It wasn't Palin booed on Dancing With the Stars

Considering how much attention she has received, it isn’t often that an individual might see Sarah Palin booed. It seemed to happen on “Dancing with the Stars”. It could have also been she was in a room where people were booing. Palin had good reason to be there. Bristol Palin is one of the celeb dancers. Bristol Palin isn’t really off to a bad start either. She’s doing pretty nicely on the show so far.

It wasn’t Palin booed

Sarah Palin showed up for an episode of “Dancing with the Stars” to view Bristol compete for dancing glory. During the show, a loud round of booing started after the judges critiqued the routine from Jennifer Grey, as outlined by USA Today. As the booing began, the camera panned down to the panel of most judges, and there sat the former vice presidential runner-up. Even Tom Bergeron, one of the show’s judges, said the boos weren’t for Palin. He insisted, when he was a guest on Jimmy Kimmel’s show, the boos were from the score the panel gave Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough. Besides, an individual would need to have really watched the show to know she wasn’t booed at all. In fact, she was applauded.

By the numbers

Bristol Palin scored decently well, getting a 22. So far, Bristol has been solidly in the middle, so she is safe for now. People who would have rather someone turned on Slayer than Michael Bolton in the 80s are getting their wish. Bolton, as outlined by the Los Angeles Times, scored a 12. Bolton is doubtless to receive the big ugly axe next. The athletes on this season, Rick Fox and Kurt Warner, both scored a 21 with good performances. Florence Henderson, “The Situation,” and Margaret Cho rounded out the bottom, ahead of Michael Bolton.

So far so good

This hasn’t been the worst season so far. It ought to be entertaining. Certainly, some things do not help the ratings. The most famous state first daughter is one of them. However, it is probably going to be the truth that “Baby” from “Dirty Dancing” is on the show. It seems Jennifer Grey has her dance skills still from filming that legendary role.

Articles cited

LA Times

latimes.com/entertainment/sns-os-tv-dwts-9-27,,627838.story

USA Today

usatoday.com/communities/entertainment/post/2010/09/sarah-palin-stops-by-dancing-with-the-stars/1?csp=obinsite

Rumors concerning the RIM Blackpad

The Blackpad by Blackberry may well create waves. The newest rival to the iPad may be announced this week. The keynote speech at Blackberry’s DevCon today may really well formally announce the Blackpad. Today’s keynote speech might include a preview of the system. Either way, the Blackpad is sure for making some waves.

Research in Motion’s Blackpad strategy

RIM, the Canadian company that makes the Blackberry, has found itself in a difficult spot the last few years. The Blackberry was initially intended and intended for enterprise and government use. The niche customers almost quickly fell in love with Blackberry phones, and purchase the devices regularly. Consumers came to love the Blackberry gadget, despite the fact that it was not intended with customers in mind. Balancing these two consumer groups has proven difficult. RIM tries to maintain high-performance features and consumer friendliness. With more customers defecting to Android or Apple devices, RIM and Blackberry need a large seller to keep their stockholders happy.

Extracting the Blackpad

Simply described, Blackpad is intended to be a tablet computer similar to the iPad. The interface of the Blackpad will be depending on touch. DevCon 2010 may see the Blackpad discussed. A real Blackpad to play with, though, probably definitely won’t be ready. Though they don’t have one ready, RIM will still talk concerning the Blackpad. Generalities and deadlines may well be announced. The screen will probably be 7 inches, though 9.7 is also a possibility. For video conferencing use, Blackpad will consist of two cameras — one on the front and one on the back. There could be a new operating system for the Blackpad. Rather than OS3, RIM is developing a new operating system just for the Blackpad. The price is also a big question. Some say that you may need a no fax payday loans to buy one, others say not at all.

The industry space for Blackpad

Research in Motion has stated that they wish to remain a business-based business. This doesn’t mean they’ll shun everyday customers. Amazon can be creating a music application for the Blackpad. Blackberry said they could be targeting this device to all customers. Blackpad may have one major competitive advantage. If a 3G Blackpad is released, it will not be tied to just one cellular network. This removes many of the worries of iPad users, because there won’t be a single network with monopoly over the service. The Blackpad is not the only competition, though, as the WePad, Google Tablet and Samsung Galaxy Pad are both set for release soon.

Lending requirements loosened with 2nd look programs

Wall Street Banks are in trouble because of the credit crunch following the financial crisis. While major U.S. financial institutions received billions in government bailouts, they’ve been refusing to make loans. President Obama is encouraging more small business lending. In fact, he met with Financial institution executives at the White House to discuss this really thing. One of the ideas suggested was to take a “second look” at loan applications. The second look programs are what came out of that. Many United States banks have begun working with it. 2nd look may really be helping, after nine months of observation.

Second look gains traction

The President challenged Wall Street banking institutions to take a second check out lending after his December meeting. He went a bit further than that. Obama asked within the meeting that bankers “explore each possible way” to increase small company lending, reports the Associated Press. He also thinks that they need to take a “third and fourth look” along with the 2nd look. U.S. Bancorp CEO Richard Davis, chairman of the Financial Services Roundtable, said he would present the idea to other members of the group, which represents the country’s largest financial businesses.

Old-fashioned lending

Nine months later, the Financial Services Roundtable claims nearly all its members have second-look products. Members contain Bank of The United States Corp., J.P. Morgan Chase and Co., PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and U.S. Bancorp. The second look program makes lending possible like it was back within the day. This is what the Wall Street Journal said. A lender has more to consider when it comes to choosing who can borrow so the relationships and track record of the borrower come into play along with the credit scores analysis and other industry driving data. Some banks search for credit history errors that hurt borrowers the very first time around, or ask about unreported sources of income that could lower the risk of a consumer loan. The Journal said the second look program may be having an impact. Last month’s Federal Reserve survey of senior loan officers showed the first easing of lending standards for smaller businesses since 2006.

Worth the second look that is taken

A second look costs more for the banks, however banking institutions are beginning to view a business opportunity, rather than merely avoiding risk. PR purposes is the reason why Alan Sherter from bNET thinks banking institutions are doing the 2nd look program. It isn’t at all for risk in lending. Also, the loans that are being made are unlikely to jump-start the small business engine that could reduce the joblessness rate. The second look may be great for a small local business that wants to just survive the economic recession and hopes to increase one day.

More on this topic

Associated Press

msnbc.msn.com/id/34416646/ns/business-us_business/

Wall Street Journal

online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704062804575510302866961116.html

bNET

bnet.com/blog/financial-business/due-credit-banks-offer-second-chance-to-small-businesses-rejected-for-a-loan/7715

United Nations won't be making Mazlan Othman a space extraterrestrial ambassador

There were rumors of the United Nations appointing an alien ambassador spread on the internet. Sunday was when all of these started flying. The Malaysian astrophysicist Mazlan Othman was expected to take the job as the head of the U.N. Office for Outer Space Affairs. Othman said on record that it would only happen if it were in reaction to alien visitors already come. Extraterrestrial contact is not as much of a far-reached idea as it was within the past. There are numerous discoveries of planets outside of the solar system. Stephen Hawking has told Earth to be cautious as there might be alien life. The British newspaper was the first to receive the news from Othman that there would be no extraterrestrial ambassador to outer space.

The U.N. would be the ones talking to the aliens?

The story that Mazlan Othman would be appointed the U.N. alien ambassador “broke” in the Sunday Times and spread like a super bug all over the world. The Sunday Times quoted Othman from a speech at a recent seminar in which she talked about the search for alien transmissions from space. She explained that earth needs to be ready to respond at any minute. Othman also gave the opinion that the United Nations should be responsible for this. The Australian was just one of the newspapers that said Othman might be in Britain next week for the Royal Society sponsored conference talking more about alien contact.

The extraterrestrial life search

The first extrasolar planet, or exoplanet, was confirmed to exist in 1992. Hundreds of exoplanets were found in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration space observatory launched in 2009 called the Kepler Mission. Stephen Hawking warned Earth although there is probably not any intelligent alien life. In an interview with the Sunday Times, Hawking said that instead of seeking the aliens out, humanity should be trying to keep away from getting noticed. Aliens might probably be looking for someplace they can get more resources from. He states we can all imagine the consequences of this by simply looking in the mirror. “We only have to look at ourselves to determine how intelligent existence might develop into something we would not want to meet.”

Is Earth playing host to aliens?

Othman was the one who started the United Nations alien ambassador story. Rather than jump on the bandwagon, the Guardian decided to really check the facts. The Royal Society got a call from the British newspaper that asked about the speech on alien contact made by Othman. It was news to them. Nobody knew about it. The Office for Outer Space Affairs questions were all referred someplace else by the U.N. A switchboard in Vienna is where they went. Finally, Othman responded to a Guardian e-mail and burst the U.N. alien ambassador bubble. She wrote “It sounds really cool, however I have to deny it.” There is a real problem that needs to be solved in her speech at the Royal Society. Earth may be colliding with some objects in its rotation soon which will be discussed.

More on this topic

The Australian

theaustralian.com.au/news/world/the-un-is-to-appoint-an-astrophysicist-to-be-the-first-contact-for-any-aliens/story-e6frg6so-1225929540635

Sunday Times

timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/space/article7107207.ece

The Guardian

guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2010/sep/27/un-alien-ambassador-mazlan-othman

Going toward Iran, experts claim, is the military services-grade cyber tool, Stuxnet

Probably the most sophisticated malware ever is what the majority are calling Stuxnet. Computer security experts throughout the world are amazed by it. They have decided sabotage is the primary goal of the Stuxnet called a search and destroy weapon. The cybersecurity experts say that only a nation-state, not a band of rogue hackers, would have the time, cash and talent to develop a worm with the complexity of Stuxnet. Info hacked typically is information on factories, power plants and water systems as Stuxnet travels. It also doesn’t travel through the internet as it is spread through thumb drives and printer spoolers instead. Iran seems to have seen this one of the most leading numerous to believe the Bushehr nuclear power plant was the target of the Stuxnet.

Is Stuxnet interested in sabotaging the Bushehr reactor?

June was the very first time Stuxnet was detected. Computer security specialists cannot determine the complexity and encryption of the thing, reports the Christian Science Monitor. Stuxnet is the only software found that can do what it can. No other program can steal specific info about power plants, electric grids, chemical plants and factories. The Monitor reports that researcher from Cybersecurity, Ralph Langler, explained that Stuxnet is meant to hit one high value target as a military-grade cyber missile. The Target, as outlined by Langer, was the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran. He believes the target was hit already. Bushehr’s scheduled startup in August has been delayed for unknown reasons.

Stuxnet and just how it works

About 45,000 computer systems are infected by Stuxnet worldwide. The Daily Mail explains that computer systems were hit by Stuxnet that aren’t connected to the web. They aren’t connected to the web for security purposes. USB thumb drives spread the virus to PCs running Microsoft Windows. Stuxnet starts working once the thumb drive is in. It doesn’t need any kind of clicking or keying in to start it. Stuxnet looks for any Siemens software running control systems that are industrial once in computer. After discovering the software, it reprograms it. The software gets dangerous instructions that are new. Experts say Stuxnet is capable of taking control of key processes to set off a sequence that makes an entire system self-destruct.

Cyber warfare started by Stuxnet

Alarms are hit with Stuxnet. This is because its code is so complex along with the many different techniques in it. BBC News explained that Liam O’Murchu of Symantec, discovering the worm and tracking it down, claims that Stuxnet works by spreading with new techniques never seen. The worm exploits several previously unknown, un-patched Windows vulnerabilities. The project for Stuxnet was said by O’Murchu to have been well-funded. It also had to be well-planned. Heavy insider knowledge was needed to create such a sabotage attack with Stuxnet, says Langer. ”This isn’t some hacker sitting in the basement of his parents’ house,” he explained evidently. “To me, it appears the resources needed to stage this attack point to a nation state.”

More on this topic

Christian Science Monitor

csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0921/Stuxnet-malware-is-weapon-out-to-destroy-Iran-s-Bushehr-nuclear-plant

Daily Mail

dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1314580/Stuxnet-worm-targeted-Iranian-nuclear-power-station-sophisticated-virus-attack-ever.html?ITO=1490

BBC News

bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11388018

Hoaxing viewers in I'm Still Here by Joaquin Phoenix, states Affleck

”I’m Still Here” may be a lie. It is really a scam. Actor Joaquin Phoenix had a “documentary” concerning her downward spiral done. This was all just an overall performance well played. Director of “I’m Still Here,” Casey Affleck, told all about the truth after it was released last week and destroyed by film critics. Just about every little thing concerning the film was staged, from supposedly drug-addled rap performances by Phoenix to an incoherent, mumbling appearance on David Letterman. Affleck claims Phoenix’s career will skyrocket with the operation in “I’m Still Here”. Others believe the film could have damaged the professions of Phoenix and Affleck beyond repair.

Calling it the Phoenix mockumentary

Casey Affleck admitted that “I’m Still Here” was contrived in an interview with Michael Cieply of the New York Times published Thursday. After playing Johnny Cash in “I Walk the Line” and getting an Academy Award for it, Joaquin Phoenix supposedly had a deterioration of the mind, body and spirit, as shown in the film. This was done over two years. That means it was a two year performance for Phoenix. He began by growing his beard. He gained weight. In 2009 he appeared in character on David Letterman so convincingly the TV host was entirely fooled. There was only one reason Affleck decided to tell the Times the truth. It was as the public and critics reacted so harshly. Phoenix will return to Letterman’s show — as Phoenix — on Sept. 22.

Media works for making it more known

By admitting that “I’m Still Here” is a Phoenix mockumentary, Affleck may be trying to boost what has so far been tepid public interest within the film. More people may be interested in seeing the film and may be able to determine what was being accomplished because of what Affleck said, states bloggers Jen Chaney and Liz Kelly for the Washington Post. Phoenix and Affleck did show society that any actor, even Academy Award nominee, can self destruct, whether or not the movie does well.

Hollywood ends up hurt by the Deception

The Filmmaker did not get that good of a reaction from every person. The objective is not significant too many. Affleck and Phoenix will feel the backfire from “I’m Still Here” claims a Hollywood reporter for the Los Angeles Times, Patrick Goldstein. Show-biz insiders believe, based on Goldstein, the film is, “self-important, exercise in foolishness, concocted by two knuckleheads who seemed peeved either because they didn’t have successful A-list careers or because they thought the industry was too dull and mindless to allow them to take the kind of bold risks that real artists take.” As for Phoenix’s upcoming appearance on Letterman, one of Goldstein’s sources said “Boy, if Letterman wasn’t in on the joke, he is really going to take that poor guy to the cleaners.”

Find more information on this subject

New York Times

nytimes.com/2010/09/17/movies/17affleck.html?_r=2

Washington Post

voices.washingtonpost.com/celebritology/2010/09/joaquin_phoenix_yes_it_was_a_h.html

Los Angeles times

latimesblogs.latimes.com/the_big_picture/2010/09/will-casey-affleck-end-up-in-movie-jail-after-admitting-im-not-here-was-a-hoax.html

Expansion economic downturn occurring while Great Recession ending last summer

In technical terms, we can’t call what the United States is now going through an economic downturn. Economic misery as a real-life condition persists, however a government panel announced Monday the economic downturn officially ended in June 2009. Since World War II, we have not had a recession as long as this one. It began in December 2007 and went for about 18 months after that. Before the economy’s hard times ended, it officially became called the “Great Recession”. The economy isn’t expected to go back to its normal state within the near future. Of course, it has continued growing though. The Federal Reserve is doing anything it can to prevent a “growth recession” from occurring where the economy doesn’t expand fast enough for unemployment.

Recession runner up to Depression

The National Bureau of Economic Research says that the longest recession since the Great Depression ended last summer when the economy began to grow again. The Los Angeles Times lets us know the recession is totally over. This means it would be a new recession if a double dip were to occur. The 18-month Great Recession is the official runner up to the 43-month Great Depression that lasted from 1929 to 1933. There were two recessions tying for 3rd place. These were in 1973-75 and 1981-82. More than 8 million individuals lost their jobs, and the labor market could take years to recover. Since output was sustained with productivity growth, jobs were lost which is why the NBER states one of the most damage came from.

Recession ended on paper, however not on the street

The expansion that is being seen may not be enough to do anything, states NBER. NEBR defines an economic downturn as, as outlined by the Washington Post, “a period of falling economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a couple of months, normally visible in real gross domestic product (GDP), real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales.” According to the panel, GDP and industrial production bottomed out in June 2009. There was no expansion in employment for a long time. It didn’t pick back up until December 2009. The NEBR said that by declaring a specific date for the end of the recession it was not saying that economic conditions are favorable since then.

All about growth recession

The economy seems to be getting better in an expansion economic downturn. During this whole time, the unemployment rate proceeds to go up. According to Bloomberg, In the first quarter, there was a 3.7 percent growth while it dropped in 2010’s second quarter to a 1.6 percent annual rate for economic growth. A 5 percent rate of growth in the fourth quarter of 2009 raised hopes that economic recovery was gathering steam. An unemployment rate stuck at 9.5 percent and above is stifling the consumer spending the economy needs to grow. Fed chairman Ben Bernake said the agency has the tools to aid the economy. Numerous think the Fed should buy more government debt or treasuries since interest rates are near zero. Ot! hers believe severe joblessness is the result of Americans lacking the skills to fill available jobs — a problem monetary policy cannot fix.

Additional reading

Los Angeles times

latimes.com/business/la-fi-recession-20100920,,4014811.story

Washington Post

voices.washingtonpost.com/political-economy/2010/09/its_official_the_great_recessi.html

Bloomberg

bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-19/escaping-double-dip-to-growth-recession-means-no-unemployment-relief-seen.html