By Douglas MacMillan Bloomberg
Social-networking website Facebook Inc. is growing faster than Google Inc.’s YouTube as a place to watch videos.
Clips generated by Facebook users were watched by 41 million people in April, more than three times as many as a year earlier, when there were 13 million. YouTube grew 25 percent to 135 million unique viewers over the same period, Reston, Virginia-based data researcher ComScore Inc. said this week.
Contending with Google in video is a step in Facebook’s bid to become the go-to website for content-sharing. It surpassed Google’s search engine in weekly hits in March, becoming the most visited site in the U.S. for the first time, according to New York-based data tracker Experian Hitwise.
A rival to YouTube poses challenges for Mountain View, California-based Google, which bought the money-losing service, with its clips of robot-riding cats, fraternity drinking games and other amateur videos, for $1.65 billion in 2006. Analyst Doug Anmuth of Barclays Capital in New York has said YouTube may see its first year of profitability in 2010. Google doesn’t break out its sales by segment.
“What people are doing now more and more is uploading their own home videos to share with friends and family,” said Colin Dixon, an analyst at Frisco, Texas-based researcher Diffusion Group. “YouTube is a very public place,” whereas Facebook may offer more privacy, he said.
Growing Popularity
Facebook, based in Palo Alto, California, has the fifth- largest audience for Web videos, ComScore said, behind properties run by Google, Yahoo! Inc., News Corp., and Vevo, the music-video site jointly operated by Sony Corp., Universal Music Group and Abu Dhabi Media Co.
Since April 2009, the social network has climbed past AOL Inc., Viacom Inc., Microsoft Corp., and Hulu, a video site whose owners include Walt Disney Co. and News Corp., ComScore said.
A report released today by the Pew Internet & American Life Project shows social-networking sites are more popular for posting clips than video-sharing sites.
Among respondents to a survey conducted by the group, 52 percent of people who said they upload videos to the Web do it through sites such as Facebook or News Corp.’s MySpace. Less than half, or 49 percent, do it through video-sharing sites like YouTube and Google Video, according to the report, “The State of Online Video,” which surveyed 763 adult Internet users in the U.S. during June 2009.
Privacy Controls
There’s demand among some Web users for controls that limit who can see their videos, said Kristen Purcell, author of the report and associate director of the project, a branch of the Washington nonprofit Pew Research Center.
Thirty-nine percent of video uploaders interviewed said they don’t let anyone other than family and friends watch their clips. About as many, 35 percent, say they sometimes feel they should be more careful about the videos they post.
Chris Dale, a spokesman for Google, said uploads to YouTube “have been trending in the right direction.” He wouldn’t comment on whether social-networking sites have affected usage of the video service.
Facebook was started in 2004 and first enabled users to share videos in May 2007.
“We generally don’t comment on third-party data,” Kathleen Loughlin, a spokeswoman for Facebook, said in an e- mail.
The degree to which sites like Facebook are gaining on YouTube remains a matter of debate, according to Brett Wilson, chief executive officer of TubeMogul, an online-video distribution service based in Emeryville, California.
Of clips uploaded in the 30 days through June 2 by TubeMogul’s 180,000 users, 1.2 percent chose Facebook and 17 percent picked YouTube.
“The growth rate of Facebook is extraordinary, but the raw numbers are nowhere near YouTube,” Wilson said.
vineri, 4 iunie 2010
Jobs data likely to show burst of temporary hiring
By JEANNINE AVERSA,
The nation's employers likely unleashed a wave of hiring last month, but it probably won't be repeated.
Most of the jobs expected to have been generated in May were for census workers hired on a temporary basis by the federal government. Such hiring is expected to have peaked in May and then begin tailing off in June.
By contrast, hiring by private employers — the backbone of the economy — may have slowed down a bit in May.
All told, the Labor Department's new employment snapshot released Friday morning is likely to be seen as further evidence that the job market is healing. Yet it's still years away from normal health and from recouping the millions of jobs wiped out by the recent recession.
Employers eliminated 7.8 million jobs from the start of the recession in December 2007 through April. To fill that hole and keep up with a growing work force, the economy would need to create a net 14.3 million jobs, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. He doesn't see that happening until early 2015.
"The gap is likely to close only gradually," said Dennis Lockhart, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
The United States probably added a net total of 513,000 jobs last month, economists predict. That would be an improvement from the 290,000 jobs added in April, the most in four years. And May's figure would mark the biggest monthly gain in payrolls since more than 1 million jobs were generated in September 1983, when the country was recovering from a severe recession.
But a huge chunk of May's net job gains — perhaps 300,000 to 400,000 — could come from the government's hiring of temporary census workers.
Census hiring typically peaks in May. That ensures the government has enough door-knockers to pursue people who didn't mail back their census forms. Higher productivity among census workers and a high mail-in response rate, though, could reduce the number of census workers needed. If so, the job total would come in lower than expected.
Jobs created by private companies in May could amount to around a net 175,000. That would mark a slowing from the 231,000 private jobs produced in April.
The unemployment rate is expected to drop a notch to 9.8 percent, from 9.9 percent, helped by the hiring of census and other workers. Still, economists think the rate will move higher this summer as census hiring fizzles and more people enter the work force looking for jobs.
The unemployment rate in October hit 10.1 percent, a 26-year high. Some analysts think it could go a bit higher and peak at 10.2 or 10.4 percent by June. That's lower than some forecasts earlier this year of 11 percent.
About 125,000 new jobs are needed each month just to keep up with population growth and prevent the unemployment rate from rising.
The prospect of persistently high unemployment is likely to prevent consumers from going on the kinds of shopping sprees they typically do during early phases of recoveries. That's a key reason why this recovery isn't as energetic as those usually seen in the past.
Hiring isn't expected to be consistently strong enough to quickly drive down the unemployment rate this year. Economists think the rate will remain above 9 percent by the November midterm elections. That could make Democratic and Republican incumbents in Congress vulnerable.
Only 20 percent of Americans consider the economy in good condition, according to an Associated Press-GfK Poll conducted in mid-May.
Despite the slow healing process, the job market is in a much better state than it was last year. Employers were still slashing payrolls then — 387,000 jobs were cut just in May last year. So far this year, the economy has created a net 559,000 jobs.
"Businesses are more confident that they have the financial resources to invest and hire," Zandi said. "It isn't a straight line of improvement, but the job market is headed in the right direction."
Chrysler LLC said and Ford Motor Co. last month announced plans to hire as auto sales have risen. But others are still laying off workers. Hewlett-Packard Co. said this week it is cutting 9,000 jobs in its technology services division. And chocolate-maker Hershey Co. may cut 600 jobs.
The nation's employers likely unleashed a wave of hiring last month, but it probably won't be repeated.
Most of the jobs expected to have been generated in May were for census workers hired on a temporary basis by the federal government. Such hiring is expected to have peaked in May and then begin tailing off in June.
By contrast, hiring by private employers — the backbone of the economy — may have slowed down a bit in May.
All told, the Labor Department's new employment snapshot released Friday morning is likely to be seen as further evidence that the job market is healing. Yet it's still years away from normal health and from recouping the millions of jobs wiped out by the recent recession.
Employers eliminated 7.8 million jobs from the start of the recession in December 2007 through April. To fill that hole and keep up with a growing work force, the economy would need to create a net 14.3 million jobs, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. He doesn't see that happening until early 2015.
"The gap is likely to close only gradually," said Dennis Lockhart, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
The United States probably added a net total of 513,000 jobs last month, economists predict. That would be an improvement from the 290,000 jobs added in April, the most in four years. And May's figure would mark the biggest monthly gain in payrolls since more than 1 million jobs were generated in September 1983, when the country was recovering from a severe recession.
But a huge chunk of May's net job gains — perhaps 300,000 to 400,000 — could come from the government's hiring of temporary census workers.
Census hiring typically peaks in May. That ensures the government has enough door-knockers to pursue people who didn't mail back their census forms. Higher productivity among census workers and a high mail-in response rate, though, could reduce the number of census workers needed. If so, the job total would come in lower than expected.
Jobs created by private companies in May could amount to around a net 175,000. That would mark a slowing from the 231,000 private jobs produced in April.
The unemployment rate is expected to drop a notch to 9.8 percent, from 9.9 percent, helped by the hiring of census and other workers. Still, economists think the rate will move higher this summer as census hiring fizzles and more people enter the work force looking for jobs.
The unemployment rate in October hit 10.1 percent, a 26-year high. Some analysts think it could go a bit higher and peak at 10.2 or 10.4 percent by June. That's lower than some forecasts earlier this year of 11 percent.
About 125,000 new jobs are needed each month just to keep up with population growth and prevent the unemployment rate from rising.
The prospect of persistently high unemployment is likely to prevent consumers from going on the kinds of shopping sprees they typically do during early phases of recoveries. That's a key reason why this recovery isn't as energetic as those usually seen in the past.
Hiring isn't expected to be consistently strong enough to quickly drive down the unemployment rate this year. Economists think the rate will remain above 9 percent by the November midterm elections. That could make Democratic and Republican incumbents in Congress vulnerable.
Only 20 percent of Americans consider the economy in good condition, according to an Associated Press-GfK Poll conducted in mid-May.
Despite the slow healing process, the job market is in a much better state than it was last year. Employers were still slashing payrolls then — 387,000 jobs were cut just in May last year. So far this year, the economy has created a net 559,000 jobs.
"Businesses are more confident that they have the financial resources to invest and hire," Zandi said. "It isn't a straight line of improvement, but the job market is headed in the right direction."
Chrysler LLC said and Ford Motor Co. last month announced plans to hire as auto sales have risen. But others are still laying off workers. Hewlett-Packard Co. said this week it is cutting 9,000 jobs in its technology services division. And chocolate-maker Hershey Co. may cut 600 jobs.
Sands CEO says Las Vegas business coming back: report
Reuters
Business in Las Vegas is picking up, particularly on weekends, as the economy recovers, Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVS.N) Chief Executive Sheldon Adelson said on Thursday in an interview on the CNBC network.
The casino billionaire said the meeting business in Las Vegas wasn't helped last year by government criticism of bankers who held meetings in the famed U.S. gambling mecca.
Still, "the weekends are coming back strong and I think by next year we'll probably be 80 percent of normal for the group business," Adelson told CNBC.
Gaming revenue rose 2.4 percent on the Las Vegas Strip to $467.1 million in March from a year earlier, even as gaming revenue overall for the state of Nevada slipped 0.7 percent in the month to $912.2 million, the state Gaming Control Board reported in May.
March was the second-straight month this year that gaming revenue increased on the Vegas Strip, where Sands operates the Palazzo and Venetian resorts.
Las Vegas Sands also owns properties in Macau and opened a $5.7 billion casino resort in Singapore in April. Adelson said business in Asia "never went down" as Vegas grappled with the recession.
Adelson also told CNBC his company would like to enter Japan, saying "there's a lot of conversation in Japan about legalizing gaming."
Shares of Las Vegas Sands closed up 2.8 percent to $24.93 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. They have risen about 67 percent this year.
Business in Las Vegas is picking up, particularly on weekends, as the economy recovers, Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVS.N) Chief Executive Sheldon Adelson said on Thursday in an interview on the CNBC network.
The casino billionaire said the meeting business in Las Vegas wasn't helped last year by government criticism of bankers who held meetings in the famed U.S. gambling mecca.
Still, "the weekends are coming back strong and I think by next year we'll probably be 80 percent of normal for the group business," Adelson told CNBC.
Gaming revenue rose 2.4 percent on the Las Vegas Strip to $467.1 million in March from a year earlier, even as gaming revenue overall for the state of Nevada slipped 0.7 percent in the month to $912.2 million, the state Gaming Control Board reported in May.
March was the second-straight month this year that gaming revenue increased on the Vegas Strip, where Sands operates the Palazzo and Venetian resorts.
Las Vegas Sands also owns properties in Macau and opened a $5.7 billion casino resort in Singapore in April. Adelson said business in Asia "never went down" as Vegas grappled with the recession.
Adelson also told CNBC his company would like to enter Japan, saying "there's a lot of conversation in Japan about legalizing gaming."
Shares of Las Vegas Sands closed up 2.8 percent to $24.93 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. They have risen about 67 percent this year.
joi, 3 iunie 2010
Warren Buffett defends credit rating agencies
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has defended credit rating agencies for failing to spot the US mortgage bubble that sparked the financial crisis.
Giving testimony in New York, Mr Buffett said the agencies "made the wrong call," but added that so did everyone else, including himself.
He said the US had been in "mass delusion" for not recognising that the housing market had overheated.
The agencies gave high ratings to US mortgage-related debt that went bad.
'Deeply disturbing'
Mr Buffett, the largest shareholder of the Moody's credit rating agency, was speaking before the US Congress's Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC).
This is investigating the role of the credit rating agencies in the financial crisis in the view to introducing tougher legislation.
The agencies have been accused of giving over-generous ratings to investment packages that included US mortgage debt that subsequently turned bad when homeowners defaulted on their payments.
The European Union is also proposing a new watchdog to oversee the agencies.
"The entire American public was caught up in a belief that housing prices could not fall dramatically," said Mr Buffett.
He added that if he had known how far the US housing market would collapse, he would have sold his investment firm's stake in Moody's, which currently stands at 13%.
Moody's chief executive Raymond McDaniel admitted to the commission that his company "is certainly not satisfied" with the performance of the ratings it gave the mortgage-linked debt.
He added that it was taking steps to improve its ratings process.
However, he had earlier said in written testimony that investors should only use credit ratings as a guide, "not a buy, sell or hold recommendation".
Conflict of interest?
Rating agencies such as Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings have been criticised for conflicts of interest because their fees are paid by the banks whose deals they rate
Billions of dollars of complex debts that were given the highest "AAA" rating by Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch, went bad during the financial crisis.
FCIC chairman Phil Angelides said in his opening remarks that Moody's had profited greatly from rating mortgage-backed debts.
He noted that the firm's revenues soared from $600m (£412m) in 2000 to $2.2bn in 2007, just as the US housing market bubble had peaked.
Mr Angelides said that while the company profited, "the investors who relied on Moody's ratings didn't do very well."
The commission's vice chairman, Bill Thomas, said the aim of the inquiry was to determine whether the rating agencies were "a cause of the crisis or one of the victims".
Former Moody's managing director Jay Siegel admitted to the hearing that only 10% of the firm's employees had any direct experience working in the mortgage lending business.
Meanwhile, another former Moody's managing director, Gary Witt, criticised the role of hedge funds in the financial crisis, describing them as "wolves, hunting in packs, eating what they killed".
Mr Witt said that by contrast, the rating agencies were "scapegoats", whose primary function was "to absorb the blame for the sins of the community".
One investment fund, the Montana Board of Investments, said in written testimony to the FCIC that it would not have bought into the mortgage linked debt "without the over-inflated ratings published by the rating agencies".
"On the face of it, it seems preposterous for the rating agencies to have suggested that these complex, exotic creations were as risk-free as US government bonds," it said.
"But at the time, the board still had confidence in the rating agencies, and assumed the [investment] vehicles had been thoroughly vetted and that default risks were low."
New legislation
The Senate's draft of new financial services legislation proposes that the rating agencies should be chosen by an independent board of regulators.
It is hoped this would discourage rating agencies from providing overly-generous ratings in order to please the banks who pay them.
The Senate's proposal is, however, one of a number of differences with the House of Representatives' own version of the legislation.
These will need to be reconciled before the new law can be finalised.
Europe is also looking to reform regulation of credit rating agencies, with the European Commission announcing on Wednesday that it plans to create a new pan-European watchdog to control how they operate.
Under the proposals, banks would be forced to disclose full details on their financial transactions to all the rating agencies
Giving testimony in New York, Mr Buffett said the agencies "made the wrong call," but added that so did everyone else, including himself.
He said the US had been in "mass delusion" for not recognising that the housing market had overheated.
The agencies gave high ratings to US mortgage-related debt that went bad.
'Deeply disturbing'
Mr Buffett, the largest shareholder of the Moody's credit rating agency, was speaking before the US Congress's Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC).
This is investigating the role of the credit rating agencies in the financial crisis in the view to introducing tougher legislation.
The agencies have been accused of giving over-generous ratings to investment packages that included US mortgage debt that subsequently turned bad when homeowners defaulted on their payments.
The European Union is also proposing a new watchdog to oversee the agencies.
"The entire American public was caught up in a belief that housing prices could not fall dramatically," said Mr Buffett.
He added that if he had known how far the US housing market would collapse, he would have sold his investment firm's stake in Moody's, which currently stands at 13%.
Moody's chief executive Raymond McDaniel admitted to the commission that his company "is certainly not satisfied" with the performance of the ratings it gave the mortgage-linked debt.
He added that it was taking steps to improve its ratings process.
However, he had earlier said in written testimony that investors should only use credit ratings as a guide, "not a buy, sell or hold recommendation".
Conflict of interest?
Rating agencies such as Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings have been criticised for conflicts of interest because their fees are paid by the banks whose deals they rate
Billions of dollars of complex debts that were given the highest "AAA" rating by Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch, went bad during the financial crisis.
FCIC chairman Phil Angelides said in his opening remarks that Moody's had profited greatly from rating mortgage-backed debts.
He noted that the firm's revenues soared from $600m (£412m) in 2000 to $2.2bn in 2007, just as the US housing market bubble had peaked.
Mr Angelides said that while the company profited, "the investors who relied on Moody's ratings didn't do very well."
The commission's vice chairman, Bill Thomas, said the aim of the inquiry was to determine whether the rating agencies were "a cause of the crisis or one of the victims".
Former Moody's managing director Jay Siegel admitted to the hearing that only 10% of the firm's employees had any direct experience working in the mortgage lending business.
Meanwhile, another former Moody's managing director, Gary Witt, criticised the role of hedge funds in the financial crisis, describing them as "wolves, hunting in packs, eating what they killed".
Mr Witt said that by contrast, the rating agencies were "scapegoats", whose primary function was "to absorb the blame for the sins of the community".
One investment fund, the Montana Board of Investments, said in written testimony to the FCIC that it would not have bought into the mortgage linked debt "without the over-inflated ratings published by the rating agencies".
"On the face of it, it seems preposterous for the rating agencies to have suggested that these complex, exotic creations were as risk-free as US government bonds," it said.
"But at the time, the board still had confidence in the rating agencies, and assumed the [investment] vehicles had been thoroughly vetted and that default risks were low."
New legislation
The Senate's draft of new financial services legislation proposes that the rating agencies should be chosen by an independent board of regulators.
It is hoped this would discourage rating agencies from providing overly-generous ratings in order to please the banks who pay them.
The Senate's proposal is, however, one of a number of differences with the House of Representatives' own version of the legislation.
These will need to be reconciled before the new law can be finalised.
Europe is also looking to reform regulation of credit rating agencies, with the European Commission announcing on Wednesday that it plans to create a new pan-European watchdog to control how they operate.
Under the proposals, banks would be forced to disclose full details on their financial transactions to all the rating agencies
miercuri, 2 iunie 2010
Ethanol Fuel
Ethanol (Ethyl Alcohol or Grain Alcohol) is commonly used in alcohol. The recent surge in interest for alternative fuel sources is driving research to use Ethanol as a transportation fuel source. The articles on this page deal with this form of ethanol use. There is still a great deal of debate about the pros and cons of ethanol as fuel. Ethanol is commonly used as a fuel source additive and not as a fuel substitute.
Biodiesel Rental Cars from Bio-Beetle
Would you believe there exists a company that offers rental cars which are entirely powered by biodiesel? In support of their mission statement to be the “greenest” and “best” rental car company on the planet, Bio-Beetle Eco Rental Cars began their environmentally conscious business endeavor in 2003 with only a single car. The company was not, and still isn’t, supported by a major car manufacturer. Powered by biodiesel, each Bio-Beetle has been purchased and developed individually by the founders as funds allow. The founders of Bio-Beetle believed their business venture was a great way to demonstrate environmental consciousness and have, therefore, slowly built the foundation for the only rental car company of its kind available.
For the unacquainted, biodiesel is a clean-burning fuel that is made from 100% renewable sources. It can be used in place of standard diesel fuel as well, which as we know is made from fossil fuels and is nonrenewable. In reality, most items that call for regular diesel fuel, such as vehicles and generators, can utilize this environmentally friendly alternative. In the case of Bio-Beetle, the company utilizes 100% vegetable-oil-based biodiesel. In fact, most of the biodiesel is actually made from used cooking oil.
The process for utilizing used cooking oil to power a vehicle is quite simple. Restaurants that cook fried foods like French Fries or Fried Chicken normally operate deep fat fryers. When it is time to change the oil in these fryers, it is generally done so by a pumping company contracted by the restaurant for such purposes. The used cooking oil that is collected from the process can then be brought by the pumping company to a biodiesel processor. Once at the processor the oil is filtered and then put through a process known as Transesterification. It is a process by which the vegetable oil is mixed with an alcohol (typically methanol) and a catalyst (lye) to separate and create two important commodities: biodiesel (also known as methyl esters) and glycerin (the common ingredient in soap).
The result of this process is extremely friendly to environment, and it supports the zero-waste philosophy of the Bio-Beetle company. Yet in addition to utilizing used cooking oil, Bio-Beetle Eco Rental Cars takes it one step further, employing earth friendly coolants, synthetic engine oil and non toxic cleaners as well. And the idea is spreading, at least in terms of the company’s influence: in 2006 Bio-Beetle expanded its business beyond Maui, Hawaii and into Los Angeles, California to serve the LAX airport and vicinity. Although it may be small steps at first, Bio-Beetle is definitely showing the nation what measures it can take to help protect the planet today.
Eco-Friendly Planes Designed by MIT-Led Team on the Anvil
The NASA Research Program ‘N+3′ has thrown open a challenge for exploring the potential to develop quieter subsonic commercial planes as well as supersonic commercial aircraft that burn less fuel and pollute less. The team led by MIT are working on developing two models to meet the NASA criteria as well to accommodate the demands created by increased air traffic by 2035 A.D.
NASA’s plans:
NASA’s plans are for designing planes that have fuel-burn reduction, emissions reduction and which can take off from shorter runways. Four teams – one led by MIT, Boeing, GE Aviation and Northrop Grumman work on subsonic designs. AeroAstro faculty & students, ED Greitzer, Principal Investigator, Professor H Nelson Slator, Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation and Pratt & Whitney have jointly developed concepts and technologies to design D series and H series aircrafts that will meet the stringent criteria demanded by NASA.
D Series:
This will be the “double bubble” series to replace the Boeing 737 class aircraft conceived with reconfiguring the traditional tube and wing structure. Resembling two soap bubbles joined together, a wider structure was created with two side-by-side partial cylinders and engines were moved to the rear of fuselage. Using the BLI (boundary layer ingestion) technique, engines use less fuel. Because it travels 10% slower and the planes have longer and thinner wings, smaller tail, most drawbacks of this design are mitigated somewhat. Planes wider size saves time by allowing quicker loading and unloading.
Twin advantages of D Series:
There are two types of D series on the anvil:
A high tech version with 70% fuel-burn reduction.
A traditional aluminum body plane with current jet technology but on double-bubble design.
Advantages:
Use less fuel by about 50%.
Very good environmental performance.
Traditional design will help better integration with existing airport infrastructure and so save money otherwise needed to fit radically different designs.
H Series:
The 350-passenger 777 class ‘hybrid wing body’ planes will be larger but will be based on the same technology as D Series. A Triangular-shaped hybrid wing body and a wider fuselage result in improved aerodynamics while larger centre creates a forward lift and balances the plane without the need for a tail. Propulsion architectures and technology are under study still awaiting further exploration.
I Phase over:
With first phase of research and design is over, the MIT team is awaiting word about continuing into the second phase of program to meet more of NASA’s objectives. Sanction of additional funds and approval of the designs and technology identified in the first phase will be know in the next few months.
Future Plans:
Whether or not the work continues for NASA, the researchers hope to continue to develop these models, testing them and collaborating with manufacturers to make the concepts a reality.
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