Saturday, March 31, 2012

Why Google Might Be Going to $0

googleKen Lang could perform miracles. In 1990 we would head off to a bar near where we were going to graduate school for computer science, and we would bring a Go board. Then we would drink and play Go for five hours. At the end of the five hours, after a grueling battle over the board, I remember this one time when magically Ken would show up with two girls who were actually willing to sit down and hang out with two guys who had a GO BOARD in front of them. How did Ken do that? Fast forward: 1991, CMU asks me to leave graduate school, citing lack of maturity. The professor who threw me out still occasionally calls me up asking me when I?m going to be mature enough.

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Japan Factory Output Falls, Dents Recovery Hopes

Japan's factory output fell unexpectedly in February, data showed March 30, suggesting the recovery in the world's number three economy remained anaemic. The fall confounded expectations for a third straight increase, although officials pointed out that manufacturers expect the slowdown to be temporary. The 1.2 percent one-month decline in industrial production was triggered largely by slower automobile and semiconductor output, surprising observers who had tipped a 1.3 percent gain. "The outcome was unexpected, as industries such as the electronic machinery industry that were supposed to show a gain in output turned out to be negative," said Yuichi Kodama, chief economist at Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance. "The data confirm that the pace of recovery in production is slow, even though the upward momentum remains intact," he added. The latest figures come despite Japanese firms revving up production in recent months as they recover from last year's quake-tsunami disaster and record flooding in Thailand, which disrupted production for manufacturers with plants there. Japan's factories posted a revised 1.9 percent output increase in January and 3.8 percent in December. And on Friday, the economy, trade and industry ministry said a survey of producers pointed to an expected 2.6 percent factory output rise in March and another increase of 0.7 percent in April.

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Snow White Puts Up A Fight In 'Mirror Mirror'

Lily Collins tells MTV News her Snow is a 'young woman who found out that she can save a prince as much as a prince can save her.'
By Kara Warner


Lily Collins
Photo: MTV News

If you're looking for a fun, fantastical, family-friendly movie to see this weekend, Tarsem's "Mirror Mirror" has you covered. The visually appealing and star-studded film is a new spin on an old classic, featuring an exuberant "man child" of a prince played by Armie Hammer, Oscar winner Julia Roberts as an unhealthily vain Evil Queen and Lily Collins as a more independent and self-assured Snow White.

When MTV News caught up with Roberts and Collins recently, we asked them to explain how their characters differ from the familiar fairy-tale mold.

"I think she's deeply misunderstood," Roberts said of her Evil Queen. "And I think she is correct in her ambition and drive and desire and focus to annihilate Snow White. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that. She's clear," she joked. "She's exacting."

Collins explained that her Snow White is not your typical damsel in distress. "She really becomes a fighter, emotionally and physically, and turns into this young woman who found out that she can save a prince as much as a prince can save her," she said. "She really becomes this fighter, and I got to swordfight and fence and wrestle and do all these cool things that you don't normally associate with a princess."

Speaking of fighters and swordfights, we couldn't help but ask for the castmembers' opinions on the fact that another Snow White-centric film, "Snow White and the Huntsman," will be hot on the heels of "Mirror Mirror" when it opens June 1 and how it might fare against their film.

"I'm interested to see what they did," Hammer admitted. "I think what we did is make a movie that's family-friendly. The parents are going to go to it and enjoy it almost as much as the kids are. Plus our movie kicks that movie's ass, let's be honest," he added with a grin. "Yeah. And we're out first. And we're gonna kick their ass!" he joked, clearly not concerned with competing against "Huntsman." "We're gonna make so much more money than they are! Our Rotten Tomatoes score is gonna be so much higher."

Check out everything we've got on "Mirror Mirror."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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Romney gets another big conservative endorsement, leads Wisconsin poll (CNN)

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Clinton: Time running out for diplomacy with Iran

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made clear Saturday that time is running out for diplomacy over Iran's nuclear program and said talks aimed at preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon would resume in mid-April.

With speculation over a possible U.S. or Israel military attack adding urgency to the next round of discussions in Istanbul set for April 13, Clinton said Iran's "window of opportunity" for a peaceful resolution "will not remain open forever."

She also expressed doubt about whether Iran has any intention of negotiating a solution that satisfies the U.S., Israel and other countries that believe Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran contends the program is solely for peaceful energy and research purposes.

"We're going in with one intention: to resolve the international community's concerns about Iran's nuclear program," Clinton told reporters after attending a security conference in Saudi Arabia.

"Our policy is one of prevention, not containment. We are determined to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon," America's top diplomat said.

"We enter into these talks with a sober perspective about Iran's intentions. It is incumbent upon Iran to demonstrate by its actions that it is a willing partner and to participate in these negotiations with an effort to obtain concrete results."

Her remarks followed President Barack Obama's announcement Friday that the U.S. was moving ahead with penalties aimed at depriving Iran of oil revenue, while also working with Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf states to ensure ample global petroleum supplies.

Clinton prodded Gulf governments to develop a coordinated defense strategy against Iranian missiles. With tensions rising in the region, she said American and Gulf militaries should cooperate to improve maritime security as well.

Underscoring the limits of U.S.-Gulf cooperation, however, U.S. officials confirmed Saturday that the United Arab Emirates had shut down an American-funded democracy group, following similar Emirates action against a German organization this past week.

Discussions also covered ways to pressure Syrian President Bashar Assad to end a year of bloodshed from the uprising against his rule, but the focus was on Iran.

"It soon will be clear whether Iran's leaders are prepared to have a serious, credible discussion about their nuclear program, whether they are ready to start building the basis of a resolution to this very serious problem," Clinton said. "It is up to Iran whether they are ready to make the right choice. ... What is certain is that Iran's window of opportunity to seek and obtain a peaceful resolution will not remain open forever."

She said pressure from the economic penalties and international isolation was increasing on Iran to show it is serious about satisfying the world's concerns.

Iran and the six nations involved in the negotiations? the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China ? met in Istanbul 14 months ago. But the talks ended after two days with the sides unable to even agree on what to talk about.

Iran has used past talks to delay sanctions or try to divide the international front, while pressing ahead with its nuclear program.

Obama has underlined the need to give time for diplomacy alongside penalties. He said Friday that the U.S. would move ahead with potential measures against U.S. allies and other countries that keep buying Iranian oil. It was the latest step in the campaign to starve Iran of money for its nuclear activity.

The president said the world oil market was tight, but deep enough to keep the squeeze on Iran.

Clinton, who met Friday for almost two hours with Saudi King Abdullah, said the U.S. and Saudi Arabia share an interest in ensuring stable energy markets that foster economic growth.

She recognized the kingdom's efforts to meet increased market demand for countries weaning themselves off Iranian petroleum imports. She also said the U.S. and Sunni governments of the region would cooperate to counter Iranian threats against shipping in the Gulf and Tehran's support for "the Assad regime's murderous campaign."

Before heading to Turkey for a 60-nation "Friends of the Syrian People" meeting Sunday, Clinton lamented what she called the Assad government's shelling of civilian neighborhoods and targeting of mosques and churches.

She said these attacks have continued despite Assad's acceptance of U.N. mediator Kofi Annan's plan to end the crisis. That plan includes an immediate cease-fire and an eventual democratic transition.

In a concluding statement, the U.S. and the other countries at Saturday's meeting urged Annan to issue a timeline for putting his plan in place.

Western diplomats want to give diplomacy a chance, having invested months of effort to persuade Russia and China, veto-holding members of the U.N. Security Council, to unite behind a common approach. But they, like the Syrian opposition, fear Assad may only be playing for time.

Assad said he wants the plan to succeed, but insists the opposition must first commit to a cease-fire.

The West says the Syrian government must pull back its troops first, and U.S. officials say much of the diplomacy right now concerns the choreography of how the two sides would lay down their arms.

More than 9,000 people have been killed in Syria's violence since last March, according to U.N. estimates.

Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar are among the most impatient and have spoken about possible military intervention, from arming Syria's badly overmatched rebels to creating safe zones from which the rebels can operate.

"I believe we all agree on the need for an immediate cease-fire to the systematic killing," Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said at a news conference with Clinton.

He said the Syrian government's crackdown has "reached the level, at the very least described as crimes against humanity, on which the international community should not remain silent."

Washington fears a military escalation could lead to all-out civil war and play into Assad's hands, considering his vastly more powerful military.

Clinton said officials meeting in Turkey would discuss "additional steps to increase pressure on the regime, provide humanitarian assistance despite the efforts of the regime to block access and advance plans for an inclusive, democratic and orderly transition that addresses the aspirations of the Syrian people."

Clinton also expressed concern about increased pressure across the region on civic groups, in particular those advocating political or democratic reforms. It was an apparent reference to the Emirates' move this past week against the U.S.-based National Democratic Institute and Germany's Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

___

Associated Press writer Maggie Michael in Cairo contributed to this report.

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Constructing Change: Accelerating Energy Efficiency in India's ...

In New Delhi, Dr. Ajay Mathur, Director General of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, released our interim report, Constructing Change: Accelerating Energy Efficiency in India?s Buildings Market earlier this month.? At the national workshop releasing our report, I was particularly encouraged by how many local leaders from Gujarat, Rajasthan, and other states, as well as private industry leaders such as ITC and Honeywell, agreed with Dr. Mathur that, ?India?s commercial buildings sector has an enormous potential for energy efficiency.?? Yet, the challenge remains to generate action at local levels to implement efficiency measures driven by both government and business leaders.?

During the workshop, Sunit Mathur explained how Rajasthan is adopting a local energy efficiency code and developing a framework for compliance.? Experts such as Dr. Vishal Garg from IIT in Hyderabad discussed the need for capacity building and increasing awareness at all levels from government staff to real estate developers.? Dr. David Goldstein, NRDC Energy Director, also shared U.S best practices on accelerating efficiency and Gang Liu and Richard Liu shared experiences from China. It?s clear that coordinated stakeholder action is needed, particularly from three main groups: local governments, building developers, and banks.

?Constructing Change,? NRDC and ASCI?s interim report, focuses on local governments, developers, and banks and makes recommendations for unleashing the enormous potential for energy savings in India?s booming buildings market.? While there is significant progress toward adopting energy efficiency in buildings in India, coordination among these three stakeholders is the foundation for developing a policy framework that drives sustainable development and adoption of energy efficiency measures, as discussed in our interim report.

india-constructingchange.jpg

State and Local Governments - State action towards establishing the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) by 2012 for new commercial construction sets an imperative precedent to enforce building efficiency in states across India. ?For example, in Andhra Pradesh, an informal ?Steering Committee on Energy Efficiency,? including the Confederation of Real Estate Developers? Associations of India (CREDAI) and the Indian Green Building Council, ASCI, and NRDC are working to support ECBC code adoption and implementation.? In Gujarat, the Centre for Sustainable Environment and Energy at CEPT University is raising awareness among building designers, academia, government authorities and the construction industry about energy efficiency and the ECBC.? In Tamil Nadu, the Tamil Nadu Electrical Inspectorate (TNEI), Chennai Municipal Development Authority, pollution control board and other stakeholders are discussing how the ECBC can be adopted to improve building efficiency. As discussed in our interim issue paper, state and local governments should continue to implement steering committees, set residential and commercial building standards, and develop training programs on energy efficiency.

Real Estate Developers - Developers drive demand for energy efficiency. While some leading developers are building more efficiently, the developer community still needs to increase awareness of energy savings and reduced costs derived from efficient buildings. Many developers perceive higher upfront costs of efficiency measures as a significant obstacle to uptake, even though the efficiency measures pay for themselves. Developers can lead in adopting building efficiency through the creation of a real estate developer network that produces case studies; promotes energy efficiency leases; motivates regulatory incentives; and works with energy efficiency equipment vendors? and manufacturers? associations to create more efficient building products and materials.

Banks - Financial institutions create business opportunities for energy efficiency by reducing higher upfront costs through low-interest loans and innovative financial products. Opening and increasing dialogue between real estate developers and financial institutes is critical to share best practice and develop methods to solve the issue of supply and demand for efficiency measures. Financial institutions can work to structure effective financial products for new and existing buildings, with or without mortgages, to be able to adopt energy efficient practices; engage with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and National Housing Bank (NHB) to support energy efficiency through measures such as guidelines on energy efficiency investment, portfolio-based efficiency targets, regular audits, priority sector lending,? finance lines to banks for onward lending to both builders for investing in energy efficiency initiatives and lines of credit at partly-subsidized rates to be offered to consumers for the mortgage loans, and communicate with Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) on solutions to financing efficiency measures for clients to address the hurdle of upfront construction costs for efficiency measures.

A vicious cycle persists when building owners cannot benefit from improved cash flow from efficiency improvements, which increases resistance toward adopting efficiency measures.? In the coming weeks, we will revise our interim report based on the rich discussion during our March 2012 workshop, and in the months ahead we?ll work with stakeholders to construct change and drive action to implement building efficiency to save costs, reduce energy use, and fight climate change.

(Co-authored by Neha Mathew, NRDC Academic Intern)

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Santo: Ryan "Got It Wrong" (TIME)

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Friday, March 30, 2012

The Publisher's Guide to Getting Started with Pay-Per-Call | http ...

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