Social Media for Travel Marketing - - the latest seminar program by SPOTMARK is schedule on 11 November 2009 at The Westin Grand Sukhumvit, Bangkok. The seminar, organized in response to the popularity of social media marketing, will be a perfect educational session for travel marketers to learn how to master social media marketing and how to integrate it into the marketing mix.
In response to the popularity of social media marketing especially among travel marketers who want to capture the expanding social media user population, SPOTMARK is organizing a seminar on ‘Social Media for Travel Marketing. The seminar is scheduled on 11 November 2009 at the Westin Grande Sukhumvit, Bangkok, Thailand.
In addition to utterly presentations on social media marketing, the seminar will also touch on other digital marketing tools and trends for the travel industry. “Social media like any other marketing tools shouldn’t be use alone. It should be integrated into the whole marketing mix if you really want to make it works,” said Mr. Sirapat Kettarn, Managing Director of SPOTMARK, the professional business-to-business conference, exhibition & event marketing organizer adding that, “however, since there have been a lot of seminar and workshop on digital marketing in the past, the main focus for this seminar will be in social media, how it works and to make it works by itself and together with other tools. That is where other digital marketing will come into the picture. We will bring in a lot of real-life case studies to demonstrate what works well and what doesn’t.”
The growing popularity of social media marketing is not only because of the expanding population of social media users but its proven success as well. Social media has become the tools for various purposes - - branding, improving customer loyalty, lead generation, direct marketing and e-commerce. Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer’s senior analyst once said the beauty of social networks is that they are a place where nearly any marketing goal can be achieved, with nearly any marketing tactic.
For the travel industry, social media is the future. The latest finding from Eye for Travel claims that 79% of travel industry executives view social media as a long-term part of the online marketing mix.
Why social media is so important for travel marketing? Some of the simple answers might because travel are collectors, critics, creators & spectators; seeing is believing - - pictures do speak louder than words; travelers want “insider information”; recommendations from fellow travelers are trusted and travelers want to share their experience.
The seminar will benefit anyone working in hotels & resorts, travel agencies, online travel, airlines, cruise from large hotel chains to independent hotels as well as international travel companies and online travel agencies that want to better understand of the fast moving travel technology and how to capitalize on technology to grow their business.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Astro Boy manga to hit US iPhones
Japan's Astro Boy and other comic heroes by late manga legend Osamu Tezuka will soon appear on iPhones and iPods in the United States, Japanese companies said recently.
The English-language Weekly Astro Boy Magazine will be available for iPhone and iPod touch users as early as this month in volumes of about 100 pages each, said Tezuka Productions Co. and D-Arc Inc.
The first large-volume manga service for mobile devices entirely in English comes after the release this weekend of a modern 3D computer animation take on Astro Boy in the United States and China.
First sketched by Tezuka in the 1950s,the Astro Boy series charmed children across the globe with its tale of a powerful little robot boy built by a scientist in the image of his deceased son.
A number of versions of the story have been produced since, most famously the 1960s series which heralded the rise of the influential Japanese anime style of cartoons used in television and film.
The first mobile-device trial volume is free, and the companies aim for one million downloads, said Yoshihide Kinokawa, a director at D-Arc, who was behind the development of the English-language cartoon delivery for iPhones.
Each volume afterwards will sell at 99 cents per weekly.
Readers can see the whole page on the screen and zoom in for close-ups of individual cartoon cells.
"I hope people who saw the movie will want to read the original," Kinokawa said. The companies plan to expand the service to other countries gradually.
The digital weekly will also carry Phoenix ,Black Jack and other works by the late "God of Manga."
The English-language Weekly Astro Boy Magazine will be available for iPhone and iPod touch users as early as this month in volumes of about 100 pages each, said Tezuka Productions Co. and D-Arc Inc.
The first large-volume manga service for mobile devices entirely in English comes after the release this weekend of a modern 3D computer animation take on Astro Boy in the United States and China.
First sketched by Tezuka in the 1950s,the Astro Boy series charmed children across the globe with its tale of a powerful little robot boy built by a scientist in the image of his deceased son.
A number of versions of the story have been produced since, most famously the 1960s series which heralded the rise of the influential Japanese anime style of cartoons used in television and film.
The first mobile-device trial volume is free, and the companies aim for one million downloads, said Yoshihide Kinokawa, a director at D-Arc, who was behind the development of the English-language cartoon delivery for iPhones.
Each volume afterwards will sell at 99 cents per weekly.
Readers can see the whole page on the screen and zoom in for close-ups of individual cartoon cells.
"I hope people who saw the movie will want to read the original," Kinokawa said. The companies plan to expand the service to other countries gradually.
The digital weekly will also carry Phoenix ,Black Jack and other works by the late "God of Manga."
New twist in book-scan deal
A judge has given Google Inc more time to revise a legal settlement that has drawn government scrutiny because it would give the Internet search leader the digital rights to millions of out-of-print books.
Under a change approved on Monday,Google and groups representing US authors and publishers now have until Friday to change an agreement reached more than a year ago. It marked the latest twist in a copyright lawsuit that the authors and publishers filed against Google's digital book project four years ago.
The revisions to the settlement were supposed to be filed by the end of Monday, but Google and its negotiating partners told US District Judge Denny Chin they still needed to address objections raised in September by the US Justice Department. Chin signed off on the extension without comment.
The Justice Department has warned it probably would try to block the current agreement from taking effect because antitrust regulators had concluded it threatened to thwart competition and drive up prices.
Some of the Justice Department's preliminary findings echoed concerns from a chorus of critics that include Google rivals Microsoft Corp, Yahoo Inc and Amazon.com Inc.
Google had insisted the settlement merited court approval until the Justice Department raised red flags.
In its current form, the settlement would entrust Google with a digital database containing millions of copyright-protected books, including volumes no longer being published. The Internet search leader would act as the sales agent for the authors and publishers,giving 63% of the revenue to the copyright holders.
The Justice Department believes the arrangement could lead to collusion that would raise the prices for digital books a format that is expected to become increasingly popular with the advent of electronic readers such as Amazon's Kindle.
Google contends its plan to make digital copies of so many hard-to-find books would benefit society by making more knowledge available to anyone with an Internet connection.
For that reason, the Justice Department has said it hopes an acceptable compromise can be worked out.
Under a change approved on Monday,Google and groups representing US authors and publishers now have until Friday to change an agreement reached more than a year ago. It marked the latest twist in a copyright lawsuit that the authors and publishers filed against Google's digital book project four years ago.
The revisions to the settlement were supposed to be filed by the end of Monday, but Google and its negotiating partners told US District Judge Denny Chin they still needed to address objections raised in September by the US Justice Department. Chin signed off on the extension without comment.
The Justice Department has warned it probably would try to block the current agreement from taking effect because antitrust regulators had concluded it threatened to thwart competition and drive up prices.
Some of the Justice Department's preliminary findings echoed concerns from a chorus of critics that include Google rivals Microsoft Corp, Yahoo Inc and Amazon.com Inc.
Google had insisted the settlement merited court approval until the Justice Department raised red flags.
In its current form, the settlement would entrust Google with a digital database containing millions of copyright-protected books, including volumes no longer being published. The Internet search leader would act as the sales agent for the authors and publishers,giving 63% of the revenue to the copyright holders.
The Justice Department believes the arrangement could lead to collusion that would raise the prices for digital books a format that is expected to become increasingly popular with the advent of electronic readers such as Amazon's Kindle.
Google contends its plan to make digital copies of so many hard-to-find books would benefit society by making more knowledge available to anyone with an Internet connection.
For that reason, the Justice Department has said it hopes an acceptable compromise can be worked out.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
INSPIRATIONAL LIVING
Intukarn GajaseniSirisant brings Martha Stewart s Midas touch to the Thai edition of Martha Stewart Living writes Samila Wenin
Intukarn Gajaseni Sirisant may be better known as an Isabella Bird-type than a Mrs Dalloway, as evidenced in the myriads of postcards collected from numerous places she's visited all over the world - a passion that earned the 41-year-old beauty over half a decade-long editorship post at Honeymoon & Travel magazine. Those who have not known the other side of Intukarn frowned when she took up the editor-in-chief post for the newly launched Martha Stewart Living Thailand.
"Travel is my passion and I used to travel a lot. But I have this domestic side the Martha Stewart side - and it's my daily life," she said.
Those close to her remember Intukarn as an excellent cook. She used to work as contributing editor for the culinary website Pai-Kin-Khao (Let's Go Eat), won a cooking contest and also co-wrote a culinary book titled,Spice of Life: The Recipes & Cooking Culture of Thailand , with renowned food stylist-columnist Ekarin Yusuksomboon.
"The magazine is pretty close to who I am and my lifestyle, and I believe this would make it easier for me to understand what it's trying to present to readers," she explained.
"Martha Stewart Living is a magazine for women who are interested in cooking,entertaining guests, home-keeping and doing crafts. I love to cook and entertain my friends with my home-cooked meals on the weekends. And that's why I said yes right away when I was offered the job. It's a very good opportunity."
As part of the preparations for the launch of Martha Stewart Living Thailand, Intukarn,along with Post International Media Managing Director Siri Udomritthiruj, sales manager and art director flew to Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia's headquarters in New York to undergo training. Visiting the empire of the domestic queen is, as Intukarn reflected, both practical and inspirational. For example, the beautiful office that overlooks Hudson River boasts a large kitchen for the cooking team to try recipes and deliver the freshly-cooked dish to the studio for a photoshoot right from the stove.
"What I have learned is that those who work here always go into great detail. They are real experts in the field and not just writers who go to interview experts. The crafts editor, for example, has innumerable materials stored in her office so that she can come up with and work on new ideas all the time. As for the food section, we have learned that each recipe has to be tried and tested by experts several times before it appears in the magazine."
The team also has to work closely with headquarters. With the current content comprising of picked-up stories from the US edition and local stories -at the proportion of 80 to 20 percent - the Thai editorial team is required to send the content line-up to headquarters for approval.
"The condition set for me is that, no matter what we do, the magazine has to stick to the Martha Stewart Living character.It has to be Martha and not any other woman. There are three key points in the framework we have to bear in mind. First,the stories are accessible for Thai readers.Second, each issue must come in a harmonious colour tone that is pleasing to the eyes for readers. Finally, you need to have a well-proportioned combination of stories to ensure the flow of content."
Despite a large number of home, cooking and decoration magazines dominating local magazine racks, Intukarn remains confident that Martha Stewart Living Thailand will be able to secure its place in the publishing industry. Using her own experience as an example, she said that, unlike other home and decoration magazines which mostly feature content with respect to global trends,Martha Stewart Living does not pay heed to trends and instead offers ideas and tips that are timeless."I've been a fan of the magazine even before I became editor. I often borrowed ideas from it and never trashed a copy. When I was offered the job,I went back to the old issues and found that those ideas and recipes can be used even today. It's more like a reference book for dreamers and doers."
Intukarn Gajaseni Sirisant may be better known as an Isabella Bird-type than a Mrs Dalloway, as evidenced in the myriads of postcards collected from numerous places she's visited all over the world - a passion that earned the 41-year-old beauty over half a decade-long editorship post at Honeymoon & Travel magazine. Those who have not known the other side of Intukarn frowned when she took up the editor-in-chief post for the newly launched Martha Stewart Living Thailand.
"Travel is my passion and I used to travel a lot. But I have this domestic side the Martha Stewart side - and it's my daily life," she said.
Those close to her remember Intukarn as an excellent cook. She used to work as contributing editor for the culinary website Pai-Kin-Khao (Let's Go Eat), won a cooking contest and also co-wrote a culinary book titled,Spice of Life: The Recipes & Cooking Culture of Thailand , with renowned food stylist-columnist Ekarin Yusuksomboon.
"The magazine is pretty close to who I am and my lifestyle, and I believe this would make it easier for me to understand what it's trying to present to readers," she explained.
"Martha Stewart Living is a magazine for women who are interested in cooking,entertaining guests, home-keeping and doing crafts. I love to cook and entertain my friends with my home-cooked meals on the weekends. And that's why I said yes right away when I was offered the job. It's a very good opportunity."
As part of the preparations for the launch of Martha Stewart Living Thailand, Intukarn,along with Post International Media Managing Director Siri Udomritthiruj, sales manager and art director flew to Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia's headquarters in New York to undergo training. Visiting the empire of the domestic queen is, as Intukarn reflected, both practical and inspirational. For example, the beautiful office that overlooks Hudson River boasts a large kitchen for the cooking team to try recipes and deliver the freshly-cooked dish to the studio for a photoshoot right from the stove.
"What I have learned is that those who work here always go into great detail. They are real experts in the field and not just writers who go to interview experts. The crafts editor, for example, has innumerable materials stored in her office so that she can come up with and work on new ideas all the time. As for the food section, we have learned that each recipe has to be tried and tested by experts several times before it appears in the magazine."
The team also has to work closely with headquarters. With the current content comprising of picked-up stories from the US edition and local stories -at the proportion of 80 to 20 percent - the Thai editorial team is required to send the content line-up to headquarters for approval.
"The condition set for me is that, no matter what we do, the magazine has to stick to the Martha Stewart Living character.It has to be Martha and not any other woman. There are three key points in the framework we have to bear in mind. First,the stories are accessible for Thai readers.Second, each issue must come in a harmonious colour tone that is pleasing to the eyes for readers. Finally, you need to have a well-proportioned combination of stories to ensure the flow of content."
Despite a large number of home, cooking and decoration magazines dominating local magazine racks, Intukarn remains confident that Martha Stewart Living Thailand will be able to secure its place in the publishing industry. Using her own experience as an example, she said that, unlike other home and decoration magazines which mostly feature content with respect to global trends,Martha Stewart Living does not pay heed to trends and instead offers ideas and tips that are timeless."I've been a fan of the magazine even before I became editor. I often borrowed ideas from it and never trashed a copy. When I was offered the job,I went back to the old issues and found that those ideas and recipes can be used even today. It's more like a reference book for dreamers and doers."
Below the surface
Sadly, Thai literature is little known outside Southeast Asia. What few books come to Western minds about the Realm were penned by farangs (i.e. Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon;A Woman of Bangkok by Jack Reynolds). For that matter authors from Japan, China and India are only marginally better known overseas.
To the extent that Prabhassorn Savikul rings a bell, it is from his distinguished career in the Thai Foreign Service, from which he retired after 40 years. He took to writing short stories and for a spell was President of the Writers' Association of Thailand.Letter from a Blind Old Man is his most recent work, comprising 10 short stories, the title referring to one of them.
This is a thin volume of 133 numbered pages, with two blank pages between each story. Perusing it, this reviewer realises that he writes by indirection.Prabhassorn has something to say and does so offhandedly. Thais and expats will pick up on it because they live here and share the experiences of the personae, but readers abroad might not.
His perspective is that of an old man witnessing the ongoing modernising in the Land of Smiles and nostalgically recalls the time it supersedes. Change isn't synonymous with progress. What disturbs him mostly is that the elderly,though hardworking for decades and who fought in past wars, are treated as
doddering fools now and forgotten in death.
Their children left the farm for the big city,never to return. The cottage industries which were the mainstay of the economy have given way to factories, mom and pop shops to 7-elevens, rice paddies to condominiums, bahtbuses to the Skytrain.The populace is clamouring for TVs, computers, mobile phones.Politicians lie. The rich only care about getting richer.
None of which the author rants about.Perhaps his is the style of his Foreign Office reports, couched in politically correct language. His references to the street demonstrations of the 1970s, put down with bloodshed, are meaningful to us but not to outsiders. The underlying current of these stories is why is there no empathy for those who fell trying to bring about democracy?
The Thais, once noted for their kindness and patience, are in the process of losing both. After initially displaying politeness, sales personnel turn rude. The senile are laughed at to their face. Bus drivers treat their passengers with contempt. Activists disappear. Selfishness is the order of the day, greed is their watchword.
Perhaps this reviewer is overstating Prabhassorn's theme, yet I don't think so. It's there, just below the surface. For which Letter from a Blind Old Man is an irritating read. He also takes odd topics and goes off on free association trips.An ear turning up at the Lost & Found.Van Gogh's? A skull, etc. It's not a profound book yet offers some insights.
To the extent that Prabhassorn Savikul rings a bell, it is from his distinguished career in the Thai Foreign Service, from which he retired after 40 years. He took to writing short stories and for a spell was President of the Writers' Association of Thailand.Letter from a Blind Old Man is his most recent work, comprising 10 short stories, the title referring to one of them.
This is a thin volume of 133 numbered pages, with two blank pages between each story. Perusing it, this reviewer realises that he writes by indirection.Prabhassorn has something to say and does so offhandedly. Thais and expats will pick up on it because they live here and share the experiences of the personae, but readers abroad might not.
His perspective is that of an old man witnessing the ongoing modernising in the Land of Smiles and nostalgically recalls the time it supersedes. Change isn't synonymous with progress. What disturbs him mostly is that the elderly,though hardworking for decades and who fought in past wars, are treated as
doddering fools now and forgotten in death.
Their children left the farm for the big city,never to return. The cottage industries which were the mainstay of the economy have given way to factories, mom and pop shops to 7-elevens, rice paddies to condominiums, bahtbuses to the Skytrain.The populace is clamouring for TVs, computers, mobile phones.Politicians lie. The rich only care about getting richer.
None of which the author rants about.Perhaps his is the style of his Foreign Office reports, couched in politically correct language. His references to the street demonstrations of the 1970s, put down with bloodshed, are meaningful to us but not to outsiders. The underlying current of these stories is why is there no empathy for those who fell trying to bring about democracy?
The Thais, once noted for their kindness and patience, are in the process of losing both. After initially displaying politeness, sales personnel turn rude. The senile are laughed at to their face. Bus drivers treat their passengers with contempt. Activists disappear. Selfishness is the order of the day, greed is their watchword.
Perhaps this reviewer is overstating Prabhassorn's theme, yet I don't think so. It's there, just below the surface. For which Letter from a Blind Old Man is an irritating read. He also takes odd topics and goes off on free association trips.An ear turning up at the Lost & Found.Van Gogh's? A skull, etc. It's not a profound book yet offers some insights.
SCREEN PRINTERS AIM TO ENHANCE TECHNOLOGY
The screen-printing industry plans to spend Bt600 million from the government's "Creative Economy" budget on enhancing its technology and expanding the market in a bid to achieve regional-hub status in the next five years.
Pirach Thampipit, president of Thai Screen Printing and Graphic Imaging Association, said the sector was a genuinely creative industry which adds high value to another 18 industries, including textiles, ceramics, gifts, toys, advertising billboards, automotive and electronics.
"Say you buy a Bt100 T-shirt and pay Bt10 for screen printing, then you sell it for Bt250. This is an easy demonstration that although the direct value of screen printing is about Bt10 billion, it can create indirect value to the country of more than Bt100 billion each year," he said.
Under the plan, he said the industry would spend the approved budget on developing know-how and technology among local manufacturers, whose current technology follows that used in Japan and South Korea.
One of the big difficulties in promoting local screen printing is that Thailand has none of its own global-brand products, he added.
"Japan has Toyota and Korea has Samsung, companies which encourage their small and medium-sized enterprises to conduct research and improve their competency. But we have none. That's why we asked for the budget to do our own research and position ourselves as the best original-equipment manufacturers in the screen-printing industry instead," he added.
Pirach said the association would cooperate with seven industries in developing printing to match demand. The selected industries are toys, gifts, advertisements, ceramics, textiles, handmade products and stationery.
The implementation of the Asean Free Trade Agreement next year will be an opportunity for Thai manufacturers to expand their business in other countries with cheaper costs and to enlarge their customer base in the region.
He said Thailand had been listed in the top four for screen printing in Southeast Asia, the other three countries being Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
"We've just created the world's first-ever standard for screen printing. This will be an important step to push forward development in our industry, as it will make our people more enthusiastic about improving their production quality," he said.
He added that the association was cooperating with the Thai Industrial Standards Institute to set up a TISI standard for the screen-printing industry.
Pirach Thampipit, president of Thai Screen Printing and Graphic Imaging Association, said the sector was a genuinely creative industry which adds high value to another 18 industries, including textiles, ceramics, gifts, toys, advertising billboards, automotive and electronics.
"Say you buy a Bt100 T-shirt and pay Bt10 for screen printing, then you sell it for Bt250. This is an easy demonstration that although the direct value of screen printing is about Bt10 billion, it can create indirect value to the country of more than Bt100 billion each year," he said.
Under the plan, he said the industry would spend the approved budget on developing know-how and technology among local manufacturers, whose current technology follows that used in Japan and South Korea.
One of the big difficulties in promoting local screen printing is that Thailand has none of its own global-brand products, he added.
"Japan has Toyota and Korea has Samsung, companies which encourage their small and medium-sized enterprises to conduct research and improve their competency. But we have none. That's why we asked for the budget to do our own research and position ourselves as the best original-equipment manufacturers in the screen-printing industry instead," he added.
Pirach said the association would cooperate with seven industries in developing printing to match demand. The selected industries are toys, gifts, advertisements, ceramics, textiles, handmade products and stationery.
The implementation of the Asean Free Trade Agreement next year will be an opportunity for Thai manufacturers to expand their business in other countries with cheaper costs and to enlarge their customer base in the region.
He said Thailand had been listed in the top four for screen printing in Southeast Asia, the other three countries being Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
"We've just created the world's first-ever standard for screen printing. This will be an important step to push forward development in our industry, as it will make our people more enthusiastic about improving their production quality," he said.
He added that the association was cooperating with the Thai Industrial Standards Institute to set up a TISI standard for the screen-printing industry.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Magnificent seven
In the most important, most revered event since the invention of the brontosaurus trap,Microsoft shipped the most incredibly fabulous operating system ever made; the release of Windows 7 also spurred a new generation of personal computers of all sizes at prices well below last month's offers.The top reason Windows 7 does not suck: There is no registered website called Windows7Sucks.com
Kindle e-book reader maker Amazon.com and new Nook e-book reader vendor Barnes and Noble got it on; B&N got great reviews for the "Kindle killer"Nook, with dual screens and touch controls so you can "turn" pages, plays MP3s and allows many non-B&N book formats, although not the Kindle one;Amazon then killed the US version of its Kindle in favour of the international one, reduced its price to $260(8,700 baht), same as the Nook; it's not yet clear what you can get in Thailand with a Nook, but you sure can't (yet) get much, relatively speaking, with a Kindle;but here's the biggest difference so far,which Amazon.com has ignored: the Nook lets you lend e-books to any other Nook owner, just as if they were paper books; the borrowed books expire on the borrower's Nook in two weeks.
Phone maker Nokia of Finland announced it is suing iPhone maker Apple of America for being a copycat; lawyers said they figure Nokia can get at least one, probably two per cent (retail) for every iPhone sold by Steve "President for Life" Jobs and crew via the lawsuit,which sure beats working for it -$6 (200 baht) to $12(400 baht) on 30 million phones sold so far, works out to $400 million or 25 percent of the whole Apple empire profits during the last quarter;there were 10 patent thefts, the Finnish executives said, on everything from moving data to security and encryption.
Nokia of Finland announced that it is one month behind on shipping its new flagship N900 phone, the first to run on Linux software; delay of the $750(25,000 baht) phone had absolutely no part in making Nokia so short that it had to sue Apple, slap yourself for such a thought.
Tim Berners-Lee, who created the World Wide Web, said he had one regret:the double slash that follows the "http:"in standard web addresses; he estimated that 14.2 gazillion users have wasted 48.72 bazillion hours typing those two keystrokes, and he's sorry; of course there's no reason to ever type that, since your browser does it for you when you type "www.bangkokpost.com" but Tim needs to admit he made one error in his lifetime.
The International Telecommunication Union of the United Nations, which doesn't sell any phones or services, announced that there should be a mobile phone charger that will work with any phone; now who would ever have thought of that, without a UN body to wind up a major study on the subject?;the GSM Association estimates that 51,000 tonnes of chargers are made each year in order to keep companies able to have their own unique ones.
The Well, Doh Award of the Week was presented at arm's length to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development; the group's deputy secretary-general Petko Draganov said that developing countries will miss some of the stuff available on the Internet if they don't install more broadband infrastructure; a report that used your tax baht to compile said that quite a few people use mobile phones but companies are more likely to invest in countries with excellent broadband connections; no one ever had thought of this before, right?
Sun Microsystems , as a result of the Oracle takeover, said it will allow 3,000 current workers never to bother coming to work again; Sun referred to the losses as "jobs," not people; now the fourth largest server maker in the world, Sun said it lost $2.2 billion in its last fiscal year; European regulators are holding up approval of the Oracle purchase in the hope of getting some money in exchange for not involving Oracle in court cases.
The multi-gazillionaire and very annoying investor Carl Icahn resigned from the board at Yahoo ; he spun it as a vote of confidence, saying current directors are taking the formerly threatened company seriously; Yahoo reported increased profits but smaller revenues in the third quarter.
The US House of Representatives voted to censure Vietnam for jailing bloggers; the non-binding resolution sponsored by southern California congresswoman Loretta Sanchez said the Internet is "a crucial tool for the citizens of Vietnam to be able to exercise their freedom of expression and association;"Hanoi has recently jailed at least nine activists for up to six years apiece for holding pro-democracy banners. Iran jailed blogger Hossein "Hoder" Derakshan for 10 months - in solitary confinement.
Kindle e-book reader maker Amazon.com and new Nook e-book reader vendor Barnes and Noble got it on; B&N got great reviews for the "Kindle killer"Nook, with dual screens and touch controls so you can "turn" pages, plays MP3s and allows many non-B&N book formats, although not the Kindle one;Amazon then killed the US version of its Kindle in favour of the international one, reduced its price to $260(8,700 baht), same as the Nook; it's not yet clear what you can get in Thailand with a Nook, but you sure can't (yet) get much, relatively speaking, with a Kindle;but here's the biggest difference so far,which Amazon.com has ignored: the Nook lets you lend e-books to any other Nook owner, just as if they were paper books; the borrowed books expire on the borrower's Nook in two weeks.
Phone maker Nokia of Finland announced it is suing iPhone maker Apple of America for being a copycat; lawyers said they figure Nokia can get at least one, probably two per cent (retail) for every iPhone sold by Steve "President for Life" Jobs and crew via the lawsuit,which sure beats working for it -$6 (200 baht) to $12(400 baht) on 30 million phones sold so far, works out to $400 million or 25 percent of the whole Apple empire profits during the last quarter;there were 10 patent thefts, the Finnish executives said, on everything from moving data to security and encryption.
Nokia of Finland announced that it is one month behind on shipping its new flagship N900 phone, the first to run on Linux software; delay of the $750(25,000 baht) phone had absolutely no part in making Nokia so short that it had to sue Apple, slap yourself for such a thought.
Tim Berners-Lee, who created the World Wide Web, said he had one regret:the double slash that follows the "http:"in standard web addresses; he estimated that 14.2 gazillion users have wasted 48.72 bazillion hours typing those two keystrokes, and he's sorry; of course there's no reason to ever type that, since your browser does it for you when you type "www.bangkokpost.com" but Tim needs to admit he made one error in his lifetime.
The International Telecommunication Union of the United Nations, which doesn't sell any phones or services, announced that there should be a mobile phone charger that will work with any phone; now who would ever have thought of that, without a UN body to wind up a major study on the subject?;the GSM Association estimates that 51,000 tonnes of chargers are made each year in order to keep companies able to have their own unique ones.
The Well, Doh Award of the Week was presented at arm's length to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development; the group's deputy secretary-general Petko Draganov said that developing countries will miss some of the stuff available on the Internet if they don't install more broadband infrastructure; a report that used your tax baht to compile said that quite a few people use mobile phones but companies are more likely to invest in countries with excellent broadband connections; no one ever had thought of this before, right?
Sun Microsystems , as a result of the Oracle takeover, said it will allow 3,000 current workers never to bother coming to work again; Sun referred to the losses as "jobs," not people; now the fourth largest server maker in the world, Sun said it lost $2.2 billion in its last fiscal year; European regulators are holding up approval of the Oracle purchase in the hope of getting some money in exchange for not involving Oracle in court cases.
The multi-gazillionaire and very annoying investor Carl Icahn resigned from the board at Yahoo ; he spun it as a vote of confidence, saying current directors are taking the formerly threatened company seriously; Yahoo reported increased profits but smaller revenues in the third quarter.
The US House of Representatives voted to censure Vietnam for jailing bloggers; the non-binding resolution sponsored by southern California congresswoman Loretta Sanchez said the Internet is "a crucial tool for the citizens of Vietnam to be able to exercise their freedom of expression and association;"Hanoi has recently jailed at least nine activists for up to six years apiece for holding pro-democracy banners. Iran jailed blogger Hossein "Hoder" Derakshan for 10 months - in solitary confinement.
The world in art
Ever since Yves Carcelle launched "Louis Vuitton: Art, Fashion and Architecture" in September, the 400-page three0in-one book has become a collector's item. This collabo ration of nearly 100 artistts, photographers,architects since 1980s is a celebration of the brand and features works bu pi9oneers Cesar, Sol Lewitt and Oliver Debre, as well as by Marc Jacobs, stehen Sprouse, Takashi Muragami and Richard Prince. There are also some stunning shots of advertising campaigns captured by InezVan Lamsweerde& Vinoodh Matadin, Jean Lariviere and Annie Leibovitz.
The illustrated anthology is supplemented by critical essays that analyse and shed new light on
Vuitton's commitment during one of the most fertile periods of contemporary creation. Written by international critics from the world of art, fashion and architecture, the boos are in three languages-French,English and Italian.
The deluxe edition exclusively designed by takashi Murakami will soon be for sale in louis Vuitton stores and through
www.Louis Vuitton.com.
The illustrated anthology is supplemented by critical essays that analyse and shed new light on
Vuitton's commitment during one of the most fertile periods of contemporary creation. Written by international critics from the world of art, fashion and architecture, the boos are in three languages-French,English and Italian.
The deluxe edition exclusively designed by takashi Murakami will soon be for sale in louis Vuitton stores and through
www.Louis Vuitton.com.
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