Google's Waze acquisition catches FTC's investigative eyes

Google officially acquired the crowd-sourced mapping and traffic app Waze earlier this month, but the $1.1 billion deal is hitting a last-minute jam. The search giant has confirmed with Reuters that the Federal Trade Commission recently opened an antitrust investigation into the purchase, even though Waze will mostly operate independently. According to the New York Post, Google didn't file a review with the FTC because Waze makes less than $70 million annually, which is below the bar for an "automatic review." Reuters notes that the FTC can put a magnifying glass to any closed deals at its discretion, namely to ensure there was no prior intent simply to stifle competition. These latest happenings might make for a temporary roadblock between the integration of certain data from Waze and Google, notes the Post -- assuming the deal indeed gets an okay from The Man. Either way, we'd imagine concessions will be made if needed, as Google's no stranger to these types of proceedings.

Filed under: GPS, Transportation, Software

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Source: Reuters, New York Post

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/VUW5-d13gZ8/

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States fight discrimination toward gay foster kids | The Salt Lake ...

Quincy Wright, right, is hugged by a friend during a breaking the silence gathering at True Colors in Hartford, Conn., Friday, April 19, 2013. True Colors, a non-profit organization working to help the needs of sexual and gender minority youth, has a mentoring program for more than 75 gay foster youth. Advocates in a handful of states including Florida, California, Connecticut and Massachusetts are starting a national dialogue to take steps to make sure gay foster youth are treated equally by foster parents, caseworkers and fellow foster kids. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Miami ? Sixto Cancel says his ultra-religious foster family frequently talked about their disdain for his homosexuality at the dinner table, trashed his room and called him homophobic slurs. While he was still a teenager, he says, they kicked him out of their Connecticut home after he had lived there for nearly a decade.

"I?ve had foster homes who completely said you can?t live here if you?re gay," said Cancel, a 21-year-old student at Virginia Commonwealth University who bounced between half a dozen foster homes while in care. "For a long time I had that self-hatred and uncomfortableness with who I am."

Discrimination against gay and lesbian youths in foster care is prevalent enough around the country that federal health officials sent a letter in 2011 encouraging states to develop training for caseworkers and foster parents on the issue. Advocates in a handful of states including Florida, California, Connecticut, Illinois and Massachusetts have increased efforts to train caseworkers, recruit foster parents and assign mentors. Officials don?t want to force youths to disclose their sexuality, but must try to create environments where they feel safe to come out when ready. Without such support, the federal government memo says, gay and lesbian youths who leave the foster care system can wind up homeless

"I?ve had conversations with many youth in the system who will not come out because they saw how staff treated their friends in the system after they came out," said Kamora Herrington, mentoring program director of True Colors, an organization that helps gay foster youths in Connecticut.

Last year, a lesbian girl who Herrington worked with was kicked out of a Connecticut foster home after the family?s grandmother, who was very opposed to homosexuality, moved in. Herrington said the last time she heard from the girl, she was hitch-hiking across the country.

The nonprofit True Colors has a mentoring program for more than 75 young people, as well as a policy program that works closely with Connecticut child welfare workers. DCF also has a program liaison in every office where caseworkers can get referral services if they are working with a gay child or need help educating a foster family.

In California, the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center received a $13.3 million, five-year grant from the federal government to ultimately find permanent homes for gay foster youths. The center has already trained about 500 child welfare workers on gay and transgender issues this year and is creating a curriculum that can be duplicated nationally. The second part of the program links the youth with services from family counseling to education assistance, and makes sure each service is sensitive to their sexual orientation.

Massachusetts was one of the first states to open a co-ed group home for gay foster teens after child welfare officials said they were seeing too many of the young people living on the streets. Roughly 100 foster youths have lived in the home which is run by gay and straight staffers. Child welfare officials there also recently started mentoring program along with life skills classes that teach things like cooking and budgeting.

But officials in Massachusetts, Illinois and many states say recruiting foster parents and mentors is one of the biggest challenges.

"What is typical across the country is also typical here, in that LGBT couples are more interested in adoption than becoming foster families so we have a dearth in interest in foster families," Colby Swettberg executive director of Adoption & Foster Care Mentoring, which contracts with the Massachusetts child welfare system.

story continues below

Finding adoptive homes for gay youths in foster care is part of a national push for all children in the system, but advocates say many are still left out.

"Many of our kids have been told they?re not family appropriate: ?We?re not even going to look for a family for you. We?re going to look for a group home,?" said Robin McHaelen, executive director of True Colors.

Illinois child welfare officials began hiring 29 new recruiters this year. Part of their job will be finding foster families and mentors for young gay people. The department estimates that about 450 gay youths come into the system each year.

Efforts in Florida include a regional task force on gay foster youths started by the Village Counseling Center in the northern part of the state and increased training for Department of Children and Families caseworkers in a 20-county region that includes Jacksonville and Daytona Beach.

David Abramowitz, a regional director for the Florida Department of Children and Families, sent a memo to staff in December saying he?s also heard stories that gay youths facing discrimination in foster care. Abramowitz said he mentors a young man "who tells me horror stories of how he was treated" while living with a foster family that forced him to shave his head and tried to turn him straight. Abramowitz said he?s also encountered difficulties trying to help gay youths in foster care in his region because many aren?t disclosing.

After being kicked out of one foster home, Cancel went to live in another, but when his foster mother found out he was gay, she said she didn?t want him living there because it conflicted with her religious beliefs. A few days later, she relented, explaining she hadn?t changed her mind on the issue, but he could still live in the home as long as his sexuality wasn?t discussed.

For Cancel, who was about to graduate, it was a condition he accepted, but he said he realizes it?s an unfair burden placed on many other foster youths.

"It?s not OK for some people to live in a home where they know they?re not welcome and they?re not part of the family because of that specific aspect," he said.

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/world/56497856-68/foster-gay-youths-family.html.csp

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Attacks kill NATO service member, 2 Afghan police

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? Taliban militants attacked local security checkpoints in a provincial capital in northern Afghanistan, killing two policemen in a fight that also left 18 insurgents dead, Afghan officials said Saturday.

NATO said a coalition service member also died in a militant attack in the south on Saturday, but did not provide further details.

The violence follows NATO's formal handover of security in the entirety of Afghanistan to Kabul's forces ? a transition that comes at a time with violence levels matching their worst in nearly 12 years of war.

In northern Afghanistan, Kunduz provincial police spokesman Sayed Sarwar Hussaini said Saturday that the Taliban attacked multiple checkpoints at about noon Friday in the provincial capital of the same name, killing one member of the Afghan local police, a community-based force, and wounding two.

The Taliban then moved outside the city where a gun battle with Afghan security forces lasted until about midnight, Hussaini said.

Eighteen Taliban fighters and another local policeman were killed in the battle, and another 11 militants were wounded, he said. Hussaini posted on his Facebook page a picture of 11 bodies lined up inside the provincial police compound in Kunduz that he said were those of Taliban militants his troops recovered from the scene of the fight.

The Interior Ministry said the battle outside of the city involved Afghan National Police, and that it was conducted independently "without the involvement of any foreigners."

As Afghan forces have become more involved in security operations they have seen a sharp rise in deaths, while casualties among the U.S.-led military coalition have been reducing as the international forces pull back to let the Afghans take the lead.

According to an Associated Press count, 807 Afghan security force members ? including soldiers and police ? and 365 civilians have been killed so far this year through the end of May. A total of 63 coalition troops were also killed in that span.

Last year through the end of May, Afghan security forces lost 365 soldiers and police and 338 civilians were killed. Coalition forces lost 177 troops during that time.

_____

Rahim Faiez contributed to this story.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/attacks-kill-nato-member-2-afghan-police-122229292.html

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91% Frances Ha

All Critics (100) | Top Critics (35) | Fresh (91) | Rotten (9)

It's a tribute to Gerwig's performance, somehow both clumsy and elegant, that she wins us over despite ourselves, that we come to appreciate her aimlessness in a goal-oriented society ...

This is an odd film (creepier than it knows), and even if you feel the atmospheric company of Dunham-ism, with a little of Whit Stillman, Henry Jaglom, and Woody Allen, the core influence on Noah Baumbach's film is fifty years older or more.

Baumbach usually builds his films around difficult protagonists, but Frances is entirely endearing, at once silly and deep, hopeless and promising.

The dialogue and editing are zippy and generally charming, combining with the tart observations of 20-something culture to create a nice frisson.

A black-and-white salute to the French New Wave (the score is borrowed from Georges Delerue, composer of many a Truffaut and Godard film) that manages to be very much of this moment ...

The movie's a love letter to an actress and her character, but by the end you may feel like an intervention is more in order.

As long as you remember to laugh, Frances Ha is a tolerable experience. Forget the "ha ha" and Frances Ha is beyond unbearable. I found this an odd and often frustrating truth, but it's what makes Noah Baumbach's new movie a success.

Gerwig keeps you on side and rooting for Frances to get her act together in what becomes an affectionate salute to messy lives, an endearing underachiever and a New York state of mind.

Don't be fooled by Frances with all her feigned insecurity and branding of herself as "undateable" and predicting she'll be a lonely spinster. She's a psychopath.

Gerwig's deft screwball timing turns every disaster into a grace note. This may be a comedy of awkwardness, but rather than curl, your toes will tap.

A refreshing amount of buoyancy to dance and charm its way through Quarter-Life Crisis territory. One of the best performances of Greta Gerwig's career to date

Frances Ha is a sympathetic but not uncritical depiction of a girl's gradual evolution into a woman; one that never condescends by forcing her to abandon all her quirks and impish qualities in the final act... An absolute delight, this is.

Indie darling Gerwig has a great deal to do with the picture's success: she's disarmingly likable...

There's a level of audacity beneath the lightweight whimsy in this unassuming low-budget comedy.

"Frances Ha makes a star out of Gerwig, and she's the kind of star we need: a goofy one we can feel tender about but never underestimate."

'I can't account for my own bruises,' Frances says, as if she were a clumsy kid with an adult's vocabulary. Does the remark refer to more than the abrasions on her skin?

A celebration of cinema, New York City and the distinctive charms of actress Greta Gerwig, Frances Ha was co-written by Gerwig and its director, Noah Baumbach, and it's the best film either has made.

There's a thin line between comedy and tragedy, and Greta Gerwig walks it remarkably well.

There's depth and realism in the way Frances Ha shows aspiration versus reality.

Gerwig, beyond a doubt, is immeasurably appealing, and Frances Ha is tailor-made to showcase her gifts better than anything she's ever been in.

...if you hold your nose and simply wallow through the stench of self-aggrandizement, you'll be rewarded with an experience that will actually tug on your emotions.

Frances Ha provides a sharp, fleet, and very funny look at female friendship and the acceptance of adult responsibilities.

This is very minimalist storytelling much of which feels improvised in front of the camera. The film is more of a character situation than a character story.

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/frances_ha_2013/

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Investing In Alcatel-Lucent Is Still Illogical - Seeking Alpha

Businesses usually invest in telecommunication solutions. The question though, is this - do most of them choose Alcatel-Lucent's (NYSE: ALU) offerings? The answer is no. For years, the company has been failing to make an impact. This is why you'd only react in one way when someone tells you to invest in the not-so-impressive firm - you'd end up thinking that you've just heard a joke. If you're really smart, then you should know better than to make assumptions and you appreciate the need to pay attention to the most important details. If you'd like to find out why Alcatel-Lucent is still associated with bad investment choices, then just read on.

The State of the Game

It's best to answer one important question right away - how's the company doing so far? Well, it's safe to say that the telecom-equipment manufacturer is in danger. Its 2012 Price-Earnings Ratio, for example, was -8.50. This just means that the corporation lost money throughout the previous year. Since you're finally approaching the topic of Alcatel-Lucent's value with an open mind, you'd begin to wonder whether its competitors managed to achieve much better P/E Ratios in the previous months. Truth be told, Nokia (NYSE: NOK) - which is another company that's finding it difficult to stay relevant - had a much worse 2012.

When compared to the industry P/E average of 8.09, the two firms' ratios become much more troubling. What makes Nokia a tempting pick for investors though, is that it finally managed to capture the attention of consumers worldwide. In particular, it isn't just about IT hardware, but it has a stronger mobile-phone arm. What's even more interesting is that the corporation is currently the leader among those that churn out Windows-fueled devices - HTC is its only real competitor so far. Alcatel-Lucent on the other hand, has no other choice but to stick to telecom products that are catered towards businesses instead of individuals.

A Myriad of Dilemmas

What's wrong with being limited to offering business-oriented products? Simply put, it forces the telecommunications company to go head to head with the likes of Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) and Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC). While this might only seem normal, you'd have to keep in mind that the latter two boast dominance - having 12-month revenues ($47 billion and $34 billion, respectively) that eclipse that of Alcatel-Lucent's, which is only a little less than $18 billion. After becoming aware of these dilemmas, you'd most likely ponder upon another relevant question - is the company's decline solely due to the challenge of competition?

Unfortunately, the answer is no. The corporation always had to deal with concerns that stem from within. The first few months after Alcatel and Lucent's merger was already filled with problems, since the resulting firm's many branches throughout the world engaged in needless competition (or simply put, quarrels with one another). Aside from this, it seems that the global telecommunications company is being held down by internal politics and a lack of direction, as pointed out by some of its employees. With these in mind, you'd surely begin to believe that Alcatel-Lucent is far beyond repair. Well, the firm's new CEO, Michael Combs, would say otherwise.

All about the Solution

He believes that fixing the firm isn't impossible - all that needs to be done is to roll out a two-part plan, which is mainly about cost-cutting and asset sales. While it's obvious that many investors suddenly showed signs of enthusiasm after learning of the CEO's objectives (which would supposedly translate to a little less than $3 billion in freed-up funds before 2015 ends), those who've been following the corporation for quite some time remained uncertain on whether survival and profitability are both on the horizon. The reason for their skepticism is that Alcatel-Lucent's previous chief executive carried out a similar cost-cutting program.

At present, the company's per-share price is up by roughly 3.00%. As you've discovered, this might not last at all - especially since it's merely been fueled by Michael Combs' announcement. In the simplest sense, if investors fail to see any concrete results in the coming months, then rest assured that the firm's stocks would drop once more. You'd also have to keep in mind that Alcatel-Lucent is linked with innovation (as brought forth by its well-known R&D divisions). When investors realize that "asset sales" translates to limited technologies and fewer breakthroughs, then they'd end up worried and they might begin to sell.

Truly Sane Suggestion

As you've realized so far, Alcatel-Lucent is a problem-filled company that's currently undergoing changes. As you've also discovered, some investors are beginning to believe that the firm might just be able to turn things around, despite having been synonymous with disappointment for quite some time. You shouldn't hastily interpret others' eagerness as a telltale sign of a good investment though. Instead you have to think whether there are much better choices. Overall, given that Cisco and Ericsson have affordable stock prices despite being industry leaders, it's clear that adding Alcatel-Lucent to your portfolio is an unnecessary leap of faith.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. (More...)

Source: http://seekingalpha.com/article/1515792-investing-in-alcatel-lucent-is-still-illogical?source=feed

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Thousands rally for 'legitimate' Mursi in Cairo

By Tom Perry and Alastair Macdonald

CAIRO (Reuters) - Thousands of Islamist supporters of Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi gathered in Cairo after Friday prayers to show support for the elected head of state ahead of protests his opponents hope can force him from office.

Crowds converged on a mosque in the suburb of Nasser City, many waving the national flag, some carrying pictures of the bearded president, in what is intended to demonstrate the Islamists' strength of numbers ahead of opposition rallies set for June 30, the first anniversary of Mursi's inauguration.

"Yes to respecting the will of the people!" read banners.

"There are people seeking a coup against the lawful order," said demonstrator Gaber Nader, 22, his head protected from the burning early afternoon sun by a green banner from Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood, the movement whose organizational strength won it successive elections since the fall of Hosni Mubarak.

"Dr. Mursi won in free and fair elections like in any state in the world," Nader said, shrugging off concerns among the less well organized opposition that the Brotherhood is aiming for a monopoly of power and to install Islamic rule and social order.

"The secular parties are eating the democracy that God gave them," he added. "The secularists are not respecting democracy."

Secular groups say they have gathered some 13 million signatures - almost equal to the number of votes that elected Mursi a year ago - on a petition calling on him to step down.

They plan mass rallies across Egypt on June 30 and have attracted support from many Egyptians less politically motivated but exasperated by economic stagnation under Mursi and the Islamist-led legislature.

Reflecting a sense their electoral success is under siege from unelected institutions and vested interests rooted in the Mubarak-era, when their party was banned, some in Friday's crowd - mostly men, with a few women, heavily veiled - chanted for "A purge of the judiciary!" and "A purge of the media!"

There was no trouble evident around the crowd of well over 10,000 in Cairo, but state newspaper al-Ahram carried a report on its website from the second city of Alexandria saying there had been some violence between pro- and anti-Mursi factions.

OPPOSITION FRUSTRATION

Opposition groups range from the young liberals who first took to Tahrir Square in January 2011 to challenge Mubarak, to conservatives yearning for the stability of army rule. Many in Egypt's 10-percent Christian minority also fear the Islamists.

Mohamed ElBaradei, the former top U.N. diplomat who is a leader of the opposition "Rebel!" campaign, told Al-Hayat newspaper that economic problems, including power cuts as summer heat takes hold, were fuelling support for a movement which he said hoped to end the "total polarization in Egypt".

ElBaradei said a united opposition push could bring an early presidential election that would unseat Mursi, though he himself would not run: "The division of the opposition put Mursi in power and I believe it has realized this mistake," he said.

Tensions between Mursi's supporters and opponents spilled over into violence outside Cairo this week. Around 100 people have been injured in scattered skirmishes triggered by Mursi's decision to appoint more Islamists as provincial governors.

Rhetoric has grown more toxic in recent days: one Islamist cleric referred to Mursi's opponents as "infidels" during a rally attended by the president last week. The opposition are billing it as Mursi's last days in office, hoping for a repeat of the uprising that toppled Mubarak two and half years ago.

But Egypt's biggest Salafi Islamist force, the Nour Party, is not taking part. It warns of "an imminent collision" between Egyptians and called on both sides to give ground - Mursi by appointing a cabinet for national unity and the opposition by switching its focus to elections from street protests.

(Additional reporting by Shadia Nasralla, writing by Alastair Macdonald)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/thousands-rally-legitimate-mursi-cairo-121751014.html

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Samsung Book 9 Plus Is the Latest Dope Ultrabook

At its event in London, Samsung announced two new to add to its lineup: The Samsung Ativ Book 9 Plus and the Samsung Ativ Book 9 Lite.

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Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/v4wK3zMFhL8/samsung-book-9-plus-is-latest-dope-ultrabook-520332581

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Keeping Up With the Kardashians Promo: The Most Unexpected Season Ever!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/05/keeping-up-with-the-kardashians-promo-the-most-unexpected-season/

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Allergan delays drug that would rival Regeneron's Eylea

By Esha Dey and Ransdell Pierson

(Reuters) - Allergan Inc said approval of its Darpin eye drug could be delayed up to two years, providing a new boost to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc whose successful treatment, Eylea, stands to gain from a lack of new competition.

Shares of Allergan, which makes wrinkle treatment Botox, fell 13.1 percent after the company said mid-stage trial results of Darpin did not warrant an immediate move into far larger late-stage trials. Regeneron shares closed up 10.3 percent.

If eventually approved, Darpin would also compete with Roche Holding AG's, Lucentis, to treat age-related macular degeneration - the most common form of blindness in the elderly.

Adnan Butt, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, said Darpin's delay was "great news" for Regeneron. He noted that Wall Street had feared the Allergan drug might have a superior clinical profile to Eylea.

"This gives Eylea even more time to become entrenched as the drug to beat," Butt said.

He estimates that each year of Darpin delay will translate into an upside of about $15 to $20 for Regeneron shares, now trading at about $240.

Eylea, which was approved in November 2011, had sales last year of $838 million. Regeneron expects 2013 Eylea sales of $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion. Company officials would not comment on the setback for Allergan's drug.

Regeneron is expected to report first quarter results on Friday and could update its sales projections.

Allergan Chief Executive David Pyott said on a conference call that a mid-stage trial of Darpin showed some product differentiation over Lucentis, but did not support directly moving to late-stage development.

The company now plans to perform additional mid-stage trials to assess Darpin, which will delay its potential approval by one to two years.

"There was a rush to ascribe a lot of value to Darpin and our view is that this is still very much an unproven asset with limited data," Piper Jaffray analyst David Amsellem said.

"The earliest it could get to market now is likely 2019," Amsellem said. "If you couple that with the setback of the hair loss product, the late-stage pipeline for Allergan right now is really quite thin."

A mid-stage trial of Allergan's hair loss treatment Bimatoprost Scalp also failed to provide sufficient efficacy to proceed to a late-stage study, further weighing on company shares.

ROOM TO GROW

Regeneron in the past two years has vaulted seemingly out of nowhere to become one of the world's biggest biotechnology companies, thanks largely to Eylea.

The company has repeatedly raised its sales forecasts for the drug, which is injected into the eye, as it steadily steals market share from Lucentis.

Some specialty pharmacies also use Roche's Avastin cancer drug, which works the same way as Lucentis, but is far less expensive, when divided into smaller portions for treating macular degeneration.

Roche has said that dividing Avastin through a procedure not closely monitored by health regulators, called compounding, could compromise its sterility.

Regeneron Chief Executive Leonard Schleifer said in a recent interview that sales of Eylea could jump sharply if potential rivals stumble, or if U.S. regulators clamp down on the compounding of Avastin for eye use.

Moreover, he said some analysts believe Eylea sales could swell if it is approved for a new indication called diabetic macular edema now in late-stage trials. Lucentis is already approved for the condition.

"So Eylea is a growth story unto itself, with lots of room to still grow," Schleifer said.

Allergan on Wednesday also posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by strong sales of Botox.

Net income for the first quarter fell to $12.5 million, or 4 cents per share, due to a loss of $259 million from discontinued operations. Profit was $229.8 million, or 74 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding special items, Allergan earned 98 cents per share. Analysts were expecting 96 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Global company sales rose 8 percent to $1.46 billion, above Wall Street's average estimate of $1.44 billion.

Sales of Botox, which is also approved for treating migraine headaches, overactive bladder and underarm sweating, rose 15 percent to $457.9 million.

Allergan said it now expects 2013 adjusted earnings of $4.70 to $4.76 per share, compared with its prior outlook of $4.75 to $4.83 a share.

The company forecast a second-quarter profit of $1.18 to $1.20 per share, below analysts' average estimate of $1.22 a share. The new forecasts reflect the impact of its MAP Pharmaceuticals acquisition earlier this year.

Allergan shares fell $14.88 to $98.67 on the New York Stock Exchange, while Regeneron shares rose $25.15 to $237.29.

(Reporting by Esha Dey in Bangalore and Bill Berkrot in New York; Editing by Michele Gershberg, Sreejiraj Eluvangal, Carol Bishopric and Andre Grenon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/allergan-delays-drug-rival-regenerons-eylea-185323020.html

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Ashton Kutcher's A-Grade Fund Raising At $100 Million Valuation

Today at TechCrunch Disrupt NY, Ashton Kutcher took the stage with Guy Oseary to talk about their A-Grade fund. Arrington started right away about a rumor that the fund is raising money at a $100 million valuation. The two partners confirm the rumors, saying that they are raising “enough money.” It means that financial institutions and companies will invest a certain amount of money in exchange for equity in the A-Grade fund, valuing the existing investments and activities at $100 million. With three partners (Ashton Kutcher, Guy Oseary and Ron Burkle), the fund has been investing for about two and a half years. Until today, the three partners only invested personal money. It is still unclear how much money they put into the fund to date. Among its portfolio companies, the A-Grade fund has invested in Spotify, Uber, Shazam, Soundcloud, Fab and Airbnb. It mainly takes part in seed and Series A rounds. When asked whether it is bundling current investments or creating a new fund, Ashton Kutcher answered that it is doing both. “We’re just somewhat formalizing what we’ve been doing,” Kutcher said. The new fund will keep the A-Grade name. While the new funding is not official yet, Kutcher and Oseary said that it’s mostly a one-time investment. “We are pretty well filled up,” Kutcher said. The partners will make an announcement when the deal finalizes.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/nO7y3noGMWA/

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Locked Out of Your Facebook Account? Trusted Contacts Will Save You

Starting today, Facebook is rolling out a new Trusted Contacts feature under your account security settings. Here, you can pick three to five folks who will have the power to help you when you lock yourself out of your account luck a dummy.

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Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/dI3TSrRvPXI/locked-out-of-your-facebook-account-trusted-contacts-w-487228747

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The power of negotiation - Purchasing and supply blog - Supply ...

It never fails to amaze me in business the number of people and organisations that accept the initial offer a vendor has put forward to them. Are people scared of negotiating? Is it seen as a faux pas or a dirty habit? Don?t get me wrong I am not saying you should act like you are negotiating on a rug in an Istanbul market but you should at least open up a discussion.

I have heard several times you cannot negotiate with suppliers as it doesn?t meet probity requirements, this is not the case at all. As long as you treat all the negotiations in the same professional manner and keep good records as to what was discussed and what was agreed this is perfectly acceptable. Another good way to drive costs down while ensuring probity is to run an e-auction, this way all the suppliers will be treated in the same manner as they compete against each other to reduce costs.

If you are not restricted by public sector probity then the world of negotiation is your oyster. Here is an easy step-by-step guide to negotiating:

1. What type of negotiation is this? There are three types, a one-off negotiation, a negotiation that will be repeated in the future and a negotiation where you are looking to form a long-term relationship. Each should be treated in a different way ? you can afford to be more assertive with a one-off negotiation.
2. The meaning of the negotiation. There are two reasons why we would want to enter into a negotiation. The first is a necessity to, and the second is to seek out an opportunity. Is there an agreement needed? Remember the power to walk away from a deal is a very strong tool to have. Don?t get carried away with the emotion of buying a new car for instance, it will be there tomorrow, maybe another retailer will offer you a lower price.
3. Have the facts with you. Do some benchmarking, shop around a little, find out what market rates are for this good or service. Who else can you buy this from, what is happening to prices ? are they rising or falling?
4. Do not give a range. If you tell the salesperson you will be happy to accept between 5-10 per cent, then he knows he only has to offer you the 5 per cent.
5. Do not lie, if you get caught you will lose all credibility.
6. Be prepared to make strategic concessions. You may have to lose a battle to win the war. For instance can you give away some lead-time to get the price you want?
7. Read the other person?s body language. You do not have to have a PhD in body language to see how comfortable the other person is with your requests. But remember ?the flinch?, a good salesperson will be trained to flinch when you put a proposal forward, don?t let this put you on the back foot and make you think you are asking for too much. Remember, you have done your research, you know the facts!
8. ?Last but not least, remember this is not personal, it is just business. Negotiation is part and parcel of business life.

? James Williams is a partner at Optimus Business Solutions

Tags: e-auctions, James Williams, negotiation, Negotiation techniques

Source: http://blog.supplymanagement.com/2013/05/the-power-of-negotiation/

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Mac Miller And Corey Feldman's 'S.D.S.' Beef, Frame By Frame: Watch!

Co-stars (and fictional enemies) break down Miller's latest video for MTV News.
By Rob Markman, with additional reporting by Katie Atkinson

Mac Miller and Corey Feldman in the video for "S.D.S."
Photo: Rostrum

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1706497/mac-miller-corey-feldman-sds-video.jhtml

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Facebook And The Sudden Wake Up About The API Economy

What a two weeks it’s been. Something happened that has been simmering for a while. The API market exploded. Intel bought Mashery for more than $180 million and CA acquired Layer 7. 3Scale received a new $4.5 million round of funding from Javelin Ventures. Programmable Web acquired Mulesoft. And then Facebook jumped in and bought Parse. The acquisitions and funding point to a maturing market that is reflected in the ubiquity of APIs across the application landscape. It’s not a new market by any means. The space is filled with companies that have leveraged the API build out that has happened over the past several years. Instead this is an inflection point. There are more than 30,000 APIs, according to Programmable Web, the leading API directory and blog. Javelin Ventures Managing Director Noah Doyle said to me in an interview that analysts see the API market growing five to ten times over the next five years. With that scaling in number of APIs comes a virtuous circle for the developers that build compelling apps and APIs. The APIs extend the apps reach as they become part of distributed data network. As more people use the APIs so the app developer generates more data. As the data increases in scope, often the service will become an API. Facebook needs new streams of data to keep rolling out new digital products. Back end as a service providers like Parse provide SDKs and APIs that give developers access to infrastructure for storing basic data types, locations and photos. How Facebook uses this data is a question mark. But regardless, Pare serves as a constant replenishing source, nourished by the apps on the Parse platform that use APIs. Facebook now will decide how to package and segment that data to push more relevant advertising to its 1 billion users. APIs Are Like Glue APIs will be the glue to the Internet, said Programmable Web Founder John Musser. Musser, like Doyle, sees a new generation of APIs emerging that are fueled by demand, triggered by mobile devices, which serve in many respects as the new client/servers. Apps are hosted on cloud services and distributed across mobile devices that read and write data, sending and receiving information, connecting via APIs. In the first generation, Mashery and companies like Apigee pioneered the API management space. Twitter and other web companies emerged in the second generation. In the

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/w8YoAqX9UZY/

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Is Molten Light Oozing Out Of The Abyss?

If ever there was something bubbling out of the primordial ooze it's these little pools of light. There's something that's just gloopy and compelling about them. This is KIHOU, a series produced by tangent, a London/Tokyo design studio. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/2eEPYq_OdHQ/is-molten-light-oozing-out-of-the-abyss

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Boston marathon bombing: how it connects Tolstoy, David Foster Wallace

Echoes of one of Tolstoy's great works, inspired by the conflict between Russia and Chechnya, can be found in the final novel by David Foster Wallace.

By Nina Martyris,?Contributor / April 26, 2013

Tolstoy's novel 'Hadji Murad' reflects the author's fascination with the East-West struggle between the Europeanized rulers of Russia and the Muslims of Chechnya.

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The Boston Marathon bombing brought together two disparate worlds: Cambridge and Chechnya. And at the same time it reasserted a connection between two great writers: Leo Tolstoy and David Foster Wallace.

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In the United States, many people became focused on the strife in Chechnya only last week. Tolstoy beat us by more than century. His 1912 novel "Hadji Murad" (written years earlier) tells a story of violence between Chechens and Russians that was historic even then.?

This slim novel ? a sapling when compared to the oaks of "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina" but with a theme as weighty ? tells the tragic story of the eponymous Avar warrior, who, after a falling out with a Chechen chief, turns himself over to the Russians, escapes from them, only to find himself trapped like an animal in a ditch between the Russian militia and his own people. Finally, another tribesman cuts off his head. It is a brutal story but softened with touches of great tenderness and empathy, both for the ordinary Chechen as well as the ordinary Russian soldier.

Fast forward to the 20th century. Long before the Boston Marathon bombing, "Hadji Murad" seems to have left its imprint on the troubled and capacious mind of a writer who made Boston his home for three years: David Foster Wallace, author of the peculiarly brilliant novel "Infinite Jest." It is not in "Infinite Jest," however, that we see the striking influence of Tolstoy. Instead, it is found in Wallace's last work, "The Pale King" ? an unfinished novel completed and published in 2011, three years after Wallace's 2008 suicide.

Theme-wise the two novels are completely different. ("The Pale King," set in Illinois in the 1980s, satirizes the Internal Revenue Service.) The similarity is found in the form and style of the first chapter. The opening paragraph of "The Pale King," in which the weeds and wild flowers in an Illinois field are described with a forensic clarity, is an unmistakable bow to the first page of "Hadji Murad," where the flowers and weeds of the Chechen mountains are evoked with the rustic lyricism that Tolstoy did so well.

Consider the opening of Tolstoy?s novel:

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/0G-n8hP7SXg/Boston-marathon-bombing-how-it-connects-Tolstoy-David-Foster-Wallace

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Moody's, S&P settle lawsuits over debt vehicle ratings

By Nate Raymond and Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's on Friday said they have settled two long-running lawsuits seeking to hold them responsible for misleading investors about the safety of risky debt vehicles that they had rated.

The lawsuits had accused Moody's, a unit of Moody's Corp , and S&P, a unit of McGraw-Hill Cos , of negligent misrepresentation over their activities regarding the Cheyne and Rhinebridge structured investment vehicles (SIVs).

Morgan Stanley , which marketed both SIVs and helped structure the Rhinebridge SIV, also settled.

Settlement terms were not disclosed in the cases, which had been brought in 2008 and had sought more than $700 million (452 million pounds) of damages. Both lawsuits were dismissed with prejudice, meaning they cannot be brought again.

Moody's spokesman Michael Adler, McGraw-Hill spokesman Jason Feuchtwanger and Morgan Stanley spokesman Mark Lake confirmed their companies' respective settlements.

"This settlement allows us to put the significant legal defence and related costs, as well as the distraction, of these very protracted litigations behind us," Adler said.

Feuchtwanger said McGraw-Hill's settlement involved no admission of wrongdoing.

Lawyers for the plaintiff investors did not immediately respond to several requests for comment.

A trial in the Cheyne case had been scheduled for May 6 before U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin in Manhattan, who oversaw both lawsuits.

Credit rating agencies have been accused by investors, regulators and politicians of inflating the ratings of risky mortgage-backed and structured securities in a bid to win new business.

Critics said these activities also fuelled demand from investors who believed the ratings were objective, but prices collapsed once the risks materialized, helping to trigger the 2008 global financial crisis.

S&P still faces the U.S. Department of Justice's $5 billion civil fraud lawsuit filed in February over its ratings, the government's first major post-crisis action against a credit rating agency. The credit rating agency is trying to dismiss that case.

FIRST AMENDMENT

In the Cheyne and Rhinebridge cases, investors accused rating agencies of collaborating with banks to ensure that SIVs received ratings as high as "triple-A," though much of the underlying collateral was low-quality or subprime mortgage debt.

The Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, King County in Washington state, and other investors sought $638 million of damages related to losses they claimed to have suffered when the Cheyne SIV went bankrupt in August 2007. The similarly-named firm that managed the SIV did not go bankrupt.

King County and the Iowa Student Loan Liquidity Corp, meanwhile, had been seeking $70 million of damages over Rhinebridge, which had been structured by Germany's IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG and was wound down in August 2008.

IKB settled the Rhinebridge case last year, and credit rating agency Fitch Ratings, a unit of France's Fimalac SA , settled last month.

Among the defences raised by the rating agencies were that their ratings were opinions that deserved free speech protection under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Scheindlin limited that defence in a 2009 ruling, saying that ratings on notes sold to select investors were not "matters of public concern" deserving broad free speech protection.

The government has not hit Moody's and Fitch with lawsuits similar to the case it is pursuing against S&P.

The cases are Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank et al v. Morgan Stanley & Co et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 08-07508; and King County, Washington et al v. IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG et al in the same court, No. 09-08387.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Gary Hill and Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/moodys-p-settle-lawsuits-over-debt-vehicle-ratings-002444562.html

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Throw & Grow Confetti Turns Celebrations Into Lush Flower Gardens

Are you worried about the eco-impact of all that tossed confetti at your upcoming nuptials? Or maybe you don't want to have to pay someone to clean it all up. Either way, just opt for Niko Niko's new Throw & Grow eco-friendly confetti. Made of a biodegradable paper-like material shaped like little blossoms, the confetti is filled with seeds that will eventually sprout into a patch of wildflowers. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/my3i-cRaCFs/throw--grow-confetti-turns-celebrations-into-lush-flower-gardens

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