In this blog, teachers, students and all those who have some kind of interest in the English language will find useful, interesting, curious and funny things to be used in their classes or for their personal enjoyment.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Wikileaks-2011-Link to video
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/video/2011/jan/31/wikileaks-julian-assange-book
Wikileaks-The book + video-The Guardian-2011
Julian Assange feared he was being followed by US spies, new book reveals Julian Assange's 'old lady' disguise, and how fraught negotiations included rows with Guardian editor
David Leigh and Luke Harding guardian.co.uk
30 January 2011
The Guardian's Alan Rusbridger, David Leigh and Luke Harding on the book that charts Julian Assange and WikiLeaks' transformation from rebel hackers to global celebrities
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange disguised himself as an old woman in a wig for fear he was being followed by US intelligence, according to a Guardian book published tomorrow. The first full, inside account of the story that dominated global headlines for weeks reveals how a secret deal was brokered in a Brussels hotel that led to five international media outlets simultaneously publishing disclosures based on the leak of 250,000 US diplomatic cables.
WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's war on secrecy
The leak has led to calls from US right-wingers for Assange to be indicted on espionage charges, or even assassinated. The alleged source, US army private Bradley Manning, is being held under harsh conditions in a military prison in Quantico, Virginia.
WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy discloses what lay behind the sometimes-fraught negotiations with Assange. At one stage the Australian computer hacker and his lawyers "ambushed" Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger and threatened to sue him for endangering WikiLeaks's "financial assets".
Tomorrow's first extract reveals court documents about Assange's Australian childhood, and the strange personality of the man his supporters call the messiah of the internet. When the teenage Assange was convicted of hacking, the court was told he was a gifted boy with a "tragic" background whose "computer is his only friend". The book also describes the project's cloak and dagger measures. Assange dressed up as a woman and took elaborate steps to lose pursuing cars as he travelled to Ellingham Hall, the Norfolk stately home where his followers secretly set up camp last November.
Some of the journalists involved communicated using throwaway "burner" phones inspired by the TV series The Wire, and encrypted Jabber chat software.
In his introduction to the book Rusbridger acknowledges that the relationship between the five international papers and WikiLeaks had "moments of difficulty and tension", at times threatening to collapse into farce, "as if a Stieg Larsson script had been passed to the writer of Downton Abbey, Julian Fellowes". But Rusbridger says Assange behaved as "a new breed of publisher-intermediary" who sought to have a degree of control over the information he brought to the table. But he concludes: "WikiLeaks and similar organisations are generally admirable in their single-minded view of transparency and openness".
The book also details:
• How Assange said US informants "deserve to be killed".
• The full story of the Swedish sex allegations that Assange's supporters claimed were a honeytrap.
• Why Assange quarrelled with the Guardian's star reporter Nick Davies.
• How Assange paid a notorious anti-semite to represent WikiLeaks in Russia.
• WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy, by David Leigh and Luke Harding
6 Dec 2010
Julian Assange WikiLeaks – latest
31 Aug 2010
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange questioned by police
30 Nov 2010
WikiLeaks: Interpol issues wanted notice for Julian Assange
1. Julian Assange: the teen hacker who became insurgent in information war
2. Julian Assange feared he was being followed by US spies, new book reveals
The story behind Wikileaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy - videoJulian Assange: the teen hacker who became insurgent in information warBBC Radio 2 axes Electric PromsBob Crow asks police to investigate phone-hacking suspicionsToday's media stories from the papersMore zeitgeist What is Zeitgeist? Zeitgeist is an experiment in showing trending news, topics and articles from the Guardian. Find out more in our blog post.
Julian Assange says his life is 'under threat'
18 Dec 2010
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says Swedish rape case against him is 'a travesty'
14 Dec 2010
Julian Assange urges supporters to protect WikiLeaks
9 Dec 2010
WikiLeaks cables: Shell, Operation Payback and Assange for the Nobel prize - as it happened
1 Dec 2010
Should WikiLeaks' Julian Assange be tried for espionage?
31 Jan 2011
WikiLeaks: Strained relations, accusations – and crucial revelations
Court costs strain WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's finances
15 Dec 2010
Julian Assange might be freed tomorrow but an extradition battle with Sweden looms and his legal bill is growing
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2011
David Leigh and Luke Harding guardian.co.uk
30 January 2011
The Guardian's Alan Rusbridger, David Leigh and Luke Harding on the book that charts Julian Assange and WikiLeaks' transformation from rebel hackers to global celebrities
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange disguised himself as an old woman in a wig for fear he was being followed by US intelligence, according to a Guardian book published tomorrow. The first full, inside account of the story that dominated global headlines for weeks reveals how a secret deal was brokered in a Brussels hotel that led to five international media outlets simultaneously publishing disclosures based on the leak of 250,000 US diplomatic cables.
WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's war on secrecy
The leak has led to calls from US right-wingers for Assange to be indicted on espionage charges, or even assassinated. The alleged source, US army private Bradley Manning, is being held under harsh conditions in a military prison in Quantico, Virginia.
WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy discloses what lay behind the sometimes-fraught negotiations with Assange. At one stage the Australian computer hacker and his lawyers "ambushed" Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger and threatened to sue him for endangering WikiLeaks's "financial assets".
Tomorrow's first extract reveals court documents about Assange's Australian childhood, and the strange personality of the man his supporters call the messiah of the internet. When the teenage Assange was convicted of hacking, the court was told he was a gifted boy with a "tragic" background whose "computer is his only friend". The book also describes the project's cloak and dagger measures. Assange dressed up as a woman and took elaborate steps to lose pursuing cars as he travelled to Ellingham Hall, the Norfolk stately home where his followers secretly set up camp last November.
Some of the journalists involved communicated using throwaway "burner" phones inspired by the TV series The Wire, and encrypted Jabber chat software.
In his introduction to the book Rusbridger acknowledges that the relationship between the five international papers and WikiLeaks had "moments of difficulty and tension", at times threatening to collapse into farce, "as if a Stieg Larsson script had been passed to the writer of Downton Abbey, Julian Fellowes". But Rusbridger says Assange behaved as "a new breed of publisher-intermediary" who sought to have a degree of control over the information he brought to the table. But he concludes: "WikiLeaks and similar organisations are generally admirable in their single-minded view of transparency and openness".
The book also details:
• How Assange said US informants "deserve to be killed".
• The full story of the Swedish sex allegations that Assange's supporters claimed were a honeytrap.
• Why Assange quarrelled with the Guardian's star reporter Nick Davies.
• How Assange paid a notorious anti-semite to represent WikiLeaks in Russia.
• WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy, by David Leigh and Luke Harding
6 Dec 2010
Julian Assange WikiLeaks – latest
31 Aug 2010
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange questioned by police
30 Nov 2010
WikiLeaks: Interpol issues wanted notice for Julian Assange
1. Julian Assange: the teen hacker who became insurgent in information war
2. Julian Assange feared he was being followed by US spies, new book reveals
The story behind Wikileaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy - videoJulian Assange: the teen hacker who became insurgent in information warBBC Radio 2 axes Electric PromsBob Crow asks police to investigate phone-hacking suspicionsToday's media stories from the papersMore zeitgeist What is Zeitgeist? Zeitgeist is an experiment in showing trending news, topics and articles from the Guardian. Find out more in our blog post.
Julian Assange says his life is 'under threat'
18 Dec 2010
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says Swedish rape case against him is 'a travesty'
14 Dec 2010
Julian Assange urges supporters to protect WikiLeaks
9 Dec 2010
WikiLeaks cables: Shell, Operation Payback and Assange for the Nobel prize - as it happened
1 Dec 2010
Should WikiLeaks' Julian Assange be tried for espionage?
31 Jan 2011
WikiLeaks: Strained relations, accusations – and crucial revelations
Court costs strain WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's finances
15 Dec 2010
Julian Assange might be freed tomorrow but an extradition battle with Sweden looms and his legal bill is growing
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2011
The 10 dirtiest hotels in USA-2011
America’s 10 Dirtiest Hotels
By Kathy Kristof | Jan 27, 2011
Have you ever paid for a hotel stay in a beach city, only to find that the room was dirtier than your kid’s college dorm? Have you kept your shoes on all night because you didn’t want your bare feet to touch the carpet?
The travel site Trip Advisor.com reports that this was the experience of so many of the site’s reviewers that it created it’s own version of the Good Housekeeping seal of disapproval –a list of 10 U.S. hotels so disgusting that more than 80% of the people who stayed in these places would not recommend them again and had plenty of bad things to say.
Trip Advisor also compiled lists of the 10 most disgusting hotels in Europe, Asia and India. Of course, the travel site also lists fine hotels. But the gross hotels listings can help counter the often elegant-looking photographs published on the hotel web sites. For a nice snapshot of what other patrons think about a place, make sure to check out the site’s “Reviews by trip type and rating.”
The 10 dirtiest U.S. hotels and what people had to say about them:
1. Grand Resort and Convention Center in Pigeon Forge, TN. received thumbs-down ratings from 87% of the patrons weighing in at Trip Advisor. Out of 225 reviews, 162 rated the hotel “terrible.”
Among their comments: “Just filth. The health department needs to close this place.”
“If you’re looking for a place with…chewing tobacco spit oozing down the halls; spiders actively making webs in every corner of your room; carpeting so greasy and dirty you wouldn’t want to set your luggage down….”
On the bright side: It’s affordable, with rooms going for a mere $50 per night.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Jack London Inn, Oakland, CA.
“This inn is nothing but a dirty, noisy, scary, disgusting place…I’d rather stay in my car…”
“This place appeared to house a bunch of folks who just got out of prison…”
Room rates? $41 a night.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Desert Inn Resort, Daytona Beach, FL. Out of 260 reviews, 185 rated the hotel “terrible.”
“Roaches scurried everywhere…”
“It was a dump and the staff didn’t seem to care.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Hotel Carter, New York, NY
“I’m not that picky and neither is my fiance, so we compromised comfort for location. We were totally wrong…The rooms at this hotel are gross…dirty, unkempt, they reek of who knows what….”
“If you would like to pretend you went to Honduras, you can get great pictures here….black mold in the showers”
“Mice!”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Polynesian Beach & Golf Resort, Myrtle Beach. Out of 228 reviews, 172 rated this hotel “poor” (33) or “terrible” (139).
“Nearly ruined our vacation.”
“The pool was so nasty, I would not let the kids go in.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Atlantic Beach Hotel, Miami, FL
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Rodeway Inn, Williamsville, NY
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Super 8 Estes Park, Estes Park, CO
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Palm Grove Hotel & Suites, Virginia Beach, VA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. Econo Lodge Newark Int’l Airport, Elizabeth, NJ
By Kathy Kristof | Jan 27, 2011
Have you ever paid for a hotel stay in a beach city, only to find that the room was dirtier than your kid’s college dorm? Have you kept your shoes on all night because you didn’t want your bare feet to touch the carpet?
The travel site Trip Advisor.com reports that this was the experience of so many of the site’s reviewers that it created it’s own version of the Good Housekeeping seal of disapproval –a list of 10 U.S. hotels so disgusting that more than 80% of the people who stayed in these places would not recommend them again and had plenty of bad things to say.
Trip Advisor also compiled lists of the 10 most disgusting hotels in Europe, Asia and India. Of course, the travel site also lists fine hotels. But the gross hotels listings can help counter the often elegant-looking photographs published on the hotel web sites. For a nice snapshot of what other patrons think about a place, make sure to check out the site’s “Reviews by trip type and rating.”
The 10 dirtiest U.S. hotels and what people had to say about them:
1. Grand Resort and Convention Center in Pigeon Forge, TN. received thumbs-down ratings from 87% of the patrons weighing in at Trip Advisor. Out of 225 reviews, 162 rated the hotel “terrible.”
Among their comments: “Just filth. The health department needs to close this place.”
“If you’re looking for a place with…chewing tobacco spit oozing down the halls; spiders actively making webs in every corner of your room; carpeting so greasy and dirty you wouldn’t want to set your luggage down….”
On the bright side: It’s affordable, with rooms going for a mere $50 per night.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Jack London Inn, Oakland, CA.
“This inn is nothing but a dirty, noisy, scary, disgusting place…I’d rather stay in my car…”
“This place appeared to house a bunch of folks who just got out of prison…”
Room rates? $41 a night.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Desert Inn Resort, Daytona Beach, FL. Out of 260 reviews, 185 rated the hotel “terrible.”
“Roaches scurried everywhere…”
“It was a dump and the staff didn’t seem to care.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Hotel Carter, New York, NY
“I’m not that picky and neither is my fiance, so we compromised comfort for location. We were totally wrong…The rooms at this hotel are gross…dirty, unkempt, they reek of who knows what….”
“If you would like to pretend you went to Honduras, you can get great pictures here….black mold in the showers”
“Mice!”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Polynesian Beach & Golf Resort, Myrtle Beach. Out of 228 reviews, 172 rated this hotel “poor” (33) or “terrible” (139).
“Nearly ruined our vacation.”
“The pool was so nasty, I would not let the kids go in.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Atlantic Beach Hotel, Miami, FL
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Rodeway Inn, Williamsville, NY
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Super 8 Estes Park, Estes Park, CO
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Palm Grove Hotel & Suites, Virginia Beach, VA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. Econo Lodge Newark Int’l Airport, Elizabeth, NJ
IT Growth & Global Change-Video
http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/IT_growth_and_global_change_A_conversation_with_Ray_Kurzweil_2728?pagenum=1#interactive
Sunday, January 16, 2011
TIME Article-Electronic Waste-2011
Gadgets
Electronic Waste: Where Does It Go and What Happens To It?
By Michelle Castillo on January 14, 2011
Many people are aware of the disastrous effects that tossing old electronics in the garbage can have on the environment and take special care to dispose of these products properly. While most recycling centers will make sure that your devices are dismantled and reused, a recent NPR story shows us that companies might not be as honest about what they are doing with your old electronics. More often than not these items are shipped outside the US, moving the toxic waste dump from our shores to developing countries, according to Basel Action Network executive director Jim Puckett. The non-profit organization focuses on protecting the environment from dangerous waste.
"The dirty little secret is that when you take [your electronic waste] to a recycler, instead of throwing it in a trashcan, about 80 percent of that material, very quickly, finds itself on a container ship going to a country like China, Nigeria, India, Vietnam, Pakistan — where very dirty things happen to it," Puckett said to NPR.
While recyclers do make money selling metal scraps, such as gold and liquid solder, it is cheaper to have the hard labor of pulling apart and melting down pieces done outside the country even if that means the useless scraps and other hazardous materials will liter that area. 60 Minutes went to one of these illegal electronics stripping shops in Guiyu, China (pictured above) in 2008, which employed workers for $8 a day. Despite the fumes that made them cough and other health hazards, the workers said they opted to work at recycling factories because it was one of the only jobs in this region that paid a living wage.
The environmental damage on the area because of all the toxic materials has left a permanent scar. Scientists who have examined Guiyu have determined that because of the waste, the location has the highest levels of cancer-causing dioxins in the world. Pregnant women are six times more likely to suffer a miscarriage, and seven out of ten kids have too much lead in their blood. Many of the devices broken down in the town came from other countries including the US, who in 2008 according to Natural Resources Defense Council Allen Hershkowitz tossed out 130,000 computers each day and dispose of over 100 million cell phones each year.
The problem is still ongoing. A few weeks ago in the South China Morning Post, a story said that a new law effective January 1, 2011 forcing Chinese recycling firms to turn away imported electronic waste has created a stockpile of toxic materials in Hong Kong. Since overseas countries still ship old devices to the region to be stripped for minerals, which are then resold by traders, the poisonous junk is stuck in the country with no way to sell or dispose of it because local businesses fear the law. "I don't know what to do with [the electronic waste]. I'm looking for recyclers who know how to treat them," an anonymous recycler said to the newspaper. "But I know many others are having the same problem. It's a problem for Hong Kong."
Basel Action Network suggests taking an extra step and using one of the e-Stewards, certified recyclers that do not ship their electronic waste to be disposed of in different countries. It may narrow down the choices of where you can dump your old computer or cell phone, but the extra effort is worth it.
Read more: http://techland.time.com/2011/01/14/electronic-waste-where-does-it-go-and-what-happens-to-it/#ixzz1BEbxIoAi
Electronic Waste: Where Does It Go and What Happens To It?
By Michelle Castillo on January 14, 2011
Many people are aware of the disastrous effects that tossing old electronics in the garbage can have on the environment and take special care to dispose of these products properly. While most recycling centers will make sure that your devices are dismantled and reused, a recent NPR story shows us that companies might not be as honest about what they are doing with your old electronics. More often than not these items are shipped outside the US, moving the toxic waste dump from our shores to developing countries, according to Basel Action Network executive director Jim Puckett. The non-profit organization focuses on protecting the environment from dangerous waste.
"The dirty little secret is that when you take [your electronic waste] to a recycler, instead of throwing it in a trashcan, about 80 percent of that material, very quickly, finds itself on a container ship going to a country like China, Nigeria, India, Vietnam, Pakistan — where very dirty things happen to it," Puckett said to NPR.
While recyclers do make money selling metal scraps, such as gold and liquid solder, it is cheaper to have the hard labor of pulling apart and melting down pieces done outside the country even if that means the useless scraps and other hazardous materials will liter that area. 60 Minutes went to one of these illegal electronics stripping shops in Guiyu, China (pictured above) in 2008, which employed workers for $8 a day. Despite the fumes that made them cough and other health hazards, the workers said they opted to work at recycling factories because it was one of the only jobs in this region that paid a living wage.
The environmental damage on the area because of all the toxic materials has left a permanent scar. Scientists who have examined Guiyu have determined that because of the waste, the location has the highest levels of cancer-causing dioxins in the world. Pregnant women are six times more likely to suffer a miscarriage, and seven out of ten kids have too much lead in their blood. Many of the devices broken down in the town came from other countries including the US, who in 2008 according to Natural Resources Defense Council Allen Hershkowitz tossed out 130,000 computers each day and dispose of over 100 million cell phones each year.
The problem is still ongoing. A few weeks ago in the South China Morning Post, a story said that a new law effective January 1, 2011 forcing Chinese recycling firms to turn away imported electronic waste has created a stockpile of toxic materials in Hong Kong. Since overseas countries still ship old devices to the region to be stripped for minerals, which are then resold by traders, the poisonous junk is stuck in the country with no way to sell or dispose of it because local businesses fear the law. "I don't know what to do with [the electronic waste]. I'm looking for recyclers who know how to treat them," an anonymous recycler said to the newspaper. "But I know many others are having the same problem. It's a problem for Hong Kong."
Basel Action Network suggests taking an extra step and using one of the e-Stewards, certified recyclers that do not ship their electronic waste to be disposed of in different countries. It may narrow down the choices of where you can dump your old computer or cell phone, but the extra effort is worth it.
Read more: http://techland.time.com/2011/01/14/electronic-waste-where-does-it-go-and-what-happens-to-it/#ixzz1BEbxIoAi
TIME Magazine article-Dakar 2011
Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011
Dakar 2011: The World's Most Dangerous Race
By Aaron Nelsen / Copiapó
The prevailing image of Chile's Atacama Desert is desolate — the mountainous moonscape where 33 miners were trapped underground for 70 days last year until their triumphant rescue. But the driest place on earth has another side. A miraculous sea of flowers blooms there every few years when rain does fall. And this month, for the third straight year, the 16-day Dakar Rally, arguably the world's most prestigious, grueling and dangerous marathon off-road race, or "raid," is winding much of its way through the Atacama, turning it into a deafening, carnivalesque roar of hundreds of cars, trucks, motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles. "Seeing [this] up close is the maximum emotion," says Gines Pulgar, who drove 3,000 km (1,864 mls) from southern Chile this week to follow the endurance epic, which ends on Sunday in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
What South Americans like Pulgar thought would be just a temporary spectacle could become a permanent, and lucrative, fixture on their continent. Until a couple years ago the Dakar, first held in 1978, had been a European-African rally raid, run from Paris to Dakar, Senegal (with vehicles ferried across the Strait of Gibraltar), and back again. But terrorism concerns in North Africa, which forced cancellation of the 2008 running, prompted the race's overseer, the French Amaury Sports Organization, to find a new locale, at least provisionally.
Argentina and northern Chile offered the right, challenging terrain — free of security threats — and the rally picked up again in the New World in 2009. This year it's a 9,618 km (5,976 mls), 13-stage odyssey that started on Jan. 1 in Buenos Aires. It headed through the sierras that separate the two countries, looping through the Atacama to Chile's Pacific coast, and finishes back in B.A. on Jan. 16. The drivers and riders locate designated points with little more than maps and compasses.
Some of the rally's most exciting moments have come in the Chilean desert, near the dusty mining town of Copiapó — the only city to play host to legs of the rally all three years it's been held in South America — where the punishing sun and topography have put numerous entrants out of the running. This year's 9th and 10th stages were a tortuous route of mountains and dunes from Antofogasta, Chile, through Copiapó and back into Argentina, forcing out veteran drivers like Team Hummer's Eliseo Salazar, 57, of Chile, who blew his transmission in the soft sand. "It was brutal," he says. But the region "is the heart of the Dakar," says Nicolás Noman Garrido, governor of the Atacama province. "I won't even speculate about the possibility of [the rally] not returning next year."
Indeed, rally officials confirmed on Friday that next year's Dakar will be held again in Argentina and Chile. "South America has projected the Dakar in its popular historic dimension," says Dakar Deputy Director Frédéric Lequien. "Argentina and Chile are most welcoming territory for the Dakar... and for them [the race] is a global showcase."
So much so that Peru, Bolivia and Brazil have expressed interest in hosting a stretch of the Dakar themselves. That's largely because the showcase brings cases of money. There really is no prize to be won in the Dakar; the more than 400 teams that participate do it not for cash but cachet. But many of them, with power sponsors like BMW, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen and Hummer, and famous racers like NASCAR and Indy 500 star Robby Gordon, spend millions of dollars for the souped-up vehicles, crews, equipment, transport and lodging a serious run requires. "This is a rich man's sport," says Roger Willis, one of a dozen members of Gordon's Hummer crew. (Mechanical failure forced Gordon to drop out last week near the Argentina-Chile border.) Argentina paid $5 million to host the Dakar this year — and expects to see a return of $170 million. The region around Copiapó expects 15,000 visitors spending almost $10 million.
In stark contrast to the opulence of the big-name camps that pitched tents outside Copiapó — and whose trucks open like garage doors revealing replacement tires and myriad drawers full of neatly labeled tools — is the thrift of off-road enthusiasts like architect Juan Carlos Unzue. Like most South America racing fans who never thought they'd see a rally of Dakar's caliber held there, Unzue, 48, sold a plot of land near his home in Villa Constitución, Argentina, to finance his lifelong dream of riding alongside the world's best racers. He's fallen from his motorcycle twice, and he was even robbed in broad daylight waiting for a light to change in Jujuy, Argentina. Still, he's beaming. "I ran across somebody on Robby Gordon's team," says Unzue, "and he told me, 'You have bigger balls than we do, you're out here without a team.' They couldn't believe it."
And for good reason. Each stage of the Dakar is a slow weeding-out process where vehicles break down irreparably; drivers break limbs, lose their bearings and sometimes flirt with death. (In fact, 49 Dakar racers have been killed in its 32-year history.). That drama fascinates locals like Pulgar, a seaweed packer, who's brought his son in their purple 1955 Ford to catch every turn of the Dakar in Chile. Their lips are chapped and faces burnt. But, says Pulgar, "I didn't want to miss my chance to experience this with my son. I didn't want to say the Dakar was here and we missed it." Chances are the world's top rally raid will roar through their backyard for years to come.
Find this article at:
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2042708,00.html
Dakar 2011: The World's Most Dangerous Race
By Aaron Nelsen / Copiapó
The prevailing image of Chile's Atacama Desert is desolate — the mountainous moonscape where 33 miners were trapped underground for 70 days last year until their triumphant rescue. But the driest place on earth has another side. A miraculous sea of flowers blooms there every few years when rain does fall. And this month, for the third straight year, the 16-day Dakar Rally, arguably the world's most prestigious, grueling and dangerous marathon off-road race, or "raid," is winding much of its way through the Atacama, turning it into a deafening, carnivalesque roar of hundreds of cars, trucks, motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles. "Seeing [this] up close is the maximum emotion," says Gines Pulgar, who drove 3,000 km (1,864 mls) from southern Chile this week to follow the endurance epic, which ends on Sunday in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
What South Americans like Pulgar thought would be just a temporary spectacle could become a permanent, and lucrative, fixture on their continent. Until a couple years ago the Dakar, first held in 1978, had been a European-African rally raid, run from Paris to Dakar, Senegal (with vehicles ferried across the Strait of Gibraltar), and back again. But terrorism concerns in North Africa, which forced cancellation of the 2008 running, prompted the race's overseer, the French Amaury Sports Organization, to find a new locale, at least provisionally.
Argentina and northern Chile offered the right, challenging terrain — free of security threats — and the rally picked up again in the New World in 2009. This year it's a 9,618 km (5,976 mls), 13-stage odyssey that started on Jan. 1 in Buenos Aires. It headed through the sierras that separate the two countries, looping through the Atacama to Chile's Pacific coast, and finishes back in B.A. on Jan. 16. The drivers and riders locate designated points with little more than maps and compasses.
Some of the rally's most exciting moments have come in the Chilean desert, near the dusty mining town of Copiapó — the only city to play host to legs of the rally all three years it's been held in South America — where the punishing sun and topography have put numerous entrants out of the running. This year's 9th and 10th stages were a tortuous route of mountains and dunes from Antofogasta, Chile, through Copiapó and back into Argentina, forcing out veteran drivers like Team Hummer's Eliseo Salazar, 57, of Chile, who blew his transmission in the soft sand. "It was brutal," he says. But the region "is the heart of the Dakar," says Nicolás Noman Garrido, governor of the Atacama province. "I won't even speculate about the possibility of [the rally] not returning next year."
Indeed, rally officials confirmed on Friday that next year's Dakar will be held again in Argentina and Chile. "South America has projected the Dakar in its popular historic dimension," says Dakar Deputy Director Frédéric Lequien. "Argentina and Chile are most welcoming territory for the Dakar... and for them [the race] is a global showcase."
So much so that Peru, Bolivia and Brazil have expressed interest in hosting a stretch of the Dakar themselves. That's largely because the showcase brings cases of money. There really is no prize to be won in the Dakar; the more than 400 teams that participate do it not for cash but cachet. But many of them, with power sponsors like BMW, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen and Hummer, and famous racers like NASCAR and Indy 500 star Robby Gordon, spend millions of dollars for the souped-up vehicles, crews, equipment, transport and lodging a serious run requires. "This is a rich man's sport," says Roger Willis, one of a dozen members of Gordon's Hummer crew. (Mechanical failure forced Gordon to drop out last week near the Argentina-Chile border.) Argentina paid $5 million to host the Dakar this year — and expects to see a return of $170 million. The region around Copiapó expects 15,000 visitors spending almost $10 million.
In stark contrast to the opulence of the big-name camps that pitched tents outside Copiapó — and whose trucks open like garage doors revealing replacement tires and myriad drawers full of neatly labeled tools — is the thrift of off-road enthusiasts like architect Juan Carlos Unzue. Like most South America racing fans who never thought they'd see a rally of Dakar's caliber held there, Unzue, 48, sold a plot of land near his home in Villa Constitución, Argentina, to finance his lifelong dream of riding alongside the world's best racers. He's fallen from his motorcycle twice, and he was even robbed in broad daylight waiting for a light to change in Jujuy, Argentina. Still, he's beaming. "I ran across somebody on Robby Gordon's team," says Unzue, "and he told me, 'You have bigger balls than we do, you're out here without a team.' They couldn't believe it."
And for good reason. Each stage of the Dakar is a slow weeding-out process where vehicles break down irreparably; drivers break limbs, lose their bearings and sometimes flirt with death. (In fact, 49 Dakar racers have been killed in its 32-year history.). That drama fascinates locals like Pulgar, a seaweed packer, who's brought his son in their purple 1955 Ford to catch every turn of the Dakar in Chile. Their lips are chapped and faces burnt. But, says Pulgar, "I didn't want to miss my chance to experience this with my son. I didn't want to say the Dakar was here and we missed it." Chances are the world's top rally raid will roar through their backyard for years to come.
Find this article at:
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2042708,00.html
Saturday, January 15, 2011
JOB INTERVIEW-9 ways to ace your job interview-NsWeek Magazine
9 Ways to Ace a Job Interview
You got the interview, now what?
by MainStreetJanuary 13, 2011
Congratulations—you’ve landed a job interview! In today’s market, where every job listing generates unprecedented floods of applicants, being granted an interview is a coup in and of itself. And given the scarcity of interviews, it’s crucial that you give each and every one your very best effort.
With the help of five career experts, MainStreet compiled the necessary tools to help you give your best interview, plus some helpful hints on how to land an interview in the first place.
1. Schedule immediately
Chad Mihalick, founder of action sports and outdoor job site, Malakye.com recommends that “when you do have an opportunity to schedule an appointment, do not hesitate to respond. You should always be on call—like a doctor! Also use the opportunity to ask any pre-game questions you may have—such as who will be present at the interview and what support materials the interviewers might be interested in. Develop these questions when you begin your job search.”
2. Confirm your appointment
The experts at the Dale Carnegie Institute, which offers professional training services, advise that “recruiters like correspondence that is short and sweet. When the interview is one day away, send an email confirming the appointment. If it is on the phone, make sure you have the right number. If it is in an office, make sure you know the floor and if you need any type of security credentials like a photo ID.”
3. How to prepare
In addition to putting together an outfit in which you feel confident and successful, make sure you do your homework on the company you are interviewing with. Research it online, follow it on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook if those options are available. Being informed will help you prepare interesting questions beforehand.
“One way to stand out in an interview is to ask questions. In addition to the most important basics—when they plan to hire for the position and if they contact all applicants or only those who are hired—my favorite questions to ask the interviewer are: What is a typical week like in this position? What are the opportunities for growth and advancement? Be sure to ask for their business card so you have correct contact information for the follow up thank you card,” suggests career coach Stephanie Florman.
4. What to bring
Frances Cole-Jones, media coach and author of The Wow Factor, suggests, “Bring two copies of your resume. That way when your interviewer doesn't have it in front of him/her, you can hand it to him. Yes, it's likely he or she will have misplaced it.”
Other than your A-game, Dale Carnegie Training suggests bringing a notepad that is large enough to write on but small enough to be handled gracefully. Optional items include a list of references from past employment and/or a condensed portfolio of work if these pieces are easily portable.
5. When to arrive
Media coach Cole-Jones notes that “you are interviewing from three blocks away: You don't know who is in the nearby Starbucks, the elevator, etc. You need to be on-site five minutes before. How you greet the receptionist will be noticed. Do not talk on the phone or send texts while you are waiting. Simply sit and observe.”
Florman, the career coach, agrees and suggests “arriving to the interview location a half hour early. This gives you time to find parking, use the restroom, make sure your cell phone is turned on silent and to organize your thoughts. Once you are there, you can relax. Never be late.“
6. Questions to prepare for
Cole-Jones provided these common interview questions with suggestions on how to prepare for them:
Q: Why do you want to work for us?
Have a specific reason based on the company’s history, products or reputation. Find ways that it intersects with your history and experience.
Q: What's your greatest strength/weakness?
Tell a story that demonstrates your strength or weakness. Don't fall back on useless modifiers like: "People say I'm an amazing leader." As your weakness, identify a strength you take to an extreme: "Sometimes I get so caught up in my subject that I give people too much information," for example.
Q: What salary are you looking for?
Have a number in mind based on research you can do at the Bureau of Labor Statistics on salaries for similar positions in your area. Don't ask: "What are you offering?"
Dale Carnegie Training offers a number of other questions to expect during an interview.
7. Body language
How should you sit, act or just be in your interview? Although you’ll likely be nervous, try to be yourself, as much as possible. Your face-to-face interview is your one opportunity to show the real you to your prospective employer, and may be the key to set you apart from other applicants. Also, keep in mind that sometimes the person who is interviewing you might also be nervous. Do what you can to feel as comfortable as possible, so you, in turn, can make them feel more comfortable.
In addition, “your body language should exude confidence. A strong, confident handshake goes a very long way. So do smiling, nodding and maintaining eye contact. Keep your voice clear and strong,” suggests career coach Florman.
Cole-Jones recommends that you sit up and forward in your chair, because no one wants to hire someone who is "too cool for school." Also, keep your hands where others can see them. It’s hard to trust someone when you can't see their hands.
8. How to leave the interview
In How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie wrote that two great ways “to make people like you” are to “smile and remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sounds in any language.”
Once your interview is done, address the interviewer by name, smile and offer genuine appreciation for the investment of his or her time in your future with the company. You want to leave the interviewer with a compelling impression of yourself, so remember to exude a blend of confidence, composure and dedication.
9. Follow up
Mihalick of Malakye.com thinks what you do after the interview counts a great deal in the employer’s impression of you. “When your interview is over, FOLLOW UP! Send a follow up e-mail as soon as possible, a few hours later or the next day are good rules of thumb, regardless of if you think it went well. Say thanks, reiterate important points and tell them you're looking forward to finding out more about the next steps.”
“E-mails are efficient,” says Florman, the career coach, “but they are common and do not show great effort. I suggest a hand-written thank you note to follow up from an interview. Recap the interview by including the position you applied for, what you liked about the organization, why you would be a great fit for the position, and conclude by thanking them for their time and consideration.”
You got the interview, now what?
by MainStreetJanuary 13, 2011
Congratulations—you’ve landed a job interview! In today’s market, where every job listing generates unprecedented floods of applicants, being granted an interview is a coup in and of itself. And given the scarcity of interviews, it’s crucial that you give each and every one your very best effort.
With the help of five career experts, MainStreet compiled the necessary tools to help you give your best interview, plus some helpful hints on how to land an interview in the first place.
1. Schedule immediately
Chad Mihalick, founder of action sports and outdoor job site, Malakye.com recommends that “when you do have an opportunity to schedule an appointment, do not hesitate to respond. You should always be on call—like a doctor! Also use the opportunity to ask any pre-game questions you may have—such as who will be present at the interview and what support materials the interviewers might be interested in. Develop these questions when you begin your job search.”
2. Confirm your appointment
The experts at the Dale Carnegie Institute, which offers professional training services, advise that “recruiters like correspondence that is short and sweet. When the interview is one day away, send an email confirming the appointment. If it is on the phone, make sure you have the right number. If it is in an office, make sure you know the floor and if you need any type of security credentials like a photo ID.”
3. How to prepare
In addition to putting together an outfit in which you feel confident and successful, make sure you do your homework on the company you are interviewing with. Research it online, follow it on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook if those options are available. Being informed will help you prepare interesting questions beforehand.
“One way to stand out in an interview is to ask questions. In addition to the most important basics—when they plan to hire for the position and if they contact all applicants or only those who are hired—my favorite questions to ask the interviewer are: What is a typical week like in this position? What are the opportunities for growth and advancement? Be sure to ask for their business card so you have correct contact information for the follow up thank you card,” suggests career coach Stephanie Florman.
4. What to bring
Frances Cole-Jones, media coach and author of The Wow Factor, suggests, “Bring two copies of your resume. That way when your interviewer doesn't have it in front of him/her, you can hand it to him. Yes, it's likely he or she will have misplaced it.”
Other than your A-game, Dale Carnegie Training suggests bringing a notepad that is large enough to write on but small enough to be handled gracefully. Optional items include a list of references from past employment and/or a condensed portfolio of work if these pieces are easily portable.
5. When to arrive
Media coach Cole-Jones notes that “you are interviewing from three blocks away: You don't know who is in the nearby Starbucks, the elevator, etc. You need to be on-site five minutes before. How you greet the receptionist will be noticed. Do not talk on the phone or send texts while you are waiting. Simply sit and observe.”
Florman, the career coach, agrees and suggests “arriving to the interview location a half hour early. This gives you time to find parking, use the restroom, make sure your cell phone is turned on silent and to organize your thoughts. Once you are there, you can relax. Never be late.“
6. Questions to prepare for
Cole-Jones provided these common interview questions with suggestions on how to prepare for them:
Q: Why do you want to work for us?
Have a specific reason based on the company’s history, products or reputation. Find ways that it intersects with your history and experience.
Q: What's your greatest strength/weakness?
Tell a story that demonstrates your strength or weakness. Don't fall back on useless modifiers like: "People say I'm an amazing leader." As your weakness, identify a strength you take to an extreme: "Sometimes I get so caught up in my subject that I give people too much information," for example.
Q: What salary are you looking for?
Have a number in mind based on research you can do at the Bureau of Labor Statistics on salaries for similar positions in your area. Don't ask: "What are you offering?"
Dale Carnegie Training offers a number of other questions to expect during an interview.
7. Body language
How should you sit, act or just be in your interview? Although you’ll likely be nervous, try to be yourself, as much as possible. Your face-to-face interview is your one opportunity to show the real you to your prospective employer, and may be the key to set you apart from other applicants. Also, keep in mind that sometimes the person who is interviewing you might also be nervous. Do what you can to feel as comfortable as possible, so you, in turn, can make them feel more comfortable.
In addition, “your body language should exude confidence. A strong, confident handshake goes a very long way. So do smiling, nodding and maintaining eye contact. Keep your voice clear and strong,” suggests career coach Florman.
Cole-Jones recommends that you sit up and forward in your chair, because no one wants to hire someone who is "too cool for school." Also, keep your hands where others can see them. It’s hard to trust someone when you can't see their hands.
8. How to leave the interview
In How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie wrote that two great ways “to make people like you” are to “smile and remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sounds in any language.”
Once your interview is done, address the interviewer by name, smile and offer genuine appreciation for the investment of his or her time in your future with the company. You want to leave the interviewer with a compelling impression of yourself, so remember to exude a blend of confidence, composure and dedication.
9. Follow up
Mihalick of Malakye.com thinks what you do after the interview counts a great deal in the employer’s impression of you. “When your interview is over, FOLLOW UP! Send a follow up e-mail as soon as possible, a few hours later or the next day are good rules of thumb, regardless of if you think it went well. Say thanks, reiterate important points and tell them you're looking forward to finding out more about the next steps.”
“E-mails are efficient,” says Florman, the career coach, “but they are common and do not show great effort. I suggest a hand-written thank you note to follow up from an interview. Recap the interview by including the position you applied for, what you liked about the organization, why you would be a great fit for the position, and conclude by thanking them for their time and consideration.”
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
TED-2009-Seth Godin´s talk-Video-Go to the link below
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/seth_godin_on_the_tribes_we_lead.html
Sunday, January 9, 2011
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/programmes/click_online/9345709.stm
BBC News-Video-07-01-2011 (See link above)
TECHNOLOGY TO KEEP THE ELDERLY SAFE AND HEALTHY.
TECHNOLOGY TO KEEP THE ELDERLY SAFE AND HEALTHY.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Unleashing Innovation in China-Article on strategy
Unleashing innovation in China
Finding ways to spur innovation in product design and business models will be key to sparking Chinese domestic demand.
JANUARY 2011 • Gordon Orr
Source: Strategy Practice
..China’s latest five-year plan promises to shift the economy from its dependence on exports toward domestic consumption as an engine of growth. The key to achieving this will be for the nation to enhance the ability of its economy to innovate. Yet China’s record on this score is mixed. Understanding why that is, and how to fix it, is important to estimating the likelihood China will succeed in its ambitious goals.
The first step is to appreciate the different kinds of innovation going on right now. When most people hear that word, they think of “inventing things,” and on this score China is making progress toward becoming a more innovative economy instead of merely mass-producing goods that are designed elsewhere. China’s spending on research and development has risen to 1.5 percent of GDP in 2008, from 1.25 percent in 2004, all the more impressive when you consider that GDP itself increased dramatically during that period. While China is unlikely to meet the goal of 2 percent set for 2010 in the last five-year plan, it still accounts for 12 percent of global R&D spending.
Significantly, this R&D spending is shifting from government-controlled research institutes to large- and medium-sized enterprises, which now account for 60 percent of total R&D spending. Despite frequent complaints about lax intellectual-property protections, foreign-invested companies account for fully 7 percent of this spending, spread among nearly 1,500 R&D centers established by multinational companies.
In some areas, such as telecommunications and pharmaceuticals, innovation shows through in the market. Local companies and universities have discovered multiple chemical compounds in China. Researchers such as Yi Rao and Shi Yigong, experts in genetics and structural biology respectively, are regarded as world leaders in their fields. Huawei’s and ZTE’s global gains in market share have shifted from being solely on the basis of cost to a combination of cost and innovation. For example, Huawei has developed the world’s first “100G” technology capable of delivering large amounts of data wirelessly over long distances. Overall, China for the first time is likely to overtake the United States for number of patents filed in 2010.
Yet despite so much progress, all this industrial innovation misses other, potentially more important, forms of invention. Much of the best innovation in China today is built around developing creative business models in addition to, or instead of, new physical products. Broad Air Conditioning developed a way to commercialize gas-powered air conditioning systems for large buildings. Alibaba built a new business around an online platform to connect smaller Chinese producers with buyers abroad.
This is all possible because Chinese policy makers have learned some important lessons from earlier innovation failures—the biggest being that it’s hard to impose innovation from the top down. This was especially apparent in the attempt to develop an indigenous technological standard for mobile telephony, when serviceable alternatives already existed. After investing billions to develop and commercialize the TD-SCDMA technology, Beijing has found few takers in China or elsewhere.
Beijing is also experimenting with a different innovation model that focuses on identifying opportunities earlier and creating incentives for market participants to innovate. Electric vehicles will be an important test here. This is an industry that is still very much open to innovation at the global level. Beijing is planning to invest $8 billion in R&D at various companies in an attempt to meet a numerical target for market size by 2020. Government commitments to buy the cars for official fleets combined with incentives to consumers will guarantee a certain amount of demand. But, crucially, the actual innovation will be left to the private sector.
Predictably, weak spots remain. In consumer electronics, for example, innovations tend to be derivative—refining products developed in Japan and South Korea instead of developing fundamentally new products. Innovation based on careful study of consumer preferences is rare, especially when the consumers are outside of China. Chinese companies still place too much focus on expanding global market share with just-good-enough products instead of creating markets with totally new products. And in state-dominated service sectors such as banking, there has been limited product or service innovation.
More broadly, there is still the question of how well policy makers will pick the areas where it makes sense to innovate. Although support for electronic cars is promising, China is effectively ceding innovation in traditional combustion-engine cars to Indian companies such as Tata. This is a policy gamble given the potential size of China’s market for regular cars. Indians are pushing the envelope with designs such as the world’s cheapest car, the Nano. They are also finding that innovation in a traditional area can lead to innovation closer to the technological edge—for example, the plan to build a battery-powered Nano.
There is no reason China shouldn’t aspire to that kind of innovation as well. The evidence to date shows that, given the right incentives, Chinese scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs are eager to rise to the challenge of developing products for the global market. The policy challenge will be unleashing that innovation.
About the Author
Gordon Orr is a director in McKinsey’s Shanghai office. A version of this essay originally appeared on December 29, 2010, in the Business Asia column of the Wall Street Journal. Reprinted from the Wall Street Journal Asia © 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved.
Finding ways to spur innovation in product design and business models will be key to sparking Chinese domestic demand.
JANUARY 2011 • Gordon Orr
Source: Strategy Practice
..China’s latest five-year plan promises to shift the economy from its dependence on exports toward domestic consumption as an engine of growth. The key to achieving this will be for the nation to enhance the ability of its economy to innovate. Yet China’s record on this score is mixed. Understanding why that is, and how to fix it, is important to estimating the likelihood China will succeed in its ambitious goals.
The first step is to appreciate the different kinds of innovation going on right now. When most people hear that word, they think of “inventing things,” and on this score China is making progress toward becoming a more innovative economy instead of merely mass-producing goods that are designed elsewhere. China’s spending on research and development has risen to 1.5 percent of GDP in 2008, from 1.25 percent in 2004, all the more impressive when you consider that GDP itself increased dramatically during that period. While China is unlikely to meet the goal of 2 percent set for 2010 in the last five-year plan, it still accounts for 12 percent of global R&D spending.
Significantly, this R&D spending is shifting from government-controlled research institutes to large- and medium-sized enterprises, which now account for 60 percent of total R&D spending. Despite frequent complaints about lax intellectual-property protections, foreign-invested companies account for fully 7 percent of this spending, spread among nearly 1,500 R&D centers established by multinational companies.
In some areas, such as telecommunications and pharmaceuticals, innovation shows through in the market. Local companies and universities have discovered multiple chemical compounds in China. Researchers such as Yi Rao and Shi Yigong, experts in genetics and structural biology respectively, are regarded as world leaders in their fields. Huawei’s and ZTE’s global gains in market share have shifted from being solely on the basis of cost to a combination of cost and innovation. For example, Huawei has developed the world’s first “100G” technology capable of delivering large amounts of data wirelessly over long distances. Overall, China for the first time is likely to overtake the United States for number of patents filed in 2010.
Yet despite so much progress, all this industrial innovation misses other, potentially more important, forms of invention. Much of the best innovation in China today is built around developing creative business models in addition to, or instead of, new physical products. Broad Air Conditioning developed a way to commercialize gas-powered air conditioning systems for large buildings. Alibaba built a new business around an online platform to connect smaller Chinese producers with buyers abroad.
This is all possible because Chinese policy makers have learned some important lessons from earlier innovation failures—the biggest being that it’s hard to impose innovation from the top down. This was especially apparent in the attempt to develop an indigenous technological standard for mobile telephony, when serviceable alternatives already existed. After investing billions to develop and commercialize the TD-SCDMA technology, Beijing has found few takers in China or elsewhere.
Beijing is also experimenting with a different innovation model that focuses on identifying opportunities earlier and creating incentives for market participants to innovate. Electric vehicles will be an important test here. This is an industry that is still very much open to innovation at the global level. Beijing is planning to invest $8 billion in R&D at various companies in an attempt to meet a numerical target for market size by 2020. Government commitments to buy the cars for official fleets combined with incentives to consumers will guarantee a certain amount of demand. But, crucially, the actual innovation will be left to the private sector.
Predictably, weak spots remain. In consumer electronics, for example, innovations tend to be derivative—refining products developed in Japan and South Korea instead of developing fundamentally new products. Innovation based on careful study of consumer preferences is rare, especially when the consumers are outside of China. Chinese companies still place too much focus on expanding global market share with just-good-enough products instead of creating markets with totally new products. And in state-dominated service sectors such as banking, there has been limited product or service innovation.
More broadly, there is still the question of how well policy makers will pick the areas where it makes sense to innovate. Although support for electronic cars is promising, China is effectively ceding innovation in traditional combustion-engine cars to Indian companies such as Tata. This is a policy gamble given the potential size of China’s market for regular cars. Indians are pushing the envelope with designs such as the world’s cheapest car, the Nano. They are also finding that innovation in a traditional area can lead to innovation closer to the technological edge—for example, the plan to build a battery-powered Nano.
There is no reason China shouldn’t aspire to that kind of innovation as well. The evidence to date shows that, given the right incentives, Chinese scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs are eager to rise to the challenge of developing products for the global market. The policy challenge will be unleashing that innovation.
About the Author
Gordon Orr is a director in McKinsey’s Shanghai office. A version of this essay originally appeared on December 29, 2010, in the Business Asia column of the Wall Street Journal. Reprinted from the Wall Street Journal Asia © 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved.
How to write a Haiku-video-Go to link below
http://www.howcast.com/videos/308374-How-To-Write-a-Haiku
Thursday, January 6, 2011
CES-2011-(cont.2)-Report on Sustainability/Gary Shapiro "How Innovation Will Restore the American Dream"
CEA Releases Sustainability Report, Highlights Tremendous Progress Industry has Made in Green Initiatives
Jan 05, 2011 05:28:21
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) recently released the CEA 2010 Sustainability Report to highlight the tremendous progress the industry has made in its green initiatives, from designing more energy efficient products to cutting greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) at facilities, to developing a national electronics recycling infrastructure.
The report, an update to CEA's first-ever sustainability report in 2008, tracks the industry's green efforts throughout a consumer electronics (CE) product’s entire lifecycle. The CEA 2010 Sustainability Report contains 21 separate case studies from a variety of CE companies illustrating progress in their environmental efforts. The report further provides transparency on green practices across the industry.
"The consumer electronics industry is committed to greening its products and practices for the benefit of consumers, communities and the overall environment," said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CEA. "In the past three years, we’ve made great strides in our environmental efforts, by creating more green products, improving energy efficiency and deepening our commitment to electronics recycling. We know there is work remaining, and we will press forward with these initiatives in 2011 and beyond."
Following are some highlights of environmental progress evidenced in the report:
Greener designs: Industry-wide unit sales of U.S. products registered with EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) grew by 10 percent in 2009, to a total of 48.5 million products. Individual companies also made noteworthy milestones in green design. One manufacturer, for instance, conducted a comprehensive life cycle analysis for every product it ships to determine where greenhouse gases are created. After discovering 97 percent of the emission derived from manufacturing and product use, the company focused on designing new products that use less material, smaller packaging, and are as energy efficient and recyclable as possible.
Green packaging: Many consumer electronics companies are switching to renewable materials, including bio-based plastics, or recyclable materials instead of clamshell packaging and are looking to reduce the amount of packaging they use. For instance, one video service provider consolidated its shipments and decreased its use of cartons by more than one million in 2009 — a 75 percent reduction from the previous year. In 2011, all of the providers' products will be packed with 100 percent recyclable materials.
More efficient facilities: Many manufacturers have set ambitious goals for reducing GHG at their facilities. Meanwhile, other companies have launched efforts to cut power consumption at their data centers.
More energy efficient products: According to the EPA, 27,000 CE product models currently meet ENERGY STAR specifications. The average energy savings of ENERGY STAR electronics devices range from 20 to 55 percent. An example of this progress is one semiconductor design company created a chip that can reduce its GHG by up to 40 percent by combining the processing and graphics processing units and the Northbridge chipset onto a single chip.
eCycling: The consumer electronics industry recycled 200 million pounds in 2009, and industry supports more than 5,000 permanent collection sites nationwide. Some examples of these efforts include one CE retailer collecting 100 million pounds at its 1,200 U.S. locations and one computer manufacturer operating an eCycling program at more than 2,200 U.S. Goodwill sites.
"The CE industry’s commitment to sustainability is unmistakable," said Walter Alcorn, CEA's vice president of environmental affairs and industry sustainability. "More and more, our member companies are finding what makes good environmental sense also makes good business sense in the form of reduced costs and invigorated employees. Our sustainability efforts will continue in earnest this year, and CEA will continue to provide the resources to member companies to help bolster these initiatives."
The full report is available at www.CE.org/green.
CEA's Gary Shapiro Available for Book Signings On-site at CES
Jan 06, 2011 11:43:35
The Comeback: How Innovation will Restore the American Dream, a new book by Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) President and CEO Gary Shapiro is now available through Barnes & Noble.
In addition, Gary Shapiro will be signing copies of hisbook at the following locations on-site at the 2011 International CES:
10 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 6: Las Vegas Hilton Center Lobby
3 p.m. Friday, Jan. 7: Barne & Noble Booth, LVCC, Grand Lobby
10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 8: Barnes & Noble Booth, LVCC, Grand Lobby
Here's a sneak peek:
America seems to be on a downward slide. Our government spends too much; our economy creates too little; and we aren’t preparing our children to compete in a global marketplace. Yet our politicians – Republican and Democrat alike – just don’t get it. While once-great cities fall into decay, Washington thrives, living off the hard work and tax dollars of the private sector.
It’s time for an American comeback -- and it starts with innovation.
Throughout its history, America’s great innovators have been the drivers of our unsurpassed economic success. American innovation transformed a country of ragtag farmers into the epicenter of the world’s technological progress. Innovation creates jobs, markets, and new industries where none existed before. Most importantly, innovation moves us forward as a nation, pushing us to succeed and strive for a better tomorrow. In short, innovation is the American Dream.
In The Comeback, Gary Shapiro shows us how to return innovation to its rightful place at the center of America’s economic policy. The Comeback is a new blueprint for America’s success.
Jan 05, 2011 05:28:21
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) recently released the CEA 2010 Sustainability Report to highlight the tremendous progress the industry has made in its green initiatives, from designing more energy efficient products to cutting greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) at facilities, to developing a national electronics recycling infrastructure.
The report, an update to CEA's first-ever sustainability report in 2008, tracks the industry's green efforts throughout a consumer electronics (CE) product’s entire lifecycle. The CEA 2010 Sustainability Report contains 21 separate case studies from a variety of CE companies illustrating progress in their environmental efforts. The report further provides transparency on green practices across the industry.
"The consumer electronics industry is committed to greening its products and practices for the benefit of consumers, communities and the overall environment," said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CEA. "In the past three years, we’ve made great strides in our environmental efforts, by creating more green products, improving energy efficiency and deepening our commitment to electronics recycling. We know there is work remaining, and we will press forward with these initiatives in 2011 and beyond."
Following are some highlights of environmental progress evidenced in the report:
Greener designs: Industry-wide unit sales of U.S. products registered with EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) grew by 10 percent in 2009, to a total of 48.5 million products. Individual companies also made noteworthy milestones in green design. One manufacturer, for instance, conducted a comprehensive life cycle analysis for every product it ships to determine where greenhouse gases are created. After discovering 97 percent of the emission derived from manufacturing and product use, the company focused on designing new products that use less material, smaller packaging, and are as energy efficient and recyclable as possible.
Green packaging: Many consumer electronics companies are switching to renewable materials, including bio-based plastics, or recyclable materials instead of clamshell packaging and are looking to reduce the amount of packaging they use. For instance, one video service provider consolidated its shipments and decreased its use of cartons by more than one million in 2009 — a 75 percent reduction from the previous year. In 2011, all of the providers' products will be packed with 100 percent recyclable materials.
More efficient facilities: Many manufacturers have set ambitious goals for reducing GHG at their facilities. Meanwhile, other companies have launched efforts to cut power consumption at their data centers.
More energy efficient products: According to the EPA, 27,000 CE product models currently meet ENERGY STAR specifications. The average energy savings of ENERGY STAR electronics devices range from 20 to 55 percent. An example of this progress is one semiconductor design company created a chip that can reduce its GHG by up to 40 percent by combining the processing and graphics processing units and the Northbridge chipset onto a single chip.
eCycling: The consumer electronics industry recycled 200 million pounds in 2009, and industry supports more than 5,000 permanent collection sites nationwide. Some examples of these efforts include one CE retailer collecting 100 million pounds at its 1,200 U.S. locations and one computer manufacturer operating an eCycling program at more than 2,200 U.S. Goodwill sites.
"The CE industry’s commitment to sustainability is unmistakable," said Walter Alcorn, CEA's vice president of environmental affairs and industry sustainability. "More and more, our member companies are finding what makes good environmental sense also makes good business sense in the form of reduced costs and invigorated employees. Our sustainability efforts will continue in earnest this year, and CEA will continue to provide the resources to member companies to help bolster these initiatives."
The full report is available at www.CE.org/green.
CEA's Gary Shapiro Available for Book Signings On-site at CES
Jan 06, 2011 11:43:35
The Comeback: How Innovation will Restore the American Dream, a new book by Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) President and CEO Gary Shapiro is now available through Barnes & Noble.
In addition, Gary Shapiro will be signing copies of hisbook at the following locations on-site at the 2011 International CES:
10 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 6: Las Vegas Hilton Center Lobby
3 p.m. Friday, Jan. 7: Barne & Noble Booth, LVCC, Grand Lobby
10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 8: Barnes & Noble Booth, LVCC, Grand Lobby
Here's a sneak peek:
America seems to be on a downward slide. Our government spends too much; our economy creates too little; and we aren’t preparing our children to compete in a global marketplace. Yet our politicians – Republican and Democrat alike – just don’t get it. While once-great cities fall into decay, Washington thrives, living off the hard work and tax dollars of the private sector.
It’s time for an American comeback -- and it starts with innovation.
Throughout its history, America’s great innovators have been the drivers of our unsurpassed economic success. American innovation transformed a country of ragtag farmers into the epicenter of the world’s technological progress. Innovation creates jobs, markets, and new industries where none existed before. Most importantly, innovation moves us forward as a nation, pushing us to succeed and strive for a better tomorrow. In short, innovation is the American Dream.
In The Comeback, Gary Shapiro shows us how to return innovation to its rightful place at the center of America’s economic policy. The Comeback is a new blueprint for America’s success.
CES-2011- (cont..1List of Celebrities)
Celebrity Appearances
Thursday, January 6
10-11 a.m.: Tim Kring
Creator of Heroes
The CES Entertainment Matters Hollywood Creative Masters: A Media Money Makers SuperSession, produced by Variety
N255-57
10-11 a.m.: Gale Anne Hurd
Producer of Terminator series
The CES Entertainment Matters Hollywood Creative Masters: A Media Money Makers SuperSession, produced by Variety
N255-57
10-11 a.m.: Jeff Ross
Executive producer of Conan
The CES Entertainment Matters Hollywood Creative Masters: A Media Money Makers SuperSession, produced by Variety
N255-57
10-11 a.m.: Tom McGrath
Director of Megamind
The CES Entertainment Matters Hollywood Creative Masters: A Media Money Makers SuperSession, produced by Variety
N255-57
10-11 a.m.: Conrad Green
Executive producer of Dancing with the Stars
The CES Entertainment Matters Hollywood Creative Masters: A Media Money Makers SuperSession, produced by Variety
N255-57
11 a.m. and 3 p.m.: House of Marley will be hosting the Marley Family
Booth #7917, Central Hall
All days of the show.
1-2 p.m.: 50 Cent
Acclaimed rapper
Sleek Audio (#20352, South Hall)
Appearing on Thursday and Friday
1-4 p.m. Bill Walton
Two-time NBA Champion and NBA All-Star
Haier America (#13632, Central Hall)
2 p.m.: Full Force
R&B songwriters and producers who produce for the likes of James Brown and Britney Spears
Gulpfish booth (#26420, South Hall)
Appearing on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
2-3 p.m.: Aiden Turner
Award-winning actor and celebrity, Aiden competed on Dancing With the Stars and was part of All My Children for seven years.
Ty booth (#35750, South Hall)
2 p.m. and 4 p.m.: Adrian Grenier (Entourage)
BlackBerry booth (#30320, South Hall)
Appearing on Thursday, January 6 and Friday, January 7
2 p.m. and 4 p.m.: Olivia Wilde (Tron)
BlackBerry booth (#30320, South Hall)
Appearing on Thursday, January 6 and Friday, January 7
2 p.m. and 4 p.m.: Piers Morgan
BlackBerry booth (#30320, South Hall)
Appearing on Thursday, January 6 and Friday, January 7
2 p.m. and 4 p.m.: Common
BlackBerry booth (#30320, South Hall)
Appearing on Thursday, January 6 and Friday, January 7
2 p.m.: David Garibaldi performing with LuxMobile Group
Known for his Rhythm and Hue performance art show
LuxMobile Group Booth (#3632, North Hall)
Appearing on both Thursday, January 6 and Friday, January 7
4:15 p.m.: Melissa d'Arabian
Season five winner of The Next Food Network Star, Ten Dollar Dinners with Melissa d'Arabian,
Panelist at the CES Entertainment Matters, the Scripps Recipe for Success.
N250
Friday, January 7
10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.: DeLorne
Booth (#3327, North Hall)
11 a.m.-2 p.m.: Rick Fox
Three-time NBA Champion and 1992 NBA All-Rookie Second Team
Haier America (#13632, Central Hall)
12:30 p.m.: Seth Wescott
Two-time snowboardcross gold medalist and World Champion
Sports and Fitness Tech Summit keynote address
2-4 p.m.: DJ Envy
NOX Audio (#5438)
3 p.m.: Kevin Pollack and the producers of Lost
Media Money Makers session Artists as Entrepreneurs
N250
4 p.m.: Shelli Pfohl
Executive Director of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS),
Keynote speaker for the Sports and Fitness Tech Summit
N260, North Hall
Earth, Wind & Fire
Monster Retailer Awards and Concert
Paris Hotel
Saturday, January 8 and Sunday, January 9
1-3 p.m. on Saturday and 9 -11 a.m. on Sunday: Dr. Takeo Kanade
World’s leading experts in computer vision, Carnegie Mellon
The Quality of Life Technology Foundry
Booth #3013, North Hall
Silvers Summit and Dr. Gary Small
One of America's leading neuroscientists and director of the UCLA Center on Aging at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior
N253 in the North Hall
Also appearing with Dr. Gary Small's keynote at 8:30 a.m on Sunday, January 9
Thursday, January 6
10-11 a.m.: Tim Kring
Creator of Heroes
The CES Entertainment Matters Hollywood Creative Masters: A Media Money Makers SuperSession, produced by Variety
N255-57
10-11 a.m.: Gale Anne Hurd
Producer of Terminator series
The CES Entertainment Matters Hollywood Creative Masters: A Media Money Makers SuperSession, produced by Variety
N255-57
10-11 a.m.: Jeff Ross
Executive producer of Conan
The CES Entertainment Matters Hollywood Creative Masters: A Media Money Makers SuperSession, produced by Variety
N255-57
10-11 a.m.: Tom McGrath
Director of Megamind
The CES Entertainment Matters Hollywood Creative Masters: A Media Money Makers SuperSession, produced by Variety
N255-57
10-11 a.m.: Conrad Green
Executive producer of Dancing with the Stars
The CES Entertainment Matters Hollywood Creative Masters: A Media Money Makers SuperSession, produced by Variety
N255-57
11 a.m. and 3 p.m.: House of Marley will be hosting the Marley Family
Booth #7917, Central Hall
All days of the show.
1-2 p.m.: 50 Cent
Acclaimed rapper
Sleek Audio (#20352, South Hall)
Appearing on Thursday and Friday
1-4 p.m. Bill Walton
Two-time NBA Champion and NBA All-Star
Haier America (#13632, Central Hall)
2 p.m.: Full Force
R&B songwriters and producers who produce for the likes of James Brown and Britney Spears
Gulpfish booth (#26420, South Hall)
Appearing on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
2-3 p.m.: Aiden Turner
Award-winning actor and celebrity, Aiden competed on Dancing With the Stars and was part of All My Children for seven years.
Ty booth (#35750, South Hall)
2 p.m. and 4 p.m.: Adrian Grenier (Entourage)
BlackBerry booth (#30320, South Hall)
Appearing on Thursday, January 6 and Friday, January 7
2 p.m. and 4 p.m.: Olivia Wilde (Tron)
BlackBerry booth (#30320, South Hall)
Appearing on Thursday, January 6 and Friday, January 7
2 p.m. and 4 p.m.: Piers Morgan
BlackBerry booth (#30320, South Hall)
Appearing on Thursday, January 6 and Friday, January 7
2 p.m. and 4 p.m.: Common
BlackBerry booth (#30320, South Hall)
Appearing on Thursday, January 6 and Friday, January 7
2 p.m.: David Garibaldi performing with LuxMobile Group
Known for his Rhythm and Hue performance art show
LuxMobile Group Booth (#3632, North Hall)
Appearing on both Thursday, January 6 and Friday, January 7
4:15 p.m.: Melissa d'Arabian
Season five winner of The Next Food Network Star, Ten Dollar Dinners with Melissa d'Arabian,
Panelist at the CES Entertainment Matters, the Scripps Recipe for Success.
N250
Friday, January 7
10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.: DeLorne
Booth (#3327, North Hall)
11 a.m.-2 p.m.: Rick Fox
Three-time NBA Champion and 1992 NBA All-Rookie Second Team
Haier America (#13632, Central Hall)
12:30 p.m.: Seth Wescott
Two-time snowboardcross gold medalist and World Champion
Sports and Fitness Tech Summit keynote address
2-4 p.m.: DJ Envy
NOX Audio (#5438)
3 p.m.: Kevin Pollack and the producers of Lost
Media Money Makers session Artists as Entrepreneurs
N250
4 p.m.: Shelli Pfohl
Executive Director of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS),
Keynote speaker for the Sports and Fitness Tech Summit
N260, North Hall
Earth, Wind & Fire
Monster Retailer Awards and Concert
Paris Hotel
Saturday, January 8 and Sunday, January 9
1-3 p.m. on Saturday and 9 -11 a.m. on Sunday: Dr. Takeo Kanade
World’s leading experts in computer vision, Carnegie Mellon
The Quality of Life Technology Foundry
Booth #3013, North Hall
Silvers Summit and Dr. Gary Small
One of America's leading neuroscientists and director of the UCLA Center on Aging at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior
N253 in the North Hall
Also appearing with Dr. Gary Small's keynote at 8:30 a.m on Sunday, January 9
CES-2011-(cont.1)
Celebrities Promote Latest Consumer Technology and Trends at CES
Jan 04, 2011 02:20:26
Television personalities, sports icons, award winning-actors and government officials will attend the 2011 International CES to showcase and discuss the innovative products and technologies shaping consumer technology. The 2011 International CES, the world’s largest consumer technology tradeshow, occurs January 6-9 in Las Vegas.
Members of Full Force, R&B/Pop music performers, writers and producers who have produced and written for the likes of Rihanna, Lisa Lisa, James Brown, Black Eyed Peas and Britney Spears, will be in the Gulpfish booth (#26420, South Hall) every day of the show at 2 p.m. Bow-Legged Lou, Paul Anthony and B-Fine will engage CES attendees with a vocal talent search, performance and autograph session.
Acclaimed rapper 50 Cent will be hosting a press conference with Sleek Audio at 1 p.m. on Thursday, January 6 in S221, South Hall Connector of the LVCC. He will also be signing autographs from 1:30-2 p.m. on Thursday, January 6 and from 1-2 p.m. on Friday, January 7, in the Sleek Audio booth (#20352, South Hall), a personal audio company dedicated to advancing mobile audio through combining hearing aid science with loudspeaker technology.
Award-winning actor and celebrity Aiden Turner will be at CES representing Ty, a sleek, smart, cloud- and Bluetooth-enabled disc that attaches to personal possessions and prevents the loss of the items the Ty user values most. Aiden competed on Dancing With the Stars and was part of All My Children for seven years. Aiden will be in the Ty booth (#35750, South Hall) for a special event and autograph signing from 2-3 p.m. on Thursday, January 6.
Two-time snowboardcross gold medalist and World Champion Seth Wescott will provide insight about his road to becoming an Olympic champion and the role of technology in his career during a Sports and Fitness Tech Summit keynote address at 12:10 p.m. on Friday, January 7. Seth solidified his spot in snowboardcross history in 2006 becoming the first man to win Olympic gold in his sport, and then again in 2010 when he repeated his performance to become a back-to-back Olympic champion. Seth also will host an autograph session earlier in the day at the DeLorne Booth (#3327, North Hall) from 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Earth, Wind & Fire will headline the annual Monster Retailer Awards and Concert. Celebrating their 40th Anniversary in 2011, Earth, Wind & Fire will perform a concert of its greatest hits with an orchestra. Thousands of CE professionals are expected to to enjoy the concert by the legendary eight-time Grammy Award winning group on Friday, January 7, 2011, at the Paris Hotel.
Interviews with celebrity pros who are living their life’s work will take place at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Thursday, January 6 and Friday, January 7 at the BlackBerry booth (#30320, South Hall). Lara Spencer of “The Insider” will be hosting appearances by actor, musician and filmmaker Adrian Grenier, actress and activist Olivia Wilde, journalist and host Piers Morgan and hip hop artist and actor Common. All will be talking about how doing what they love has transcended their careers to become their lifestyle.
Haier America will host NBA legends Bill Walton and Rick Fox. Two-time NBA Champion and NBA All-Star, Bill Walton will be signing autographs in Haier’s booth (#13632, Central Hall) from 2-5p.m. on Thursday, January 6. Walton is in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and was named one of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players of All-Time. Rick Fox, three-time NBA Champion and 1992 NBA All-Rookie Second Team will make an appearance from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on Friday, January 7 in the booth.
One of New York’s leading mixtape purveyors, DJ Envy, will be doing a musical performance and Q&A session with NOX Audio. DJ Envy has peddled the latest exclusive freestyles by big-name rappers like Jay-Z, 50 Cent and the L.O.X. DJ Envy will be at the NOX Audio booth (#5438, North Hall) from 2-4 p.m. on Friday, January 7.
United by music to create a better world and spread Bob Marley’s vision of One Love, One World, the family of Bob Marley will unveil its first collection of audio electronics products from The House of Marley at Booth #7917, Central Hall. All Marley family members in attendance will be available for autographs and listen to jam sessions for the next generation of the Marleys, featuring Joseph, Frederick and Daniel Marley daily at 5 p.m.
Renowned artist David Garibaldi will perform with LuxMobile Group and display his famous art skills. David is known for his Rhythm and Hue performance art show, in which he created six-foot paintings of pop icons matched to the rhythm of upbeat music in just minutes. He has toured with the Blue Man Group and was featured in a documentary by director Chad Ross. David will be at the LuxMobile Group Booth (#3632, North Hall) from 2 p.m. on both Thursday, January 6 and Friday, January 7.
Celebrity chef Melissa d'Arabian will be a panelist at the CES Entertainment Matters, the Scripps Recipe for Success. Melissa was the season five winner of The Next Food Network Star, where she beat thousands of contestants for the chance to host her own Food Network show. Her daytime cooking show, Ten Dollar Dinners with Melissa d'Arabian, has become a Food Network favorite with her great recipes and ability to stretch $10 for four people. This session will take place at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday, January 6 in N250.
The CES Entertainment Matters Hollywood Creative Masters: A Media Money Makers SuperSession, produced by Variety, will feature several Hollywood masterminds; Tim Kring, creator of Heroes; Gale Anne Hurd, producer behind the Terminator franchise and Jeff Ross, executive producer of Conan on TBS. The SuperSession will take place from 10-11 a.m. on Thursday, January 6 in N255-57. Tom McGrath, director of Megamind, and Conrad Green, executive producer of Dancing with the Stars, also will be on hand. Media Money Makers session, Artists as Entrepreneurs, will feature Kevin Pollack and the producers of Lost at 3 p.m. January 7 in N250.
With health and fitness a top priority, it’s no surprise that the latest technology has been developed to match and meet the needs of consumers worldwide. Shellie Pfohl, Executive Director of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition (PCFSN), will give insight into the latest news and initiatives of the President’s Council, and the impact of technology on the $93 billion sports and fitness industry. Shelli will be a keynote speaker for the Sports and Fitness Tech Summit, at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, January 7 in N260, North Hall.
Larry King, Emmy Award-winning host of CNN’s highest rated program, dubbed “the most remarkable talk-show host on TV ever,” by TV Guide will attend the 2011 International CES. Emmy Award-winning host of the hit reality TV show, Survivor, Jeff Probst will also be walking the show floor. Jeff also won the inaugural Emmy for “Best Reality Show Host” in 2008 and again 2009.
See the complete list here.
Jan 04, 2011 02:20:26
Television personalities, sports icons, award winning-actors and government officials will attend the 2011 International CES to showcase and discuss the innovative products and technologies shaping consumer technology. The 2011 International CES, the world’s largest consumer technology tradeshow, occurs January 6-9 in Las Vegas.
Members of Full Force, R&B/Pop music performers, writers and producers who have produced and written for the likes of Rihanna, Lisa Lisa, James Brown, Black Eyed Peas and Britney Spears, will be in the Gulpfish booth (#26420, South Hall) every day of the show at 2 p.m. Bow-Legged Lou, Paul Anthony and B-Fine will engage CES attendees with a vocal talent search, performance and autograph session.
Acclaimed rapper 50 Cent will be hosting a press conference with Sleek Audio at 1 p.m. on Thursday, January 6 in S221, South Hall Connector of the LVCC. He will also be signing autographs from 1:30-2 p.m. on Thursday, January 6 and from 1-2 p.m. on Friday, January 7, in the Sleek Audio booth (#20352, South Hall), a personal audio company dedicated to advancing mobile audio through combining hearing aid science with loudspeaker technology.
Award-winning actor and celebrity Aiden Turner will be at CES representing Ty, a sleek, smart, cloud- and Bluetooth-enabled disc that attaches to personal possessions and prevents the loss of the items the Ty user values most. Aiden competed on Dancing With the Stars and was part of All My Children for seven years. Aiden will be in the Ty booth (#35750, South Hall) for a special event and autograph signing from 2-3 p.m. on Thursday, January 6.
Two-time snowboardcross gold medalist and World Champion Seth Wescott will provide insight about his road to becoming an Olympic champion and the role of technology in his career during a Sports and Fitness Tech Summit keynote address at 12:10 p.m. on Friday, January 7. Seth solidified his spot in snowboardcross history in 2006 becoming the first man to win Olympic gold in his sport, and then again in 2010 when he repeated his performance to become a back-to-back Olympic champion. Seth also will host an autograph session earlier in the day at the DeLorne Booth (#3327, North Hall) from 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Earth, Wind & Fire will headline the annual Monster Retailer Awards and Concert. Celebrating their 40th Anniversary in 2011, Earth, Wind & Fire will perform a concert of its greatest hits with an orchestra. Thousands of CE professionals are expected to to enjoy the concert by the legendary eight-time Grammy Award winning group on Friday, January 7, 2011, at the Paris Hotel.
Interviews with celebrity pros who are living their life’s work will take place at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Thursday, January 6 and Friday, January 7 at the BlackBerry booth (#30320, South Hall). Lara Spencer of “The Insider” will be hosting appearances by actor, musician and filmmaker Adrian Grenier, actress and activist Olivia Wilde, journalist and host Piers Morgan and hip hop artist and actor Common. All will be talking about how doing what they love has transcended their careers to become their lifestyle.
Haier America will host NBA legends Bill Walton and Rick Fox. Two-time NBA Champion and NBA All-Star, Bill Walton will be signing autographs in Haier’s booth (#13632, Central Hall) from 2-5p.m. on Thursday, January 6. Walton is in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and was named one of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players of All-Time. Rick Fox, three-time NBA Champion and 1992 NBA All-Rookie Second Team will make an appearance from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on Friday, January 7 in the booth.
One of New York’s leading mixtape purveyors, DJ Envy, will be doing a musical performance and Q&A session with NOX Audio. DJ Envy has peddled the latest exclusive freestyles by big-name rappers like Jay-Z, 50 Cent and the L.O.X. DJ Envy will be at the NOX Audio booth (#5438, North Hall) from 2-4 p.m. on Friday, January 7.
United by music to create a better world and spread Bob Marley’s vision of One Love, One World, the family of Bob Marley will unveil its first collection of audio electronics products from The House of Marley at Booth #7917, Central Hall. All Marley family members in attendance will be available for autographs and listen to jam sessions for the next generation of the Marleys, featuring Joseph, Frederick and Daniel Marley daily at 5 p.m.
Renowned artist David Garibaldi will perform with LuxMobile Group and display his famous art skills. David is known for his Rhythm and Hue performance art show, in which he created six-foot paintings of pop icons matched to the rhythm of upbeat music in just minutes. He has toured with the Blue Man Group and was featured in a documentary by director Chad Ross. David will be at the LuxMobile Group Booth (#3632, North Hall) from 2 p.m. on both Thursday, January 6 and Friday, January 7.
Celebrity chef Melissa d'Arabian will be a panelist at the CES Entertainment Matters, the Scripps Recipe for Success. Melissa was the season five winner of The Next Food Network Star, where she beat thousands of contestants for the chance to host her own Food Network show. Her daytime cooking show, Ten Dollar Dinners with Melissa d'Arabian, has become a Food Network favorite with her great recipes and ability to stretch $10 for four people. This session will take place at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday, January 6 in N250.
The CES Entertainment Matters Hollywood Creative Masters: A Media Money Makers SuperSession, produced by Variety, will feature several Hollywood masterminds; Tim Kring, creator of Heroes; Gale Anne Hurd, producer behind the Terminator franchise and Jeff Ross, executive producer of Conan on TBS. The SuperSession will take place from 10-11 a.m. on Thursday, January 6 in N255-57. Tom McGrath, director of Megamind, and Conrad Green, executive producer of Dancing with the Stars, also will be on hand. Media Money Makers session, Artists as Entrepreneurs, will feature Kevin Pollack and the producers of Lost at 3 p.m. January 7 in N250.
With health and fitness a top priority, it’s no surprise that the latest technology has been developed to match and meet the needs of consumers worldwide. Shellie Pfohl, Executive Director of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition (PCFSN), will give insight into the latest news and initiatives of the President’s Council, and the impact of technology on the $93 billion sports and fitness industry. Shelli will be a keynote speaker for the Sports and Fitness Tech Summit, at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, January 7 in N260, North Hall.
Larry King, Emmy Award-winning host of CNN’s highest rated program, dubbed “the most remarkable talk-show host on TV ever,” by TV Guide will attend the 2011 International CES. Emmy Award-winning host of the hit reality TV show, Survivor, Jeff Probst will also be walking the show floor. Jeff also won the inaugural Emmy for “Best Reality Show Host” in 2008 and again 2009.
See the complete list here.
CES-2011-Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show
Huffington Post Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief Arianna Huffington Featured Speaker, Along with Netflix Keynoter Hastings, at the 2011 CES LIT Dinner
Jan 04, 2011 02:15:10
Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, will be a featured speaker at the Leaders in Technology Dinner (LIT), to be held at the 2011 International CES. Huffington will do a fireside chat with Netflix CEO Reed Hastings as part of Hastings’ keynote at the Leaders in Technology Dinner.
This invitation-only dinner brings top technology industry leaders and government guests together to share their experience and knowledge. The Leaders in Technology dinner will take place on 6:30 p.m. Friday, January 7, 2011, in the Lafite Ballroom at The Wynn.
"Arianna Huffington has become an extremely influential media executive based on her vision for the news and technology industries and her place at the forefront of new media," said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CEA. "She is a dynamic speaker and we are thrilled that she’ll be able to join Reed Hastings and our government guests at the 2011 CES."
Huffington launched The Huffington Post, The Internet Newspaper, in May of 2005. Since its inception, The Huffington Post has become one of the most widely-read online news and opinion sites, and has featured guest bloggers such as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. In addition to her regular blog posts and newspaper columns, Huffington has written thirteen books, and co-hosts syndicated radio shows, "Left, Right & Center" and "Both Sides Now." In 2006, Time Magazine named Huffington one of the world's 100 most influential people.
The Leaders in Technology Program at CES allows high-level public policymakers and technologists to learn from the more than 2,500 exhibitors from a dynamic industry that supports $700 billion in retail sales worldwide. The program also provides information and insight to assist officials in evaluating federal policies that affect the consumer technology industry.
Jan 04, 2011 02:15:10
Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, will be a featured speaker at the Leaders in Technology Dinner (LIT), to be held at the 2011 International CES. Huffington will do a fireside chat with Netflix CEO Reed Hastings as part of Hastings’ keynote at the Leaders in Technology Dinner.
This invitation-only dinner brings top technology industry leaders and government guests together to share their experience and knowledge. The Leaders in Technology dinner will take place on 6:30 p.m. Friday, January 7, 2011, in the Lafite Ballroom at The Wynn.
"Arianna Huffington has become an extremely influential media executive based on her vision for the news and technology industries and her place at the forefront of new media," said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CEA. "She is a dynamic speaker and we are thrilled that she’ll be able to join Reed Hastings and our government guests at the 2011 CES."
Huffington launched The Huffington Post, The Internet Newspaper, in May of 2005. Since its inception, The Huffington Post has become one of the most widely-read online news and opinion sites, and has featured guest bloggers such as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. In addition to her regular blog posts and newspaper columns, Huffington has written thirteen books, and co-hosts syndicated radio shows, "Left, Right & Center" and "Both Sides Now." In 2006, Time Magazine named Huffington one of the world's 100 most influential people.
The Leaders in Technology Program at CES allows high-level public policymakers and technologists to learn from the more than 2,500 exhibitors from a dynamic industry that supports $700 billion in retail sales worldwide. The program also provides information and insight to assist officials in evaluating federal policies that affect the consumer technology industry.
The man with the Golden Voice-Ted Williams-Watch the interview at this site-See URL below.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/40944077/ns/today-today_people/?GT1=43001
See the interview with Ted Williams and his incredible story-2011
See the interview with Ted Williams and his incredible story-2011
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