Reuters is reporting that shares of Blinkx, a publicly traded video search site based in the U.K., climbed 50 percent on Friday following rumors that corporate giants Google and News Corp. might be vying for an acquisition.

On Friday morning, Blinkx shares were trading at 36.75 pence, their highest value since September. That puts the company’s valuation at 102 million pounds, which is equivalent to $199.2 million.

Blinkx has been publicly traded since 2007, when it merged with search engine Autonomy. As part of a clause in its initial public offering filings, Autonomy is slated to receive $50 million in the event of a buyout–and that clause expires on Might 24. That may have fueled the acquisition rumors.

Google could potentially want the video search technology to fuel its YouTube property.

Fore more visit Source: [webware]

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News Corp. drops Newsday bid: report By Michael Kitchen, MarketWatch Last Update: 1:15 PM ET Might 10, 2008 News Corp. has pulled its bid for Newsday, according to a company spokesman quoted in a Wall Street Journal report Saturday. The move makes Cablevision Systems Corp. (CVC) the likely victor of the auction for the Long Island daily, the report said. News Corp. […] For more visit Source:www.investment-blog.net

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Last.fm, the social music service that CBS Interactive acquired last year, is venturing into original content for the first time with a new video series called Last.fm Presents.

The series consists of interviews with popular and rising bands and artists; among the first artists featured are techno legend …

Source [The social]

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This post was updated at 1:56 p.m. PDT.

Social network Facebook announced Friday the debut of Facebook Connect, a new technology for members to connect their profile data and authentication credentials to external Web sites. It makes the company the latest major Web site to embrace the concept …

Source [The social]

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This post was updated at 1:56 p.m. PDT.

Social network Facebook announced Friday the debut of Facebook Connect, a new technology for members to connect their profile data and authentication credentials to external Web sites. It makes the company the latest major Web site to embrace the concept …

Source [The social]

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March of the Penguins: the only motion picture in Netflix's top 100 that you can stream

(Credit: CNET Networks)

The “Watch Now” feature on Netflix is a great idea: instant access to thousands of movies and TV shows, available for instant streaming to your browser at the touch of a button. There’s just one huge problem: despite an advertised library of over 8,000 titles, very few of them seem to be movies or Television shows that I want to watch.

Out of 41 titles currently in my queue, only 4–The King of Marvin Gardens, Das Boot, The Good German, and Pickup of South Street–are available to be streamed. OK, fine–my taste for older movies is probably throwing things off. Surely plenty of newer, more popular movies are available to be streamed, right?

Wrong. A swift survey of the site’s top 100 list (and the top 25 list for each genre) reveals that little more than 5 percent of the site’s most popular movies and Television shows are available for streaming. For instance, March of the Penguins is the only motion picture in the top 100 that’s available for streaming (and it’s also one of the 4 streamable documentaries). Meanwhile, several key genres have no streaming titles in the top 25, including action, kids, comedy, drama, horror, musicals, romance, sci-fi, and thrillers.

(Credit: CNET)

Given the on-the-fly nature of such most popular lists, these numbers will no doubt fluctuate a bit. And Netflix has definitely been building up the Watch Now library–there is, believe it or not, a better selection than there was a few months earlier. But it seems clear that the Watch Now library is going to remain woefully underpopulated for the near future–and it’s unclear how much Netflix can do about it.

Unlike buying bulk orders of DVDs for its disc-by-mail business, the Watch Now queue is determined by the deals it can cut with studios. And while those same studios will let the likes of Apple and Vudu offer a decent selection of download-to-own movies on their respective streaming boxes–often available the same day as the DVD release–they seem far less willing to negotiate deals that will grant most services (with the possible exception of cable video-on-demand) day-and-date streaming rentals on a pay-per-view basis.

Netflix Watch Now is currently only available to subscribers on Windows Computers using World wide web Explorer. The company has hinted that the service will be coming to Macs by the end of 2008. Indeed, a current demo of Microsoft’s Silverlight technology showed that–theoretically, anyway–the company could deliver high-quality on-demand video streams to Macs–using the Firefox browser, no less!–replete with a variety of social networking and interactivity that bests current DVD offerings. And Netflix has also confirmed that four hardware partners (one of which is LG) are scheduled to release a “Netflix box” by year’s end, which will allow the Watch Now library to be viewed directly on your TV–no computer necessary. But until Netflix is able to negotiate deals for a wider range of compelling content–something far superior than the five percent of its most popular titles that it’s currently offering–the Watch Now feature will remain more a gimmick than a compelling service.

What do you think: do you enjoy the offerings on the Netflix Watch Now feature? Or do you opt for competing offerings such as Hulu, iTunes, CinemaNow, or Vongo?

Fore more visit Source: [webware]

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By Scott Austin Of DOW JONES NEWSLETTERS About two years ago, venture capitalist Kevin Efrusy states he was “roundly beaten and castigated” by his partners for boasting to The Wall Street Journal that his portfolio company Facebook Inc. had the potential to be worth more than $2 billion. The general partner at Accel Partners had […] For more visit Source:www.investment-blog.net

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Last.fm, the social music service that CBS Interactive acquired last year, is venturing into original content for the first time with a new video series called Last.fm Presents.

The series consists of interviews with popular and rising bands and artists; among the first artists featured are techno legend …

Source [The social]

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We often receive questions about how people can reduce their home energy and water use — and the bills associated with them.

We are strong recommends for saving energy and water by simply using them more efficiently. People shouldn’t have to make large sacrifices to conserve, accomplishing less with less. In fact, we often help our clients achieve more with less.

While there’s a lot to be said for installing efficient lighting, changing out old appliances for Energy Star models, replacing drafty windows, or re-fitting your sinks with low-flow fixtures (which will pay for themselves over time), what about when you don’t have any money to invest?

Fortunately, you can still cut your energy and water consumption by spending nothing at all. That’s because a lot of your energy and water use depends on how you use what you already have in your home. Using your current appliances more efficiently, in other words, can lower your consumption and your utility bills. 

If you’re looking to save energy, water, and money this spring, a good place to start is your kitchen. By some estimates, kitchen appliances account for 26 percent of an average household’s electricity use. And dishwashing is one of the more water-intensive activities in your home.  

Here’s a list of simple habits you can adopt to use your kitchen appliances more efficiently: 

Oven

• Don’t open the oven door to check on a dish — use the oven light instead (20 percent of the heat can be lost each time you open the oven door).
• Keep preheating to a minimum.
• Turn the oven off before cooking is complete (depending on the dish, up to 15 minutes). The heat in the oven will continue to cook the dish until finished.
• If you need to self-clean the oven, plan to do it after cooking a meal while the oven is already hot, requiring less energy to raise the temperature to a higher level.

Stovetop

• Match the pan size to the element size.
• Use the least amount of water and the smallest size pan possible. Otherwise you’re wasting energy to heat up excess metal or excess water.

Refrigerator

• Let hot foods cool to room temperature before putting them in the fridge. Otherwise the fridge works even harder to bring the temperature down.
• Keep the freezer full. The more air you displace with food and beverages, the less cold air you lose when you open the freezer door.

Dishwasher

• Run the dishwasher when full; it requires the same amount of energy for a full load as it does for a half load.
• Use the “no heat” drying option.
• Don’t wash dishes twice. Although it depends upon the age of your dishwasher, most dishwashers can get your dishes clean without rinsing them first by hand.

Other appliances

• Plug countertop appliances into a power strip that can be turned off after use, saving the energy that would be used by the appliances when in “standby mode.” (Depending upon how often you use your microwave, the microwave’s digital clock could use more energy than the microwave oven itself.)
• You can also simply unplug appliances when you’re done using them.

Virginia Lacy is a Consultant with the Energy & Resources Team at Rocky Mountain Institute.

For more visit Source:[green.yahoo]

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