2011年4月29日星期五

Behind The Curtain Regarding The American Idol Show

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american idol show there are plenty regarding intriguing data you could understand. Many folks believe that the entire present is approximately entertaining and also pleasure it's unidentified merely specifically, the contestants tend to be subjected to, and in addition simply how much period is actually put in rehearsals, agreements in which must be authorized, and also the actual small information on residing overseas regarding many years. Having difficulties in order to arise from your whole encounter because the The american idol show provides despatched quite a few possible performers back sobbing, although the valuable seven have got surfaced victorious.The main factor that many folks don't understand will be the majority of contestants usually do not really see the actual idol judges if they initial audition. You don't consider Simon might view countless auditions? My partner and i would like to individually note that occur, the truth is although as the moment with the most judges is actually seriously constrained per town these people stay in contestants are usually initial needed to audition along with further staff in the display. After they possess approved this particular period they may be transferred alongside to really audition while using most judges. Understandably, it's during this time period that the handful of special individuals are permitted by means of for your utter chance to offer some good amusement once the auditions are let go with regard to tv.Extra items of information that's frequently unfamiliar is the fact that as soon as contestants arrive at Artist they're shelling out hardly any period asleep, actually a shorter period viewing the particular points of interest and also the mass most ofCheap Rosetta Stone Japanese
rising hrs both practicing if not they do one more audition. That is I guess created to determine which contestants possess a pizzazz with regard to not having slumber but still preserving their particular sounds. There were quite a few contestants’ lock up and also burn up with this the main present, although it may seem to be vicious, it may function as an illustration associated with that of a excursion routine might appear to be.Some other shocks which have been holding out available with regard to contestants could be the need to simply select from tunes which were preselected. Several believe that is illegal, however truthfully inside a globe which is full of attorneys and also legitimate loopholes chances are mostly of the steps associated with safety in which The american idol show may be provided. Through constrained the particular track choice to merely people tunes they have authorized they could make certain they are not necessarily suddenly infringing about the copyright laws of some other performer in which they cannot come with an arrangement exercised together with.One last big surprise waiting for you for a lot of contestants could be the deal that they're needed to signal. The american idol show includes a practice of not really permitting contestants approach the particular mass media till once they tend to be selected as from the present. Nonetheless, this kind of agreement stretches somewhat additional. In reality, contestants usually are not permitted to indication together with any saving organization right up until no less than 3 months following your period ending airs. This may look like an enormous deplete for most contestants, nevertheless it's typically non-negotiable. Nonetheless, the actual deal typically will enable contestants who've been kicked in order to signal with a brand new documenting deal should they acquire authorization from your present at the beginning of creating. Making the effort to have this kind of acceptance isn't constantly definitely worth the energy, however it is some thing that's needed is if someone else really wants to truly test striking the record conquer although they're nonetheless clean inside the heads associated with visitors.As you have seen, even though the display seems to be just about all enjoyable as well as game titles in the symptoms which have been introduced, it is in reality not even close to that. For many who handle to achieve success with profitable the actual present hard tasks are worth the work. For anyone contestants that are established to truly help to make some thing regarding by themselves regardless how significantly these people get to the display it's some thing thatCheap Rosetta Stone Korean
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2011年4月28日星期四

Daido Moriyama - Modern Legend

Although Moriyama's work is well known in Nippon where he is one of theCheap Rosetta Stone
country's major photographers, his photography has only been sporadically and incompletely exhibited outside Japan, and it has not received the full critical congratulation it so richly deserves.Born in the port city of Osaka in 1938, Moriyama turned to photography at the age of twenty-one and moved to Tokyo to work with the eminent photographer Eikoh Hosoe. Early in his career, Moriyama became acquainted with the work of both William Klein and Andy Warhol. He appreciated their new vision and transformed it through his own personal perspective. The energy and dynamic modernity Moriyama found in the emotional, even hostile pictures Klein made of his native New York delighted the young Japanese photographer, as did the perception of a voyeuristic media culture in Warhol's work.Moriyama's pictures are taken in the streets of Japan's major cities. Made with a small, hand-held camera, they reveal theCheap Rosetta Stone English
speed with which they were snapped. Often the frame is deliberately not straight, the grain pronounced, and the contrast emphasized. Among his city images are those shot in poorly lit bars, strip clubs, on the streets or in alleyways, with the movement of the subject creating a blurred suggestion of a form rather than a distinct figure.Moriyama's style was also part of this intense period in Japanese art. Much of the work produced in Japan in theater, film, literature, art, and photography appears radical today as it represented a clear disjunction from the past. Japanese artistic production of the 1960s and 1970s was deeply affected by the American occupation and its conflicting messages of democracy and control, of peaceful coexistence, and of the strong American presence in Asia during the Vietnam War.Radical artists, including Moriyama, sought a firm break with the highly regulated Japanese society that was responsible for the war, as well as an affirmation of the vitality of a pre-modern culture that was specifically Japanese. Thus, the pictures Moriyama took of the American Navy base Yokosuka -- reflecting the freedom he saw there -- and the stray dog near the Air Force base at Misawa acknowledge both the exhiliarating newness of the modern experience and its rawness.In the early 1980s, his work moved away from the ambiguity and graininess of his earlier photographs toward a bleaker, more distinct vision, as evidenced in the Light and Shadow series.Moriyama stretches the boundaries of photography and peers into the dark and blurry places that scare us. Moriyama delivers great gritty black and white photos examining post WWII Japanese Culture.His most known picture, Stray Dog, (1971) is clearly taken on the run, in the midst of bustling, lively street activity. The representation of the alert, wandering, solitary, but ultimately mysterious animal, is a powerful expression of theLearn French
vital outsider. It is an essential reflection of Moriyama's presence as an alert outsider in his own culture.

2011年4月27日星期三

How To Select The Best Guitar Course Available

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anybody can get into~anyone can pick up and learn. It is an awesome~a great~a nice way to impress~entertain people~friends~your family and friends, and you will enjoy learning how to play~have fun doing it. consider]~The first thing you will need to [think about. Classes at a school~Private guitar lessons might be the easiest~best way to learn~method, but it is quite expensive and not everyone has the time for that~not everyone can afford to pay for expensive guitar lessons. Asking~Getting~Learning from a family member or friend might be another way~option, but not everyone has access to~can be lucky enough to know someone who can play the guitar~guitar playing expert. Luckily~Fortunately, there are several~many~plenty of great~nice~affordable guitar courses online that can teach you the guitar~turn you into a guitar playing pro by putting in some effort~with just a little bit of work.Studies~Research show~demonstrate~suggests that everyone learns~people learn things in many~several different ways, and learning the guitar~guitar learning is no different. Some people can learn effectively just from a book~to play just from reading a book. Others are visual learners and need to see how things work before they can do it themselves~Other people need to see someone demonstrating a technique before they can understand what is going on. ThatCheap Rosetta Stone Arabic
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2011年4月26日星期二

Download MP3 Music - How to Download MP3 Music securely!

It is no surprise that almost all the youths at present has memberships of the Cheap Rosetta Stone
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intrusive publicity.3. Pornography is extremely common on the Internet. Be aware that porn peddlers cover their software because the newest free mp3 download or games demo to redirect your modem to the porn sites.4. Spoofing is while the download mp3 networks are full with fake files. For instance, in case you download what you believe is a well-liked mp3 song; you would obtain the same 10 seconds of song again and again.Therefore in your search to download MP3's and generate your own library of music, be choosy of which music download website you use. There are a lot of to select from however few that proffer privacy defense, tech help, online service, adware-free and spyware-free downloads, in addition to a huge library of quality MP3's.Always look for:1) If the site is giving you boundless access to its tracks2) If you are given the subscription package or disburse for each download package3) Whether the website permits you to burn your CDs devoid of any extra cost and offers you free CD burning software as well.4) Always look for if the music download from the web site is quick enough.5) Make sure that the song database is big enough.6) Whether the web site gives you different alternatives such as hip hop, pop, rock and classical.Besides this always choose for the web site that provides you yearly, two yearly or a lifetime membership. This aids you gain different features as well as newer introductions to site in the period. Plus you are paying the website. Therefore make clear whether you get helpline from the website for any of Cheap Rosetta Stone Korean
your obstacles or queries in downloading. This is a significant feature and never ignore it.

2011年4月24日星期日

Moleskine for iPad: Write at your own risk

Writing is what I do for a living, but also for enjoyment. So I was intrigued
when Moleskine for iPad popped up in Apple's App Store on April 15, 2011 (It's
available for iPhone, too). The Cheap Rosetta Stone Spanish
Moleskine notebook is the legendary journal of
great writers.

Moleskine uses Ernest Hemingway's in its marketing. He's not around to
complain or dispute the pocket journal's value to him as a writer. During
1920s, Hemingway frequented several Paris cafés where other artists also used
the journal to jot down thoughts, stories and sketches. Of course, this
mystique is all marketing now. Use Moleskine, too, and you can be a great
writer -- or at least feel part of the select community of artists.

I occasionally carry a Moleskine, not for feeling like Hemingway, but for
convenience. The size is just right for my pocket. I rarely put pen to paper,
but when I do it's to this journal. So, again, I was intrigued by the idea of
a Moleskine app that might offer the allure of the book with digital benefits.
My journal entry below captures the essence of my experience assessing
Moleskine for iPad's potential.

The app provides a "myThoughts" area for, well, your Cheap Rosetta Stone
thoughts. Moleskine
journals are sold with lined, graphed or plain paper -- all of which are
adjustable in the iPad app. Writers can assign categories to their thoughts,
which I see as archaic. Tags are more appropriate today and open up more
possibilities for exporting, sharing or syncing content. Writers can Cheap Rosetta Stone Arabic
map their
thoughts and also share them by email, Facebook and Twitter. That's as much
social networking as anyone should really need.

2011年4月22日星期五

Poker ‘World Series’ Will Air in July as Planned After Sponsors Indicted

The “World Series of Poker” on ESPN and “World Poker Tour” on Fox Sports
Net will air as scheduled following the indictments of Cheap Rosetta Stone
gambling websites that
spent almost $27 million on TV ads last year.

Walt Disney Co. (DIS)’s ESPN will carry the “World Series of Poker” in
July, Chris LaPlaca, a spokesman, said today in an e- mail. The network pre-
empted last night’s “North American Poker Tour Presented by PokerStars.net.
” News Corp.’s Fox Sports Net has pulled PokerStars.net ads from “World
Poker Tour,” said Lou D’Ermilio, a New York-based spokesman.

“There is no direct sponsorship connection between the indicted websites and
‘World Poker Tour,’” D'Ermilio said in an e-mail. “But PokerStars had
purchased advertising time, which has been pulled as a result of the
indictments. At present we have no plans to change policy as it relates to
promotional clothing players choose to wear.”
ESPN, based in Bristol, Connecticut, won’t air the Cheap Rosetta Stone Portuguese
10 hours of “PokerStars,
” the network said. FullTiltPoker.net and PokerStars.net, two sites charged
with fraud and money- laundering by the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, spent
$26.8 million in 2010 on TV advertising, researcher Kantar Media said.
PokerStars spent another $8.3 million on Web and magazine ads.

Many of poker’s best-known players have endorsement agreements with the
indicted companies. They don hats and shirts displaying the logos on the
programs to promote the websites.

Comcast Corp. (CMCSA)’s NBC airs the “National Heads Up Championship” and
“Poker After Dark,” while the Game Show Network, owned by DirecTV (DTV) and
Sony Corp. (6758), broadcasts “High Stakes Poker.”
‘High Stakes Poker’

Chris McCloskey, a spokesman for NBC Sports in New York, didn’t respond to
requests for comment. Sean Jennings, a spokesman for Santa Monica, California
-based Game Show Network, couldn’t comment. The seventh season of “High
Stakes Poker,” hosted by comedian Norm MacDonald, started Feb. 26, the
channel said on its website.

Disney, based in Burbank, California, gained 15 cents to $41.35 at 4:15 p.m.
in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have climbed 10
percent this year. News Corp. (NWSA), located in New York, fell 11 cents to
$16.88 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading and the Class A stock has increased 16
percent this year.

Caesars Entertainment Corp., the closely held casino company, owns the World
Series of Poker.

The U.S. froze bank accounts in 14 countries and seized websites, sidelining
PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker -- major sponsors of televised tournaments.
ESPN, NBC, Fox Sports and the Game Show Network have made poker a TV staple,
with 47 programs, including reruns, scheduled this week, Cardplayer.com said.

U.S. Indictments

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan announced on April 15 a revised
indictment against the founders of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute
Poker. PokerStars, based on the Isle of Man, Ireland’s Full Tilt Poker and
Absolute Poker of Costa Rica are the leading online poker sites doing business
with U.S. customers, according to prosecutors. Five sites displayed notices
yesterday that the FBI had seized the domain names.

The indictment names two principals from each company and others who allegedly
worked with them to illegally process payments. Five domains were seized,
according to Carly Sullivan, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan.
They are: Pokerstars.com, Fulltiltpoker.com, Absolutepoker.com,
Ultimatebet.com and UB.com.

About 76 bank accounts have been frozen, preventing players from accessing
balances held by the online betting companies, said Kelly Langmesser, an FBI
spokeswoman in New York.
Out in the Cold

T.C. Sun, 27, who works for Princess Cruises in Valencia, California, was
among the players who couldn’t get his money from PokerStars.net last
weekend.

“When I first heard about black Friday, I wasn’t too worried about it, and
then on Saturday night I tried to withdraw my funds,” Sun said in an
interview. “It let me process the withdrawal. Right now it shows I have zero
money in my account, but I’m checking my bank account daily to see if it
comes through. As of last night, no it has not.”

Players who use the sites can’t be prosecuted under federal law and U.S.
states that have laws against making bets rarely use them against “mere
customers,” said I. Nelson Rose, an Encino, California-based consultant to
governments and industry on gambling laws.

“I’d say there’s probably a better chance that Cheap Rosetta Stone Spanish
they’ll win the World
Series of Poker than that they will be arrested,” Rose, who doesn’t work for
any of the companies named in the indictment, said today in a phone interview.

The case is U.S. v. Scheinberg, 10-cr00336, U.S. District Court, Southern
District of New York (Manhattan).

2011年4月21日星期四

First lady’s plane too close to jet

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s next-to-last space shuttle flight is set to
begin late next week. Spaceflight managers gathered Tuesday at Kennedy Space
Center in Florida and set April 29 as theCheap Rosetta Stone
launch date for Endeavour’s final
voyage. Endeavour, NASA’s youngest shuttle, will fly to the International
Space Station. The crew of six will deliver a $2 billion particle physics
experiment.

Gun fires at school, injuring 3
HOUSTON — A kindergartner who brought a loaded gun to his Houston school
Tuesday was among three students injured when the gun fired after falling from
his pocket, officials said. The children were in stable condition after the
shooting, said Dr. David deLemos at Texas Children’s Hospital, where the
students were treated. Houston police spokesman Victor Senties said it is too
early in the investigation to tell if any charges will be filed.

CIA declassifies WWI documents
WASHINGTON — The CIA is declassifying secrets for Cheap Rosetta Stone English
writing with invisible ink
and even opening sealed letters without detection: state-of-the-art spying
techniques from World War I. CIA Director Leon Panetta says it’s possible to
reveal these secrets now because the old methods have been far outpaced by
recent advances.

Plant begins pumping water out
TOKYO — The operator of Japan’s crippled nuclear plant began pumping highly
radioactive water from the basement of one of its buildings to a makeshift
storage area Tuesday in a crucial step toward easing the nuclear crisis.
Removing about 6.6 million gallons of contaminated water that has collected in
a basement of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant will help allowLearn French
access for workers
trying to restore vital cooling systems that were knocked out in the March 11
tsunami.

2011年4月20日星期三

Harry Potter's 'Deathly Hallows: Part II' New Featurette Hits Web

Fresh featurette for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II" has gone online. The video features an official opening from director David Yates. It shares scenes from "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I" before offering a glimpse to the Cheap Rosetta Stone
follow-up, particularly when Mr. Olivander warns Harrry Potter that Voldemort is chasing him. Upon receiving the warning, Harry says, "I suppose I'll have to kill him before he finds me, then."

The last installment for the "Harry Potter" film franchise will see the battle between good and evil forces of the Wizarding world escalating into an all-out war. The stakes have never been higher and no one is safe, but it is Harry Potter who may be called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice as he draws closer to the climactic showdown with Lord Voldemort.

The fantasy film has Steve Kloves penning the script, with David Heyman, David Barron, and J.K. Rowling producing. In the Cheap Rosetta Stone German
meantime, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Tom Felton, Ralph Fiennes, and Helena Bonham Carter are among the stars reprising their roles in the film, which is slated to hit U.S. theaters on July 15.

2011年4月19日星期二

PRECIOUS METALS: Gold Steady Near Record; Silver Marches On

Gold and silver bothCheap Rosetta Stone Arabic
hit new highs early Monday as
Friday's strong showing in New York spilled over to Asian trade.

While gold experienced some profit-taking after touching a record $1,490.10 a
troy ounce, silver shrugged off concerns that it is overextended, staying in
positive territory above the $43 level for the entire session.

Inflation concerns remain the current driver although many brokers are now of
the opinion that silver in particular is mainly reliant on technical momentum
rather than anything more substantive.

Silver is the "metal of the moment, with no clear way of identifying why it
should outperform in a generally-high performing environment," Mitsui Global
Precious Metals said in a report.

At 0540 GMT, spot silver was at $43.20, up 15 cents since Friday's New York
close, after hitting a new 31-year high of $43.37 earlier.

Spot gold was at $1,486.20/oz, down 20 cents; on Tocom, the February 2012 gold
contract was at Y3,972 a gram, up Y10.

Phillip Futures said inflation is the current buzzword but gold is actually
getting fundamental support from low core inflation in the U.S., which is
enabling a continuation of dovish monetary policy.

It noted Friday's U.S. core consumer prices were up only 1.2% from a year ago.

"This reaffirms the Fed's view that underlying inflation remains low and that
easy monetary policy is appropriate," it said in a note.

Trade in platinum group metals was Cheap Rosetta Stone
again relatively thin in Asia, with worries
over Japan's auto industry output, high crude prices and the growth
implications of euro-zone debt problems combining to subdue sentiment.

Day 1 of Filming Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides director Rob Marshall and
executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer had their work cut out of them on the
first day of shooting in Honopu Beach, Kauai, Hawaii. The location chosen for
the first shots was so remote that no land vehicles could reach it. Instead,
the cast, crew and equipment had to be Cheap Rosetta Stone
flown or boated in.

Disney has released a short video that chronicles the grand arrival of Johnny
Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow by helicopter on this first day of shooting. It
offers a look at how remote the location was, the scene Johnny was shooting,
and why riding head-on into a big wave withCheap Rosetta Stone German
a jet ski is not for the faint of
heart.

2011年4月18日星期一

Selanne livid after Ducks' loss

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – "The Finnish Flash" was at it again – agelessly defying
his 40 years in a two-goal performance while also flashing his temper,
refusing to accept a poor showing by hisCheap Rosetta Stone Japanese
Anaheim Ducks in a 4-3 loss to the
Predators on Sunday.

With Anaheim down 2-0 late in the second period of Game 3 at Bridgestone
Arena, Selanne scored twice during a 30-second span – giving him four playoff
goals, including three on the power play, to lead all playoff scorers as of
the end of the game. The output almost single-handedly brought the Ducks back
and tied the game at 2-2 entering the third period.

But the Ducks could not complete the comeback, as Nashville gained a 2-1
series edge and Selanne was visibly angry with his team's performance in the
locker room after the game.

"Well, something a little bright thing," he said of the Ducks' brief comeback,
"but we have no reason to lose this (expletive) game. No business. They wanted
it more, they won the battles. We're lucky even to be in the game. Very
disappointed."

As one of the Ducks' alternate captains, Selanne appeared to be asserting some
leadership after the game, showing that his team's effort was not enough. With
a determined effort of 16 goals in 27 games down theCheap Rosetta Stone Korean
stretch to finish with 31
in 73 regular season games, Selanne, one of the game's most respected players,
has the results and the credentials to back up his tough talk. He sprinkled
his language with salty words on Sunday.

Anaheim was outshot 37-16.

"That's not the way how we should play," he said. "That's embarrassing … I
hope everybody's going to be (teed) off and (expletive) learn something about
this."

Selanne had a hard time finding any solace in his personal accomplishments.

"Don't care at all," he said.

While the team's failures overshadowed his personal triumphs, his opponents
appreciated his great skill.

"I think Selanne's dangerous any time he's out there," Nashville defenseman
Shea Weber said. "You know – is he 40 years old? I don't know what he is –
he's still good. He's still one of the best scorers in the League. He knows
how to put the puck in the back of the net. We need to make sure we're taking
care of their offensive guys and not give them any chances."

To put what Selanne is doing in perspective, Nashville coach Barry Trotz
recalled that when he was coaching at the University of Manitoba, he got to
watch Selanne in person while Selanne played for the Winnipeg Jets. With 76
goals in 1992-93, Selanne had one of the greatest rookie seasons of all time.

"That's a long time ago," Trotz said. "It's amazing. He's got a goal-scorer's
instinct and that dynamic speed. He's just a wonderful athlete."

Ducks coach Randy Carlyle – a former Winnipeg Jet himself – referred to how
opportunistic Selanne is.

"The puck follows him around," Carlyle said. "When you see other guys
struggle, it never ceases to amaze us that when the rebound comes, it seems to
come directly to him and onto his stick. When he gets chances, he doesn't need
many to score goals. Tonight was another display of Teemu's scoring."

Selanne's fellow countryman, Preds goalie Pekka Rinne, who is 12 years
Selanne's junior, also marveled at his elder's skill. On Selanne's second
goal, Rinne said the wing fielded a hard rebound off the backboards, tipped
the puck to himself and then scored.

"First, he actually tipped the puck in front of Cheap Rosetta Stone
me and went wide on my blocker
side and I don't know somehow came back on my glove side, so I'm sure he feels
a little bit fortunate on that goal," Rinne said. "But that just goes to show
that, you know … you just have to be ready for anything. Expect the
unexpected, I guess."

2011年4月17日星期日

U.S. Says Iran Helps Crackdown in Syria

ran is secretly helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad put down
pro-democracy demonstrations, according to U.S. officials, who say
Tehran is providing gear to suppress crowds and assistance blocking
and monitoring protesters' use of theCheap Rosetta Stone
Internet, cellphones and text
-messaging.
At the same time, communications intercepted by U.S. spy agencies
show Tehran is actively exploring ways to aid some Shiite hardliners
in Bahrain and Yemen and destabilize longstanding U.S. allies there,
say U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence. Such moves could
challenge interests of the U.S. and Saudi Arabia and inflame
sectarian tensions across the Middle East, they say.

"We believe that Iran is materially assisting the Syrian government
in its efforts to suppress their own people," said an Obama
administration official.

U.S. officials say they don't see Iran as the driving force behind
popular revolts against longtime U.S. allies in the Mideast, and
caution they have no concrete evidence that Iran is providing or
preparing large-scale financial or military support to opposition
elements in Bahrain or Yemen.

Rather, the White House has worried that protracted political
turmoil could provide an opening for additional influence by Tehran,
whose nuclear ambitions are a concern to the U.S. and its allies in
Europe and the Middle East.

So far, an administration official said, Iranian "aspirations far
outpace their ability to project their influence into these places."
By disclosing intelligence about Iranian involvement, the U.S.
appears to be trying to put Tehran on notice that it is under close
surveillance in Washington. "We're keeping an eye on these
activities," another Obama administration official said.

The U.S. disclosures also appear designed to help soothe anxious
Arab and Israeli allies, who have privately complained that
President Barack Obama, in his enthusiasm to embrace popular
uprisings, is paying scant attention to how the revolts could play
into the hands of their regional nemesis, Iran. By voicing concerns
about Iran's activities, the U.S. appears to be trying to close
ranks, at least in part, with Saudi and Bahraini leaders whose
warnings about Tehran's influence in their internal affairs have
long been played down in Washington.

Iranian diplomats didn't immediately respond to requests for
comment.

Some U.S. officials have expressed surprise that Shiite-dominated
Iran hasn't intervened more aggressively to support Mr. Assad and
Shiites in Bahrain. Officials said they believed Iran has secretly
promised more help to Mr. Assad if the protests intensify.

U.S. officials believe Iran's recent support for Mr. Assad reflects
Tehran's concerns about losing a critical regional ally and military
partner against Israel.

So far, officials said, Iran has begun transferring to Damascus
equipment to help security forces put down protests. This includes
providing Syrian authorities withCheap Rosetta Stone Arabic
equipment, advice and technical
know-how to help curtail and monitor internal communications,
including the email and online postings that opposition groups
commonly use to organize their protests and report security
excesses, officials said. Some deliveries have been made and others
are believed to be in the works, they said.

Iran is also sharing "lessons learned" from its 2009 crackdown on
protesters who demanded the removal of Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, the officials said. "These guys know the best practice
in this kind of situation—they've had lots of experience in this
sphere," a U.S. defense official said of the Iranians.

"The Syrians don't want to see a Green Revolution in their country,"
the defense official added, referring to the protest movement in
Iran. "The Iranians are ready to help."

Any aid to Mr. Assad could signal an escalation of sectarian proxy
battles in the region, one the U.S. has sought to avert.

The Obama administration repeatedly pressed Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia
and Bahrain not to use force against largely Shiite protesters,
according to U.S. officials, fearing that would provide Iran with an
excuse to start meddling in Bahrain and elsewhere in the Middle
East. Under Tehran's religious code, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei has an obligation to protect the rights of Shiites world-
wide. "We told them not to use force because it would provide Iran
with an excuse," a senior U.S. official said. "They didn't listen."

Last month, Saudi Arabia sent troops into neighboring Bahrain to
support the island kingdom's ruling al-Khalifa family against
protesters.

The U.S. is concerned large-scale solidarity protests could break
out in Iraq, whose Shiite majority has close religious ties to
Bahrain's Shiites. That could complicate U.S. plans for withdrawing
troops this year. The U.S. has long accused Iran of providing
weapons, funding and training to anti-American militants in Iraq and
to the Taliban in Afghanistan, as well as to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The latest U.S. assessment is based on intelligence that includes
intercepted communications among Iranian officials as well as
between Iranian officials and Bahraini and Yemeni opposition
figures. Military officials describe intercepted "chatter" in which
Iranian officials have talked of the possibility of shipping cash,
weapons or both to opposition elements in both countries.

A U.S. defense official said Iranian policy makers are seriously
debating how much aid, if any, to provide to Bahrain's opposition.
Another U.S. official said some intelligence indicated that Iran has
made small-scale transfers of money and light weapons—"a few dozen
guns, maybe less, definitely not more"—into Bahrain. Much of the
intelligence suggests Iran and Hezbollah were focused now on using
propaganda to assert influence among restive Shiites.

Other Iranian officials appear content to let Bahrain's leaders
become more repressive, which the defense official said is "probably
more effective at getting people riled up against the king" than
anything Tehran could do.

The Bahraini and Yemeni governments have long claimed Iran is
meddling in their internal affairs, an issue they know could alarm
their U.S. counterparts.

U.S. intelligence agencies have long been skeptical of such claims.
But last week, after talks in Riyadh, Defense Secretary Robert Gates
said the U.S. has unspecified "evidence" of Iranian interference in
Bahrain and elsewhere.

Shiite political leaders in Bahrain say that while they have
cultural and religious connections to Iran, they aren't seeking help
or guidance from abroad. They say accusations of Iranian involvement
are designed to deflect their demands for democratic reforms and to
justify Bahrain's widescale detention of suspected protest
organizers, which the government has said it suspects of ties to
Iran or its ally, Hezbollah.

"Bahraini Shia are very aware of how they're paying the price for
Iran's growing power in the region," said Nabeel Rajab, president of
the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights. "They know to keep their
distance."

To keep a lid on tensions in Bahrain, which is home to the U.S.
Navy's Fifth Fleet, the White House has encouraged protesters to
negotiate with the king, rather than seek his ouster.

In Yemen, the U.S. has shifted from supporting President Ali
Abdullah Saleh to backing talks aimed at easing him fromCheap Rosetta Stone Chinese
power.

Last year, the U.S. picked up intelligence showing Iran had provided
a small amount of support to Yemen's Houthi rebels, which have
fought against Saudi and Yemeni forces, although officials say their
knowledge is limited because of a lack of U.S. intelligence sources
in the area.

The Houthis, who aren't part of the political opposition demanding
Mr. Saleh's removal, have stayed quiet in their home region during
the past two months of upheaval. The Houthis follow a minor offshoot
of Shiism that isn't the same as the version practiced in Iran.

2011年4月14日星期四

DESIGN

Inside Out | Decorating Al FrescoBy RITA KONIG |May 4, 2010, 3:38 pm --> A screened porch like this one, in Garrison, N.Y., provides the perfect outdoor room for summer living.Rita Konig is a decorator based in New York who has written about style for British Vogue, The Telegraph and Domino.RelatedRead more Inside Out columnsCovered porches are a heavenly part of American life, especially if you are from England, where they are useful for about half an hour a year. And I like to treat these outdoor rooms pretty much as I do theLearn English
indoor ones:? furniture with soft cushions; dining tables with damask cloths and silver candlesticks; hurricane shades (and plenty of them) with fat candles that glow at night. For me, they are the chicest places to eat — and live — in summer.So when I decorated this covered porch in Garrison, N.Y., for Deborah Needleman, I approached it in the same way that I considered the living room. I wanted seating with places to keep your drink handy, and warm lighting. I bought a rather peeling metal chandelier in Palm Springs, and we had the contractor paint the gold wall lights white. With their new color and cone-shaped shades, the transformation has been huge. (It is always worth considering what white paint might do for something you are on the verge of throwing out. The painted floor makes the porch much cozier, in the same way that a rug does inside, adding zip to those narrow gray floorboards so often found on porches. It took some to-ing and fro-ing to get it right, but I am very happy with the result. I love painted floors, particularly when some sort of pattern is applied. And while I don’t advocate smoking, this is the place your smoking guests are likely to go after dinner, so ashtrays and match strikers are a good thing to put on the end tables — and they do look so pretty! Read more;We Three Things | Bird BraidsBy LEANNE SHAPTON |May 3, 2010, 6:03 pm --> I hear more birds than I see. Neither my patience nor my neighborhood seem conducive to watching birds and their enigmatic nesting rituals. With spring’s arrival, I hear them calling and chirping outside my window, but I rarely turn around to look. Instead my eye is drawn to designers and artists producing their own versions of ornithology. Read more;Awards Night | Not Afraid of ColorBy PILAR VILADAS |May 3, 2010, 3:31 pm -->This week, the paint company Benjamin Moore will present its Hue Awards for the best use of color in architecture and interiors, and the lifetime achievement award will go to the New York design team of William Diamond and Anthony Baratta, whose sophisticated, bold, and vividly-colored interiors have been featured in The New York Times Magazine. Although the choice of Diamond Baratta would seem a no-brainer, this is the first time that the award has gone to interior designers; past winners were the architects Steven Holl, Ettore Sottsass, and Ricardo Legorreta. Diamond Baratta is known for custom-designing everything from fabrics to braided rugs, and paint colors are no exception. But in an odd coincidence, the designers have always used Benjamin Moore paint bases. And when they told told the company that they were donating their $5000 prize money to the Center for Special Studies at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, which provides specialized care to people with HIV and AIDS, Benjamin Moore matched Diamond Baratta donation. Baratta credits Diamond with being the firm color maven.;Bill is really the maestro of color selection,; he said.;It like music;you have to have perfect pitch.; Above, a few of the firm colorful interiors.Now Online | T Magazine Design ; Living Summer 2010By T MAGAZINE |April 30, 2010, 5:39 pm -->It all about great rooms starting with our cover story, which takes a grand tour of some of the most famous spaces of the 20th century including Robert Mallet-Stevens Villa Noailles and the Condé Nast apartment designed by Elsie De Wolfe. Pilar Viladas pays a visit to the fashion designer Lela Rose store-front loft with its and seemingly endless dining table and specially designed dog elevator! Christopher Petkanas looks at the life of Syrie Maugham, a doyenne of decorating known for her all-white rooms, and Christine Muhlke checks in with the contemporary decorating diva Kelly Wearstler who lives and works in brilliant Technicolor. Armand Limnander reports on the Villa Necchi, a 1930s Milanese house that plays a starring role in a new film and Guy Trebay meets the design legend Irving Harper whose house is jam-packed with his paper sculptures. Pull up a chair. See more from the issue ?London Underground | Pick Me UpBy ELIAS REDSTONE |April 30, 2010, 5:15 pm -->Sylvain Deleu/Courtesy of Somerset House Artwork at Robert Ryan open studio at Pick Me Up.RelatedRead more London Underground columnsEvery so often, it is nice to see designers getting down and dirty. Pick Me Up, London’s first contemporary graphic art fair, is a celebration of screen printing, hand-drawn illustration and lo-fi design.The suggestively titled show is taking place in the Learn French
Embankment Galleries at Somerset House. Under the direction of its curator, Claire Catterall, the venue has adopted a lively approach to design exhibitions, embracing live action and hot new talent. In this case, most of the graphic artists and illustrators are just out of school, making this one of the youngest and friendliest shows in town. Read more;Seeing Things | Rodarte for Knoll LuxeBy BROOKE HODGE |April 30, 2010, 2:20 pm -->Dan Sawyer; Autumn de Wilde Knoll Luxe textile Auden, inspired by Rodarte’s spring/summer 2009 collection.RelatedRead more Seeing Things columnsThese days, fashion-design collaborations are so common that they’re beginning to seem a little, well, old hat. But the clothing label Rodarte’s collaboration with Knoll Luxe (www.knoll-luxe.com), a luxury textile division of the furniture company Knoll Inc., is anything but. Read more;The Masters TourBy T MAGAZINE |April 29, 2010, 9:38 am -->Marcus Gaab Picture yourself in the great rooms of the 20th century. And then decorate them. View slide show>>Milan Report | The Wrap-UpBy ANDREAS KOKKINO |April 28, 2010, 12:59 pm -->The Milan Furniture Fair and its outside exhibitions and events seem to get bigger every year. In fact, it getting to the point where no one person can see everything — even if you find yourself with a few extra days on your hands, waiting for a volcanic ash cloud to blow away. And there was a lot worth seeing — so much, in fact, that T has put together a roundup of some (but not all) of the things we couldn;t fit into reports from the field.An earlier version of this post misidentified the nationality of the architect Vincent Van Duysen. He is Belgian, not Dutch.Do-Good DesignBy JESSE ASHLOCK |April 28, 2010, 10:30 am -->From Interactive Institute What’s the point of design these days, anyway? That’s the question the curators at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum wrestled with for nearly three years as they assembled ‘‘Why Design Now?,’’ the museum’s fourth National Design Triennial, which opens May 14. Their response, presented through 134 projects from around the world, might be the design equivalent of the Hippocratic oath. Many are high-minded, utilitarian responses to critical problems overseas (cleaner-burning stoves, a land-mine-removal suit) and at home (New York City’s new Hoop bike rack, M.I.T.’s prototype for a lightweight electric city car). ‘‘There’s room for high-style design, but there also needs to be room for the rest of the world,’’ says Matilda McQuaid, the museum’s deputy curatorial director. But its definition of socially responsible has room for whimsical conceptualism (Interactive Institute’s Energy Aware Clock, above), architectural grandiosity (Foster ; Partners’ sustainable city of Masdar in Abu Dhabi) and simple beauty (Heath Ceramics tableware). Even Twitter made the cut. ‘‘People say the focus on socially responsible design is just because of the Wall Street crisis and isn’t going to survive once things are back to normal,’’ McQuaid says. ‘‘I think it’s here to stay.’’What a DishBy SANDRA BALLENTINE |April 28, 2010, 9:30 am -->Jens Mortensen Rudolf Stingel has a lot on his plate these days — literally. The New York-based conceptual artist collaborated with Bernardaud, the French porcelain company, and the Art Production Fund’s WOW (Works on Whatever) on a pair of luscious-looking dinner plates that are almost too beautiful to mar with a meal. The plates, which come in an edition of 2,500 in both black and white, are based on photographs of a wall relief that Stingel began in 2008. Fittingly, that project was inspired by the wallpaper in theRosetta Stone
dining room of his childhood home. Why make tableware? ‘‘I like to eat,’’ the artist says. ‘‘And I like to look at my work — two birds, one stone.’’ It’s not the artist’s first excursion into the everyday. In 2004, he famously swathed Grand Central Station’s cavernous Vanderbilt Hall in floral carpeting. Impressive, of course. But this is one project he’ll be able to dine out on for years. And at $98 each, so will you. Available at worksonwhatever.com and Bernardaud boutiques in New York and Chicago.

2011

Who Should Own the Rosetta Stone?By JOHN TIERNEYShould the British Museum return the Rosetta Stone to Egypt? Should the export of a nation;cultural property; be banned? Should there be laws giving national governments ownership of any antiquity unearthed today within their borders?Monday Puzzle: Conversion FactorsBy PRADEEP MUTALIKIn a last desperate cry, a technician on an Antarctic expedition yelled out a temperature measurement he made as he fell into a crevasse. The number he shouted out was clearly heard, but not the Rosetta Stone
units. It turned out not to make a difference. What was the temperature?Thursday Puzzle: What Wrong (or Right) With This Picture?By JOHN TIERNEYDoes the picture above look natural to you? If you were standing in a lodge at Glacier National Park, is this how a jigsaw puzzle and the scenery would appear to your eye?Stars of the Astronomy QuizBy JOHN TIERNEYWe have a winner ; two winners, actually; of the prize for the Lab Beautiful Universe Astronomy Quiz.Monday Puzzle: You Can;t Fight Density; er, DestinyBy PRADEEP MUTALIKIn this fictitious sequence of events, love sours and Tom Cruise tosses the golden statue given to him by his estranged wife, Nicole Kidman, into the lake. Will the water level go up, down or remain the same?Martin Gardner PrizeThe judges have a prize for the best tribute to Martin Gardner, and the readers have solutions to Mr. Gardner puzzles.Treating the Pain EpidemicBy JOHN TIERNEYChronic pain affects more than 70 million Americans, which makes it more widespread than heart disease, cancer and diabetes combined. So why don;t more doctors and researchers take it seriously?Office Gossip StrategiesBy JOHN TIERNEYWhat the gossip in your office? What the gossip doing to your office? And what are the best strategies for gossips or anti-gossips to employ in the office?Monday Puzzle: The Case of theLearn Arabic
Mixed-Up Princes(s)By PRADEEP MUTALIKWouldn;t it be nice to have a technique, a magic bullet, that guaranteed you the highest probability of making your best choice in your mate?The Cosmic Countdown in Geneva Goes OnBy DENNIS OVERBYEScientists at CERN have sent a beam of protons into the Large Hadron Collider, and ran them part way around the giant underground ring successfully before dumping them.Explaining the Aha! InstinctBy JOHN TIERNEYWe have an answer from Marcel Danesi to a puzzle that was posed last week: Why are puzzles pleasurable?Monday Puzzle: Let the Martin Gardner Celebrations Continue!By PRADEEP MUTALIKLast week puzzles from Martin Gardner produced such a profusion of goodwill that we;ve decided to continue the celebrations of his 95th birthday with more of his puzzles.The Name-That-Element Chemistry QuizBy JOHN TIERNEYWe;ll celebrate National Chemistry Week with a quiz and a chance for you to win a copy of Theodore Gray new book, The Elements. Mr. Gray is a self-described;element nut.;Martin Gardner Aha! MomentsBy JOHN TIERNEYWhy solve a puzzle? Why is that fun? I discuss that question in my Findings column about Martin Gardner. I welcome your theories on theLearn Chinese
appeal of puzzles ; and the enduring appeal of Martin Gardner.Monday Puzzle: Martin Gardner Birthday CelebrationBy JOHN TIERNEYMartin Gardner turns 95 on Wednesday. Today we;ll start the celebration with several of of the classic simple puzzles he has presented.

2011年4月13日星期三

MediaPost Publications Out to Launch

Every week new ad campaigns and websites are launched, and it's hard to keep up withCheap Rosetta Stone English
them all. Prepare for Breck's big comeback, beer that gives you abs of steel and cameras so stylish you'll be updating your wardrobe to match. Here are this week's launch highlights: After a hiatus from TV that began in the late 1970s, Breck is on the verge of a $7-10 million comeback. The shampoo brand, which is owned by Dial, is being revived by New York-based licensor Himmel Hair Care Products. The product is being brought back with its original bottle, packaging, color and scent, although the formula has been updated and improved. TV, created in-house, will break in August, targeting women 35-years-plus who remember Breck and might want to try it again. In each of the spots, a woman triumphantly proclaims, "Breck is back...just the way I remember it!" Final tag: "Breck is back, and so is my beautiful hair." There's no doubt America is obsessed with beauty and thinness. Though beer isn't usually linked with good health and physical fitness, a new campaign by the Pittsburgh Brewing Company is going to try. The campaign for Iron City Light is the first for the company via Smith Brothers Advertising, and is the brewer's first marketing effort since 1999. The company hopes to get maximum return from its $175,000 investment in radio, outdoor, POP and "ads on key bathroom walls" throughout the region. The tagline will be, "More Taste. Less Waist." Outdoor features sexy well-toned tummies whose muscles take on the shape of the plastic rings that hold six-packs together. The radio spots, "Get Together" and "The Truth About Salads," also link Iron City Light with physical fitness. Another alcoholic beverage, Crown Royal Canadian Whisky, is set to debut new TV spots in the United States and Canada, from Grey Worldwide. The Canadian spot targets hockey-obsessed patriots, while the U.S. spot takes place in an upscale bar where onlookers watch with respect and admiration as a blind man deeply inhales the aroma of a Crown Royal on the Rocks. One guy says to another, "You know...they say when you're blind, all your other senses are heightened." The 15- and 30-second spots use the tagline, "Yes, it's that smooth," and cost a total of $285,000 to create. Auto news: Ford Motor Co.'s Land Rover North America will launch its redesigned Range Rover sport utility in an extensive all-print campaign breaking in June publications. Omnicom Group's GSD&M, Austin, uses the new tag, "Higher ground" for the ads. Subaru will launch a campaign, via AOR Temerlin McClain, Dallas, and called "When you get it, you get it," attempting to move away from the seven-year effort epitomized by abrasive tough guy Paul Hogan and into one with a much more transcendental and back-to-nature feel. Thirty-second TV spots with the tag, "The beauty of Subaru all-wheel drive," will break Sunday night during the Tony Awards on CBS. The Pilot,The newest SUV byAmerican Honda Motor Co. Inc., will debutits first national advertising on June 3. The ads underscore the increasing importance of Light Trucks to the Hispanic consumer, and were created by Honda's Hispanic Agency of Record, La Agencia de Orci' & Asociados. This is the first time Honda has advertised a mid-size SUV to the Latino consumer. The Spanish-language spots will air nationally on Spanish-language TV and radio networks and run simultaneously to the general market campaign. In the ads, La Agencia de Orcí uses the tagline "As Big As Your Imagination" to position the Pilot as the ultimate family vehicle and as an alternative to the minivan. DCA Advertising breaks a print and television campaign this week for Canon U.S.A.'s consumer digital camera brand, PowerShot. The campaign focuses primarily on Canon's stylish Digital ELPH to reposition Canon in the rapidly evolving and increasingly competitive digital camera market with the tagline, "Digital That Inspires." The TV spot features a stylish young woman dressing for an evening out. She sees the Digital ELPH as such a necessary part of her outfit that she ends up searching for clothes that do justice to the camera. Spending on the new campaign is projected to reach between $10 to $15 million for the calendar year, and spots will air during ABC's broadcast of the World Cup, as well as on cable networks like MSNBC and TBS. Digital ELPH print will run primarily in consumer books such as People, InStyle, Maxim and Wired. Veritas Software Corporation announced the launch of a major global advertising and direct marketing campaign focusing on the business benefits ofLearn French
using platform-agnostic software to protect and manage data, and highlighting the company's position as the leading independent storage software company. The campaign, developed by Hill, Holliday San Francisco, was launched with print advertisements in prominent business and technology publications. Wachovia Corporation, marking another milestone along its merger timeline, has launched a national advertising campaign using the theme "Uncommon Wisdom" to promote the new Wachovia brand. The campaign's initial stage will promote Wachovia Securities, the brand name under which Wachovia Corporation provides corporate and investment banking and retail brokerage services. The campaign's theme is the foundation for all of Wachovia's new corporate advertising, which will be introduced in stages over the next two years and will apply to every business unit in the corporation. Print ads, produced by Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Mullen, the advertising agency of record, appeared in the national edition of the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. Print ads also will run in Forbes, Fortune, Business Week, and USA TODAY. Television ads for Wachovia Securities will begin airing in July on cable and network shows such as CNN, CNNfn, CNBC, Bloomberg, PGA Golf and NFL Football. The dot.com kingdom may have less clout than in years past, but travel Web sites still are flying high. A case in point is Travelocity.com, which this week broke a $40 million multi-media campaign that not only touts the site's basic mechanisms, but the experiences that Travelocity can help create. The effort, from The Richards Group, Dallas, includes two 30-second TV spots: "Wedding," shows how travelers used the Web Site to reach their destinations; and "Elephant," highlights the events experienced at these destinations, such as renting an elephant. Both include travelers who explain how the site helped them to plan and enjoy their trips. Radio, print and online advertising will follow. As for online advertising: Ad4ever Inc., developer of TopLayer, today launched a new web advertising campaign for AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals' Rhinocort Aqua Nasal Spray, a prescription product for nasal allergy relief, on the Weather Channel's Weather.com website. Developed and placed for AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals by NetPlus Marketing, Inc., based in the Philadelphia suburb of Conshohocken, PA, the interactive campaign captures attention with a colorful, animated floating ad, featuring the product's unique rhinoceros and butterfly visual theme. The floating ad enables consumers to click through to obtain a free Nasal Allergy Kit with special promotional offers. In Best Buy Co., Inc.'s second online branding campaign, a stick figure challenges Web surfers' movie knowledge by reenacting some memorable movie scenes from Psycho, The Seven Year Itch and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Created by Digitas and Avenue A, the campaign features fun imagery andCheap Rosetta Stone
integrated brick-and-mortar messaging, which aims to create top-of-mind awareness and drive traffic to both BestBuy.com and Best Buy stores. Best Buy's online media agency, Avenue A, is responsible for strategic placement of the ads on a variety of Web sites including NYTimes.com, Disney.com, Weather.com and About.com. The campaign will run through June 26. -- This newsletter is compiled weekly by MediaPost staff writer Lindsey Fadner. Past issues are archived at the MediaPost website. Your comments, questions and submissions are always welcome and appreciated.

MediaPost Publications Days at the Races

Been traveling in Italy for the past couple of weeks ... went to the Palio in Siena, an amazing event in which the various neighborhoods of the city vie to win a horse race. The honor is temporary because they run the race again next year and have been doing so every year for the last 500 or so. So, like Super Bowl champions or World Series winners, it's back to theCheap Rosetta Stone
drawing boards as soon as the celebrations are over. When you are traveling in a foreign country and have no language skills you are in a kind of enforced isolation from the events of the wider world as well as the actual day-to-day lives of the people around you. There is very little information available. If you are an optimistic person, you enter a kind of serene state of mind where all is new and beautiful in the world as far as the eye can see. You are well-fed on great food and great wine and sleep very soundly at night, at peace with the world. (Not until you get back to your normal life do you learn that you've gained 5 pounds and your cholesterol is racing higher.) Of course, if you actually were able to understand the local news broadcasts, you might find that there is a serial murderer on the loose in the region or SARS has broken out in your village. This blissful state of unawareness always gets me back to focusing on the Cheap Rosetta Stone Arabic
big picture. I read intensively the few scraps of English-language information available in a vain effort to keep in touch. For this purpose, the International Herald Tribune comes in mighty handy. I had forgotten how much one can get out of a good newspaper. I had to have my daily fix, driving or walking miles with the sole purpose of getting to the one store in the region that carried it. When the IHT was sold out I reluctantly settled for USA Today (too many reminders about small-picture nonsense back home) or the Wall Street Journal Europe (too much about obscure European business deals). In the IHT, the world seemed, for this brief time, orderly and comprehensible. With no blaring newspeak from blow-dried local anchors screaming about cracks in local bridges and corruption in state capitols, I kept focused on what really mattered: daily bread from the market, cappuccinos in the square and issues of U.S. national honor (or dishonor) and our place among the nations of the world. Of course, there was nothing I could do about any of the problems I compulsively read about; but I could think deeply, form my opinions and debate good-humoredly with my traveling companions. What was sorely missing from our lives was reliable information about the local horse race. We bought the Siena newspapers, got our Italian-English dictionaries out and tried to decipher which neighborhood had the best horse or best jockey or both. The race is run around the Campo, the central public square of the city. In the large stone courtyard they put down truckloads of special tight-packing sand to lessen the chance of injury to horses and riders. Leading up to race day, each neighborhood goes into a frenzy of activity -- celebrations and dinners in the streets and the blessing of the horses. Neighborhood political leaders meet in smoke-filled rooms to plot strategy. Alliances with friendly neighborhoods are made. The object is not only to attempt to win but to make certain other neighborhoods that are hated end up losing. In the days before the big event we went to all six of the trial races, watching the jockeys get to know their horses and vice-versa, while both tested the track. We studied closely, trying to divine which horse would win. In the end, the one we all liked actually did win. A couple of horses ahead of him threw their riders (was it some payoff for a deal between neighborhoods?), and he snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. It was thrilling and reminded me again of the advertising and media business. Sometimes it's better to be in the right place at the right time than to be the best horse on the field. After three long years of famine, it feels like the media business is on the rise again. Maybe we've been a bit lucky to survive where others have fallen and maybe we can now celebrate the Cheap Rosetta Stone Chinese
fruits of victory a bit. But watch out, others want what you have and the competition can be ruthless. And, there is no end to this race. It is run over and over and over, year after year after year, with potential new victors all the time. True victory for the Siena neighborhoods and for our businesses is establishing a tradition of consistently great performance over many years, while shaking off losses and continually refining systems. And, you have to keep alert to the technology changes. After all, where is the International Herald Tribune today? To me it's really a relic of a bygone era when people had time to read and contemplate, undistracted by the messiness, diversions and urgent needs of day-to-day life.

2011年4月11日星期一

MediaPost Publications Wenner Media Sued For Alleged SMS-Spam

Wenner Media, which publishes Rolling Stone, Men;s Journal, US Weekly and other magazines, has been hit with a potential class-action lawsuit for allegedly sending SMS-spam to potential subscribers. In a complaint filed last week in U.S. District Court for the Cheap Rosetta Stone English
Northern District of Illinois, Karen Schrock of Indiana alleges that Wenner Media and the subscription marketing firm Consumer Benefit Services violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by sending her unsolicited messages with the purpose of selling magazine subscriptions. That law prohibits companies from using automatic telephone dialing systems to make calls to cell phones unless the owners have consented. The messages themselves allegedly told recipients that they had won something -- like a $200 shopping voucher -- and provided a telephone number for them to call to claim their prize. When people called to claim their gift, they were allegedly given a sales pitch for publications like US Weekly. "Unlike more conventional advertisements, SMS calls, and particularly wireless spam, can actually cost their recipients money, because cell phone users must frequently pay their respective wireless service providers either for each text message call they receive or incur an usage allocation deduction to their text plan, regardless of whether or not the message is authorized," Schrock alleges in her complaint. She is asking for at least $500 per violation of the federal telephone-marketing law. Several other companies that have been sued for allegedly sending SMS spam have attempted to argue that the telephone law doesn;t apply to text messages, but such arguments generally have not succeeded, says Internet law expert Venkat Balasubramani of Seattle. "Virtually every case thatCheap Rosetta Stone
has looked at the issue has said the TCPA applies," he says. Last year, the influential 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that book publisher Simon & Schuster might have violated the telephone law by allegedly sending unsolicited text messages promoting Stephen King;s "Cell." Wenner Media and Consumer Benefit Services have not yet responded to Online Media Daily;s request for comment.