NewsFlash's Profile - TanglerLive

The gunman suspected of killing seven people in southwest France is dead, the country's interior minister has confirmed.

Posted on: 22 Mar 12 in French gunman dies in gun battle

Posted on: 19 Mar 12 in Jenson buttonholes WIN in opening Melbourne Grand Prix

Posted on: 12 Mar 12 in Coming soon: Australia to London, non-stop

Posted on: 05 Mar 12 in Rinehart fails in bid to keep family feud secret

Octavia Spencer with the Oscar for best actress in a supporting role for "the Help" and Meryl Streep with the Oscar for best actress in a leading role for "The Iron Lady" examine their trophies at the Governors Ball following the 84th Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Posted on: 27 Feb 12 in Oscars 2012 Photos

Posted on: 27 Feb 12 in The Artist sweeps the Oscars

In a statement, Harper Collins said: "Knox will give a full and unflinching account of the events that led to her arrest in Perugia and her struggles with the complexities of the Italian judicial system."Aided by journals she kept during her imprisonment, Knox will talk about her harrowing experience at the hands of the Italian police and later prison guards and inmates."She will reveal never before-told details surrounding her case, and describe how she used her inner strength and strong family ties to cope with the most challenging time of her young life."HarperCollins refused to confirm how much 24-year-old Knox will be paid for the book, but insiders suggested it was at least seven figures, and probably close to $4 million (£2.5).Twenty publishers had expressed an interested in the memoir before her representatives held an auction this week. Knox met with seven executives – all of whom bid for the book.Jonathan Burnham of HarperCollins said that Knox had studied creative writing in college, and would be writing the book herself with the help of an unnamed collaborator. Her editor is Claire Wachtel, who has worked with the crime novelist Dennis Lehane.Since her return from Perugia, Knox has kept a low profile, spending much of her time working on the memoirs in her home town of Seattle.She retained the services of Robert B. Barnett, a Washington lawyer who has brokered book deal for a number of big names, including President Barack Obama, President Bill Clinton and former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.Several publishers invited to meet Knox told the New York Times earlier this week that she had cut an impressive figure, appearing relaxed and speaking knowledgably about literature and her desire to become a writer.A number of booksellers expressed reservations, however, about how well the memoirs would sell, given Knox's notoriety.During her captivity, she was largely viewed in her own country an innocent victim of the chaotic Italian judicial system.In both Britain and Italy, however, Knox is seen rather differently, with some suggesting that she got away with murder.She became notorious during the early investigation into Miss Kercher's death after it emerged that she had turned a cartwheel in the police station soon after the murder, and was captured on television kissing Sollecito passionately. He is also said to be preparing to sell a book about the crime in Italy.Miss Kercher's family had called on Knox not to publish her story – her father called the American's release from jail "ludicrous".UK Daily Telegraph

Posted on: 17 Feb 12 in Amanda Knox signs $4 million book deal

"He was performing a type of CPR.

Posted on: 16 Feb 12 in Teen saved by friend in near-death tubing accident

Posted on: 06 Feb 12 in Diamond Jubilee: Queen marks 60th anniversary of her accession

On August 19, 2004, Google went public, selling $1.9 billion of stock, which placed the value of the company at $23 billion when trading started. (It's $187B currently.) Today, in 2012, we're talking about an imminent Facebook IPO, in which, it's predicted, Facebook will offer 10 percent of the company for $10 billion, placing the value of that enterprise at $100 billion.Is Facebook really worth this much?The economic answer is: if people buy the stock, then it is. But what will people be paying for? There are three big reasons that Facebook's IPO could be worth so much, and so much more than Google's initially was. Facebook really is that different. (This story is not a financial analysis--we'll have that when Facebook files its IPO paperwork.)In Facebook's unique combination, these three pillars make this company arguably more valuable that any other Internet company has ever been.1. ReachAt IPO time, Facebook will have over 800 million users. It should cross the billion mark in August. That's one-seventh of the world's entire population. Moreover, Facebook claims that these are "active" users, and that over half of them use Facebook "in any given day." That doesn't mean that the majority of Facebook's users are online every day, but it is a portrait of a large and engaged user base. Moreover, the average user is highly connected to other users and entities. The average friend count: 130.Google (not Google+) crossed the billion-user mark in 2011, but people use it very differently. They may rely on it, but they're not as engaged. Google is a way station, a site you transit getting from query to destination. Compare that to Facebook's Big Reason #2:2. DwellThis is where Facebook really kills it. The average U.S. user spends seven hours and 45 minutes on Facebook a month (Just ask the Nielsen folks). Even YouTube doesn't come close, with under two hours a month. (Google overall is also under two hours a month.)That is a lot of attention. A lot of branding. A lot of games being played. A lot of information about user behavior, connections, and preferences being gathered.There is one downside to running a site where people go to in order to connect with each other, and not raw information, as on Google: they click less frequently on ads. But since they're on the site for so much longer than on a search engine, the raw traffic being fed through to advertisers could, theoretically, balance out.But the key point is this: Facebook works as a destination. More people go there than to almost any other site. And without question, they stay there.3. Lock-inGiven the performance of social networks that have come before Facebook, like Friendster and MySpace, one might well expect that at this point, eight years after launch as a Harvard dorm room project, that most users would be experiencing Facebook fatigue, and logging off in droves, as they have done on other networks that got huge. But they're not. In fact, Facebook is expanding its demographic reach. While growth among young users has slowed (but not gone negative), perhaps due to saturation, growth among adults over 50 is growing rapidly. (So says the Pew American Life Project.) Families are getting connected.Facebook is becoming part of the fabric of modern life. Disconnecting from this network is not as easy as just moving to a different social platform (like Google+), because if you move over, you're moving, for the most part, alone. And that's not what social networks are about. The more people (real connections) you are linked to on Facebook, the more difficult it is to leave. That's why Facebook tries so hard (and succeeds) at getting people to connect with other users. Each friend is one more barb on the fish hook.No other site has this tripod of strengths: massive reach, incredibly robust usage, and fish-hooked switching costs. Other popular sites have weakness in one or more of these areas that keep them out of Facebook's rare air, even if they're otherwise strong businesses. Look at Groupon's low switching costs, for example. Or Twitter's much shorter dwell times. Or LinkedIn's smaller network.This tripod is what Facebook is resting on, and what it should be able to build on. It's why the company is so valuable today.But what about tomorrow?It's not a sure thing the company will stay in this position forever, and it certainly won't if Zuckerberg's team lets its guard down after IPO. Threats to Facebook's dominance include:Advertiser support. People don't go to Facebook to see ads, and advertisers know it (compare to a search engine, where ads can be not just relevant, but desired). Ad performance is improving, which is extremely important to the company, since that is Facebook's main revenue stream.The Zynga dance. We'll see when the Facebook IPO filing appears, but it's expected to be revealed that a large proportion of Facebook's revenues come from Zynga. Zynga's control-freak CEO, Mark Pincus, must want to free the company from Facebook's control, and likewise Facebook is far too reliant on this single game platform for so much revenue. The alliance may not be sustainable.Mobile support. Facebook has mobile apps, but they are not nearly as compelling as the Web service (on the iPhone and Android at least; the Windows Mobile app is different and better). There are better solutions for connecting with friends in specific circumstance on mobile devices (check-in apps, mobile reviews apps, and so on). No one app has either the general functionality or the reach of Facebook, but if any user trend could interrupt Facebook's growth, it has to be the move of the modern society to mobile online communications.The Google. Google will not give up on Google+, not after fumbling with Buzz, Wave, and Orkut, and not with Google knowing how valuable it is to own a database of people. Google can, and is, putting Google+ in front of nearly everyone. For that reason the company is able to claim 90 million users. Engagement is not nearly at Facebook levels, and may never be, but Google has the resources, and the battle knowledge, to lay in a prolonged campaign against Facebook.Privacy flaps. Just kidding! No matter how many and how much journalists, politicians, and a tiny fraction of users complain, Facebook's privacy flubs will not amount to much, as long as the company keeps changing its policies so frequently that nobody can keep up with what Facebook is actually sending to other users and advertisers. At least in the U.S., that is. In other countries, especially EU countries with tougher privacy laws, Facebook could, possibly, get slowed down over privacy issues. But with Facebook's resources, I'd put that as having only a small likelihood of derailing Facebook's progress.Stay tuned to see how the market perceives Facebook's initial offering. The company is expected to file its S-1 paperwork to go public this week. The actual offering won't be until a few months after that.

Posted on: 30 Jan 12 in Facebook's IPO could be worth $100 billion?

Posted on: 28 Jan 12 in Gingrich promises American colony on the Moon

Posted on: 20 Jan 12 in Romney Campaign prepares for possible South Carolina loss

Posted on: 15 Jan 12 in What stood out at CES 2012

Posted on: 11 Jan 12 in Mafia is Italy's biggest business

ROBBED debutant Ed Cowan has demanded video technology be made compulsory for umpires after Australia was gutted by howlers during the first Test against India at the MCG yesterday.

Posted on: 26 Dec 11 in Australia India Test

It seems that Google will directly challenge Apple's tablet supremacy, a ploy that has failed a litany of other worthy hardware makers.Google chairman Eric Schmidt allegedly told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that the company plans to "market a tablet of the highest quality" in the next six months. Now it certainly isn't clear if Schmidt was misquoted or simply meant that a high-end Android tablet, made by a number of companies, will be slick enough to compete toe-to-toe against the Apple iPad 2 juggernaut.Another intriguing possibility is that Google has had its eye on constructing an uber-slate for some time now. Perhaps such a device will be the fruit of its acquisition of Motorola Mobility earlier this year. Heck, it might be the harbinger of a Nexus Tablet---now that's a scintillating thought.A Nexus tab makes more sense to me than the actual Nexus line of smartphones since U.S. carriers won't be able to muck things up. Also, no matter what anyone says, tablets are Wi-Fi-centric devices and buying data plans for them is an extravagant waste of money. Whatever secret tablet plans Google has up its sleeve, sign me up because I want in.Read more too over at C-Net.

Posted on: 21 Dec 11 in Google planning high-end tablet to combat iPad?

Sydney Morning Herald

Posted on: 17 Dec 11 in Thorpe's Olympic comeback in doubt

Molly Meldrum is greatly loved by so many. We really pray he makes a full recovery.

Posted on: 15 Dec 11 in Australia holds its breath for Molly Meldrum

Posted on: 12 Dec 11 in Julia Gillard unveils new ministerial line-up

BBC link and video of Aung San Suu Kyi and Sec of State Clinton here.

Posted on: 02 Dec 11 in Hillary Clinton Burma visit: Suu Kyi hopeful on reforms

NewsFlash

This person isn't following anyone yet