Alicia Witt Radha Mitchell Melissa Rycroft Chloë Sevigny Janet Jackson
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Pulitzer Podcast: Bernstein & Eisinger on Wall Street, Magnetar, CDOs
ProPublica won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for its series, ?The Wall Street Money Machine.? Its lead reporters, Jake Bernstein and Jesse Eisinger, take a moment to explain the series, how it all started and their reaction after reeling in ProPublica?s second Pulitzer. Theirs was� the first Pultizer� awarded to a body of work [...]
Readers pick best webcomic: Tool of Destruction
Second and third place went to Nerf Now's "Potato" and xkcd's "Heaven," respectively. If you've got a strip you'd like to see in the next Wrapup, don't be shy! Drop a link in the comments, or send in a tip!
Asia Argento Charisma Carpenter Hilarie Burton Kelly Carlson Sara Foster
The Allstate's CEO Discusses Q1 2011 Results - Earnings Call Transcript
The Allstate (ALL)
Q1 2011 Earnings Call
April 28, 2011 9:00 am ET
Executives
Robert Block - VP IR
Judith Greffin - Chief Investment Officer of Allstate Insurance Company and Executive Vice President of Allstate Insurance Company
Thomas Wilson - Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, President, Chairman of Executive Committee, Member of Equity Award Committee, Chairman of The Allstate Insurance Company, Chief Executive Officer of The Allstate Insurance Company and President of The Allstate insurance Company
Don Civgin - Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer of Allstate Insurance Company and Executive Vice President of Allstate Insurance Company
Matthew Winter - Chief Executive Officer of Allstate Financial, President of Allstate Financial and Executive Vice President of Allstate Insurance Company
Joseph Lacher - President of Allstate Protection - Allstate Insurance Company and Executive Vice President of Allstate Insurance Company
Analysts
Harry Fong - Soleil Securities Group, Inc.
Dan Farrell -
Complete Story »
Ivanka Trump Blake Lively Christina Applegate Shana Hiatt Tara Conner
Facebook takedown followup: what happened, and what Facebook needs to fix
Facebook has reinstated a number of sites' Facebook pages that were taken down due to bogus copyright claims this week. The company issued an apology for the inconvenience and says that DMCA notice abuse is an issue that Facebook takes seriously, but serious questions still remain about the effectiveness of Facebook's process for dealing with complaints.
"We have invested significant resources into creating a dedicated team that uses specialized tools, systems and technology to review and properly handle intellectual property notices. This system evaluates a number of factors when deciding how to respond and, in many cases, we require the reporter to provide additional information before we can take action. As a result of these efforts, the vast majority of intellectual property notices that we receive are handled without incident," Facebook spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter told Ars on Thursday evening.
"Of course, no system is perfect and we are always striving to improve our practices. As such, we will be considering the results of our investigation into this matter as we continue to refine our systems and procedures."
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Kelly Ripa Yvonne Strzechowski Rhona Mitra Kelly Rowland Danica Patrick
PopCap buys ZipZapPlay for Facebook expansion
ZipZapPlay CEO Curt Bererton (pictured, being eaten by the dragon couch) and CCO Mathilde Pignol will stay on at the San Francisco studio of 17 employees. The company will retain its name and will report to PopCap's social games VP. PopCap expects to have "four or five" games total on Facebook by the end of this year, which includes the already-released Bejeweled Blitz, Zuma Blitz and ZZP's Baking Life.
Continue reading PopCap buys ZipZapPlay for Facebook expansion
Jessica White Anna Friel Monica Bellucci Minki van der Westhuizen Katharine Towne
Blog Post: Battalion? Brigade? Get Your Echelon Map Symbol Modifiers Here!
Gotta have echelon symbols above your map symbols. Here's what they look like:
Check out the.zip file to download 'em.
DK
Fallout: New Vegas patch being patched on Xbox 360, decline update for now
It's not clear what will happen to save files for people who already downloaded the broken patch, but the company recommends users "decline the update until the new one is live." We've followed up with the publisher for more details.
Update: Bethesda has posted that the update for English regions should go live later tonight. For other languages, the wait is going to be a bit longer. The company will update when it has a better idea.
Diora Baird Laura Prepon Ashley Scott Michelle Behennah Julie Benz
Feature: It's unfinished, but we definitely want more: Ars reviews RIM's PlayBook
RIM, the venerable business smartphone vendor, has entered the tablet market with the official launch of its BlackBerry PlayBook. The seven-inch slate ships with a new operating system that pairs the QNX kernel with a custom user interface. The PlayBook is designed as a companion device for a tethered BlackBerry handset, which it relies upon for messaging and other productivity applications.
The PlayBook hardware is impressive and the user interface is compelling, but the product has some major limitations that will significantly impair its mainstream appeal. Rough edges aside, the PlayBook is still extremely significant because it offers a first look at the future of RIM's platform—the company has already said that its QNX-based tablet operating system will serve as the basis for future versions of the BlackBerry smartphone operating system.
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Fergie Ivanka Trump Blake Lively Christina Applegate Shana Hiatt
Foxconn workers arrested for leaking iPad 2 design before launch
Three Foxconn employees were arrested in late 2010 for violating Apple's trade secret agreement and leaking details about the design of the iPad 2, and were charged this week. All three of the employees were arrested in China in December, over three months before the iPad 2 was unveiled by Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
The alleged leaks let accessory makers create designs, some of which were very close to what the final product was, including the rounded back, camera location and new speaker location.
Foxconn is a major producer of Apple products like the iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air but made headlines last years after a slew of suicides at their factories.
It was then reported that worker's families were making more money from the suicide compensation than the workers were making in three years of labored salary.
Emmanuelle Vaugier Sarah Silverman Larissa Meek Gina Carano Sanaa Lathan
Samsung continues barrage against Apple with new lawsuit in the US
Samsung has launched another counterattack against Apple's patent, trademark, and trade dress lawsuit in the form of a US patent suit filed in California this week. The lawsuit comes after three patent suits were filed in Europe and Asia last Friday, in counter to Apple's lawsuit filed earlier this month.
Apple targeted Samsung with a major lawsuit on April 18. The company claimed that Samsung's Galaxy-series of Android-based smartphones and tablets infringe on Apple's iOS-related software, hardware, and design patents, as well as iOS-related trademarks and trade dress. In addition to claiming Samsung copied the iPhone's physical design, Apple noted that the TouchWiz interface violated design patents and trademarks, and even copied the iPhone trade dress down to its box design.
"Rather than innovate and develop its own technology and a unique Samsung style for its smart phone products and computer tablets, Samsung chose to copy Apple's technology, user interface and innovative style in these infringing products," Apple wrote in its complaint.
Later that week, Apple COO Tim Cook explained that while Apple enjoys a good relationship with Samsung as a component supplier, its mobile communication division had "crossed the line" with the Galaxy S, Galaxy Tab, and its TouchWiz Android mod. "After trying for some time to work on the issue, we decided we needed to rely on the courts," Cook told analysts during the company's most recent quarterly earnings call.
Days later, Samsung filed three separate patent infringement lawsuits in South Korea, Japan, and Germany. Those lawsuits allege that Apple's iPhone uses Samsung intellectual property to connect to and improve communications with cell towers. Samsung implied that Apple was trying to bully a successful competitor, with company chairman Lee Kun-hee telling the press that "[w]hen a nail sticks out, [people] try to pound it down."
Samsung's US lawsuit targets the iPhone, which allegedly violates 10 Samsung patents that "relate to fundamental innovations that increase mobile device reliability, efficiency, and quality, and improve user interface in mobile handsets and other products." Though Apple has an extensive patent portfolio of its own, Bloomberg News noted that Samsung was awarded the second largest number of US patents in 2010 (IBM was at the top of the list).
Apple is no stranger to smartphone-related patent fights; the company is currently involved in lawsuits with HTC, Nokia, and Motorola, following through on its January 2010 warning to handset makers that it was prepared to file lawsuits over iPhone-related IP.
UPDATE: Former IP attorney Nilay Patel got his hands on Samsung's complaint and looked at the patents it is asserting against Apple. Seven are UMTS/W-CMDA "3G" related, while three are UI-related. Patel's analysis suggests that the seven 3G patents could be trumped by FRAND requirements if "essential" to 3G technology, or otherwise difficult to prove that the iPhone infringes. The UI-related patents seem fairly weak and "anti-climatic" compared to Apple's lawsuit, Patel wrote.
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Kylie Bax Diora Baird Laura Prepon Ashley Scott Michelle Behennah
Friday, April 29, 2011
Five Ways You Can Embrace Earth Day Every Day
In honor of Earth Day, here are some ways your business can cut back on consuming natural resources and help preserve the planet.
April Scott Mia Kirshner Elisabeth Röhm Lily Allen Emmanuelle Chriqui
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