Archive for June 21st, 2008Reddit, the social news site that publishing giant Conde Nast acquired in 2006, has made a huge announcement: The site’s code, as of Wednesday, is open source. It’s been released under the Common Public Attribution License (CPAL). 
The Reddit alien mascot. 'You can play with me now!&#…  Across America, more than 7 million pool owners are starting to prepare their concrete ponds for the summer season. If you’re one of them, have you thought about how you’re disinfecting the pool’s water? Traditionally, chlorine is the main ingredient used to keep nasty bacteria at bay. However, Best Bite notes that chlorine levels in pools are commonly be 200 to 400 times higher than what’s considered safe for the environment. What’s worse, E Magazine points out that this same chemical that cleans up the water also reacts with our skin to create toxic chloramines and trihalomethanes. European studies have found that lifeguards at chlorinated pools have higher rates of asthma. The New York Times reports that long-term studies discovered a link between indoor pools and childhood asthma. The Green Guide refers to a study from the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, which connects swimming pool chlorine to decreased lung function in children. So how do you swim in the backyard without getting sick? As with many things, moderation is the key. Over-chlorination and overexposure seem to be the biggest problems. Some tips to lower the risks:
For your pool at home, consider adding an ionizer to the mix. This device helps disinfect the water so you can use less chlorine. Check out the useful buying guide from eHow. While there are non-chlorine “eco-friendly” pool cleaners on the market, The Green Guide comments that the effectiveness of these products hasn’t been tested by a reliable third party like Consumer Reports or the Consumer Product Safety Commission. For now, just be careful with the amount of chlorine you use. Test your water frequently with any of the reliable kits or test-strips available — that’s how you’ll know if you’re using too much or too little. And don’t use chlorinator tablets because these usually have very high concentrations of chlorine. The Practical Environmentalist has more tips for keeping your pool “green” (but not in an algae-forming way!). For example, use a pool cover to conserve heat and reduce water evaporation, and look for a water- and energy-saving pool filter system. THE SKEPTIC: Banks’ Exotic Fear Last Update: 6/19/2008 11:09:24 AM By Arindam Nag A DOW JONES NEWSWIRES COLUMN In a few weeks investors in some European banks will have to brace themselves to hear about two different potential sources of losses: basis risk and credit value adjustments. It sounds exotic, but simply put, basis risk […] For more visit Source:www.investment-blog.net
CNET News.com’s Caroline McCarthy interviews two NYTimes.com
software engineers for a video in collaboration with Beet.tv. Note: The spelling of Derek Gottfrid has been corrected. (Credit: Beet.tv) The New York Times has added a new feature to its Web site that takes a few cues …  Glide OS, the Webtop that impressed audiences at the D6 conference last month, has finally gotten around to working with Yahoo’s various Web mail properties this morning. Just in time too, since Yahoo’s vanity “Ymail” domain just went live yesterday. Users can now plug in their various Ymail, Rocketmail, and Yahoo Mail accounts and view them in one place, similar to Orgoo, a product that’s still in private beta. The one caveat for both services is that you must be a Yahoo Mail Plus subscriber, Yahoo’s $19.99 per year premium Web mail service. 
Glide users can now drop in their Yahoo mail accounts as long as they're paying Plus members. (Credit: CNET Networks)
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Netflix to eliminate profiles, instigate roommate feudsPosted by: admin in Social Media and Tech For the past two years, my roommate and I have split a Netflix user account, mostly so that I don’t have to deal with his trashy action-movie picks mucking up my queue of navel-gazing Wes Anderson knockoffs, and so that we have the ability to ensure a clean split in our four-at-a-time …
CNET News.com’s Caroline McCarthy interviews two NYTimes.com
software engineers for a video in collaboration with Beet.tv. Note: The spelling of Derek Gottfrid has been corrected. (Credit: Beet.tv) The New York Times has added a new feature to its Web site that takes a few cues … Voluntarily or not, it looks like Yahoo will be getting a lot less top-heavy. The pioneering but troubled World wide web company is headed for a reorganization that, combined with an exodus of top Yahoo executives, will in all likelihood put power in dramatically fewer hands. A lean management structure can be good for building a nimble, responsive organization. The problem with that idea at Yahoo is that the company is losing many of the executives who have control over day-to-day operations. 
Ash Patel (Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET News.com) And in some cases, the departures spread multiple steps down the hierarchy, depriving Yahoo of talent to promote and of expertise to train any new arrivals. Major turnover on this scale can turn succession planning into improv theater. It appears the executive departures and an imminent reorganization are inextricably linked. From our discussions with Yahoo insiders and people familiar with the matter, it appears some executives want to leave, which means some reorganization is inevitable, while others aren’t happy with just how that reorg appears to be shaking out. To recap our and others’ coverage, here’s where Yahoo’s upper echelon appears headed. First, the exodus: Last week, two executive vice presidents–Jeff Weiner of the network group, and Usama Fayyad of research and computing infrastructure–said they’d be leaving. A third EVP, Qi Lu, in charge of search and monetization, joined the list this week. Two senior vice presidents also are departing, Brad Garlinghouse of communication and communities, and Vish Makhijani of search. Second, what comes next? The reorg, as we reported Thursday. Some details on the possibilities have emerged. President Sue Decker is leading the revamp, according to the Wall Street Journal and others. Patel, Schneider ascendant Currently, Patel is EVP of platforms and infrastructure. That might sound like a behind-the-scenes infrastructure job, but a massive part of the company’s turnaround plan is the Yahoo Open Strategy, a plan to expose Yahoo’s inner workings to outside programmers, and that’s Patel’s domain. But should an engineer run all of the products group? Kara Swisher at AllThingsD believes the prospect of reporting to Patel is what was behind the Garlinghouse and Makhijani disgruntlement. We’re also hearing word of a regional organization for other areas, and Swisher reports that Hilary Schneider will oversee the U.S. operations involving advertising and media. She’s currently EVP of global partner solutions, where she signs up display advertisers among other things. In the new order, she’ll be Patel’s peer and will report to Decker. As for the other regions, Toby Coppel will run Europe, Rose Tsou will run Asia, and Keith Nilsson will run emerging markets, Swisher said. CTO Ari Balogh will absorb some of Lu’s engineering team, Swisher also stated. One source we spoke to wasn’t optimistic about that arena, believing that Yahoo needs a technology leader who’s a young Turk rather than someone from the old guard–VeriSign in Balogh’s case. _290x313.jpg)
Hilary Schneider (Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET News.com) A fresh start? But would that necessarily be a bad thing? Yahoo remains a powerful Internet property, but much of the initiative has shifted to Google when it comes to on the web innovation. Google found a way to make search ads immensely profitable, is expanding aggressively into many traditional portal activities such as e-mail, and is pushing cloud computing technology with Google Apps. So, for all the current executives’ achievements, Yahoo has yet to match Google’s overall ascent. Perhaps it’s a good time for fresh faces. Corporate turmoil, like war, can swiftly promote a captain into a colonel. Freshness will go only so far, though: the two at the top, CEO Jerry Yang and Decker, are committed to Yahoo “for the long haul,” I hear. I’m not convinced the pair’s capabilities are in a dramatically different league from most CEOs, but they’re suffering under an unusually intense spotlight. Yahoo’s bruising battle with Microsoft, replaced now with a bruising battle with billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn, exposed Yahoo vulnerabilities and simultaneously gave shareholders a taste of Yahoo stock above $29. Although Icahn was trying to push the now seemingly doomed Microsoft acquisition, he hasn’t gone away. He’s expected to propose an alternative board of directors soon in anticipation of the company’s August 1 shareholder meeting. CNET News.com Editor in Chief Dan Farber believes Wall Street will effectively oust Yang and that Decker is the likely successor. I’m not willing to make that pronouncement yet, but certainly one challenge at the company, putting several individually strong properties together into a coherent whole, is a task for high-level management. Wall Street seems mildly pessimistic about the changes so far, though not as much as when the possibility of a Yahoo-Microsoft partnership fell off the table. The company’s stock gradually slid over the week from about $23 to about $22. What it does after the reorg and Carl Icahn could determine Yang’s fate.
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WSJ BLOG: Can British Airways Save American Airlines?Posted by: admin in Investment NewsWSJ BLOG: Can British Airways Save American Airlines? Last Update: 6/20/2008 3:36:22 PM (This story has been posted on The Wall Street Journal Online’s Deal Journal blog at blogs.wsj.com/deals.) Posted by Heidi N. Moore The answer to that question, by the way, is “probably not.” Call it the consolidation that wasn’t. After Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) and […] For more visit Source:www.investment-blog.net |
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