Technology & Marketing professional with a passion for ease of use and internet connected environments.
Interesting thoughts on Facebook. Take a look at the comments as well. "If" it sticks around for the longer haul, it will be something for the non-techs to use rather than building a website or a blog of some sort. I can't stand it any more personally. It's flooded with crap, stupid games, spam and now viruses. What fun...
Trying to watch "9" in HD streaming over Comcast to our Panasonic Blu Ray player. Usually we'd rent something on the Apple TV but I wanted to try out Amazon's service again. The streaming technology is able to dynamically chance the stream based on the connection but in 20 minutes of watching the movie, we've already had 4 "buffer" timeouts and after those, you are treated to a less than DVD quality image for while. Thanks Comcast for your "blazing" speeds.. (wait, make that 5 buffer timeouts).....
Watching a movie on our Panasonic BD-DMP 605 Blu Ray player via Amazon on Demand. HD looks great for streaming however my Comcast speed seems to have trouble catching up at times. Had at least 4 "buffering" stops so far half way into the movie.
Paul points out the key thing Apple is good a. Something many of us have known for years as we watch them steal software ideas from small companies (Library, LaunchBar, and Konfabulator to mention just a few).
For the 2 people reading this (including me), I'm in the market for a new phone. My iPhone with the dead albatross around it's neck (AT&T's network) needs to be replaced. I have the following needs:
This is a good (but long) run down on the opinions of the Engadget guys - some whom have played with one. I think the key take away from all of they hype today is that people were expecting something "Apple Awesome" and all we got was a super-sized iPod with a bad name.
Key issues for most people:
- No revolutionary new user interface. Huge let down.
- Closed system. Only Apple apps, Apple OS.
- No Flash
- It's just a big iPod Touch.
What do you think?
Tribune Wins Approval to Pay $45.6 Million in Bonuses (Update2)
January 27, 2010, 03:08 PM EST(Adds estimates of operating cash flow in ninth paragraph.)
By Steven Church
Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Tribune Co. won court permission to pay about 720 managers as much as $45.6 million in bonuses, or about 11 percent of the company’s operating cash last year.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey approved the bonus plan today during a hearing in Wilmington, Delaware, saying the payments are “incentives designed to improve the company’s chances to survive.”
Carey overruled an objection from the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, which argued the bonuses were unreasonable because they would consume a higher percentage of Tribune’s operating cash than ever before. Carey hasn’t yet ruled on two related bonus programs that would pay as much as $20 million to the top 30 to 40 executives.
“I still think it’s too high,” said Bill Salganik, a past president of the guild and a member of a committee representing unsecured creditors in Tribune’s bankruptcy. “I appreciate the heightened scrutiny the judge is giving to the big bonuses for the top executives.”
Tribune, based in Chicago, filed for bankruptcy court protection in December 2008, about a year after billionaire Sam Zell’s $8.3 billion purchase of the publishing and television company. Tribune owns the Los Angeles Times and the namesake Chicago newspaper among other properties.
Tribune attorney Jonathan D. Lotsoff declined to comment, referring questions to company spokesman Gary Weitman. Through an e-mail, Weitman declined to comment.
Motivating Managers
At a hearing in September, Tribune lawyers said the bonuses were necessary to keep managers motivated during troubled economic times.
The bonuses, tied to annual cash flow, are part of a broader incentive package that includes three separate pieces which could cost the company as much as $66 million. The union has opposed all three components since they were first proposed last year.
The company said in a memo earlier this month that it is likely to report $500 million in operating cash flow for 2009. Union officials said in court papers that the $45.6 million represented almost 11 percent of cash flow last year, which would put the figure at closer to $414 million.
Carey said he didn’t know when he would rule on the remaining two programs and told the company to consider making bonus proposals part of an overall plan of reorganization.
The case is In re Tribune Co., 08-13141, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington).
--Editors: Steve Farr, Christopher Scinta.
To contact the reporter on this story: Steven Church in Wilmington, Delaware, at +1-302-661-7606 or schurch3@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: David E. Rovella at +1-212-617-1092 or drovella@bloomberg.net.
Does this make anyone else from Chicago want to puke? "Necessary to keep managers motivated"? Fire them all, find new people that are VERY motivated and move forward. Done. Why does everything have to have a project plan attached to it? Your "incentive" to do your job to the best of your ability should be the fact that you HAVE a job! If you don't want it, there are 100+ people more qualified than you willing to do it better and for less money.
45Million? 11% of their operating cash last year... wow...
The paper sucks and they haven't figured out how to deal with a "non-print" world of news. Why should people get a bonus for that? Fire them all.
Well the dust has settled and after talking a better look, I think Apple left a lot on the table with this product.
The Bad:
The Good:
I spent my lunch "trying" to watch the event over a cell phone connection, watching a feed that was being captured, you guessed it, over a cell phone.
First off, you'll have to ignore the name. "iPad" will be a kid that gets beaten up on the playground a lot. Once you get past that, I think they have a winner. The biggest surprise was the price - $499. Listening to the list of features, most people were sure it would be in the $700+ range. This will for sure move a lot of units. The other pricing is the "connection". For $14.99 you can get 250MB of data per month which doesn't even qualify as a joke. I've used 500MB today alone with my cell phone connection. The good news is they have an unlimited plan for $29.99. I'd hate to be the carrier that has their network ruined by this baby. AT&T has suffered huge issues with the data usage of the iPhone.
A few points of info:
- 9.7inch screen.
- Runs iPhone OS 3.2
- Can run all iPhone apps.
- Email
- Web Browser
- Will have iWork suite that will run on unit.
A few details I didn't hear or missed:
- Will it do flash? Don't think so... :( HUGE issue. That means no Hulu etc.
- Bluetooth?
- WiFi?
- Keyboard needs you to rest the unit on something.. not sure I like that
- Accessories? Video out? Headphones/Audio out?
- Storage? USB or removeable media?
As I said, Apple didn't stream this one live and the details were hard to catch.. I'll update more after I've see the real specs and some of the early feedback.
Only a couple weeks until my Birthday.. :-) Hint Hint...
