What the Google-Oracle court fight is revealing

Corporate trials can be exciting for reporters and the public, a bonanza for lawyers and a potential headache for executives.

For financial analysts, they can be good sources of datapoints that they wouldn?t typically get from earnings calls or regulatory filings.

Legal showdowns featuring Oracle Corp. /quotes/zigman/76584 /quotes/nls/orcl ORCL , in particular, have typically been good venues to harvest important business and financial information.

The 2004 trial over Oracle?s bid to takeover PeopleSoft, for instance, revealed that Microsoft Corp.? /quotes/zigman/20493 /quotes/nls/msft MSFT at one point discussed a possible merger with SAP. It also unveiled a portrait of business software market as a fiercely competitive arena. An Oracle exec?s email disclosed during the trial read: ?PeopleSoft is the enemy. Bury them. ? Now let me get back to my red-meat breakfast.? And how would we know that Oracle once had a program code-named ?Kill SAP? if not for the trial?

Analysts are now also finding good nuggets of information from the ongoing battle in a San Francisco federal courtroom between Oracle and Google Inc. /quotes/zigman/93888 /quotes/nls/goog GOOG .

While the Internet powerhouse is facing tough questions over what Oracle claims are its improper use of the software giant?s Java platform, the trial in a federal court room is giving analysts valuable insights into Google?s game plan ? and how that plan has been working out for the tech giant.

Macquarie analyst Ben Schachter cited slides from a 2010 internal Google presentation which he said ?offer investors (and others, including competitors) an unprecedented look into the how Google viewed Android?s evolution and its potential.?

?There are MANY interesting data points and strategic views (which we go through in detail below), however, we do caution that this is a snapshot in time and given the speed with which the mobile market has evolved, we have to be careful not to extrapolate too much of this into the current landscape,? he wrote.

Still, he noted, that based on the slides, the install base of smartphones based on Google?s Android operating system have doubled vs. the company?s 2010 expectations. On the other hand, ?Android tablets have been less successful than originally anticipated.?

?In 2010, Android devices had 2.65 searches completed per day and Google estimated $9.83 in annual Android ad revenue per device,? he added. Google also ?expected tablets to monetize ads about 285% more than phones.?

Baird analyst Colin Sebastian also wrote that court documents show that Google was ?exceeding its own expectations where it counts.?

Sebastian also was particularly upbeat about what the court documents said about Android, which is Google?s main weapon in the rapidly growing smart phone and tablet market.

?Android still provides enormous opportunities for Google,? he wrote. ?Despite ongoing concerns over Google?s monetization of Android, the documents indicate that Android?s growth is significantly outperforming internal expectations and is still in a very early growth stage.?

- Benjamin Pimentel

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Twitter app update brings improved discover, search and notifications to iOS and Android

twitter app

It's not like there's any shortage of alternatives, but those sticking with the ooh-ficial Twitter app on iOS and Android woke up to a rather pleasant update today. Briefly, the company's promising improvements to discover, search and notifications, with the new build allowing users to view "Activity" -- described as a "stream of updates that shows which tweets are favorited or retweeted by the people you follow and which accounts those people follow or add to lists." Search has also been made simpler in both programs, with the Connect tab allowing you to start typing the first or last name or username of the person you're looking for and watching autocomplete handle the rest. Finally (and perhaps most importantly), notifications for Interactions are in place, enabling busybodies to know right away when a tweet has been retweeted or favorited. Hit up your market of choice to get the new bytes, or just visit one of the source links below. Your call -- no pressure.

Twitter app update brings improved discover, search and notifications to iOS and Android originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PhoneScoop  |  sourceTwitter, App Store (iTunes), Google Play  | Email this | Comments

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How consumer-electronics makers are faring

A look at how selected makers of phones and other consumer-electronic gadgets are faring:

April 19: Microsoft Corp. says it shipped 1.4 million Xbox 360 consoles during the first three months of the year, about half of the 2.7 million shipped a year earlier.

Nokia Corp. says sales of smartphones dropped to 12 million in the first quarter, from 24 million a year earlier, while volume sales of cellphones fell to 83 million from 108 million a year earlier.

Tuesday: Apple Inc. says it sold 35 million iPhones in the quarter, almost twice as many as it sold a year ago and above analyst expectations. IPad sales came in below analyst expectations, at 11.8 million units. But that was still two and a half times as many as it sold in the same quarter a year ago. Mac sales were also slightly below expectations, at 4 million. That was 7 percent more than a year ago. Apple sold 7.7 million iPods, down 15 percent from a year earlier.

AT&T Inc. says it activated 4.3 million iPhones in the first quarter. That was down from 7.6 million in the fourth quarter, when AT&T began selling the iPhone 4S. However, the number was still up from the 3.6 million iPhones AT&T sold in the same quarter a year ago.

HTC Corp. reports a drop in first-quarter earnings and revenue as it faces competition from Apple and Samsung, but it expects revenue to rise in the current quarter with its "HTC One" series phone that offers users a better camera and music experience in addition to a sleek design. HTC says its biggest challenges had been the iPhone 4S's launch late last year. It expects to win back some of the U.S. market and expand its markets in Europe and Asia. HTC doesn't disclose the number of devices it sold, citing competitive reasons.

Wednesday: TomTom says it sold 1.4 million personal-navigation devices in North America, down from 2.1 million a year ago. In Europe, it sold 2 million, down from 2.4 million. TomTom says overall market share was relatively flat at 46 percent in Europe and 24 percent in North America.

Thursday: Nintendo Co. says it sold 9.8 million Wii machines over the fiscal year that just ended, fewer than the 15 million it had sold the previous fiscal year, and below its initial hopes of selling 13 million machines. It remained optimistic for the fiscal year through March 2013, and forecast sales of 10.5 million Wii machines. The Wii U, which will have a touch-screen controller, comes out this year.

Friday: Samsung Electronics Co., maker of the Galaxy line of phones and tablet computers, doesn't disclose the number of smartphones it sells. It reports significant sales growth of high-end smartphones in developing markets including China, a key battlefield for mobile phone makers. It got more than 70 percent of its operating profit from mobile businesses in the first quarter.

Coming up:

May 1: Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.

May 2: Garmin Ltd.

May 10: Sony Corp.

May 22: Dell Inc.

May 23: Hewlett-Packard Co.

June 28: Research in Motion Ltd.

Not yet known: Lenovo Group Ltd.

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SIT Student Reflects on Intercultural Communications Course in ...

by Ian Hefele

In January 2012, 22 SIT students (who are American) convened in Istanbul, Turkey for SIT?s field-based Intercultural Communications course taught by Professor Linda Gobbo. We spent a week in Istanbul doing community service, touring the city, and learning Turkish. Of course, we drank buckets of tea. Week two was spent in a rural village about five hours driving distance from Istanbul. Here is our video about our experience.

One night in Yenice, as the village was called, some American students and their Turkish families converged on my host family?s home. I lived with the mayor of Yenice, so there was room to host. My host mother was excited to have visitors, and she instantly went into a cooking frenzy. The best china was brought out. A tablecloth was presented, the tea was boiled, and the snacks kept coming. We were immediately allowed to sit in the sitting room (most Turkish households which can afford it have one), and the snacks kept coming. Tavla (Backgammon) was pulled out and we were taught how to play. Much hilarity ensued when we quickly learned we did not play up to Turkish standards. The tea glasses were refilled before they were even finished, and the snacks kept coming. We played until about 1:00 AM, and only after I insisted we should get some rest did the snacks stop coming.

Later, my host sisters said this was the best night they had in Yenice for quite some time. They were so happy we visited. I could only fall sleep after we all became Facebook friends. Is this a technological way to extend the hospitality across the continents?

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Pinterest Might NOT Be a Good Marketing Tool for Your Business ...

Pinterest has quickly climbed its way to being the 3rd most widely used social media networking site in a matter of months. According to Shareaholic, it even beat out Twitter for referral traffic in the month of February. With this type of data, it might seem obvious that Pinterest is a great social media marketing tool for your local business.

But we say to think before you leap (and possible waste your time and resources)?

As with any social media marketing platform, one size does not fit all, and some networks will be better suited for different types of local businesses and industries than others. Pinterest is no different.

To determine if Pinterest is right for your business, consider the following demographic data provided by Ignite Social Media:

  • 80% of Pinterest users are women
  • The majority of women using Pinterest tend to be between the ages of 25 and 54.
  • Pinterest users in the US are more likely to live in the mid-west states compared to your typical social networker.

?

Based on these stats, if you?re a business largely geared toward a male specific target market, then Pinterest might not make sense for you. But if you are geared towards what?s often considered to be a female niche, such as wedding planning, home d?cor, or beauty products, then it could be the perfect place for you to market your business. And if you?re located in the mid-west, depending on your industry, it could be a great marketing tool for you.

Again, as with any social media network, you want to assess your specific business goals and target market, do your research, and determine which networks make the most sense for your local business.

If you think Pinterest is right for your local business, consider reading the recent post on Entrepreneur.com by AJ Kumar: Three Tips for Drawing Even More Traffic from Pinterest.

How is Pinterest working for your local business? We?d love to hear about it below!

Chris is the founder and CEO of GenNext Media LLC, and creator of the Surefire Social lead generation marketing system. With over 25 years experience leading traditional and interactive marketing businesses, Chris is a recognized leader helping businesses of all sizes use new technology to enable dramatic growth.

Facebook??Google+?

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New Secret Service rules on alcohol, unsavory bars

(AP) ? Seeking to shake the disgrace of a prostitution scandal, the Secret Service late Friday tightened conduct rules for its agents to prohibit them from drinking excessively, visiting disreputable establishments while traveling or bringing foreigners to their hotel rooms.

The new behavior policies apply to Secret Service agents even when they are off duty while traveling, barring them from drinking alcohol within 10 hours of working, according to a memorandum describing the changes obtained by The Associated Press. In some cases under the new rules, chaperones will accompany agents on trips. The embattled Secret Service director, Mark Sullivan, urged agents and other employees to "consider your conduct through the lens of the past several weeks."

The Secret Service said it would conduct a training session on ethics next week.

Sullivan said the rules "cannot address every situation that our employees will face as we execute our dual-missions throughout the world." He added: "The absence of a specific, published standard of conduct covering an act or behavior does not mean that the act is condoned, is permissible, or will not call for ? and result in ? corrective or disciplinary action."

"All employees have a continuing obligation to confront expected abuses or perceived misconduct," Sullivan said.

The agency-wide changes were intended to staunch the embarrassing disclosures since April 13, when a prostitution scandal erupted in Colombia involving 12 Secret Service agents, officers and supervisors and 12 more enlisted military personnel who were there ahead of President Barack Obama's visit to a South American summit.

But the new policies announced Friday raised questions about claims that the behavior discovered in Cartagena was an isolated incident: Why would the Secret Service formally issue new regulations covering thousands of employees if such activities were a one-time occurrence?

"It's too bad common sense policy has to be dictated in this manner," said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "New conduct rules are necessary to preventing more shenanigans from happening in the future, and whether these are the best, and most cost effective, rules to stop future misconduct remains to be seen."

The new rules did not mention prostitutes or strip clubs, but they prohibit employees from allowing foreigners ? except hotel staff or foreign law enforcement colleagues ? into their hotel rooms. They also ban visits to "non-reputable" establishments, which were not defined. The State Department was expected to brief Secret Service employees on trips about areas and businesses considered off-limits to them.

During trips in which the presidential limousine and other bulletproof vehicles are transported by plane, senior-level chaperones will accompany agents and enforce conduct rules, including one from the agency's Office of Professional Responsibility.

In a Wonderland moment, the operator of the "Lips" strip club in San Salvador, Dan Ertel, organized a news conference late Friday and said he didn't know whether any Secret Service employees were among his customers. Ertel said the club was the only one in the country where prostitutes don't work. But a dancer who identified herself by her stage name, Yajaira, told the AP earlier in the day that she would have sex with customers for money after her shift ended.

"You can pay for dances, touch a little, but there's no sex," she said. "But if somebody wants, if they pay me enough, we can do it after I leave at 3 in the morning."

The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., praised the new rules as "very positive steps by the Secret Service to make clear what is expected of every agent and also makes clear what will not be tolerated."

The Secret Service already has forced eight employees from their jobs and was seeking to revoke the security clearance of another employee, which would effectively force him to resign. Three others have been cleared of serious wrongdoing. The military was conducting its own, separate investigation but canceled the security clearances of all 12 enlisted personnel.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano assured senators earlier this week that the incident in Colombia appeared to be an isolated case, saying she would be surprised if it represented a broader cultural problem. The next day, the Secret Service acknowledged it was investigating whether its employees hired strippers and prostitutes in advance of Obama's visit last year to El Salvador. Prostitution is legal in both Colombia and El Salvador.

In a confidential message to senators on Thursday, the Secret Service said its Office of Professional Responsibility had not received complaints about officer behavior in El Salvador but would investigate.

"Fifteen years in business, it's the one club in this country that does not prostitute the girls," said Ertel, the owner of Lips, at his news conference. "Look, every guy that comes in there propositions the girls, and the answer is always going to be 'no.' Was there Secret Service in there? I have no idea."

On Capitol Hill, early signs surfaced of eroding support for the Secret Service director. Grassley said Sullivan's job could be secure if the scandal were an isolated incident. "But if it goes much deeper, you know, nothing happens or nothing's changed in Washington if heads don't roll," Grassley said on CBS "This Morning."

A member of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Chip Cravaack, R-Minn., warned against a "knee-jerk reaction" and urged a full investigation. But he compared Sullivan as the agency's director to the captain of a foundering ship: "I'm a Navy guy," he said. "The captain of the ship can be in his cabin sleeping and if the ship runs aground the captain of the ship is responsible. I'm not saying anybody's head should roll here, but I expect the captain of the ship to do the right thing."

The White House said Friday that the president remained supportive of Sullivan and confident in the capabilities of the Secret Service.

The fallout from the scandal remained raw. When an AP reporter on Friday visited the home in Maryland of Gregory Stokes, who lost his job in the agency's first round of disciplinary action, someone in the home called police, who asked the AP to leave his property.

___

Associated Press writers Larry Margasak and Julie Pace in Washington, Sarah Breitenbach in Annapolis, Md., and Marcos Aleman in San Salvador, El Salvador, contributed to this report.

Associated Press

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FCC: TV stations must post rates for campaign ads

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PocketCAS 3 pro Mathematics Suite - Education iPhone App (PAID ...

PocketCAS 3 pro Mathematics Suite

Daniel Alm & Thomas Osthege

[list][*]App Genre: Education

[*]App Price: $5.49

[*]Released on: 26 April 2012

SPECIAL UPGRADE PRICE: 75% discount for a limited time!PocketCAS 3 is the most advanced mathematics application on the App Store. From elementary school maths all the way up to calculus, algebra and statistics, PocketCAS can do it all. It's an indispensable tool for every student, teacher and engineer.MATHEMATICAL CAPABILITIES- 2D Plots: Quickly create 2D cartesian, polar or parametric plots.- 3D Plots: PocketCAS draws stunning 3D plots!- Calculus: Calculate limits, derivatives, integrals and taylor expansions.- Linear Algebra: Invert and multiply matrices or calculate determinants, eigenvalues and much more!- Algebra: Perform integer and polynomial factorization and division, use permutations, and more.- Solving: PocketCAS will solve almost any equation for you. It even supports systems of linear equations and ordinary differential equations!- Scripting: PocketCAS' C-style scripting language allows you to define custom functions, use conditional expressions, loops and also supports recursion.- Physical Units: Constants and units are provided out of the box. Simply enter physical formulas with the corresponding units and convert results to the units you prefer.ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONALITY- Export: Print or export plots, entries or the whole document as PDF!- Mathematical keyboard: PocketCAS' mathematical keyboard is unmatched on the App Store.- Help: All functions are explained in the built-in reference. If you're stuck, there's plenty of tutorials as well as a manual (http://pocketcas.com/manual) to get you going. And you can always contact our support (http://pocketcas.com/support) for help!- Offline computation: PocketCAS doesn't need an internet connection to calculate results.WHAT'S NEW IN VERSION 3- Completely redesigned interface- Export functionality for single lines, entries and whole documents- 3D plots- Plot settings dialog- Display of intersection points for cartesian plots- Improved mathematical keyboard- Improved text editor- Scripting mode- And much more!LIMITATIONS OF THE LITE VERSIONThere is a free version of PocketCAS (called PocketCAS lite) that will allow you to try out the interface and many features before buying PocketCAS pro.It has the following limitations:- Many advanced mathematical functions (e.g. integration, taylor expansion, eigenvalues, etc.) are unavailable.- It will plot only one function at a time.- Exported graphics will be watermarked.

? EUROCOMP

AppStore link to PocketCAS 3 pro Mathematics Suite - Education iPhone App

PocketCAS 3 pro Mathematics Suite - Education iPhone App is an iPhone App that is now available.

How to download PocketCAS 3 pro Mathematics Suite - Education iPhone App?

You can download PocketCAS 3 pro Mathematics Suite - Education iPhone App onto your iPhone by following the link below.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/pocke...0782?mt=8&uo=2

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Palm beach county health department - HEALTH, BEAUTY & FITNESS

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NutriMirror News ? Does keeping a food journal affect weight loss?

At NutriMirror we try not to focus on weight loss, instead preferring to promote healthy lifestyles that (as a side effect) often result in healthy changes to body weight.

But the fact remains that people who are seeking out a food journal most often do so with weight loss in mind; and people who are seeking to lose weight through any of various methods can get great value from tracking the foods they eat.

Does it work? Does keeping a food journal lead to weight loss?

Studies have repeatedly shown that, yes, it does. The accountability and awareness that comes from regularly recording the foods you eat has been shown to lead to twice as much weight loss compared with people who don?t regularly record their food intake.

We see the evidence all the time at NutriMirror, with members speaking out in the journal room and in our testimonials about the amazing success they?ve had with our system. But we?ve been doing this for quite a while now and we?ve got quite a bit of data built up, so I wanted to run some numbers and see what kinds of statistical evidence we could pull up.

The following graphic comes from a random sample of 600 NutriMirror members who have logged foods anywhere from 30 to 365 days (click the graph for a larger view):

Graph of weight loss success for food journal users

600 randomly selected users who recorded their food intake for between 30 and 365 days. Average weight change: 6.7 pounds lost.

We don?t know what the intentions were of the people in this sample group (some may have been using the system to maintain their current weight or even gain weight)?but the numbers show a clear trend toward weight loss when tracking foods with NutriMirror. Some lost much more and some gained weight, but the average weight loss per person was 6.7 pounds.

Here?s a similar graph showing another 600 random users, but this time we?re selecting from a pool of long-time members?people who have logged foods with NutriMirror for more than a year.

Avg. weight change: 14.3 pounds lost.

The results here are quite similar to the first graph, just spread out a bit by a few ?outlier? members who have logged a lot of days or recorded a great deal of weight loss. In this data set,?475 users lost weight, 112 gained weight, and 13 saw no weight change. The average weight loss was 14.3 pounds.

But here?s where things get really interesting. As valuable as it is to record your foods every day, for many reasons people can get bored with it or drift away for a while, and then come back to pick up where they left off. NutriMirror is a learning tool as much as anything else. Often we think of it as a helpful aid that teaches you how to eat. So people will use it for a while, then leave for a while, then come back again for a refresher course.

Anyway, I?ve taken the same data set as above, but broken each user down into separate blocks so that we could compare their net weight changes during times when they were actively logging to their net weight changes during the times they were not:

The trend here is pretty striking. Red dots indicate periods of logging inactivity, and they mostly fall below the 0-line and into the weight gain area. Green dots, representing periods of regular logging, do the opposite. Here are the averages:

  • Avg. weight change per person during periods of consistent logging: 3.3 pounds lost
  • Avg. rate of change while logging consistently: 0.3 pounds lost per week
  • Avg. weight change per person while not consistently logging: 1.2 pounds gained
  • Avg. rate of change while not logging consistently: 0.2 pounds gained per week

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