Making Money Now

Among those charged was Robert Rizzo, the former city manager of Bell, whose compensation package led the way with annual salary and benefits totaling more than $1.5 million. Prosecutors accused him of illegally writing his own employment contracts and steering nearly $1.9 million in unauthorized city loans to himself and others. He was booked into Los Angeles County Jail and was being held on $3.2-million bail.

The charges follow months of nationwide outrage and renewed debate over public employee compensation since The Times reported in July that the city's leaders were among the nation's highest paid municipal officials.

Cooley described Rizzo as the "unelected and unaccountable czar" of Bell, accusing him of going to elaborate lengths to keep his salary secret. Prosecutors alleged that Rizzo gave himself huge pay raises without the City Council's approval.

"This was calculated greed and theft accomplished by deceit and secrecy," Cooley said.

Rizzo's attorney, James W. Spertus, said the charges came as no surprise and were politically motivated by Cooley, who is running for California attorney general.

"The allegations are mistaken," Spertus said. "They are factually untrue in many readily provable ways."

Cooley denied that his election effort played any part in the decision to file charges.

At a news conference, Cooley accused City Council members of failing to oversee Rizzo's actions, saying that they instead had collected more than $1.2 million in total pay since 2006 for presiding over city agency meetings that never occurred or lasted just a few minutes.

Many city residents greeted news of the charges with joy.

"Finally the crooks are going to suffer what the city suffered for many years," said Carmen Bella, a longtime Bell activist.

About two dozen Bell residents gathered outside City Hall to celebrate. One man used a bullhorn to broadcast the Queen rock song, "Another One Bites the Dust," while others laughed, cheered and applauded.

But at least one resident wondered what would happen to his embattled city.

"Who's going to call the shots?" asked Hassan Mourad, 32. "That's the most important thing right now."

-- Richard Winton and Jack Leonard

Photo: Booking shots of Robert Rizzo, former city manager, and Bell Mayor Oscar Hernandez. Credit: L.A. County Sheriff's Department.

Photos: Arrests in Bell

What makes a man want to amass more money than God, and once he has, keep going? For each hedge-fund manager the answers are a little bit different, and a little bit the same. From today's Bloomberg Markets we believe we have identified the four primary things that motivated Harbinger Capital founder Philip Falcone (or as readers of this blog may know him, Mr. Lisa Falcone), whose fund made $11 billion betting against subprime, to become who he is today.

We begin with a sepia-tinted moment when Falcone first leaves his Minnesota hometown, all gawky of limb and Lionel Richie of hair, to seek his fortune in the big city.

Neil Sheehy, from nearby International Falls, had offered Falcone a ride to Harvard University, which had recruited both of them to play hockey for the Crimson. The car stalled in front of Falcone’s house, and Sheehy had to restart it on a hill while Falcone’s mother and one of his sisters sobbed their goodbyes.

“It’ll be all right, Mrs. Falcone; it’ll be all right,” Sheehy recalls telling Caroline Falcone as the car chugged to life and headed east.

Falcone was one of nine, and his mother still cared that he was leaving home! This is meaningful and leads us to Motivation 1: Phil can never let his mama down.

[To wit, later: "Galloway says he once set up a meeting for Falcone with a billionaire investor who was interested in Harbinger. Falcone said he couldn’t make the meeting because he had to go see his mother."]

Immediately after leaving home, life decided to punk young Philip by showing him that even when you think that things are tough, they can always get worse.

Falcone rode to Cambridge, Massachusetts, with his feet on the dashboard because Sheehy had packed a skate-sharpening machine on the floor of the front seat... Halfway there, the roof liner came loose and showered the young men with fiberglass insulation that stuck to them as they sweated in the late.

Motivation 2: The fuck he's going to go through something like that again. He is going to kick life's ass!

Then, he did not quite fit in at school.

Falcone was wide-eyed when he arrived at Harvard in 1980, says hockey teammate Greg Olson, who’s now a dentist in Minnetonka, Minnesota. “He was a deer in the headlights,” Olson says. After recovering from the initial shock, Falcone made himself something of a campus don. Hockey teammates called him “Fashion Phil” because he cared so much about his clothes, Olson says. He had a blue, three-piece suit that he wore often, and he always wore stylish shoes.

Motivation 3: Show those jerkoffs who called him a hick and a fag who the man is.

But after graduation, he was more confident.

[Wife Lisa] was working as a model when she met Phil Falcone through mutual friends at a Manhattan restaurant in the late 1980s.

Motivation 4: GIRLS!

Of course, a hot wife and incredible financial success doesn't keep the critics at bay. If anything, it just makes them worse.

“Just because a manager got the subprime trade right, it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s a skilled manager,” says Brad Balter, managing partner of Balter Capital Management LLC, a Boston-based firm that invests in hedge funds for clients. “There have been several funds that benefited from that bet in 2007 whose performance was mediocre before and continues to be mediocre today.”

Motivation 5: Show those jerkoffs who suggest he is a one-hit wonder who the man is. Then show them again. And again. Until he dies.

Falcone Losing Touch Borrowing From Funds While His Investors Denied Cash

Michelle Malkin » Good <b>News</b>: Dukakis Advising Democrats

Good News: Dukakis Advising Democrats. ... New Scapegoat for a Lousy Economy: Fox News is Hogging All the Success. September 28, 2010 04:34 PM by Doug Powers. 53 Comments | 2 Trackbacks ...

Should Facebook Buy Skype?: Tech <b>News</b> «

Facebook wants to mesh communications and community together, which explains why Facebook Phone is in the cards. If Skype wants to become the communication console of tomorrow, it needs to embrace newer forms of communication.

<b>News</b> Roundup: Gordon Ramsay Responds to Chef&#39;s Suicide, Brad <b>...</b>

Gordon Ramsay has opened up about the death of 'Kitchen Nightmares' contestant Joseph Cerniglia. According to Entertainment Weekly, Ramsay expressed.

benchcraft company scam
benchcraft company scam

Michelle Malkin » Good <b>News</b>: Dukakis Advising Democrats

Good News: Dukakis Advising Democrats. ... New Scapegoat for a Lousy Economy: Fox News is Hogging All the Success. September 28, 2010 04:34 PM by Doug Powers. 53 Comments | 2 Trackbacks ...

Should Facebook Buy Skype?: Tech <b>News</b> «

Facebook wants to mesh communications and community together, which explains why Facebook Phone is in the cards. If Skype wants to become the communication console of tomorrow, it needs to embrace newer forms of communication.

<b>News</b> Roundup: Gordon Ramsay Responds to Chef&#39;s Suicide, Brad <b>...</b>

Gordon Ramsay has opened up about the death of 'Kitchen Nightmares' contestant Joseph Cerniglia. According to Entertainment Weekly, Ramsay expressed.

benchcraft company scam bench craft company rip off

Among those charged was Robert Rizzo, the former city manager of Bell, whose compensation package led the way with annual salary and benefits totaling more than $1.5 million. Prosecutors accused him of illegally writing his own employment contracts and steering nearly $1.9 million in unauthorized city loans to himself and others. He was booked into Los Angeles County Jail and was being held on $3.2-million bail.

The charges follow months of nationwide outrage and renewed debate over public employee compensation since The Times reported in July that the city's leaders were among the nation's highest paid municipal officials.

Cooley described Rizzo as the "unelected and unaccountable czar" of Bell, accusing him of going to elaborate lengths to keep his salary secret. Prosecutors alleged that Rizzo gave himself huge pay raises without the City Council's approval.

"This was calculated greed and theft accomplished by deceit and secrecy," Cooley said.

Rizzo's attorney, James W. Spertus, said the charges came as no surprise and were politically motivated by Cooley, who is running for California attorney general.

"The allegations are mistaken," Spertus said. "They are factually untrue in many readily provable ways."

Cooley denied that his election effort played any part in the decision to file charges.

At a news conference, Cooley accused City Council members of failing to oversee Rizzo's actions, saying that they instead had collected more than $1.2 million in total pay since 2006 for presiding over city agency meetings that never occurred or lasted just a few minutes.

Many city residents greeted news of the charges with joy.

"Finally the crooks are going to suffer what the city suffered for many years," said Carmen Bella, a longtime Bell activist.

About two dozen Bell residents gathered outside City Hall to celebrate. One man used a bullhorn to broadcast the Queen rock song, "Another One Bites the Dust," while others laughed, cheered and applauded.

But at least one resident wondered what would happen to his embattled city.

"Who's going to call the shots?" asked Hassan Mourad, 32. "That's the most important thing right now."

-- Richard Winton and Jack Leonard

Photo: Booking shots of Robert Rizzo, former city manager, and Bell Mayor Oscar Hernandez. Credit: L.A. County Sheriff's Department.

Photos: Arrests in Bell

What makes a man want to amass more money than God, and once he has, keep going? For each hedge-fund manager the answers are a little bit different, and a little bit the same. From today's Bloomberg Markets we believe we have identified the four primary things that motivated Harbinger Capital founder Philip Falcone (or as readers of this blog may know him, Mr. Lisa Falcone), whose fund made $11 billion betting against subprime, to become who he is today.

We begin with a sepia-tinted moment when Falcone first leaves his Minnesota hometown, all gawky of limb and Lionel Richie of hair, to seek his fortune in the big city.

Neil Sheehy, from nearby International Falls, had offered Falcone a ride to Harvard University, which had recruited both of them to play hockey for the Crimson. The car stalled in front of Falcone’s house, and Sheehy had to restart it on a hill while Falcone’s mother and one of his sisters sobbed their goodbyes.

“It’ll be all right, Mrs. Falcone; it’ll be all right,” Sheehy recalls telling Caroline Falcone as the car chugged to life and headed east.

Falcone was one of nine, and his mother still cared that he was leaving home! This is meaningful and leads us to Motivation 1: Phil can never let his mama down.

[To wit, later: "Galloway says he once set up a meeting for Falcone with a billionaire investor who was interested in Harbinger. Falcone said he couldn’t make the meeting because he had to go see his mother."]

Immediately after leaving home, life decided to punk young Philip by showing him that even when you think that things are tough, they can always get worse.

Falcone rode to Cambridge, Massachusetts, with his feet on the dashboard because Sheehy had packed a skate-sharpening machine on the floor of the front seat... Halfway there, the roof liner came loose and showered the young men with fiberglass insulation that stuck to them as they sweated in the late.

Motivation 2: The fuck he's going to go through something like that again. He is going to kick life's ass!

Then, he did not quite fit in at school.

Falcone was wide-eyed when he arrived at Harvard in 1980, says hockey teammate Greg Olson, who’s now a dentist in Minnetonka, Minnesota. “He was a deer in the headlights,” Olson says. After recovering from the initial shock, Falcone made himself something of a campus don. Hockey teammates called him “Fashion Phil” because he cared so much about his clothes, Olson says. He had a blue, three-piece suit that he wore often, and he always wore stylish shoes.

Motivation 3: Show those jerkoffs who called him a hick and a fag who the man is.

But after graduation, he was more confident.

[Wife Lisa] was working as a model when she met Phil Falcone through mutual friends at a Manhattan restaurant in the late 1980s.

Motivation 4: GIRLS!

Of course, a hot wife and incredible financial success doesn't keep the critics at bay. If anything, it just makes them worse.

“Just because a manager got the subprime trade right, it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s a skilled manager,” says Brad Balter, managing partner of Balter Capital Management LLC, a Boston-based firm that invests in hedge funds for clients. “There have been several funds that benefited from that bet in 2007 whose performance was mediocre before and continues to be mediocre today.”

Motivation 5: Show those jerkoffs who suggest he is a one-hit wonder who the man is. Then show them again. And again. Until he dies.

Falcone Losing Touch Borrowing From Funds While His Investors Denied Cash

benchcraft company scam

Michelle Malkin » Good <b>News</b>: Dukakis Advising Democrats

Good News: Dukakis Advising Democrats. ... New Scapegoat for a Lousy Economy: Fox News is Hogging All the Success. September 28, 2010 04:34 PM by Doug Powers. 53 Comments | 2 Trackbacks ...

Should Facebook Buy Skype?: Tech <b>News</b> «

Facebook wants to mesh communications and community together, which explains why Facebook Phone is in the cards. If Skype wants to become the communication console of tomorrow, it needs to embrace newer forms of communication.

<b>News</b> Roundup: Gordon Ramsay Responds to Chef&#39;s Suicide, Brad <b>...</b>

Gordon Ramsay has opened up about the death of 'Kitchen Nightmares' contestant Joseph Cerniglia. According to Entertainment Weekly, Ramsay expressed.

benchcraft company scam bench craft company rip off

Michelle Malkin » Good <b>News</b>: Dukakis Advising Democrats

Good News: Dukakis Advising Democrats. ... New Scapegoat for a Lousy Economy: Fox News is Hogging All the Success. September 28, 2010 04:34 PM by Doug Powers. 53 Comments | 2 Trackbacks ...

Should Facebook Buy Skype?: Tech <b>News</b> «

Facebook wants to mesh communications and community together, which explains why Facebook Phone is in the cards. If Skype wants to become the communication console of tomorrow, it needs to embrace newer forms of communication.

<b>News</b> Roundup: Gordon Ramsay Responds to Chef&#39;s Suicide, Brad <b>...</b>

Gordon Ramsay has opened up about the death of 'Kitchen Nightmares' contestant Joseph Cerniglia. According to Entertainment Weekly, Ramsay expressed.

benchcraft company scam benchcraft company scam

Michelle Malkin » Good <b>News</b>: Dukakis Advising Democrats

Good News: Dukakis Advising Democrats. ... New Scapegoat for a Lousy Economy: Fox News is Hogging All the Success. September 28, 2010 04:34 PM by Doug Powers. 53 Comments | 2 Trackbacks ...

Should Facebook Buy Skype?: Tech <b>News</b> «

Facebook wants to mesh communications and community together, which explains why Facebook Phone is in the cards. If Skype wants to become the communication console of tomorrow, it needs to embrace newer forms of communication.

<b>News</b> Roundup: Gordon Ramsay Responds to Chef&#39;s Suicide, Brad <b>...</b>

Gordon Ramsay has opened up about the death of 'Kitchen Nightmares' contestant Joseph Cerniglia. According to Entertainment Weekly, Ramsay expressed.

benchcraft company scam

Making Money Work

Has a central bank ever intervened successfully in the foreign exchange market when the momentum trade was against it? The yen has been rising alarmingly of late, and now the Bank of Japan is trying to push it down.

At first glance, the action looks like a something-must-be-done-this-is-something -therefore-this-must-be-done move: a new prime minister and a “bold action” doomed to be proved ineffectual. The FX markets are so enormous (dollar/yen alone trades some $750 billion per day) that it’s hard to believe a single sale of less than $20 billion in yen could even have the short-term effect we saw last night, let alone have any lasting consequences.

But this isn’t just about FX-market intervention. This is also about monetary policy, and that could make a real difference:

Unlike in previous forays, the Bank of Japan will not drain the money flowing into the economy as a result of the yen selling, sources familiar with the matter said.

That indicated the central bank plans to use the sold yen as a monetary tool to boost liquidity and support the economy.

Authorities that sell their own currencies to weaken them often issue bills to “sterilize” the funds and keep the excess money from becoming inflationary. In Japan’s case, it wants to promote inflation since the economy has been dogged with deflation for much of the past decade.

“The government’s aim, and the aim of authorities in general, is to add monetary injections to the economy,” Callum Henderson, global head of foreign exchange strategy with Standard Chartered in Singapore, told Reuters Insider.

“Unsterilized intervention should be yen-negative, it should be very bullish for higher risk assets, very bullish for stocks in Japan and obviously it should add to the impact of the intervention of the yen,” he said.

In other words, the Bank of Japan isn’t simply selling yen, it’s printing yen. (And then selling them.) Given (a) that it’s the central bank and that it can print as many yen as it likes, and (b) that it would actually welcome a bit of inflation, there’s actually a non-negligible chance that this kind of non-sterilized intervention could work.

Of course, a hint of inflation in Japan could end up driving Japanese bond yields up. That in turn could make a huge difference to the government’s annual interest bill on the country’s monster national debt. So this kind of policy is hardly cost-free; indeed, the real costs might well be much larger than the nominal size of the intervention. But at least it has a chance of making a difference, which is more than you can say for most currency interventions.

Label Complains That Amazon Devalues Artists By Making Music Cheap

from the you-got-it-backwards dept

This is unfortunate. Nearly two years ago, we wrote about the indie music label Asthmatic Kitty, which seemed to take a really forward looking attitude towards the new music market. In that interview, the label noted the reality of the new world, and why it was important to focus on reasons to buy, rather than assuming that people would just pay to hear music. This is what was said at the time:

I operate under the conviction that people buy records because they want to own them, not because they want to hear them. It is too easy these days to hear a record without having to buy it. I don't resent that fact, rather I feel we at Asthmatic Kitty embrace it through streaming albums and offering several free mp3s (even whole free albums). And why do they want to own it? They want it to illustrate to others their taste and identify who they are as a person. I also believe they want to be part of something bigger than themselves, they want to belong.



Our job is no longer to sell folks things they want to hear. They want an experience and to identify themselves as part of a community. Ownership then becomes a way of them supporting your community through investing in that community. Fostering that in an honest, transparent and "non-gross" way takes a combination of gracefulness, creativity and not taking oneself too seriously, while still taking art and music seriously.

Apparently, however, they do resent Amazon for making music available cheaply. Reader Colin points us to a recent article about how Asthmatic Kitty has sent out a letter to fans of artist Sufjan Stevens, complaining that Amazon's pricing is too low and asking people to go to Bandcamp and pay more instead. They do admit to being somewhat conflicted about this, at least:

"We have mixed feelings about discounted pricing," the label explained.



"Like we said, we love getting good music into the hands of good people, and when a price is low, more people buy. A low price will introduce a lot of people to Sufjan's music and to this wonderful album. For that, we're grateful.



But we also feel like the work that our artists produce is worth more than a cost of a latte. We value the skill, love, and time they've put into making their records. And we feel that our work too, in promotion and distribution, is also valuable and worthwhile."

While they're certainly not attacking Amazon or fans, the whole email does feel a little off. The simple fact is, if people want the music (as the label seemed to recognize last year), they can find it somewhere for free. Amazon's prices are meaningless when it comes to the "value" of the music. Price and value are not the same thing. Rather than complaining about the price that Amazon sets on the album, why not give people additional reasons to pay directly at Bandcamp -- such as providing valuable extras if they do. Or discounts on other merchandise. There are all sorts of positive ways to get people to find it worthwhile to spend money without making them feel guilty and bad for paying a price that is legitimately offered by a retailer.

47 Comments | Leave a Comment..

Obama Calls Fox <b>News</b> a `Destructive&#39; Channel - NYTimes.com

President Obama tells Rolling Stone magazine that Fox News promotes a point of view that is "destructive" to the growth of the United States.

Bad <b>News</b>: Yahoo Media Boss Out. Good <b>News</b>: Bartz Won&#39;t Have To Ask <b>...</b>

Yahoo's media boss Jimmy Pitaro is quitting the company.

Obama: Fox <b>News</b> is &#39;destructive&#39; to America – CNN Political Ticker <b>...</b>

(CNN) - President Obama is pulling no punches when it comes to Fox News, declaring the cable news outlet to be "destructive to long-term growth.

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Obama Calls Fox <b>News</b> a `Destructive&#39; Channel - NYTimes.com

President Obama tells Rolling Stone magazine that Fox News promotes a point of view that is "destructive" to the growth of the United States.

Bad <b>News</b>: Yahoo Media Boss Out. Good <b>News</b>: Bartz Won&#39;t Have To Ask <b>...</b>

Yahoo's media boss Jimmy Pitaro is quitting the company.

Obama: Fox <b>News</b> is &#39;destructive&#39; to America – CNN Political Ticker <b>...</b>

(CNN) - President Obama is pulling no punches when it comes to Fox News, declaring the cable news outlet to be "destructive to long-term growth.

Has a central bank ever intervened successfully in the foreign exchange market when the momentum trade was against it? The yen has been rising alarmingly of late, and now the Bank of Japan is trying to push it down.

At first glance, the action looks like a something-must-be-done-this-is-something -therefore-this-must-be-done move: a new prime minister and a “bold action” doomed to be proved ineffectual. The FX markets are so enormous (dollar/yen alone trades some $750 billion per day) that it’s hard to believe a single sale of less than $20 billion in yen could even have the short-term effect we saw last night, let alone have any lasting consequences.

But this isn’t just about FX-market intervention. This is also about monetary policy, and that could make a real difference:

Unlike in previous forays, the Bank of Japan will not drain the money flowing into the economy as a result of the yen selling, sources familiar with the matter said.

That indicated the central bank plans to use the sold yen as a monetary tool to boost liquidity and support the economy.

Authorities that sell their own currencies to weaken them often issue bills to “sterilize” the funds and keep the excess money from becoming inflationary. In Japan’s case, it wants to promote inflation since the economy has been dogged with deflation for much of the past decade.

“The government’s aim, and the aim of authorities in general, is to add monetary injections to the economy,” Callum Henderson, global head of foreign exchange strategy with Standard Chartered in Singapore, told Reuters Insider.

“Unsterilized intervention should be yen-negative, it should be very bullish for higher risk assets, very bullish for stocks in Japan and obviously it should add to the impact of the intervention of the yen,” he said.

In other words, the Bank of Japan isn’t simply selling yen, it’s printing yen. (And then selling them.) Given (a) that it’s the central bank and that it can print as many yen as it likes, and (b) that it would actually welcome a bit of inflation, there’s actually a non-negligible chance that this kind of non-sterilized intervention could work.

Of course, a hint of inflation in Japan could end up driving Japanese bond yields up. That in turn could make a huge difference to the government’s annual interest bill on the country’s monster national debt. So this kind of policy is hardly cost-free; indeed, the real costs might well be much larger than the nominal size of the intervention. But at least it has a chance of making a difference, which is more than you can say for most currency interventions.

Label Complains That Amazon Devalues Artists By Making Music Cheap

from the you-got-it-backwards dept

This is unfortunate. Nearly two years ago, we wrote about the indie music label Asthmatic Kitty, which seemed to take a really forward looking attitude towards the new music market. In that interview, the label noted the reality of the new world, and why it was important to focus on reasons to buy, rather than assuming that people would just pay to hear music. This is what was said at the time:

I operate under the conviction that people buy records because they want to own them, not because they want to hear them. It is too easy these days to hear a record without having to buy it. I don't resent that fact, rather I feel we at Asthmatic Kitty embrace it through streaming albums and offering several free mp3s (even whole free albums). And why do they want to own it? They want it to illustrate to others their taste and identify who they are as a person. I also believe they want to be part of something bigger than themselves, they want to belong.



Our job is no longer to sell folks things they want to hear. They want an experience and to identify themselves as part of a community. Ownership then becomes a way of them supporting your community through investing in that community. Fostering that in an honest, transparent and "non-gross" way takes a combination of gracefulness, creativity and not taking oneself too seriously, while still taking art and music seriously.

Apparently, however, they do resent Amazon for making music available cheaply. Reader Colin points us to a recent article about how Asthmatic Kitty has sent out a letter to fans of artist Sufjan Stevens, complaining that Amazon's pricing is too low and asking people to go to Bandcamp and pay more instead. They do admit to being somewhat conflicted about this, at least:

"We have mixed feelings about discounted pricing," the label explained.



"Like we said, we love getting good music into the hands of good people, and when a price is low, more people buy. A low price will introduce a lot of people to Sufjan's music and to this wonderful album. For that, we're grateful.



But we also feel like the work that our artists produce is worth more than a cost of a latte. We value the skill, love, and time they've put into making their records. And we feel that our work too, in promotion and distribution, is also valuable and worthwhile."

While they're certainly not attacking Amazon or fans, the whole email does feel a little off. The simple fact is, if people want the music (as the label seemed to recognize last year), they can find it somewhere for free. Amazon's prices are meaningless when it comes to the "value" of the music. Price and value are not the same thing. Rather than complaining about the price that Amazon sets on the album, why not give people additional reasons to pay directly at Bandcamp -- such as providing valuable extras if they do. Or discounts on other merchandise. There are all sorts of positive ways to get people to find it worthwhile to spend money without making them feel guilty and bad for paying a price that is legitimately offered by a retailer.

47 Comments | Leave a Comment..

corporate reputation management company

Obama Calls Fox <b>News</b> a `Destructive&#39; Channel - NYTimes.com

President Obama tells Rolling Stone magazine that Fox News promotes a point of view that is "destructive" to the growth of the United States.

Bad <b>News</b>: Yahoo Media Boss Out. Good <b>News</b>: Bartz Won&#39;t Have To Ask <b>...</b>

Yahoo's media boss Jimmy Pitaro is quitting the company.

Obama: Fox <b>News</b> is &#39;destructive&#39; to America – CNN Political Ticker <b>...</b>

(CNN) - President Obama is pulling no punches when it comes to Fox News, declaring the cable news outlet to be "destructive to long-term growth.

Dr. eric seiger

Obama Calls Fox <b>News</b> a `Destructive&#39; Channel - NYTimes.com

President Obama tells Rolling Stone magazine that Fox News promotes a point of view that is "destructive" to the growth of the United States.

Bad <b>News</b>: Yahoo Media Boss Out. Good <b>News</b>: Bartz Won&#39;t Have To Ask <b>...</b>

Yahoo's media boss Jimmy Pitaro is quitting the company.

Obama: Fox <b>News</b> is &#39;destructive&#39; to America – CNN Political Ticker <b>...</b>

(CNN) - President Obama is pulling no punches when it comes to Fox News, declaring the cable news outlet to be "destructive to long-term growth.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_18/b4032066.htm

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_18/b4032066.htm

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_18/b4032066.htm

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1999/10/25/267811/index.htm

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1999/10/25/267811/index.htm

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1999/10/25/267811/index.htm

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_18/b4032066.htm

personal finance and budgeting

It's hard to beat an excel spreadsheet for quickly shifting between a granular and top-level view of your personal finance situation. Here's reader Lauren's account balance spreadsheet she made to keep track of her expenditures, past, present, and future, and itemize her budget.

Download Lauren's Budgeter (XLS)

1. Scroll to the current month.

2. Enter your current balance in the "Starting Balance" box at the top left.

3. Enter your credits and debits on the appropriate dates they will hit your account. Use positive numbers for money getting added credits, and negative numbers for when it's getting taken away.

4. The green "Total" will change to reflect your total overall balance.

Use it as is, compare it to your own, or mod to fit your own needs.

Lauren says it's "quite nifty," and also uses it as a calendar.

Here's the excel code for the totaler for those who like to look under the hood:

TODAY();_8_10)

+SUMIF(_9_10d;"

• CEDIA: LG, JVC and Sony debut LCoS-based 3D front projectors
  
  



• BMW ActiveE electric car - Consumer field trials to begin next summer
  
  



• Five insider shopping tips for Gordon Gekko
  
  



• Daily Dispatch: Google NEW lists updates of all its products; Survey reveals people prefer colonoscopies to computer maintenance
  
  



• 2010 Distracted Driving Summit: What’s next for combating driver distractions?
  
  



• What's the deal with car tire pricing?
  
  



• Q&A: Short on salt
  
  



• Daily electronics deals
  
  



• 6 painless ways to cut your grocery bill
  
  



• Go green for school supplies
  
  

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Eddie Fisher dies at 82 | EW.com - TV, movie and music <b>news</b> | <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

Pop idol Eddie Fisher died on Wednesday due to complications from a recent hip surgery, his family announced on Thursday. He was 82. Fisher, father to actres...

The American Spectator : Good <b>News</b>

Hard to avoid the good news these days. A few days back we learned that the war in Iraq was over. Well, sort of, anyway. The President explained that U.S. troops were done with combat but would remain in a support and advisory capacity. ...

Understanding the Forbes redesign « Talking Biz <b>News</b>

Dvorkin had founded True/Slant, an online news network. Previously, he had been executive editor at Forbes magazine, where he spearheaded an earlier redesign, managed the annual Forbes 400 Richest Americans list and created the ...

Eddie Fisher dies at 82 | EW.com - TV, movie and music <b>news</b> | <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

Pop idol Eddie Fisher died on Wednesday due to complications from a recent hip surgery, his family announced on Thursday. He was 82. Fisher, father to actres...

The American Spectator : Good <b>News</b>

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managing personal finances

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Super magnet production has also been shipped over to China http://www.chinamagnet.in/i-News-229212/The-development-and-applications-of-Rare-Earth-Permanent-Magnetic-Materials-244616.html. Over the last 10 to 20 years companies have ...

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Super magnet production has also been shipped over to China http://www.chinamagnet.in/i-News-229212/The-development-and-applications-of-Rare-Earth-Permanent-Magnetic-Materials-244616.html. Over the last 10 to 20 years companies have ...

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Bad <b>news</b> for green technology | Watts Up With That?

Super magnet production has also been shipped over to China http://www.chinamagnet.in/i-News-229212/The-development-and-applications-of-Rare-Earth-Permanent-Magnetic-Materials-244616.html. Over the last 10 to 20 years companies have ...

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about internet marketing

I have some great news! On Wednesday, my sister gave birth to my third niece! Now with three nieces and one nephew I have the job of spoiling them cut out for me! But don’t worry I am up to the challenge.

While visiting my new niece in the hospital on Wednesday, I couldn’t help but think of the amazing amount of potential that lay before her. She has a whole world of experiences to explore for the first time. Her first song to sing. Her first taste of ice cream. Her first book. Her first blog post and even her first tweet. Because of her inexperience she will approach each one of these activities with an open mind and develop a truly unique perspective as a result. Because of this, she has an inherent advantage that others older than her don’t. She has a Beginner’s Mind.

In Zen Buddhism the beginner’s mind is an attitude of openness and lack of preconceptions. Many Zen masters try to establish a beginner’s mind in everything they do. Approaching a task as “a student” each time guarantees that you learn something new every time.

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few. “ Shunryu Suzuki

Last week Digg relaunched their site with a dramatic new interface and system. As a result, many of the long-time users have reacted in anger over the changes. So much so that we have seen site wide support for Digg’s main competitor reddit.

While many reacted with disdain to changes to a network that they are used to, I actually have enjoyed and found value in the new Digg. I like the ability to customize my experience by following others. I like the fact that I can add RSS feeds directly into the system. I think both moves will make it easier for me to engage with the folks I am interested in and them engage with me. I can see where many of the complaints are valid, I just don’t see them affecting me that much.

I think I like the new Digg mostly because by and large I am a Digg newbie! I have had a Digg account for quite some time, but I have never really invested much time into learning how the system works, and how to leverage it as a marketing channel. Because of this I am approaching the new Digg with a beginners mind. I can see the value in the new changes, mostly because I don’t know any better!

About a week after Digg announced its new changes, Sphinn announced some new changes of their own. For those of you that don’t know, Sphinn, was founded as an alternative to Digg for Internet marketers. Just like many of the old time Digg users, I found a lot wrong with the changes at Sphinn. Now that I look back at the situation I can see that my inability to accept the new Sphinn is a direct result of not having a beginner’s mind. Therefore, I am going to try and find value in the new Sphinn by approaching it in a whole new light. I am going to try to have a beginner’s mind.

Having a beginner’s mind is very important when working on the Internet. Everyday, something changes online. Whether it be the way networks connect to users, or the absence of vital data that we rely on, things are always changing. If you want to stay ahead of the curve and continue to evolve with the technology, you must adopt a beginner’s mind!

[photo credit]

Social Media Monitoring in Just 60-Seconds. Guaranteed!

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1. 
   
   
   

   BFD there is already two better, Non Beta, browsers, for XP, Firefox and Chrome... Don't see any reason to use IE9, which of course is still beta,, By the time MS "releases" it for real both FF and chrome will have gone through several releases and upgrades,, MS is just so slow to develop, release and update it is embarrassing ... (posted from My FF browser running on XP)

   
   
   

    Posted by: Tom Brander |
   September 16, 2010 8:45 AM

   
   
















2. 
   
   
   

   Argh. So we will end up in the same situation as we are in with IE6.

   
   
   

   Posted by: Ben |
   September 16, 2010 9:00 AM

   
   
















3. 
   
   
   

   @Tom Brander

   
   
   

   Wow, you have no idea what you're talking about. Chrome's next release and Firefox 4 are on track to match IE9's feature set...maybe just barely pass it. I use Chrome and Firefox almost exclusively, but your ignorant and blind comments about IE9 are just ...well misinformed.

   
   
   

   As for leaving out Windows XP -- good. Here is an idea people, move the hell on. You're hurting everyone else by hanging on to your 10 year old OS. Microsoft needs to do this more often in the future -- start forcing people to finally update their damn OS to get the cool new applications. It's time people -- buy a new computer if you have to ...it'll be 10x faster than the slow POS you're using today anyway.

   
   
   

    Posted by: Justin Paine |
   September 16, 2010 9:01 AM

   
   
















4. 
   
   
   

   @Justin - Funny thing is, they're still *selling* computers with Windows XP. I bought my netbook 8 months ago and it had WinXP pre-installed...and it wasn't an old model. And the other thing is, WinXP has been far better than any other version of Windows that they've released in that past 10 years...I mean, Windows Vista certainly wasn't a valid replacement...

   
   
   

   So, it's not that everyone is "hanging on to 10 year old OS" like they have had all these other options all along. Other than *going to linux*, WinXP has been the only real Windows choice for a long time now...(outside of Windows 2000, which was also solid).

   
   
   

    Posted by: Mike Melanson |
   September 16, 2010 9:10 AM

   
   
















5. 
   
   
   

   "For now, this means that more than half - around 55%% of computers, according to StatCounter - will be unable to run Microsoft's latest browser."

   
   
   

   I think this is a big deal. That more than half of Windows-based computers won't be able to run MS's new browser is shocking if you take a step back and look at it in context.

   
   
   

   How many people got the shaft with Vista and decided to stick with XP (or worse, like me, went out and bought XP after taking Vista out and shooting it) and decided that they're happy with XP (and really not that happy with MS)? Now MS has the idea of forcing people to upgrade to Windows 7 for the privilege of using their new browser? Yeah right.

   
   
   

   Tom Brander is right too in a sense: BFD, Firefox, Chrome, not to mention Safari, Opera, and the last versions of IE are all out there, and will (or are already as good) be better than IE9 by the time MS gets done beta testing it.

   
   
   

   Still, it doesn't make any sense to me. It's not as if XP was made by Apple or Google or anyone else and MS decided to try and make a statement to company X. Moreover, Apple doesn't force someone to use Snow Leopard or a Mac to use Safari, perhaps because they want more people using Safari than, say, IE.

   
   
   

   If the new IE was that much better or had some sort of head-and-shoulders advantage over other browsers on the market today, that'd be one thing. But nothing that I've seen so far from others' reviews (I'm running XP, so I don't know) tells me that that's the case.

   
   
   

    Posted by: GradeAWebsites |
   September 16, 2010 9:15 AM

   
   
















6. 
   
   
   

   How about those people who got shafted with Vista and had to go out and buy (or re-buy) XP? How many are going to say to themselves: golly, I gotta run IE9, guess I should go spend some more money with MS to surf the net? I won't. XP is solid, and every other browser out there will be (or already is) as good as IE9 by the time MS gets done testing everybody's computers/patience. I think this is a big win for the Firefox, Safari, Chrome, and even Opera.

   
   
   

    Posted by: GradeAWebsites |
   September 16, 2010 9:21 AM

   
   
















7. 
   
   
   

   Sorry for the double (now triple post). Got a comment error in between.

   
   
   

    Posted by: GradeAWebsites |
   September 16, 2010 9:22 AM

   
   
















8. 
   
   
   

   Makes perfect sense. It's been almost a decade, and W7 is better in almost every way.

   
   
   

   The IE9 beta looks pretty sleek, and I like pinning websites to the task bar. I still think it's got some kinks that it has to fix before I can set it as my default, but it is a beta, after all.

   
   
   

    Posted by: Eddy Morales |
   September 16, 2010 9:27 AM

   
   
















9. 
   
   
   

   @Mike Melanson

   
   
   

   Windows 7 is a better operating system then Windows XP, hands down. As for OEMs still selling Windows WP -- well I agree, that's idiotic, and it's something Microsoft desperately needs to crack down own immediately. Everyone needs to move forward -- ditch Windows XP/2000, skip the cesspool that is Vista, and get on Windows 7 immediately.

   
   
   

    Posted by: Justin Paine |
   September 16, 2010 9:31 AM

   
   
















10. 
    
    
    

    One other thing to point out:

    
    
    

    Yes, IE9 doesn't work on XP. Question: Does Safari 5 work on Mac Os X 10.4? No, it doesn't.

    
    
    

     Posted by: Justin Paine |
    September 16, 2010 9:34 AM

    
    
















11. 
    
    
    

    >Show of hands - anyone still running Vista?

    
    
    

    I switched to the cheapest 7, and wrote the local Microsoft-Mafia to request a refund due to my default Vista on my funny laptop*, but didn't get it.

    
    
    

    Well, I tried.

    
    
    

    *Why is my laptop funny? Because Lenovo managed to let the typed characters end all over the screen, if typed quickly. Suddenly you are typing in another line. That's funny. It may explain many of the editorials I read in newspapers.

    
    
    

    Posted by: Henrik |
    September 16, 2010 9:58 AM

    
    
















12. 
    
    
    

    There's a nice Vista 64 machine under my television, but that's all I use it for.

    
    
    

    Windows XP on everything else. With dual-core 64 bit cpu's, 1GB PCIe and 2GB RAM, I'm having no problems.

    
    
    

    I want to apologize to Justin though, about the pain I've been causing him... I didn't mean to hurt anyone by using an operating system that is still supported by its manufacturer.

    
    
    

    IE9? Meh. I'm in the Firefox/Chrome camp. We have a nice fire going and everyone is welcome to join us.

    
    
    

    Posted by: Jon |
    September 16, 2010 11:41 AM

    
    
















13. 
    
    
    

    If MS wants to send me a free upgrade to Win7 from XP, I'll do it, 'til then I've got no reason what so ever to move from XP. If I can't run IE9, that's their loss, not mine.

    
    
    

    Posted by: Jason W. |
    September 16, 2010 12:39 PM

    
    
















14. 
    
    
    

    If win xp users are not able to use IE 9 its their loss not ours.. Chrome is still the best for xp users.

    
    
    

    Posted by: Divyansh |
    September 16, 2010 12:52 PM

    
    
















15. 
    
    
    

    Some of the comments seem to ignore the reality that only people who feel the need to show off with the latest and greatest fix what isn't broken. Certainly nothing in IE 9 warrants the cost of an upgrade when what you have is working fine.

    
    
    

    Whether you're a home user or you have 1,000 PC datacentre, upgrading your OS means spending time and money that could be put to much better use. The fact that a decade later the majority of computers are still running Windows XP is proof that people are satisfied that it's more than sufficient for the applications they're running. I've even done tech support and found computers running custom software on Windows 3.1 for that matter.

    
    
    

    Now Windows 7 may be slightly more stable but it also can't remember icon locations on the desktop without a workaround and that's not something anyone wants to explain to 2500 employees on top of the downtime, and there's still the issue of the initial cost you'd need to sell upper management on.

    
    
    

    Here at home I have a PC with Windows 7, one with XP, and two with 98. Windows 7 won't run on the two 98 machines and even if it could I wouldn't waste the money so long as all my computers continue to work -- I certainly have better ways to spend leisure time.

    
    
    

    Until there is genuine incentive to upgrade to Windows 7 that outweighs the expense involved, all Microsoft will be doing is handing over more marketshare to Firefox and Chrome.

    
    
    

     Posted by: Kevin Carter |
    September 16, 2010 3:48 PM

    
    
















16. 
    
    
    

    @Mike Melanson

    
    
    

    Windows 7 is the best release of Windows hands down last 10 years or not. And no offense but Vista was OK too. I ran it since the betas and it was fine. Not perfect but good...and got better with service pack 1. Vista had the most out-of-the-box hardware compatibility of any version of Windows. The only people that seemed to complain about that were the people trying to use ancient hardware with it.

    
    
    

    Just as people don't need to upgrade if they don't feel the need Microsoft shouldn't feel the need to stay in the dark ages with their OS because some people don't want to upgrade hardware to run it. I run Win7 on a now-ancient Athlon64-based system and it's very good.

    
    
    

    @Kevin Carter: Windows 7 is a *lot* more stable...not just a little bit. I've yet to have had a BSOD on Vista or Win 7. I've had quite a few on my XP laptop at work which is less than a year old.

    
    
    

    I always find these types of conversations amusing...the ones where people crow about how solid and great XP is always forgetting how truly awful it was when it first came out.

    
    
    

    Posted by: Jason Kratz |
    September 16, 2010 6:18 PM

    
    
















17. 
    
    
    

    @justin, not sure why this denegrated into an operating system pissing contest, but if that is what strokes you, fine, I have a old ex windows xp laptop that I was about to junk,, Put Fedora Linux on it, It smokes my dual core win 7 laptop that has twice the memory (&4+times the processor performance),, of course I do run Chrome on it... Microsoft's clear attitude to it's installed base is just how much pain can we inflict before they go elsewhere,, and they are finding out as more and more flee to Chrome, Firefox, Gmail (vs exchange) and Gdocs or open office. The shameless trumpeting of what apprears to be an ok browsewr, that can only run on brand new systems leaves me sort of cold, particularly since most if not all the important performance features are already avaialable in NON-Beta form via Chrome and Firefox, which as mentioned will have major upgrades out (on all platforms I might add)

    
    
    

     Posted by: Tom Brander |
    September 17, 2010 8:28 AM

    
    
















18. 
    
    
    

    Just downloaded it and now using it. Its speed is good and it is working perfectly alright.
    
    http://noxedgereviews.org/
    
    

    
    
    

    Posted by: sharicepas |
    September 17, 2010 11:48 PM

    
    
















19. 
    
    
    

    No more new IE on XP? Who cares?!?!?
    
    I still use XP on my old PC and IE is disappered from there years ago. Now i use firefox 4 beta version 6 and is very fast and very nice. And is still beta.
    
    Microsoft makes a favor to me for this time. Thank you!

    
    
    

    Posted by: Dns |
    September 18, 2010 1:26 AM

    
    
















20. 
    
    
    

    Well, I am 62 year old female who has a "10 year old computer bought in 2000 with windows XP". It still works great, I use it everyday and just keep it clean and up to date. I had one crash in 10 years and that is because I let a tech support person on it for a bug. He bombed it out! Refixed it and all was well.
    
    Now for the statement of the fellow above about moving on and buying a new computer, whatever the reason may be...I for one live on $694 per month and am disabled. If I could possibly afford a new computer I would love one. Maybe he would buy one for me out of the "kindness" of his heart so I could move on. LOL
    
    I also have a 10 year old laptop that also works with xp and good. Hardly use it though as I don't like the mouse on the laptop with finger thing.
    
    Anyways, just stating that moving on is not just a matter of grabbing a checkbook and getting another computer for many elderly and disabled in this world, plus probably many others.

    
    
    

    Posted by: Jody |
    September 18, 2010 11:22 AM

    
    
















21. 
    
    
    

    I would like to see a show of hands who uses IE to do any kind of online transactions.

    
    
    

    I have Vista and Windows 7 dual booting on 2 different machines.I loaded xp pro first so I could recover if something went wrong. Try using Norton Partition magic with Vista or Windows 7 You have to use Gnome to make another partition

    
    
    

    I still think XP Pro sp3 is a great OS. I use Firefox for my main browser and Chrome 2nd.

    
    
    

    I had purchased a legal cop of Windows 7. When I put the key in it said it was an invalid key. 1 hour on the phone with a nice guy in the middle east saying I had a pirated version. He finally gave me another key.

    
    
    

    New OS's are fun to play with but not if you need a stable and safe OS to do business.

    
    
    

    Posted by: mossy |
    September 19, 2010 12:52 PM

    
    
















22. 
    
    
    

    Hello I just bought a PC with windows 7 , 3 months ago it is a piece of crap.the new PC has 4 GB of ram with it runs slow as crap even and unstable for games and so forth if i turn off all the start up in msconfig. So i took it to a pro in town that took the 7 off of it and put xp professional sp3 on it and the computer is more stable and 2 times faster .Microsoft sucks .i hope they put a explore version 9 for us please.thank you for reading my story thanks
    
    

    
    
    

     Posted by: Jeremiah |
    September 20, 2010 8:45 PM

    
    
















23. 
    
    
    

    ie9? Should Microsoft just consider the browser and let Firefox and Chrome run the show, since they are doing much better job?

    
    
    

    Posted by: txp50vt20b |
    September 21, 2010 6:17 AM

    
    























AllHipHop.com Daily <b>News</b> - : Jay-Z Lands On Forbes 400 <b>...</b>

(AllHipHop News) Hip-Hop mogul Jay-Z is one of 15 entrepreneurs Forbes magazine has predicted will be worth a billion dollars by the year 2015. Jay-Z was named amongst an elite group of tech moguls, hedge-funders, athletes and ...

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News & Notes about the Dallas Cowboys for Thursday, Sept. 23rd.

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Barack Obama, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Nick Clegg are among the world leaders in New York for the United Nations general assembly. Follow live updates here.


robert shumake


AllHipHop.com Daily <b>News</b> - : Jay-Z Lands On Forbes 400 <b>...</b>

(AllHipHop News) Hip-Hop mogul Jay-Z is one of 15 entrepreneurs Forbes magazine has predicted will be worth a billion dollars by the year 2015. Jay-Z was named amongst an elite group of tech moguls, hedge-funders, athletes and ...

Dallas Cowboys <b>News</b> &amp; Notes - Blogging The Boys

News & Notes about the Dallas Cowboys for Thursday, Sept. 23rd.

United Nations general assembly – live | <b>News</b> | guardian.co.uk

Barack Obama, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Nick Clegg are among the world leaders in New York for the United Nations general assembly. Follow live updates here.




I have some great news! On Wednesday, my sister gave birth to my third niece! Now with three nieces and one nephew I have the job of spoiling them cut out for me! But don’t worry I am up to the challenge.




While visiting my new niece in the hospital on Wednesday, I couldn’t help but think of the amazing amount of potential that lay before her. She has a whole world of experiences to explore for the first time. Her first song to sing. Her first taste of ice cream. Her first book. Her first blog post and even her first tweet. Because of her inexperience she will approach each one of these activities with an open mind and develop a truly unique perspective as a result. Because of this, she has an inherent advantage that others older than her don’t. She has a Beginner’s Mind.




In Zen Buddhism the beginner’s mind is an attitude of openness and lack of preconceptions. Many Zen masters try to establish a beginner’s mind in everything they do. Approaching a task as “a student” each time guarantees that you learn something new every time.




“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few. “ Shunryu Suzuki




Last week Digg relaunched their site with a dramatic new interface and system. As a result, many of the long-time users have reacted in anger over the changes. So much so that we have seen site wide support for Digg’s main competitor reddit.




While many reacted with disdain to changes to a network that they are used to, I actually have enjoyed and found value in the new Digg. I like the ability to customize my experience by following others. I like the fact that I can add RSS feeds directly into the system. I think both moves will make it easier for me to engage with the folks I am interested in and them engage with me. I can see where many of the complaints are valid, I just don’t see them affecting me that much.




I think I like the new Digg mostly because by and large I am a Digg newbie! I have had a Digg account for quite some time, but I have never really invested much time into learning how the system works, and how to leverage it as a marketing channel. Because of this I am approaching the new Digg with a beginners mind. I can see the value in the new changes, mostly because I don’t know any better!




About a week after Digg announced its new changes, Sphinn announced some new changes of their own. For those of you that don’t know, Sphinn, was founded as an alternative to Digg for Internet marketers. Just like many of the old time Digg users, I found a lot wrong with the changes at Sphinn. Now that I look back at the situation I can see that my inability to accept the new Sphinn is a direct result of not having a beginner’s mind. Therefore, I am going to try and find value in the new Sphinn by approaching it in a whole new light. I am going to try to have a beginner’s mind.




Having a beginner’s mind is very important when working on the Internet. Everyday, something changes online. Whether it be the way networks connect to users, or the absence of vital data that we rely on, things are always changing. If you want to stay ahead of the curve and continue to evolve with the technology, you must adopt a beginner’s mind!




[photo credit]






Social Media Monitoring in Just 60-Seconds. Guaranteed!






Comments




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1. 
   
   
   

   BFD there is already two better, Non Beta, browsers, for XP, Firefox and Chrome... Don't see any reason to use IE9, which of course is still beta,, By the time MS "releases" it for real both FF and chrome will have gone through several releases and upgrades,, MS is just so slow to develop, release and update it is embarrassing ... (posted from My FF browser running on XP)

   
   
   

    Posted by: Tom Brander |
   September 16, 2010 8:45 AM

   
   
















2. 
   
   
   

   Argh. So we will end up in the same situation as we are in with IE6.

   
   
   

   Posted by: Ben |
   September 16, 2010 9:00 AM

   
   
















3. 
   
   
   

   @Tom Brander

   
   
   

   Wow, you have no idea what you're talking about. Chrome's next release and Firefox 4 are on track to match IE9's feature set...maybe just barely pass it. I use Chrome and Firefox almost exclusively, but your ignorant and blind comments about IE9 are just ...well misinformed.

   
   
   

   As for leaving out Windows XP -- good. Here is an idea people, move the hell on. You're hurting everyone else by hanging on to your 10 year old OS. Microsoft needs to do this more often in the future -- start forcing people to finally update their damn OS to get the cool new applications. It's time people -- buy a new computer if you have to ...it'll be 10x faster than the slow POS you're using today anyway.

   
   
   

    Posted by: Justin Paine |
   September 16, 2010 9:01 AM

   
   
















4. 
   
   
   

   @Justin - Funny thing is, they're still *selling* computers with Windows XP. I bought my netbook 8 months ago and it had WinXP pre-installed...and it wasn't an old model. And the other thing is, WinXP has been far better than any other version of Windows that they've released in that past 10 years...I mean, Windows Vista certainly wasn't a valid replacement...

   
   
   

   So, it's not that everyone is "hanging on to 10 year old OS" like they have had all these other options all along. Other than *going to linux*, WinXP has been the only real Windows choice for a long time now...(outside of Windows 2000, which was also solid).

   
   
   

    Posted by: Mike Melanson |
   September 16, 2010 9:10 AM

   
   
















5. 
   
   
   

   "For now, this means that more than half - around 55%% of computers, according to StatCounter - will be unable to run Microsoft's latest browser."

   
   
   

   I think this is a big deal. That more than half of Windows-based computers won't be able to run MS's new browser is shocking if you take a step back and look at it in context.

   
   
   

   How many people got the shaft with Vista and decided to stick with XP (or worse, like me, went out and bought XP after taking Vista out and shooting it) and decided that they're happy with XP (and really not that happy with MS)? Now MS has the idea of forcing people to upgrade to Windows 7 for the privilege of using their new browser? Yeah right.

   
   
   

   Tom Brander is right too in a sense: BFD, Firefox, Chrome, not to mention Safari, Opera, and the last versions of IE are all out there, and will (or are already as good) be better than IE9 by the time MS gets done beta testing it.

   
   
   

   Still, it doesn't make any sense to me. It's not as if XP was made by Apple or Google or anyone else and MS decided to try and make a statement to company X. Moreover, Apple doesn't force someone to use Snow Leopard or a Mac to use Safari, perhaps because they want more people using Safari than, say, IE.

   
   
   

   If the new IE was that much better or had some sort of head-and-shoulders advantage over other browsers on the market today, that'd be one thing. But nothing that I've seen so far from others' reviews (I'm running XP, so I don't know) tells me that that's the case.

   
   
   

    Posted by: GradeAWebsites |
   September 16, 2010 9:15 AM

   
   
















6. 
   
   
   

   How about those people who got shafted with Vista and had to go out and buy (or re-buy) XP? How many are going to say to themselves: golly, I gotta run IE9, guess I should go spend some more money with MS to surf the net? I won't. XP is solid, and every other browser out there will be (or already is) as good as IE9 by the time MS gets done testing everybody's computers/patience. I think this is a big win for the Firefox, Safari, Chrome, and even Opera.

   
   
   

    Posted by: GradeAWebsites |
   September 16, 2010 9:21 AM

   
   
















7. 
   
   
   

   Sorry for the double (now triple post). Got a comment error in between.

   
   
   

    Posted by: GradeAWebsites |
   September 16, 2010 9:22 AM

   
   
















8. 
   
   
   

   Makes perfect sense. It's been almost a decade, and W7 is better in almost every way.

   
   
   

   The IE9 beta looks pretty sleek, and I like pinning websites to the task bar. I still think it's got some kinks that it has to fix before I can set it as my default, but it is a beta, after all.

   
   
   

    Posted by: Eddy Morales |
   September 16, 2010 9:27 AM

   
   
















9. 
   
   
   

   @Mike Melanson

   
   
   

   Windows 7 is a better operating system then Windows XP, hands down. As for OEMs still selling Windows WP -- well I agree, that's idiotic, and it's something Microsoft desperately needs to crack down own immediately. Everyone needs to move forward -- ditch Windows XP/2000, skip the cesspool that is Vista, and get on Windows 7 immediately.

   
   
   

    Posted by: Justin Paine |
   September 16, 2010 9:31 AM

   
   
















10. 
    
    
    

    One other thing to point out:

    
    
    

    Yes, IE9 doesn't work on XP. Question: Does Safari 5 work on Mac Os X 10.4? No, it doesn't.

    
    
    

     Posted by: Justin Paine |
    September 16, 2010 9:34 AM

    
    
















11. 
    
    
    

    >Show of hands - anyone still running Vista?

    
    
    

    I switched to the cheapest 7, and wrote the local Microsoft-Mafia to request a refund due to my default Vista on my funny laptop*, but didn't get it.

    
    
    

    Well, I tried.

    
    
    

    *Why is my laptop funny? Because Lenovo managed to let the typed characters end all over the screen, if typed quickly. Suddenly you are typing in another line. That's funny. It may explain many of the editorials I read in newspapers.

    
    
    

    Posted by: Henrik |
    September 16, 2010 9:58 AM

    
    
















12. 
    
    
    

    There's a nice Vista 64 machine under my television, but that's all I use it for.

    
    
    

    Windows XP on everything else. With dual-core 64 bit cpu's, 1GB PCIe and 2GB RAM, I'm having no problems.

    
    
    

    I want to apologize to Justin though, about the pain I've been causing him... I didn't mean to hurt anyone by using an operating system that is still supported by its manufacturer.

    
    
    

    IE9? Meh. I'm in the Firefox/Chrome camp. We have a nice fire going and everyone is welcome to join us.

    
    
    

    Posted by: Jon |
    September 16, 2010 11:41 AM

    
    
















13. 
    
    
    

    If MS wants to send me a free upgrade to Win7 from XP, I'll do it, 'til then I've got no reason what so ever to move from XP. If I can't run IE9, that's their loss, not mine.

    
    
    

    Posted by: Jason W. |
    September 16, 2010 12:39 PM

    
    
















14. 
    
    
    

    If win xp users are not able to use IE 9 its their loss not ours.. Chrome is still the best for xp users.

    
    
    

    Posted by: Divyansh |
    September 16, 2010 12:52 PM

    
    
















15. 
    
    
    

    Some of the comments seem to ignore the reality that only people who feel the need to show off with the latest and greatest fix what isn't broken. Certainly nothing in IE 9 warrants the cost of an upgrade when what you have is working fine.

    
    
    

    Whether you're a home user or you have 1,000 PC datacentre, upgrading your OS means spending time and money that could be put to much better use. The fact that a decade later the majority of computers are still running Windows XP is proof that people are satisfied that it's more than sufficient for the applications they're running. I've even done tech support and found computers running custom software on Windows 3.1 for that matter.

    
    
    

    Now Windows 7 may be slightly more stable but it also can't remember icon locations on the desktop without a workaround and that's not something anyone wants to explain to 2500 employees on top of the downtime, and there's still the issue of the initial cost you'd need to sell upper management on.

    
    
    

    Here at home I have a PC with Windows 7, one with XP, and two with 98. Windows 7 won't run on the two 98 machines and even if it could I wouldn't waste the money so long as all my computers continue to work -- I certainly have better ways to spend leisure time.

    
    
    

    Until there is genuine incentive to upgrade to Windows 7 that outweighs the expense involved, all Microsoft will be doing is handing over more marketshare to Firefox and Chrome.

    
    
    

     Posted by: Kevin Carter |
    September 16, 2010 3:48 PM

    
    
















16. 
    
    
    

    @Mike Melanson

    
    
    

    Windows 7 is the best release of Windows hands down last 10 years or not. And no offense but Vista was OK too. I ran it since the betas and it was fine. Not perfect but good...and got better with service pack 1. Vista had the most out-of-the-box hardware compatibility of any version of Windows. The only people that seemed to complain about that were the people trying to use ancient hardware with it.

    
    
    

    Just as people don't need to upgrade if they don't feel the need Microsoft shouldn't feel the need to stay in the dark ages with their OS because some people don't want to upgrade hardware to run it. I run Win7 on a now-ancient Athlon64-based system and it's very good.

    
    
    

    @Kevin Carter: Windows 7 is a *lot* more stable...not just a little bit. I've yet to have had a BSOD on Vista or Win 7. I've had quite a few on my XP laptop at work which is less than a year old.

    
    
    

    I always find these types of conversations amusing...the ones where people crow about how solid and great XP is always forgetting how truly awful it was when it first came out.

    
    
    

    Posted by: Jason Kratz |
    September 16, 2010 6:18 PM

    
    
















17. 
    
    
    

    @justin, not sure why this denegrated into an operating system pissing contest, but if that is what strokes you, fine, I have a old ex windows xp laptop that I was about to junk,, Put Fedora Linux on it, It smokes my dual core win 7 laptop that has twice the memory (&4+times the processor performance),, of course I do run Chrome on it... Microsoft's clear attitude to it's installed base is just how much pain can we inflict before they go elsewhere,, and they are finding out as more and more flee to Chrome, Firefox, Gmail (vs exchange) and Gdocs or open office. The shameless trumpeting of what apprears to be an ok browsewr, that can only run on brand new systems leaves me sort of cold, particularly since most if not all the important performance features are already avaialable in NON-Beta form via Chrome and Firefox, which as mentioned will have major upgrades out (on all platforms I might add)

    
    
    

     Posted by: Tom Brander |
    September 17, 2010 8:28 AM

    
    
















18. 
    
    
    

    Just downloaded it and now using it. Its speed is good and it is working perfectly alright.
    
    http://noxedgereviews.org/
    
    

    
    
    

    Posted by: sharicepas |
    September 17, 2010 11:48 PM

    
    
















19. 
    
    
    

    No more new IE on XP? Who cares?!?!?
    
    I still use XP on my old PC and IE is disappered from there years ago. Now i use firefox 4 beta version 6 and is very fast and very nice. And is still beta.
    
    Microsoft makes a favor to me for this time. Thank you!

    
    
    

    Posted by: Dns |
    September 18, 2010 1:26 AM

    
    
















20. 
    
    
    

    Well, I am 62 year old female who has a "10 year old computer bought in 2000 with windows XP". It still works great, I use it everyday and just keep it clean and up to date. I had one crash in 10 years and that is because I let a tech support person on it for a bug. He bombed it out! Refixed it and all was well.
    
    Now for the statement of the fellow above about moving on and buying a new computer, whatever the reason may be...I for one live on $694 per month and am disabled. If I could possibly afford a new computer I would love one. Maybe he would buy one for me out of the "kindness" of his heart so I could move on. LOL
    
    I also have a 10 year old laptop that also works with xp and good. Hardly use it though as I don't like the mouse on the laptop with finger thing.
    
    Anyways, just stating that moving on is not just a matter of grabbing a checkbook and getting another computer for many elderly and disabled in this world, plus probably many others.

    
    
    

    Posted by: Jody |
    September 18, 2010 11:22 AM

    
    
















21. 
    
    
    

    I would like to see a show of hands who uses IE to do any kind of online transactions.

    
    
    

    I have Vista and Windows 7 dual booting on 2 different machines.I loaded xp pro first so I could recover if something went wrong. Try using Norton Partition magic with Vista or Windows 7 You have to use Gnome to make another partition

    
    
    

    I still think XP Pro sp3 is a great OS. I use Firefox for my main browser and Chrome 2nd.

    
    
    

    I had purchased a legal cop of Windows 7. When I put the key in it said it was an invalid key. 1 hour on the phone with a nice guy in the middle east saying I had a pirated version. He finally gave me another key.

    
    
    

    New OS's are fun to play with but not if you need a stable and safe OS to do business.

    
    
    

    Posted by: mossy |
    September 19, 2010 12:52 PM

    
    
















22. 
    
    
    

    Hello I just bought a PC with windows 7 , 3 months ago it is a piece of crap.the new PC has 4 GB of ram with it runs slow as crap even and unstable for games and so forth if i turn off all the start up in msconfig. So i took it to a pro in town that took the 7 off of it and put xp professional sp3 on it and the computer is more stable and 2 times faster .Microsoft sucks .i hope they put a explore version 9 for us please.thank you for reading my story thanks
    
    

    
    
    

     Posted by: Jeremiah |
    September 20, 2010 8:45 PM

    
    
















23. 
    
    
    

    ie9? Should Microsoft just consider the browser and let Firefox and Chrome run the show, since they are doing much better job?

    
    
    

    Posted by: txp50vt20b |
    September 21, 2010 6:17 AM

    
    



























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