My Writings. My Thoughts.

EMI revolving door: Leoni-Sceti out. Allen in.

// March 10th, 2010 // No Comments » // p2p

p2pnet view Music:- EMI isn’t in dire straits, despite the massive $3,012,441,629 millstone (more than three billion dollars) hanging around its neck and the fact Warner is once again casting a covetous eye upon it. Au contraire, according to the Big 4 organised music cartel’s IFPI , “Over the past two and a half years, EMI Music has become a stronger and growing company, with a talented senior team, significant creative success and a more rigorous approach to marketing and operations. This has resulted in increased sales, improved market share and industry-leading EBITDA margins.” But its revolving door is still turning. From then to now … In the spring of 2007, “Terra Firma plans to “build on EMI’s current position as one of the world’s leading music companies and accelerate the development of its digital and online strategy,” said Guy Hands (top). His Terra Firma Capital Partners was buying EMI Group Plc for £2.4 billion ( $4.7 billion ). A year later  Douglas Merrill quit his job as CIO of the net’s largest advertising company, Google, to  become president of EMI saying,  it’s a, “ poor business model to sue your customers. I don’t think that’s a sustainable strategy.” By March, 2009, he was gone and Guy Hands had resigned as CEO to “focus on running the private equity firm’s companies which include troubled EMI and dealing with its investors,” said the Independent , going on: “Tim Pryce, who will assume the role of chief executive, is another founder member of Terra Firma. He worked with Mr Hands at Nomura, and is a member of the group’s investment advisory and remuneration committees as well as general counsel.” Next up as CEO was Elio Leoni-Sceti who “successfully led EMI Music through the first phase of its operational turnaround,” according to the IFPI. Leoni-Sceti had worked on such music industry projects as Veet hair remover and Finish dishwasher tablets. He didn’t last long and leading the new talented senior team is former Charles Allen (bottom), “recruited by Guy Hands” as non-executive chairman in 2009, said the Guardian . Digital platform “Elio has done a great job”, says Allen in the IFPI puff piece. What now? “I will support and guide the group’s strong team, keep EMI’s focus on creativity and superb A&R, and deliver a digital platform”, says Allen. Ahhh. A digital platform “This is a great business – our task is to ensure it has a great future.” EMI artists will no doubt be thrilled to learn that. Stay tuned. - … .. … and identi.ca More First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi $3,012,441,629 millstone – EMI $3,012,441,629 in the hole, February 8, 2010 covetous eye – Warner, EMI: soon to be wed?, February 10, 2010 IFPI – Charles Allen becomes Executive Chairman of EMI Music, March 10, 2010 Guardian – Former ITV chief Charles Allen joins EMI, January 16, 2009 $4.7 billion – EMI sold for $4.7 billion, May 21, 2007 quit his job – Google guy jumps ship to run EMI, April 2, 2008 poor business model – Don`t sue, new EMI boss tells Big Music, April 3, 2008 Independent – Hands resigns from top job at Terra Firma, March 18, 2009 Veet hair remover – EMI to step up attacks on its customers, February 23, 2009 Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. Subscribe to - | | rss feed: http://-/feed -? - Click here to learn what technologies might help you bypass censorshiop in your area.

feature: True story: the making of the Terminator’s laser-sighted .45 pistol

// March 9th, 2010 // No Comments » // Tech News

One of the most striking images from The Terminator was the weapon he carried and used in his first attempt on Sarah Connor’s life: the .45 Longslide, with laser sighting. Who can forget the scene in the gun shop? The gun was likewise such a striking presence on screen it was used on the film’s poster. There are T-shirts dedicated to the gun . Terminator was released in 1984, and while laser sights on weapons are common now, when the film was first shown the red laser was able to communicate something subtle and powerful to the audience: this is a machine, deadly accurate and futuristic. It made the Terminator seem other-worldly and terrifying. At a party during CES, Deputy Editor Jon Stokes and I bumped into some representatives from SureFire , a company that specializes in tactical flashlights. We talked about some of our favorite moments with technology in cinema, and The Terminator came up. “We created that laser!” I was told. They told me the gentleman who built the prop was named Ed Reynolds, and he was still with the company. More than a little jazzed about bumping into a fun part of film history, we knew we had to get the full story behind the Terminator’s gun. Read the comments on this post

HTC lawsuit came after warning by Apple to handset makers

// March 9th, 2010 // No Comments » // Tech News

Apple COO Tim Cook’s warning from early 2009 wasn’t the only one that handset makers received before Apple sicced the lawyers on HTC last week. According to a research note from Oppenheimer analyst Yal Reiner, Apple began warning top executives at companies such as HTC and Motorola in January that it wasn’t too happy about seeing allegedly iPhone-related IP showing up in proposed new products. According to “industry checks,” Cook’s comments last January during the quarterly analyst call—that Apple “will not stand for having our IP ripped off, and we’ll use whatever weapons that we have at our disposal”—were taken seriously by the likes of LG, Samsung, and even Nokia. Though the Palm Pre openly flaunted multitouch capabilities (what most handset makers believed were at the heart of Cook’s warning), its sales numbers haven’t proven to be much of a concern for Apple so far. Read the comments on this post

MRI’s successes put the brain on trial

// March 9th, 2010 // No Comments » // Tech News

A typical neuroscience paper (or a typical report on one) is a laundry list of structure:function relationships between brain regions and the mental tasks they perform. The amygdala deals with registering rewards, the hippocampus handles memory, and so on. These relationships have been the result of over a century of work, starting with rare cases of brain injury and building through modern medical imaging, which can detect ever-smaller lesions and associate neural activity with specific cognitive processes. Doctors routinely rely on the combination of brain imaging and structure:function relationships for diagnostic purposes, but is wider society willing to trust it in the courtroom, where it might make the difference between guilt and innocence? That question was handled in a rather unusual manner at the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science: a mock trial. Most other panels consisted of a set of scientists who each gave a fairly standard presentation. This one was presided over by Louis Rodriguez, an Orange County Superior Court Judge, and featured a law school professor and a practicing attorney, each with a neuroscientist as an expert witness. Although the proceedings were heavily scripted, anyone who’s sat through a jury trial would recognize that they were a reasonable attempt to approximate a normal courtroom experience. Read the comments on this post

Facebook’s location feature expected to launch next month

// March 9th, 2010 // No Comments » // Tech News

Facebook is allegedly planning to roll out location sharing capabilities next month, once again playing catch-up to other services that have gained popularity thanks to location data. The rumor comes courtesy of anonymous sources who have been “briefed on the project” speaking to the New York Times , who said that Facebook will announce the feature at Facebook’s annual f8 conference in late April. The company’s plans for such a feature have not been entirely secret—Facebook hinted at location features when it updated its privacy policy in November. Like other postings made to Facebook, location information will only be made available to the people you decide to broadcast it to. “When you share your location with others or add a location to something you post, we treat that like any other content you post,” reads the policy . “If we offer a service that supports this type of location sharing we will present you with an opt-in choice of whether you want to participate.” The location features will come in the form of an API for third-party developers and from Facebook, according to the Times ‘ sources. The feature will undoubtedly be popular among many of Facebook’s 400 million users, as it has already proven itself with other services. For example, Twitter added geolocation to its API last year, not to mention that Foursquare , Brightkite , Google Latitude , and Loopt have all built their success solely upon the use of user location data. Needless to say, it’s not something that will be new to the Web, though it probably will be new to a sizable chunk of Facebook’s audience. Let’s just hope the company rolls it out the right way, as implied by its privacy policy, and doesn’t end up broadcasting everyone’s locations to the world by default. Read the comments on this post

Microsoft browser ballot gives Opera, Firefox a boost

// March 9th, 2010 // No Comments » // Tech News

The Microsoft browser ballot released this month to Windows users in the EU is already doing Microsoft’s rivals a favor. Two of the major competitors to Internet Explorer have seen an increase in downloads, while the other two are not willing to share data. We contacted the makers of Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Opera; here’s what they had to say. Opera, the Norwegian browser maker that first filed a complaint with the European Union in December 2007 , accusing Microsoft of violating EU antitrust law by bundling IE with Windows, is pleased with the progress its browser is making. “Since the browser choice screen rollout, Opera downloads have more than tripled in major European countries, such as Belgium, France, Spain, Poland, and the UK,” an Opera spokesperson told Ars. The company said it currently did not have more detailed numbers but plans on sharing more as they become available. Mozilla, which has a particularly solid foothold in Europe , was slightly more specific in the progress it was seeing with its browser downloads. “Early data suggests 50,000 to 100,000 new users chose Firefox as a direct result of seeing the Ballot Choice screen,” a Mozilla spokesperson told Ars. “We expect these numbers will increase as the Ballot Choice rolls out in additional countries and will share updated metrics as they become available.” Apple did not respond at all, and while Google was happy to respond, the company wouldn’t get specific: “We generally don’t share download stats on that granular of a level,” a Google spokesperson told Ars. The company did not respond to a follow-up question if Chrome saw an increase in number of downloads period. While Apple and Google haven’t said much, we think it’s likely that both have also seen a bump in the number of downloads of their browsers. Hundreds of thousands of users who may not have known of a world outside of Internet Explorer are being confronted with the alternatives. The browser ballot will be presented on Windows computers across the EU for at least the next five years. Microsoft’s rivals are, however, already pushing to have it appear outside of Europe as well. Read the comments on this post

The Internet of tomorrow: 100Gbps to your house by 2030

// March 9th, 2010 // No Comments » // Tech News

Google’s recent announcement of a 1Gbps fiber-to-the-home testbed has communities across the US salivating —but imagine what the Internet might be like if that connection to your home were even faster. Say… 100Gbps. In less than 20 years, such speeds will be possible, but only for companies who installed the right sort of fiber architecture. The UK telecoms regulator Ofcom commissioned a lengthy report on the future of fiber (PDF) (or “fibre,” in this case) from the firm Analysys Mason. In it, the company sketched out the future of fiber capacity with a pair of handy charts. Both are clear: between 2025 and 2030, shared fiber tech will be able to offer 10Gpbs to each user; individual fiber can offer a full 100Gbps. Whether ISPs will support it or not is a separate question. Read the comments on this post

FileMaker Pro goes to 11, admits people like spreadsheets

// March 9th, 2010 // No Comments » // Tech News

Apple subsidiary FileMaker has released version 11 of its flagship FileMaker Pro database. The updated software purports to make building and maintaining databases even easier, while acknowledging that many users are accustomed to using spreadsheets for database purposes by including pivot table-like reporting and Excel-like charting features. FileMaker Pro Server has also been updated, dropping the simultaneous client access limit for the Advanced version. FileMaker Pro already laid claim to being one of the easiest cross-platform database tools available, but the company added additional features designed to enhance that ease of use. The Quick Start screen has been improved, offering clear ways to begin a new database. You can start from scratch; import existing data in tab or comma-separated files, Excel spreadsheets, or Bento databases; or choose from a number of Starter Solution templates. A new invoicing template has been added in version 11 to make that common business task practically a plug-and-chug operation; customer data can later be linked for other purposes. Read the comments on this post

p2pnet World Headlines: March 9, 2010: 2

// March 9th, 2010 // No Comments » // p2p

Facebook murder: ‘Lessons must be learned’ BBC Lessons must be learned from the “tragic” rape and murder of a 17-year-old girl, the home secretary has said. Alan Johnson said UK and US authorities were working on ways to flag up when a convicted sex offender goes online. Peter Chapman, 33, has been jailed for at least 35 years over the killing of Ashleigh Hall in Sedgefield. The known sex offender met her via Facebook. Google reluctant to release info in Viacom case CNet News Google, the search company that uncovers much of the world’s information for its customers, is embroiled in a fight to keep information about itself under wraps for at least a while longer. Viacom has documents that show David Eun, who oversaw Google’s content partnerships until leaving for AOL recently, was opposed to Google acquiring YouTube, sources said. The owner of YouTube, which is defending itself against a $1 billion copyright lawsuit filed by entertainment giant Viacom, has asked a federal court to keep documents filed in the case under seal for another three months. On Friday, Viacom and Google filed for summary judgment, claiming that there’s enough undisputed evidence for the judge to rule in each party’s favor. Supporting documents were also filed. U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton is expected to rule on when the documents are to be unsealed within the next few days. The Secret Origin of Windows Technologizer Few people understand Microsoft better than Tandy Trower, who worked at the company from 1981-2009. Trower was the product manager who ultimately shipped Windows 1.0, an endeavor that some advised him was a path toward a ruined career. Four product managers had already tried and failed to ship Windows before him, and he initially thought that he was being assigned an impossible task. In this follow-up to yesterday’s story on the future of Windows, Trower recounts the inside story of his experience in transforming Windows from vaporware into a product that has left an unmistakable imprint on the world, 25 years after it was first released. Computer games disguised as Excel and Word prove a hit with office workers Telegraph Computer games disguised as Excel and Word documents which allow office workers to waste time without attracting the attention of their bosses are taking off on the web. In one game, called Leadership, the player must direct a space ship between two lines of a graph. Another involves destroying blocks of the same colour before a wall of bar charts fills the screen, like the cult puzzle game Tetris. A third game Breakdown is derived from the Atari classic Breakout – but with the bricks replaced by dry corporate text. Words in bold and italics must be hit twice to disappear. The Flash games, which launch in plausibly bland pop-up windows, are available to play at the website CantYouSeeImBusy.com which was developed by four programmers in the Netherlands. A tongue-in-cheek counter on the website estimates that the addictive games have already cost the world economy more than €4.5m in lost man hours. Google incident does not break WTO rules China Daily Some NGOs are reportedly accusing the Chinese government of being in breach of its WTO obligations in regulating Google China’s search service and urged the Obama administration to take China to WTO to settle the dispute. Few details are available from news reports, but I would elaborate the case from the legal perspective and I believe that these accusations are groundless, as China’s regulations on Google are within the confines of its domestic laws and accords with its promises to the WTO. Google always enjoys market access and national treatment in China As an Internet search provider, the services Google provides fall into the categories of “online information and data processing” and “online information and data searching”, according to WTO rules and Chinese laws and regulations. China set clear restrictions on the above services in its promises when it was admitted into the WTO. To enjoy full national treatment, foreign companies must set up joint ventures in China and owns no more than 50 percent of the capital. Google China did exactly the same. Lip-reading phones: Sounds of silence CNet News Still getting used to all those people with Bluetooth headsets walking down the street appearing to talk to themselves? Get ready for the still stranger sight of people talking to themselves–without making any noise. Researchers from Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology are working on a system that converts mouth motions into synthesized speech, thus laying the groundwork for soundless cell phone calls (and ironically making us want to screech loudly in delight). - … .. … and identi.ca More First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi March, 2010 Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. Subscribe to - | | rss feed: http://-/feed -? - Click here to learn what technologies might help you bypass censorshiop in your area.

Swedish cops in ‘ollning’ probe

// March 9th, 2010 // No Comments » // p2p

p2pnet view Crime:- Blogging as Farbror Blå (Uncle Blue), a self-professed Swedish cop in southern Sweden “revealed that he and his cop buddy ‘bell-ended’ the door handles, window buttons, gear stick, steering wheel, stereo buttons and the police radio buttons, as well as the receiver used to talk to the operations room” on a car driven by female co-workers, says The Local . Bell-ending, or “ollning”, involves a man touching an object with the end of his penis “and has established itself as a recurring form of practical joke in Sweden”, says the story, quoting the blogger as saying > > > When the girls had driven around for an hour or so in the bell-ended police car we had a chat with them and revealed our bell-ending exploits. Now we know what a facial expression of bleak anxiety looks like,” he wrote, ending his post with a smiley face. Uncle Blue “also wrote in lurid detail about a call-out to a student residence where a mentally unstable young woman allegedly made sexual advances towards both him and his partner”, says the story, adding: “Further blog posts included details of how he shook hands with a man who had just hanged himself, provoking guffaws from his colleagues. He also claimed it felt ‘damn good’ to punch somebody in the mouth. A Skåne county police internal investigations unit has launched a probe, says The Local. - … .. … and identi.ca More First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi The Local – Police probe cop blogger over furtive glans, March 9, 2010 Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. Subscribe to - | | rss feed: http://-/feed -? - Click here to learn what technologies might help you bypass censorshiop in your area.

« Older Entries


eXTReMe Tracker