Obey

The warmth

Final Four

NCAA final four my money riding on the bulldogs to take it Overall Record: 32-4
Conference Record: 18-0, Horizon League
Conference Highlights: Regular season and tournament champions
Final AP Rank: 11
Current Winning Streak: 24

HOW BUTLER ADVANCED:
Round One: Defeated No. 12 UTEP, 77-59
Round Two: Defeated No. 13 Murray State, 54-52
Sweet Sixteen: Defeated No. 1 Syracuse, 63-59
Elite Eight: Defeated No. 2 Kansas State, 63-56

TOP STORYLINE:
The hometown angle is going to be unavoidable if you're in Indianapolis or just watching the Final Four. Butler's campus is only about six miles from Lucas Oil Stadium. When Michigan State played in Detroit last year, the city was abuzz for the Spartans. I would expect nothing less from Indianapolis. Butler is this year's Cinderella team, and it should have unprecedented fan support. Can this support help Butler help get a title? That remains to be seen.

PLAYER OF INTEREST:
Matt Howard is Butler's best and most reliable defender in the post. He also has a tough time sticking around for all 40 minutes. The 6-foot-8, 220 pound forward has fouled out eight times on the year, and has been in foul trouble for several more. He has, however, demonstrated much more control in the second half of the season and has not fouled out yet in the tournament. The Bulldogs need his presence down low.

BY THE NUMBERS:
59: No team has scored more than 59 points on Butler in the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs surrender an average of 59.6 points per game this year
33: The amount of 3-pointers Butler has made in the NCAA Tournament. No team has made more. This is also the age of coach Brad Stevens.
13: The amount of games since Matt Howard has fouled out.
7: Years since coach Brad Stevens embarked on a coaching career.
0: The amount of home losses Butler has this year.

CAN WIN IT ALL IF:
Butler can win the title if it is carried by the hometown crowd and its 3-point shooting. The Bulldogs have the nation's longest winning streak at 24. If they can just get that number to 26, they'll be the champs.

Obama permits oil exploration

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama is to announce on Wednesday a plan to permit exploration for oil and natural gas off the coast of Virginia as a way to create jobs and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.
Obama, who wants Congress to move a stalled climate change bill, has sought to reach out to Republicans by signaling he is open to allowing offshore drilling, providing coastlines are protected.
Joined by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Obama is to detail an updated plan for offshore oil and natural gas drilling in remarks at a military base in nearby Maryland.
For more than 20 years, drilling was banned in most offshore areas of the United States outside the Gulf of Mexico because of concerns that spills could harm the environment.
The administration has been weighing the pros and cons of offshore drilling since it took office and put the brakes on a Bush-era proposal which called for drilling along the East Coast and off the coast of California.
An administration official said, as part of the new plan, Interior will conduct the first new offshore oil and gas sale in the Atlantic Ocean in over two decades as part of a lease sale 50 miles off the coast of Virginia.
Seismic exploration in the south Atlantic and mid-Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf of the United States will determine the quantity and location of potential oil and gas resources to support energy planning.
The Bush plan had called for leases to be offered in November 2011, but it was not immediately clear whether the Obama administration would stick to that schedule.
A senior Interior official said in January that drilling off Virginia's coast would be delayed past the original 2011 leasing date.
The proposed Virginia lease area, located about 50 miles from shore, may hold 130 million barrels of oil and 1.14 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, based on Interior Department estimates.
In addition, the Interior Department will continue lease sales in the Central and Western Gulf of Mexico, which have proved to have sizable reserves.
Much of the Eastern Gulf is currently under a congressional moratorium on oil and gas operations. The Interior Department's plan would open up about two-thirds of the available oil and gas resources in this region in the event that the moratorium is lifted, the official said.
Military training in the Eastern Gulf will be protected and drilling activities will occur more than 125 miles from the Florida coast.
Read more here

Erykah Badu new controversial video

Kick Ass

For Today

Whatever happened?

Brain Stew

Citizen cope

Let The Drummer Kick"

Let the drummer kick
Let the drummer kick that
[repeat]

Relations
Creation
Incarceration
Determination
Equation
Humiliation
Reincarnation
Situation
Elation
Identification
Retaliation
Education
Inspiration
No substitution
Solution
Conclusion

Let the drummer kick
Let the drummer kick that
[repeat]

Relations (Say Apollo had to break 'em)
Creation (It's a gift, a blessing)
Incarceration (What keeps you down)
Determination (What gets you out)
Equation (When they said you could make it)
Humiliation (What you feel when they say it)
Reincarnation (Say N-A-V)
Situation (Why we've got to sing)
Elation (So many in need)
Identification (Gives you the right to shoot)
Retaliation (What would it do)
Education (Gives you the right to do)
Inspiration (What pulls you through)
No substitution (Try to substitute)
Non-inclusion (Just got to bust through)
Drug infusion (For the chosen few)
Mass confusion (When they say that they died for you)
Delusion (Say that the dreams don't come true)
Solution (It can take a hold of you)
Conclusion
Inspiration (Is what pulls you through)

Let the drummer kick (Inspiration)
Let the drummer kick that (Inspiration)
[repeat]

You don't even have to wait
You don't even have to wait

Let the drummer kick
Let the drummer kick that

Do Employers look at your facebook ?

(CNN) -- Justin Gawel says there's nothing too incriminating on his Facebook page.
"There are a lot of pictures of drinking [but] nothing naked or anything -- at least I don't think so," he said jokingly.
Even so, the Michigan State University junior recently changed his Facebook display name to "Dustin Jawel" to keep his personal life from potential employers while applying for summer internships.
Although Gawel ditched his rhyming alias after two weeks when he realized Facebook users also can be searched by e-mail address, school and network, he is not alone in his efforts to scrub his online résumé. Many students and recent graduates say they are changing their names on Facebook or tightening privacy settings to hide photos and wall posts from potential employers.

And with good reason.
A recent survey commissioned by Microsoft found that 70 percent of recruiters and hiring managers in the United States have rejected an applicant based on information they found online.
What kind of information? "Inappropriate" comments by the candidate; "unsuitable" photos and videos; criticisms of previous employers, co-workers, or clients; and even inappropriate comments by friends and relatives, according to the survey report, titled "Online Reputation in a Connected World."

Such prying into his online life makes Gawel uncomfortable.
"I understand that when [employers look] at someone's Facebook page, they're just trying to paint a bigger picture of the people they're hiring -- so they're not just a name on a résumé," he said. "But that doesn't demonstrate whether they can do the job. It shouldn't matter what someone does when they're not in the office."
Gawel said he's not sure that employers would object to the information on his Facebook page. For him, it's more about personal privacy.

"Too many people take pictures of you. I didn't want to go through and 'untag' all of them," he said. "There's nothing illegal or too ridiculous in the photos ... but people don't take pictures of people studying or doing school work. They take pictures of people at parties and doing silly things."
For better or worse, online screenings may be a permanent part of the 21st-century hiring process. The Microsoft survey found that 79 percent of U.S. hiring managers have used the Internet to better assess applicants.
Dan Eggers of Partners Marketing Group in Marietta, Georgia, is among that 79 percent.
"We review and certainly do research on anyone we're looking at hiring or using as a contract employee," Eggers said. "We would Google their name, look at LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter."
He said his firm usually only consults an applicant's online reputation to make sure he or she hasn't misrepresented their work experience.
"We try not to pay a lot of attention to wall posts from others. It would take quite a bit for us to be reacting to that," Eggers said.

But racist or homophobic comments will land your résumé and cover letter in the garbage, he said.
"People have a false sense of security about their personal information out there on the Web ... they think only their friends will see it," said Jack Rayman, senior director of career services at Pennsylvania State University.
Elana Borchers, an Indiana University senior, said she exchanged her last name for her middle name on Facebook in November when she started applying for jobs. Borchers even decided to keep her alias after landing a full-time position a month later.
"Not everything is certain," she said. "If my employers saw something on my profile now that they didn't like, they could take my job away."

Not that she's worried about the content on her Facebook page.
"There's nothing bad [on my profile]. I'd rather they learn about me in person," Borchers said.
"Big Ten schools have the reputation of excessive partying. That's something that's here with me in college, I don't plan to take that partying with me in the future and I didn't want someone to see that and judge me."
Borchers said she thought about removing pictures of her partying, but "they're my memories and I want to keep them for now."

Many of Borchers' friends are playing the Facebook name game, too -- dropping their last names or using a nickname to hide from potential employers and grad-school admissions officers.
"A lot of my guy friends changed [their user names] to a nickname that their friends call them, so everyone still knows who it is," she said.
Facebook spokesperson Kathleen Loughlin said she could not comment on the number of users who change their name on Facebook, but students who spoke to CNN said that among their peers, the trend is rampant.
Another Indiana University senior, Jeffrey Lefcort, changed his Facebook user name to Jeffrey David -- his middle name -- when he began applying for jobs, even though he doesn't think his page has anything inappropriate.
"I just didn't want to be found by someone who was looking for me that I'm not friends with," Lefcort said. "My Facebook profile is not intended for employers. I didn't want them looking at my personal life."
Like Gawel, Lefcort eventually ditched his pseudonym and opted instead to tighten his Facebook privacy settings -- something Facebook's Loughlin said is encouraged.
With the Internet playing such a large role in business today, few recruiters don't assess applicants' online reputations in some capacity before hiring, said George Matlock, director of operations at Matlock Advertising and Public Relations in Atlanta, Georgia.

And while Matlock said he almost always Googles a person's name before hiring them, he steers clear of Facebook.
"I haven't looked at [an applicant's] Facebook page," he said. "I try to stay away from it, myself. I think it's too personal ... maybe I'm just scared to see what's out there. Facebook tends to be something pretty private."
Emily Mitnick, a Michigan State University senior who also changed her name on Facebook, said she has nothing to hide but wants to keep a low profile and avoid being searched by potential employers.
Mitnick uses LinkedIn to communicate with the "professional world." She describes Facebook as a place "where I can be social with my friends and I don't have to be professional.

"I don't have any of my [tagged pictures] available to the public -- just for precautionary measures, not because they're inappropriate," she added. "I would just like to remain somewhat private."
Rayman, the Penn State career counselor, said he recommends that students with potentially incriminating photos or posts change their name on social networking sites. But it's not always that easy to escape your online reputation, he said.
"Web sites are almost impossible to eliminate," Rayman said. "They get cached somewhere and they'll keep coming up. It used to be if you had a poor reputation in one school, you'd move to another and your record didn't necessarily follow you. It's getting harder and harder to do that as everyone is on the Internet and everyone knows everyone's business."

Bombing in Moscow

The masterminds behind a double suicide bombing on the Moscow Metro will be destroyed, Russia's leaders have said.
The attacks, in the morning rush hour, killed at least 38 people and injured more than 60, officials say.

No group has said it carried out the attacks, but security services have blamed rebels from the North Caucasus - which includes Chechnya and Ingushetia.

President Dmitry Medvedev laid a wreath at the scene of one of the attacks, labelling the plotters "beasts".
He said: "We will find and destroy them all."

US President Barack Obama called President Medvedev to "personally convey" his condolences, adding that the US was ready to co-operate with Russia to help bring to justice those responsible for the blasts.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had also earlier vowed to hunt down those responsible, saying: "Terrorists will be destroyed."

He described the attacks, believed to have been carried out by female bombers, as "heinous".
The Moscow city government declared Tuesday would be a day of mourning.

Past suicide bombings in Moscow have been carried out by - or blamed on - Islamist rebels fighting for independence from Russia in Chechnya.

A Chechen rebel leader recently promised to bring the war to Russia's cities, months after Mr Medvedev declared an end to Moscow's "anti-terrorism operations" in the mainly Muslim republic.

More than 100,000 people have been killed in 15 years of conflict in Chechnya and low-level insurgencies continue there and in the neighbouring republics of Ingushetia and Dagestan.

Financial Overhaul

WASHINGTON — Buoyed by passage of landmark health care legislation, the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress said Wednesday that an overhaul of financial regulations was the next legislative priority.

The legislation appeared to be gaining momentum, as two crucial Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire and Bob Corker of Tennessee, said they expected the overhaul to pass this year even though they had concerns about some of its provisions.

A Democratic strategy appeared to be emerging: expressing confidence that the measure would pass and urging Republicans to help shape legislation that they could support, rather than trying to block it.

“When we come back from recess, the No. 1 issue for the U.S. Congress will be this bill in the United States Senate,” Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the Democratic chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said after meeting at the White House with President Obama.

The House voted along party lines in December to approve a regulatory overhaul similar to one proposed by the White House last summer.

Described as the most sweeping change in financial rules since the Depression, the legislation would create a council to detect and avert systemic risks to the financial system; expand the Federal Reserve’s oversight over the largest and most interconnected financial companies; create a consumer financial protection agency to regulate mortgages and credit cards; and regulate many of the over-the-counter derivatives that amplified the risk-taking that brought about the 2008 financial crisis.

Read more here

Breakthrough Is Reported in U.S. Arms Pact With Russia

WASHINGTON — President Obama and his Russian counterpart, President Dmitri A. Medvedev, have broken through a logjam in their arms control negotiations and expect to sign a new treaty in Prague next month that would slash American and Russian nuclear arsenals, officials from both nations said Wednesday.

Mr. Obama and Mr. Medvedev still need to talk once more to finalize the agreement, but officials were optimistic that the deal was nearly done.

The two sides have discussed a signing ceremony in Prague in early April, marking the anniversary of the first meeting between the two presidents and of Mr. Obama’s speech outlining his vision for eventually eliminating nuclear weapons.

The new pact would replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty of 1991, which expired in December, and would require both sides to reduce their warheads and launchers by more than one-quarter. The agreement is the most significant accomplishment so far for Mr. Obama’s policy of trying to “reset” relations with Russia. It is intended to pave the way for another more far-reaching round of reductions later in his term.

Neither the White House nor the Kremlin would formally comment on Wednesday, but officials on both sides confirmed that an agreement was close to done. A Kremlin official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there was basic agreement on the text of the pact, although not all the wording had been finalized. He confirmed that Prague would be the likely location of a signing ceremony, although that too needed to be finalized.

Read more here

Taking a look at the new health care reform and what it means to us

Congressional Democrats released a final version of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul bill in advance of passage Sunday by the House. Some features of the legislation, which makes changes to the bill the Senate passed on Christmas Eve:

COST: $940 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

HOW MANY COVERED: 32 million uninsured. Major coverage expansion begins in 2014. When fully phased in, 95 percent of eligible Americans would have coverage, compared with 83 percent today.

INSURANCE MANDATE: Almost everyone is required to be insured or else pay a fine. There is an exemption for low-income people. Mandate takes effect in 2014.

INSURANCE MARKET REFORMS: Starting this year, insurers would be forbidden from placing lifetime dollar limits on policies, from denying coverage to children because of pre-existing conditions, and from canceling policies because someone gets sick. Parents would be able to keep older kids on their coverage up to age 26. A new high-risk pool would offer coverage to uninsured people with medical problems until 2014, when the coverage expansion goes into high gear. Major consumer safeguards would also take effect in 2014. Insurers would be prohibited from denying coverage to people with medical problems or charging them more. Insurers could not charge women more.

MEDICAID: Expands the federal-state Medicaid insurance program for the poor to cover people with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, $29,327 a year for a family of four. Childless adults would be covered for the first time, starting in 2014. The federal government would pay 100 percent of costs for covering newly eligible individuals through 2016. A special deal that would have given Nebraska 100 percent federal financing for newly eligible Medicaid recipients in perpetuity is eliminated. A different, one-time deal negotiated by Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu for her state, Louisiana, worth as much as $300 million, remains.

TAXES: Dramatically scales back a Senate-passed tax on high-cost insurance plans that was opposed by House Democrats and labor unions. The tax would be delayed until 2018, and the thresholds at which it is imposed would be $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for families. To make up for the lost revenue, the bill applies an increased Medicare payroll tax to the investment income and to the wages of individuals making more than $200,000, or married couples above $250,000. The tax on investment income would be 3.8 percent.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS: Gradually closes the "doughnut hole" coverage gap in the Medicare prescription drug benefit that seniors fall into once they have spent $2,830. Seniors who hit the gap this year will receive a $250 rebate. Beginning in 2011, seniors in the gap receive a discount on brand name drugs, initially 50 percent off. When the gap is completely eliminated in 2020, seniors will still be responsible for 25 percent of the cost of their medications until Medicare's catastrophic coverage kicks in.

EMPLOYER RESPONSIBILITY: As in the Senate bill, businesses are not required to offer coverage. Instead, employers are hit with a fee if the government subsidizes their workers' coverage. The $2,000-per-employee fee would be assessed on the company's entire work force, minus an allowance. Companies with 50 or fewer workers are exempt from the requirement. Part-time workers are included in the calculations, counting two part-timers as one full-time worker.

SUBSIDIES: The proposal provides more generous tax credits for purchasing insurance than the original Senate bill did. The aid is available on a sliding scale for households making up to four times the federal poverty level, $88,200 for a family of four. Premiums for a family of four making $44,000 would be capped at around 6 percent of income.

HOW YOU CHOOSE YOUR HEALTH INSURANCE: Small businesses, the self-employed and the uninsured could pick a plan offered through new state-based purchasing pools called exchanges, opening for business in 2014. The exchanges would offer the same kind of purchasing power that employees of big companies benefit from. People working for medium-to-large firms would not see major changes. But if they lose their jobs or strike out on their own, they may be eligible for subsidized coverage through the exchange.

GOVERNMENT-RUN PLAN: No government-run insurance plan. People purchasing coverage through the new insurance exchanges would have the option of signing up for national plans overseen by the federal office that manages the health plans available to members of Congress. Those plans would be private, but one would have to be nonprofit.

ABORTION: The proposal keeps the abortion provision in the Senate bill. Abortion opponents disagree on whether restrictions on taxpayer funding go far enough. The bill tries to maintain a strict separation between taxpayer dollars and private premiums that would pay for abortion coverage. No health plan would be required to offer coverage for abortion. In plans that do cover abortion, policyholders would have to pay for it separately, and that money would have to be kept in a separate account from taxpayer money. States could ban abortion coverage in plans offered through the exchange. Exceptions would be made for cases of rape, incest and danger to the life of the mother.

GOP HEALTH CARE SUMMIT IDEAS: Following a bipartisan health care summit last month, Obama announced he was open to incorporating several Republican ideas into his legislation. But two of the principle ones – hiring investigators to pose as patients and search for fraud at hospitals and increasing spending for medical malpractice reform initiatives – did not make it into the legislation released Thursday. The legislation incorporates only one, an increase in payments to primary care physicians under Medicaid, an idea mentioned by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.

Obama Health Care Reform will Pass!

Lada Gaga Controversial video

Miyamoto Focusing on Getting DS into Schools

Nintendo's top designer wants the DS to be used for more than collecting coins and saving princesses.

Shigeru Miyamoto's devotions, ranging from gardening to taking care of puppies in the past, have tended to turn into the big products coming out of Nintendo. Now he's focusing on education, Miyamoto told the Associated Press.

While in London to accept a BAFTA Fellowship award, Miyamoto said: "[Education] is maybe the area where I am devoting myself the most." He wants the Nintendo DS to become a learning tool right alongside textbooks and protractors.

With the DS already being used in places like museums, galleries, and aquariums, Miyamoto told reporters about Nintendo's plan to roll the system out "in junior high and elementary schools in Japan starting in the new school year." Putting the DS into schools is not much of a stretch either, with many educational math, language, and reading programs currently available for the device worldwide. The increase in size of the DSi XL could even tie into wanting the system to be used in the educational system, as it makes the handheld easier to use for reading and writing.

Miyamoto impressed that this will be a new strategy by Nintendo to broaden the audience for gaming consoles. The DS is incredibly popular and still breaking sales records, with 613,000 units sold in February 2010 alone. Putting a Nintendo DS in every child's hand as they learn to read and write could increase its popularity even more.

The DS is suited to becoming a learning tool, with a broad range of functionality possible using its touchscreen, microphone, and internet and wireless capabilities. Plus, it's not all that expensive either. Someday, our kids might all be learning with the help of Nintendo.

Jesse James Nazi Salute

TMZ has learned there is a photo of Jesse James making the rounds and in it he is wearing a hat that looks identical to the one Michelle McGee is wearing in her Nazi photos ... and he is making the Nazi salute.


We've seen the photo -- which reportedly was taken two years ago -- and there is no mistaking it's Jesse. The hat Jesse is wearing is nearly identical to the one Michelle has on in the infamous photos, except for the rope across the front (see above).

The woman selling the photo told TMZ she didn't actually take the pic -- it belonged to a friend who worked with Jesse and the friend does not know she is selling it.


Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2010/03/21/jesse-james-nazi-salute-photo-michelle-mcgee/#ixzz0iqV3rg4V

Syracuse again looks like a title contender

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- There was a time in early-to-mid February when Wes Johnson's hand hurt so badly he couldn't lift his laptop. During games, "it hurt to tuck my jersey in," he said.
Bad news, NCAA tourney field: Those days are far behind him.
The Syracuse star drained a pair of threes and flew down the lane for a dunk within the first few minutes of Sunday's second-round game against Gonzaga. By the time the day was done, Johnson had scored a career-high 31 points on 11-of-16 shooting (including 4-of-6 threes) and hauled in 15 rebounds to help the top-seeded Orange cruise to an 87-65 victory.


Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/stewart_mandel/03/21/gonzaga.syracuse/#ixzz0iqISSXjU
Get a free NFL Team Jacket and Tee with SI Subscription

Never trust a lawyer

Authorities arrested a 67-year-old probate lawyer Monday on charges he embezzled more than $500,000 from the estates of four clients.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said Oscar Cruz Parra was arrested at his San Dimas home, four days after prosecutors charged him with embezzlement, perjury and preparing false evidence.

An arraignment date was not immediately set. He was held in lieu of more than $600,000 bail, according to sheriff's booking records.

Prosecutors allege Parra, whose office is on Lake Avenue in Pasadena, began embezzling from the accounts of estates he represented in December 2000. They say he then filed false court papers regarding the money in the client accounts.

The State Bar of California suspended Parra's law license on Feb. 21.

Probate lawyers administer the estates of deceased people.

Microsoft Offers Windows Phone 7 To Developers

On Monday at the MIX10 conference in Las Vegas, Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT) gave developers an in-depth look at the tools they'll be using to build applications for Windows Phone 7 devices and the marketplace where they'll sell their creations.
As expected, Silverlight is the platform for native Windows Phone 7 application development, XNA Framework is the gaming platform, and Expression Blend and Visual Studio 2010 Express are the design and development tools. This isn't a version of Silverlight tailored for mobile devices, but the full blown Silverlight programming model, which means developers can quickly start cranking out Windows Phone 7 apps.

"Using Silverlight, you can deliver awesome applications for Windows Phone 7," Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president of Microsoft's .NET Developer Platform, told attendees. "This is not 'Silverlight Lite' or 'Silverlight Limited' -- this is regular Silverlight on a phone."

Microsoft is now offering the Windows Phone 7 development toolkit as a free download, a package that includes Silverlight, Expression Blend for Windows Phone and a preview of Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Express.

Windows Phone 7 devices aren't slated to arrive until later this year, but Microsoft wants developers to get started on building apps right away. Through Microsoft's Visual Studio-based emulator, developers can work with a full, virtualized version of Windows Phone 7 that includes multi-touch support, and judging from the reaction of the audience, this will be well received.

Developers will offer their Windows Phone 7 applications for purchase on the newly rebranded Windows Phone Marketplace, previously known as Windows Marketplace For Mobile. In addition to supporting one-time credit card purchases, mobile operator billing and advertising-funded applications, Microsoft has added functionality to Windows Phone Marketplace that enables creators to sell their creations more effectively.

At MIX10, attendees saw a mobile operating system that's similar to that of the Zune and bears little resemblance to the iPhone. Microsoft has clearly spent a ton of time on differentiating Windows Phone 7 design from other devices on the market, and the result is a user interface that's far more user friendly than Windows Mobile.

Given Microsoft's trailing position in the mobile market, the company needed to make some drastic changes to the status quo, and many industry watchers believe that starting over with Windows Phone 7 will help Microsoft get back on track.

The Windows Phone 7 story is solid and Microsoft is making major investments in the platform, said Al Hilwa, program director for Applications Development Software at IDC, in an interview. "They seem to understand that these devices are the future, possibly even the future of the PC in the long term," he said.

However, Microsoft is still at least three years behind the mobile market leaders and will have to get used to not being the dominant platform, Hilwa added. "The amount of money they are making out of this may not be in the same league as Windows, so for the long run, I'm wondering how they can keep the revenue machine fed and keep this exciting for themselves internally," he said.

In other MIX news, Microsoft is now offering the Silverlight 4 Release Candidate for download and plans to offer the final release next month. Silverlight 4 includes Pivot, new data visualization technology that makes it easier for developers to present large data sets in applications and leverages the deep zoom technology that's built into Silverlight 4.

Playstation Wii?

Sony's newly-unveiled motion controller for the PS3. But aside from the facts - it'll be out later this year, for $100 including one controller and a camera that tracks the controller's movement - all I can spit out are conflicted opinions.

I'm somewhat excited for the Move, if only because it's a more sophisticated version of Nintendo's Wii, with its wand-shaped, button-laden controllers. The difference is that the Move uses an existing product, the Playstation Eye, to track the controller's motion along three dimensions. This allows you to step closer or farther from the table in virtual ping pong, or make 360-degree turns in real space.

Cool technology, for sure, but is it a cohesive vision for motion control, or a half-hearted attempt to capture the so-called casual gamer?

Obama's Job Plan

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama on Thursday laid out plans to help U.S. businesses double their export sales and add what he said would be 2 million more jobs at home during the next 5 years.

"In a time when millions of Americans are out of work, boosting our exports is a short-term imperative," Obama said in unveiling his National Export Initiative.

"When other markets are growing and other nations are competing, we've got to get even better," he told the annual conference of the Export-Import Bank. "We need to secure our companies a level playing field. We need to guarantee American workers a fair shake. In other words, we need to up our game."

Obama's plan would boost government efforts to help U.S. businesses, create new partnerships with shipping firms such as FedEx, and ease controls over the export of technology such as cell phones, which currently have to go through lengthy reviews to ensure that they don't compromise national security secrets.

Obama also strived anew to reassure Americans who are anxious about losing jobs to overseas competitors that pay lower wages and lure away U.S. factories, and he acknowledged some downsides to trade.

"If you ask the average American what trade has offered them, they won't say that their televisions are cheaper, or productivity is higher. They'd say they've seen the plant across town shut down, jobs dry up, communities deteriorate. And you can't blame them for feeling that way," he said.

"The fact is, other countries haven't always played by the same set of rules. America hasn't always enforced our trade rights, or made sure that the benefits of trade are broadly shared. And we haven't always done enough to help our workers adapt to a changing world."

Still, he insisted, "we've got to compete in the global marketplace."

He said his administration will enforce existing trade agreements to assure fair trade. He also said that his administration continues to negotiate with Columbia, Panama, and South Korea on trade agreements stalled by opposition from U.S. labor unions and their Democratic allies in Congress, but aides didn't point to any pending breakthroughs.

Among his plan's highlights:

-Create an Export Promotion Cabinet that includes the secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, State and Treasury to focus administration efforts.

-Appoint Boeing CEO Jim McNerney and Xerox CEO Ursula Burns to head a President's Export Council of outside experts to advise him.

-Add $2 billion a year for loans from the Export-Import Bank to help businesses finance exports.

-Launch more trade missions to other countries. As a start, Obama said he'd use a trip next week to Indonesia and Australia to pitch trade with U.S. companies. "I will be a strong and steady advocate for our workers and companies abroad," he said.

-Set up one-stop shops at all 250 U.S. embassies and consulates where U.S. businesses can get help from all government agencies and departments.

-Order ambassadors to stress "commercial diplomacy" and then to tour the U.S. when they return home to tell businesses here about opportunities abroad.

-Create a New Market Exporter Initiative with shipping giants such as FedEx, UPS and the Postal Service to help exporters reach new countries.

-Bring up to 300 procurement officers from other countries here to meet with U.S. companies.

-Speed approval of exports of technology that's reviewed for national security, eliminating the review for about 2,800 of 3,300 applications a year and cutting the wait time from as many as 60 days to 30 minutes.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce responded with a call for a similar five-step program including new trade agreements with Columbia, Panama and South Korea; enforcing existing trade pacts; expanding the limits on certain technologies under national security export controls; resisting protectionism; and promoting exports.

ON THE WEB:

-More from the Chamber of Commerce: http://www.uschamber.com/trade

Hard Times

PASADENA, Calif. (KABC) -- The Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education has ordered layoff notices for more than 164 teachers, nurses, librarians, counselors, and administrators in an effort to close a $23 million funding gap caused by an 18 percent cut in state funding.

California law requires school districts to inform certified employees about potential layoffs by March 15.

The Thursday night meeting of the Board, held at the McKinley School auditorium, included passionate speeches from PUSD high school students, parents, teachers and other employees.

"Our budget crisis is neither a simple nor short-term dilemma, and we must work to influence the way Sacramento funds public schools to reflect the priorities of our community," said Board of Education President Tom Selinske. "I applaud the sacrifices that everyone in PUSD is making to save jobs and protect the momentum of accelerated student achievement."

One of three unions and the association of management employees that represent PUSD employees have agreed to unpaid work furloughs in order to save jobs and protect classrooms. Teamsters, who represent the district's maintenance workers, agreed to a five-day unpaid furlough in 2010 to 2011. The association of PUSD administrators also agreed to a five-day unpaid furlough. CSEA, the union that represents mostly clerical workers agreed in concept to furlough days. The furlough days also apply to the District's top management.

The District is at impasse with the United Teachers of Pasadena, and scheduled to begin mediation on March 23. A number of high school students from Marshall, Blair, Pasadena High and Muir spoke passionately about the impact of music and arts programs on their lives. Most were there in an effort to save the jobs of music and arts teachers.

The School District says layoff notices for an unspecified number of classified employees will be issued no later than May 15.

U.S. Labor Market Poised for Gains as Jobless Rate Stabilizes

By Timothy R. Homan
March 6 (Bloomberg) -- The unemployment rate in the U.S. held at 9.7 percent in February and employers cut fewer jobs than anticipated, indicating improvement in the labor market even as East Coast blizzards forced temporary closings of some businesses.

Payrolls dropped by 36,000 last month after a revised 26,000 decrease in January, a Labor Department report showed yesterday in Washington. The jobless rate, which has not increased since October, held at 9.7 percent, even as more people entered the workforce.

Stocks and the dollar rallied while Treasuries fell as investors reckoned the economy would have added jobs were it not for seasonal snowfall records in cities including Baltimore and Philadelphia. The U.S. needs employment growth to sustain a recovery from a recession that has cost 8.4 million jobs since December 2007.

“The weather effects were enough to transform what would’ve been a positive into a negative,” said David Resler, chief economist at Nomura Securities International Inc. in New York, referring to payrolls. “Job growth is happening as we speak. Companies are seeing a stabilization of demand.”
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 1.4 percent to close at 1,138.7 in New York. The dollar strengthened 1.4 percent to 90.3 yen from 89.02 the previous day. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.68 percent at 4:24 p.m. in New York from 3.60 percent late the prior day.

Technology Services

Among companies adding workers is Accenture Plc, the world’s second-largest technology-services provider, which plans to boost payrolls by about 50,000, with as many as 9,000 jobs being added in the U.S. by the end of August.
“We are seeing a very broad uplift globally” in demand, John Campagnino, director of worldwide recruiting, said in a March 3 interview. He said the trend “brings us right back to the pre-recession” levels.
The number of temporary workers increased by 48,000 in February, the fifth straight monthly gain. Payrolls at temporary-help agencies often turn up before total employment because companies prefer to see a steady increase in demand before taking on permanent staff.

Christina Romer, President Barack Obama’s chief economist, told Bloomberg Television yesterday that it’s “very realistic” to expect employment growth in the U.S. in the next few months. Even so, “anyone that goes out and talks to people across this country knows that the labor market is still very distressed.”

All you need is a dollar and a dream.

J-Cole