Back in the lab, the CfA team found the spectral lines matched C6H-. They then used the Green Bank Telescope to verify that the molecule was present in the red giant and in TMC-1.

The find suggests other negatively charged molecules are lurking in space and have not been detected because previous searches have focused on more diffuse gas clouds where the anions are not concentrated enough to produce a signal.

"This is a whole area of astrochemistry that we've just kind of been missing," says Robert McMahon, a chemist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, US, who was not involved in the study.

Team member Michael McCarthy of the CfA says the researchers will search them out by first studying the spectral signatures of large anions, like C6H-, in the laboratory.

They have already found C4H- and C8H- in the lab and are now trying to find the molecules' signatures in space. The team says they may find these anions in IRC+10216 and TMC-1, since neutral or positively charged variations of these molecules have already been observed in the regions.

Technorati : Discovered, Molecule, Negatively-, New

Prions May Activate Retroviruses In Infected Brain Cells

2007-09-16T03:17:00.001-07:00

This micrograph of brain tissue reveals the cytoarchitectural histopathologic changes found in bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

In work originating from the Bavarian Research Cooperation Prions (FORPRION), which ended in 2007, a team led by the scientist Prof. Dr. Christine Leib-Mösch has been able to show that prion proteins may activate endogenous retroviruses in infected brain cells.

In the Institute of Molecular Virology of the GSF - National Research Center for Environment and Health in Neuherberg/Munich (Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres) the group is continuing to search for cellular components whose make-up is changed as a result of a prion infection. In collaboration with colleagues from the Technical University of Munich and the University of Heidelberg, the group used micro-array technologies - micro-arrays are chips with thousands or tens of thousands of DNA or protein probes - and could demonstrate that the expression of endogenous retroviruses is influenced by infectious prion proteins in tests with mouse cells.

Prions - an abbreviation for proteinaceous infectious particles - work as a trigger to a set of diseases of the brain and nervous system, the so-called spongiform encephalopathies. These include BSE in cattle, scrapie in sheep and Creutzfeldt Jakob's Disease in humans. Prions are structural variants of a normal protein found in healthy tissues - especially in the brain.

The devastating effect of infectious prions is that, once they have entered the organism, they can modify the normal "healthy" prion proteins to create more infectious prions, and thus cause the illness to progress. However, as yet, little is known about the molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis, the role of co-factors and the interaction of prion proteins with cellular components.

Retroviruses insert their genetic information into the genome of host cells. In the case of endogenous retroviruses, this involves retroviral infections from long ago, which were transmitted through many generations by means of the germ line. Nearly ten percent of the genome of mice and humans consists of endogenous retroviral sequences that have accumulated during the course of evolution. Indeed, most structural genes of endogenous retroviruses are inactive, but many regulatory elements, such as binding sites for transcription factors, often remain active and can influence neighbouring cellular genes.

The GSF scientists infected mouse neural cells kept in culture with infectious prion proteins and subsequently analysed the expression patterns of endogenous retroviruses. The results showed that the expression of a set of endogenous retroviral sequences is influenced by the prion infection: in comparison with uninfected cells, the expression partly increased but also partly decreased - depending on the cell line and the type of endogenous retroviruses. These effects could be suppressed by pentosan-polysulphate, an anti-prion drug, which means that the influence of the expression can be attributed to the prions and not to some secondary effects.

These observations suggest that prion proteins may stimulate the production of retroviral particles by activation of endogenous retroviruses. Subsequently, these retrovirus-like particles could transport prion proteins from cell to cell, and thus spread the infection.

These studies were carried out within the scope of the "Bavarian Research Cooperation Prions" (FORPRION) in the Association of Bavarian Research Cooperations. FORPRION was founded in 2001 following the appearance of the first BSE cases in Bavaria and was financed equally from the budgets of the Bavarian State Ministry for Science, Research and Art, and the Bavarian State Ministry of Health Food and Consumer Affairs.

Through basic and applied research the consortium aims to make progress in the diagnosis and therapy of human and animal prion diseases, as well as in the field of preventive consumer protection. FORPRION linked up 25 projects, based at five Bavarian universities and in institutes of the Max Planck Society. The financial support of the Bavarian Research Cooperation Prions FORPRION ended in June, 2007.

MORE NEWS......

A team led by the scientist Prof. Dr. Christine Leib-Mösch of the Bavarian Research Cooperation Prions (FORPRION), which ended in 2007, has confirmed that prion proteins may activate endogenous retroviruses in infected brain cells.

Nearly ten percent of the genome of mice and humans consists of endogenous retroviral sequences that have accumulated during the course of evolution. Indeed, most structural genes of endogenous retroviruses are inactive, but many regulatory elements, such as binding sites for transcription factors, often remain active and can influence neighbouring cellular genes.

Technorati : Activat, Brain, Cells, Infected, Prions, Retroviruses