Is the Long Tail affecting American Idol?

The last time "American Idol" endured ratings so low, Brian Dunkleman was the co-host, George W. Bush was president, and Simon Cowell was just some jerk from Britain.

But on Tuesday, with the show's contestant field whittled to five, "Idol" dropped to its lowest overall audience since August 27, 2002, its first season on the air.

The Fox reality competition show was watched by an average of only 17.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen Fast Nationals, and was actually beaten in that benchmark by ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" (averaged 19.6 million watchers).

Fox officials were quick to point out that "Idol" won the night in terms of the all-important adults 18-49 demographic, scoring a 6.0 rating/18 share, beating next closest competitor "Dancing" by a margin of 94 percent in that metric.

But the erosion of "Idol" this season, which has struggled amid the departure of longtime host Paula Abdul and the pending exit of Cowell, is undeniable, with the show dropping 13 percent from last week's episode.

And that's not a good thing, considering that April 17 broadcast was off 17 percent from the comparable week in 2009.

http://bit.ly/dr2cNO

Did a glitch spark the stock plunge?

In class on Monday, we saw that most of our stocks that we had invested in earlier in the semester had gone down within the last couple of days. Is there an explanation for this?

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A spine-chilling slide of nearly 1,000 points in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, its biggest intraday points drop ever, led to heightened calls for a crackdown on computer-driven high-frequency trading.

The slide, which in one 10-minute stretch knocked the index down nearly 700 points, may have been triggered by a trading error. Major stock indexes eventually recovered from their 9 percent drops to close down a little more than 3 percent.

But the follow-through selling that pushed stocks of some highly regarded companies into tailspins exacerbated concerns that regulators can quickly lose control of the markets in a world of algorithmic trading.

High-speed trading, which uses sophisticated computer algorithms based on specific scenarios to automate transactions at speeds in the millionths of a second, now accounts for about 60 percent of U.S. equity volume.

"The potential for giant high-speed computers to generate false trades and create market chaos reared its head again today," Senator Edward Kaufman said in a statement.

"The battle of the algorithms -- not understood by nor even remotely transparent to the Securities and Exchange Commission -- simply must be carefully reviewed and placed within a meaningful regulatory framework soon."

continued... http://bit.ly/bqshow

American Consumers most powerful

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., May 5, 2010 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) ----The power to transform the world's economy and end the current recession is in the hands of U.S. consumers, says author Barr McClellan in his new book

, "Made in the USA", now in bookstores nationwide.

"Made in the USA" offers an insightful, timely and thought-provoking look at the economic decline of America and its clearly identifiable causes. McClellan explains how the loss of USA- based manufacturing jobs to overseas suppliers not only exports consumer dollars but undermines the American economy. His solutions range from the closing of governmental loopholes and tax incentives that encourage the outsourcing of jobs, to simply asking American consumers to buy products that are "Made in the USA".

The book has been published by Hannover House, the media division of Target Development Group, Inc., and released in America in association with Publisher's Releasing Organization, a unit of Empire Film Group, Inc.

...to see more... http://bit.ly/atTvDq

Digg cuts 10 percent of staff..

Digg, which saw the departure of longtime CEO Jay Adelson a month ago, is now laying off 10 percent of its staff. In an e-mail sent to employees, founder Kevin Rose says the layoffs are necessary for the “long-term health” of the business.

The job cuts—Digg’s second round of layoffs in a year-and-a-half—raise questions about Adelson’s claims that he was leaving because the site was doing well. In fact, Adelson had specifically noted in a blog post announcing his departure that the company’s sales force was “growing” and the company’s hiring “ramping.”

Digg has made some very aggressive moves lately—the success of which aren’t known. The company ended its exclusive ad-sales agreement with Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) a year ago and, a few months later, announced a new ad platform of its own that let users vote on ads just as they do with stories. It also said this fall that an ad network—which would include non-Digg sites—was in the works.

http://bit.ly/dli3AS

Facebook Fears

On wednesday, Facebook users noticed a "hole" in the security of their profiles. Private information such as chats were being revealed openly. Facebook quickly responded and believes this glitch will not harm their reputation; however, there is still concern among users.

Facebook Glitch Brings New Privacy Worries

By JENNA WORTHAM

Published: May 5, 2010

On Wednesday, users discovered a glitch that gave them access to supposedly private information in the accounts of their Facebook friends, like chat conversations.

Not long before, Facebook had introduced changes that essentially forced users to choose between making information about their interests available to anyone or removing it altogether.

Although Facebook quickly moved to close the security hole on Wednesday, the breach heightened a feeling among many users that it was becoming hard to trust the service to protect their personal information..

“It’s clear that we keep discovering new boundaries of privacy that are possible to push and just as quickly breached,” Mr. Katz said.

Social networking experts and analysts wonder whether Facebook is pushing the envelope in a way that could damage its standing over time. The privacy mishap on Wednesday, first reported by the blog TechCrunch, did not help matters...

Mr. Schrage of Facebook said the controversy over the site’s changes was indicative of a larger shift online.

“Facebook has been made the center of attention around a really important issue of how technology is changing the conception of privacy, control and sharing,” he said. “People are uneasy about it, but as they start to see the benefits and advantages of it, they start to see the value of the experiences.”

More at: http://nyti.ms/dksdtq

Regulating Internet Access

New U.S. Push to Regulate Internet Access

By AMY SCHATZ

WASHINGTON—In a move that will stoke a battle over the future of the Internet, the federal government plans to propose regulating broadband lines under decades-old rules designed for traditional phone networks.

The decision, by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, is likely to trigger a vigorous lobbying battle, arraying big phone and cable companies and their allies on Capitol Hill against Silicon Valley giants and consumer advocates.

Breaking a deadlock within his agency, Mr. Genachowski is expected Thursday to outline his plan for regulating broadband lines. He wants to adopt "net neutrality" rules that require Internet providers like Comcast Corp. and AT&T Inc. to treat all traffic equally, and not to slow or block access to websites...

At stake is how far the FCC can go to dictate the way Internet providers manage traffic on their multibillion-dollar networks. For the past decade or so, the FCC has maintained a mostly hands-off approach to Internet regulation.

Internet giants like Google Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and eBay Inc., which want to offer more Web video and other high-bandwidth services, have called for stronger action by the FCC to assure free access to websites.

Cable and telecommunications executives have warned that using land-line phone rules to govern their management of Internet traffic would lead them to cut billions of capital expenditure for their networks, slash jobs and go to court to fight the rules.

Consumer groups hailed the decision Wednesday, an abrupt change from recent days, when they'd bombarded the FCC chairman with emails and phone calls imploring him to fight phone and cable companies lobbyists.

Mike McCurry, former press secretary for President Bill Clinton and co-chair of the Arts + Labs Coalition:

"The question is how heavy a hand will the regulatory touch be," he said. "We don't know yet, so the devil is in the details. The network operators have to be able to treat some traffic on the Internet different than other traffic—most people agree that web video is different than an email to grandma. You have to discriminate in some fashion."

Wall Street Journal: http://bit.ly/aU3YkS

Feds to look at Apple's policy on programming tools

By Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY

Does Apple have the right to tell developers what kind of software they must use to create applications for its mobile devices?

That question is about to be pondered by federal regulators, who plan to examine whether Apple's (AAPL) new rules for developers violate antitrust rules, according to the Associated Press, citing a person with knowledge of the inquiry who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Apple has declined to allow Adobe's Flash software on its iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices, saying Flash is susceptible to crashes and battery drain.

In response, Adobe tried a workaround, introducing a new version of Flash that would let software developers create programs in Flash but save them in the format that plays on Apple mobile devices. Apple put the brakes on that with the rules it introduced in April...

Apple said this week that it sold 1 million iPads in 28 days, half of the time it took it to sell 1 million iPhones. Apple has sold more than 50 million iPhones and iPod Touches, which is why this battle is worrisome for Adobe.

check out USA Today's article: http://bit.ly/bNX6uA

Market Drop

High & Low Finance

Market Drop Fueled by a Crisis, Anxiety and an Error

"Combine one part nervous traders, one part Greek crisis and one part trader error. Stir in one part central bank complacency. Bring to boil. Panic.

That combination produced one of the wildest days ever in financial markets, with the Dow Jones industrial average, at one point, down almost 1,000 points while the euro sank to its lowest level in more than a year. There were substantial declines in emerging markets, whose economies had seemed to be booming, and in developed markets fearful of renewed recessions.

Even though a substantial part of the worst plunge appeared to be linked to a trader error — one $40 stock fell for a time to one penny — prices had fallen around the world even before such mistakes began to happen.

It appears that investors are again growing more hesitant to own assets like stocks and bonds, particularly since many now cost far more than they did only a few months ago. Another sharp retrenchment by investors, consumers and businesses could threaten the current global recovery by choking off financing and new orders for companies.

The height of panic on Thursday was reached shortly after lunchtime in the United States. First some currencies began to fall rapidly, with the euro suffering especially against the Japanese yen.

That could have been an indication that some large traders were unwinding positions. It has been popular to borrow yen at low interest rates and then use the money to speculate in higher yielding assets denominated in other currencies. Anyone unwinding such a trade would buy yen to repay the loan.

Then, within a few minutes, the United States stock market appeared to be collapsing. Some of the decline was real, but another part of it was simply trading gone awry. "

By the close of the day, the Dow was down 347.80 points, or 3.2 percent, to 10,520.32.

read more: http://nyti.ms/bEDCuF

For First Time in Six Years, Nintendo's Profits Drop

Barry Levine, newsfactor.com Barry Levine, newsfactor.com – Tue May 4, 12:02 pm ET
Has Nintendo's ascendancy peaked? On Thursday, the video game maker will report earnings from the fiscal year that ended March 31, and it is expected to show the first drop in profits in six years.

The Wii's price drop before the last shopping season, from $250 to $200 in the U.S., helped boost overall sales, and there are new technologies coming out, but these weren't enough to boost the expected profit of $2.4 billion, or 229 billion yen -- a decrease over previous years.

Glassless 3-D

Weak sales earlier in the fiscal year, and a strong yen in addition to the price cuts, helped to reduce profitability. The console maker is expected to show sales of about 20 million Wii machines and 30 million DS machines during the fiscal year.

The Wii game console, with a motion-sensing controller and an emphasis on games that appeal to the entire family, has been a popular product that took competitors Microsoft and Sony by surprise, but now other innovations are expected to catch up with Nintendo.

With Sony releasing a new motion controller for its game console, and Microsoft about to release a controller that operates simply by motions of the player's hands and body, Nintendo is looking to find some competitive angle to prevent further slippage.

3-D gaming is one of the new innovations that Nintendo is trying out. A new portable model, currently called the 3-DS, is expected to be revealed at the big E3 show scheduled for Los Angeles in mid-June. Sales are expected to begin in the current Nintendo fiscal year.

Sony's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360 are releasing 3-D games for their consoles that require special glasses, but Nintendo has said its handheld unit with 3D doesn't need glasses.

'State-of-Art' Becomes 'So What?'

Nintendo has not revealed the technology behind the glassless 3-D. According to news reports, the 3-DS will have backward compatibility with games for the Nintendo DS and DSi. The company has sold more than 125 million DS units since its launch six years ago, making it the most popular handheld game device.

Nintendo is also trying new bundling deals. Beginning May 9, the Wii Sports Resort game and MotionPlus controller will be included with new consoles, a $50 value provided at no addition cost. The new controller offers greater accuracy, and the console will be offered in a choice of black or white. Currently, the bundle is the Wii Remote controller, a Nunchuk controller, and Wii Sports.

Michael Gartenberg, partner and analyst with the Altimeter Group, said he didn't know if Nintendo's run has ended for the moment, but that their profit drop "shows has fast-moving this market is."

"What was 'state-of-the-art' can quickly become 'so what?'" he said. Nintendo is "looking to mobile and 3D to reignite the enthusiasm," Gartenberg noted, especially with the impending public introduction of Microsoft's hand-and-body controller, Project Natal, at the E3 show.

I am not suprised that Nintendo's profits are falling. I think that the novelty of having an interactive system helped drive its sales. In fact my family and I bought into that. I think that the problem is that there are really no good games for the Wii. In fact we have thought about getting rid of ours. Perhaps instead of trying to be the first to come out with new technology they should put some of that enthusiasm into making quality games for the consumers. Thats just my opinion. What do you guys think?

Movie Gallery Out

Isn't if funny how things seem to foreshadow themselves in real life as they do in movies?
It seems like just yesterday we were sitting in class talking about Movie Gallery's chances of survival... Oh, crap, it was just yesterday!
Well, today it was announced that the movie-rental giant will be closing its doors, all 2,415 of them, in the US. That means about 15,000 jobs lost as well as the end of an era for those of us that still have the fond memories of jumping in the van on a Tuesday afternoon to check out the newest releases at the video store hoping we got there in time to get a copy.
So there you have it. Movie Gallery is out, Block Buster will give serious consideration to even the darkest type of voodoo to save their own hide, and YouTube is now renting movies, and nobody cares.

COMMENT

Bedolla out!

new ipod wheel

http://venturebeat.com/2010/02/03/apple-patents-ipod-like-wheel-on-ipad-touchscreen/

There is going to be a new ipod wheel. The makers are saying that it is a touch screen wheel. this is so that the wheel will only be activated by a human hand. Personally I have had several
ipod's and I have never had a problem with the sound turning itself up on its own.

not my words theirs : The patent explains that the “intelligent bezel,” as it’s called, adjusts itself to the orientation of the tablet screen, either horizontal or vertical. It is accompanied by touchable controls around the edge of the screen

I personally think that apple is just getting carried away what is the purpose of this it seems as if they continue to come out with more improvements. any comments? why do they continue to re invent something that already sells so well.

Sony Sued for removing Linux support for Ps3

Patricia Resende, newsfactor.com Patricia Resende, newsfactor.com – Thu Apr 29, 6:05 pm ET
Sony Computer Entertainment is under fire by PlayStation 3 owners. A class-action suit has been brought against Sony for removing Linux support from PS3 consoles in its latest upgrade.

An attorney for PS3 owner Anthony Ventura filed the suit against Sony in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on Wednesday after Sony removed support for Linux in its PlayStation 3.21 software update.

After Sony announced the update on March 28, unhappy PS3 owners took their frustrations to the web by flooding Sony's official PlayStation blog with angry comments. A total of 7,454 comments were posted as of Thursday. While some are upset with losing Linux support, others are more angry with Sony for removing a feature for which they paid.

Ventura, however, took his frustrations straight to a lawyer who filed the class-action suit on his behalf.

No Joke

PlayStation 3 owners were anticipating the PlayStation 3.21 upgrade slated for April 1, but thought Sony was playing an April Fools' Day joke when it said the upgrade would remove support for Linux.

Sony quickly warned users that the upgrade was no a joke and, in fact, was an attempt to protect the intellectual property of the content offered on the PS3 system as well as to provide a more secure system. PS3 owners who chose not to upgrade risked losing other PS3 features, according to Sony, including access to the PlayStation Network, newer games, and Blu-ray movies. Gamers who decided not to upgrade also risked losing playback of copyright-protected videos stored on a media server, the company warned.

If Judge Edward Chen allows the class-action suit, it would include all individuals who bought a PS3 between Nov. 17, 2006, and March 27, 2010, according to reports. The suit does not specify any amount in requested damages, but does state damages will not exceed $5 million.


The story went on to say that this is not the first lawsuit that Sony has had filed against them because of the PS3. They were sued previously because an update caused a person's system to malfunction. The author of the story also writes that she does not believe this will hurt Sony. What do you think? Do you guys think that this update is worth the unsatisfied customers? What do you think the repructions if any would be?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20100429/bs_nf/73070

Authors Unbound Online...

Authors Unbound Online

In this NYTimes article, it addresses the very idea of a "niche" world just like The Long Tail speaks of. 

This article is about "self-publishing" and how easy it is to do these days. Not only that, the negative connotation that was once associated with "self-publishing" is fading in an entertainment world that has its users, average people, giving us content in any form or method online. 

Just as the article states,

"In this time of Twitter feeds and self-designed Snapfish albums and personal YouTube channels, it’s hard to remember the stigma that once attached to self-publishing. But it was very real."

"But times have changed, and radically. Last year, according to the Bowker bibliographic company, 764,448 titles were produced by self-publishers and so-called microniche publishers. (A microniche, I imagine, is a shade bigger than a self.) "

All throughout this article, it just demonstrates the amazing power of the individual creator to, once again, put their work out there and even if it's small, low-profit, and barely gets noticed, it is "crafty and can beat big and branded." It's honestly very impressive to me. I like user-generated content, mainly for my own personal entertainment. 

So does this make anyone credible like a writer? Not having to go through a publisher, will the users who read this content think a bit less of it? For school, formal, or historical reading, is it good people create books that may not be factually correct? 

Either way, this is just ANOTHER example of how niche content is taking over, and the best-sellers may just one day come from a online shelf of "self-published" digital books. Who knows? 

As IndieReader, an online source for self-published books, puts it, “Think of these books like handmade goods, produced in small numbers, instead of the mass-marketed stuff you’d find at a superstore.”

Ole in with the New

The ipad has changed a 99 year old woman's life. The Portland, Ore native is using the newest ipad to overcome medical woes. After hearing about the ipad, this new invention has allowed the 99 year old to get back to reading and writing. Campbell, had a love for writing poetry, although she never owned a computer. The lightweight pad makes it feasible to enhance her experience with it's brightness levels and text size. Is this ipad something we can see older adults to catch a hold to?