Onyx explores possible sale after rejecting Amgen offer

By Ryan Vlastelica and Olivia Oran

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cancer drugmaker Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Sunday it rejected a roughly $10 billion takeover offer from larger biotechnology company Amgen Inc as too low but still is considering selling itself.

Onyx said Amgen's cash offer of $120 a share, which represents a premium of about 38 percent to the company's Friday closing price, "significantly undervalued" its prospects.

Deutsche Bank analyst Robin Karnauskas estimated Onyx's value to a merger partner at up to $148 a share. At $140 a share, the deal would add to Amgen's earnings starting in 2015, she said in a research note.

Onyx said in a statement it was "actively exploring" a merger partner, and that it had hired financial advisor Centerview Partners to contact potential buyers. The San Francisco-based company cited "expressions of interest" from Amgen and other unnamed third parties.

An Onyx spokeswoman declined to comment further on the statement. Amgen did not respond to a request for comment.

Onyx has a market cap of $6.32 billion and revenue of $362 million in 2012, while Amgen is the world's largest biotech company, with a market cap of about $74 billion.

Onyx sells Nexavar, a treatment for liver and kidney cancer, as well as colon cancer drug Stivarga in partnership with German pharmaceutical company Bayer AG . Last year, Onyx launched sales of blood cancer drug Krypolis, which Karnauskas estimates will reach peak annual sales of $3 billion.

Amgen has been looking for new ways to boost its product pipeline as sales for its flagship anemia drugs Aranesp and Epogen have been in a decline for years because of usage restrictions and safety concerns.

Chief Executive Officer Bob Bradway, who took the helm of the Thousand Oaks, California company just over a year ago, has been able to keep investors happy with higher dividends and share repurchases.

Amgen said earlier this year it was making a push into biosimilars - cheaper alternative versions of biotech medicines - with plans to launch six beginning in 2017.

Amgen's first-quarter sales fell short of expectations, as revenue for the period rose 5 percent to $4.24 billion which was short of Wall Street projections of $4.37 billion.

The Financial Post reported the offer on Friday, sparking a steep jump in Onyx shares in after-hours trading.

As of Friday's close, shares of Onyx had gained 31 percent over the past 12 months. Shares of Amgen were up 35 percent over the same period.

ISI Group analyst Mark Schoenebaum wrote that if a deal were to be made, Onyx's Kyprolis would fit well into Amgen's cancer drug sales and marketing infrastructure and complement Amgen's portfolio of cancer drugs.

Kyprolis, developed for patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least two prior therapies, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last July.

Large pharmaceutical companies have increasingly been looking to acquire smaller biotech firms to gain access to new drugs, often cancer drugs which can command high prices, as they face significant revenue losses stemming from expired patents.

This need has driven the volume of healthcare M&A in the first six months of 2013 to $93.6 billion up 30.2 percent over the same period last year.

Recent deals include generic drugmaker Actavis Inc's $8.5 billion acquisition of Warner Chilcott and Human Genome Sciences' $3 billion sale to GlaxoSmithKline Plc .

(Additional reporting by Deena Beasley; Editing by Doina Chiacu, Bill Trott, Marguerita Choy and Diane Craft)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/onyx-explores-possible-sale-rejecting-amgen-offer-001519575.html

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U.S. justices to hear presidential appointments case (reuters)

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Ask A Google Street View Driver Anything You Want

So you're on the Google and you want to see what a road in Turkey looks like. You click on the map, and, holy crap, there's a photo of it at street level. That's thanks to Google Street View, where they use cars and bikes to take pictures of the world. And now one of the drivers is here to answer your questions.

Street View is one of the cooler, and more intrusive, mapping features that we've ever seen. A camera mounted on top of a car takes 360 degree pictures as it drives up and down streets. Those pictures then get uploaded to the internets months later for your viewing pleasure. And then you see some cool stuff, like Google spying on Google or a donkey that appears dead.

I once saw the car driving down the street in my neighborhood. I'm anxiously waiting for the day when the pictures of me running after it appear online.

Due to non-disclosure agreements and Google's secretive nature, we cannot reveal the identity of the driver that has agreed to risk life and limb to talk to you today. But we are satisfied with the proof he has provided us that he is who he says he is.

So jump in below. The driver will be here for the next hour to answer any and all of your questions about what goes in to driving the car, weird things he's seen, so on and so forth.

Have at it!

Source: http://jalopnik.com/ask-a-google-street-view-driver-anything-you-want-573386321

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Destin: Top 10 Favorite Things to Do | Kiss My Gumbo

by Greta on June 24, 2013

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My family and I have been bigs fans of vacationing in Destin, even before we had to travel farther than 4.5 hours. We have made many memories there and will continue to go back at least once or twice a year. Over the past 10 years, we have enjoyed the beaches and surrounding areas of Destin and even thought the kids are older, tend to flock to the same things. We tend to not eat out very much and spend a lot of quality family time together.

1. Enjoy the beach as much as humanly possible! If others get bored or burnt ? too bad (LOL).
2. Hanging with family and friends at a rented house or condo, playing board games and barbecuing.
3. Getting a Margarita at the Crab Trap beach bar. Yum!
4. The inflatable slides and trampolines near the Whale?s Tail. (they give military discounts)
5. Stopping by theoutlets on a rainy day or after the last day checkout.
6. Renting a boat, or better yet, getting invited on a boat and hanging at Crab Island.
7. Getting Red Velvet and Key Lime donuts from The Donut Hole.
8. Making a trip to Candymaker at Destin Commons.
9. Go Karts at The Track.
10. Hit up the swimming pool on the property for a break (kids not me).

And FYI ? I?m not getting paid to list any of these places.

As far as rental properties, most the time we stick with Resortquest.

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Source: http://www.kissmygumbo.com/2013/06/24/destin-top-10-favorite-things-to-do/

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Sennheiser HD 219s

Sennheiser's HD 219s headphones are a fairly unassuming pair compared with the typical, bulky, around-the-ear style pair we often see from the German manufacturer. At $79.95 (direct), the lightweight, comfortable headphones are also atypical in terms of their sound signature?yes, the usual crisp highs we associate with Sennheiser are here, but the low frequency response of the HD 219s seems less powerful. At top volumes, there is also a bit of distortion on deep bass tracks?worshippers of low frequencies should look elsewhere. Those seeking a more flat response-style pair in the price range will enjoy the HD 219s's overall sound signature. The headphones include an inline remote and microphone for mobile devices, and almost no accessories.

Design
The lightweight, supra-aural (on-ear) design of the HD 219s consists of a black matte plastic headband and pivoting earcups. The ear pads are amply cushioned, as is the underside of the headband, and the frame rests gently on both the ears and scalp, making this pair ideal for long listening sessions.

The earcups fold down flat, but the headphone frame doesn't collapse down for easier storage, nor do they ship with a carrying pouch to stuff them in. The only included accessory, in fact, is an adapter for the cable to fit Nokia-type phone jacks.

Call clarity through the inline mic is fine. The remote control has a single button that controls playback, track navigation, and call answering, depending on how many times you tap it and when. There's a volume slider built-in to the control compartment?a nice solution that keeps the remote universal while still allowing for volume adjustments. (Most three-button remotes, with volume controls, are for iPhones only, and most single button remotes lack volume controls.)

Performance
On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like the Knife's "Silent Shout," the HD 219s distorts a bit at maximum volume (on both the remote and the volume source?in this case, an iPhone 4S). At more moderate volumes, the distortion disappears, and the low frequency response is rich and articulate, but not as powerful as it would be on a pair with seriously boosted bass response.

Bill Callahan's voice on "Drover" is delivered with an ideal combination of crisp high-mid presence and rich low-mids, allowing a little bit of treble edge to add some definition to his smooth baritone vocals. The drumming on this track often sounds unnatural on heavily bass-boosted pairs, but the HD 219s doesn't seem to add much of anything in terms of low end to the constant thump of the drums, which can make the track sound a bit thin at times. If you favor a crisp response with nice detail throughout the mid-ranges, however, the HD 219s delivers?it's obviously just not a pair for bass fiends.

Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild" gets the best and worst of the HD 219s's sound signature. On the one hand, the attack of the kick drum loop gets a nice, crunchy attack that sometimes sounds dull on pairs that boost the bass too much. On the other, since the HD 219s doesn't do a whole lot of boosting of the lows, in general, the sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat fade into the background here. The focus on the mids makes the HD 219s an ideal pair for listening to vocals, however, whether they're Callahan's or Kanye West's?voices are clear and crisp, but never brittle or overly-sibilant.

Classical tracks, like John Adams' "The Chairman Dances," predictably end up being a showcase for the higher register strings and brass through the HD 219s?these are the instruments that tend to take the spotlight anyway on classical recordings, which are more transparently recorded and mixed than modern pop and rock records. This means that the lower register strings and deeper percussion hits don't get much of a boost at all. The track doesn't sound brittle, but again, this is a sound signature that will appeal more to flat response-seekers.

If you're not a deep bass lover and don't listen to a lot of electronic music or hip hop with deep low frequency content, it's easier to look past the distortion that only occurs at maximum (unwise) listening levels. But if you're looking for a pair in this price range that can pump out deep lows at high volumes, the Skullcandy Navigator is a solid option. If you're looking for crisp highs paired with a bit more bass than the HD 219s offers, the Sennheiser HD 429s is a well-balanced, distortion-free pair with solid bass and crisp highs. For a bit more, the Logitech UE 4000 offers great balance, as well. If all of these are out of your price range, the RHA SA950i is an affordable option that is far from perfect, but offers decent audio performance for the price. At $80, the Sennheiser HD 219s provides solid performance if you don't need the deep bass, but it's a non-option if you do, and it exists in a field full of capable headphones.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/txQYxmPUEtA/0,2817,2420740,00.asp

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Mysterious Ancient Orbs, The Fountain of Youth in Your Brain, And More

We've had a busy week, including our brand-new look. But what hasn't changed is that we've still got a whole bunch of posts for you to peruse. Between the spire on WTC One, the next killer feature in smartphones, Google Now for iOS, the AK-47's big makeover, Iron Man costumes and more, we've got something for everyone. Check it out below.

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Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/BVTAES6BZDs/mysterious-ancient-orbs-the-fountain-of-youth-in-your-489699558

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James leads Heat over Bucks and into next round

MILWAUKEE (AP) ? LeBron James can cross another item off his to-do list.

James scored 30 points, Ray Allen had another big game against his old team and the Miami Heat got their first playoff sweep in the Big Three era, advancing to the Eastern Conference semifinals with an 88-77 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday.

"It was our next big step as far as our growth," James said. "It's so hard to win on the road in the playoffs, in someone's building ? especially when someone is playing for their last life. It's a big step for us."

And now the Heat have some much-needed time to rest. Dwyane Wade sat out Sunday's game, only the second postseason game he's missed in his career, because of his aching right knee. But with Miami not playing until next Saturday, at the earliest, he'll have plenty of time to treat the three bone bruises that caused him to miss six games near the end of the regular season.

Miami plays the winner of the Brooklyn-Chicago series. The Bulls lead that series 3-1, with Game 5 on Monday night in New York.

"It's big," Wade said of the time off. "Obviously, we're one of the oldest teams in the league, maybe the oldest team in terms of rotation players. Guys have some bumps and bruises coming out of this series, so it's going to be great to get some rest. But also we have to take this time to continue to stay sharp, to continue to stay in shape as well."

Judging by the clinical way in which the Heat dissected the Bucks in this series, that isn't likely to be a problem.

The defending NBA champions won each game by double digits, getting contributions from their stars and subs alike. Allen finished with 16 points, the third time in the series he scored in double figures, and was 4 of 7 from 3-point range.

Udonis Haslem added 13 points and five rebounds, and Mario Chalmers kicked in eight rebounds and six assists for Miami, which never trailed Sunday.

"They had the whole package," Bucks coach Jim Boylan said. "When you can afford to sit guy like Dwyane Wade and perform at the level they performed at, that's a championship-caliber team."

Monta Ellis led the Bucks with 21 points, and Larry Sanders had 11 rebounds to go with seven points.

But Milwaukee got almost nothing again from Brandon Jennings, who didn't even play in the fourth quarter. Jennings, who had guaranteed the Bucks would win the series in six games, finished with three points on 1-of-7 shooting.

After scoring 26 points in Game 1, Jennings had 27 total in the final three.

"Frustrated, a little down because I came into this season with so much confidence," he said. "I thought we had a chance to steal a game in Game 1, Game 2. We let that slip away from us. Game 3, we came back home. Had a 10-point lead, lost that. I mean it's frustration all around."

The Heat had chances to sweep their first-round series in each of the last two seasons, taking 3-0 leads on Philadelphia (2011) and New York (2012). But they couldn't close it out, losing Game 4 each year.

That wasn't going to happen against the Bucks. Even with Wade reduced to a spectator.

Wade got treatment "around the clock" the last two days in hopes of playing Sunday, and he tested his knee before the game. But he and the Heat decided it wasn't worth risking aggravating the injury further, and he spent the entire game on the bench in his warmups.

"He gave me the nod saying he wasn't going to go, so I knew had to pick it up a little more and try to bring us home, bring this win home for us," James said.

That he did, adding eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals to his 30 points.

"We just space the floor and see if they can stop him. If not, he knows where we are," Allen said. "We just give him that room to operate."

The Heat led by as many as 11 in the first half, only to see the Bucks steadily chip away at the lead. When Mike Dunleavy drained a 3 and Ellis scored on a floater, it cut Miami's lead to 69-67 with 9:34 to play.

Ellis was fouled by Allen on the play, but he missed the free throw and James grabbed the rebound. He fed Allen, who knocked down ? what else, a 3. J.J. Redick missed a long 3 and James found an open Chalmers for another 3 that gave the Heat a 75-67 lead with 8:27 left.

The 3 was Chalmers' 80th in the postseason, tying Tim Hardaway's franchise record.

After Luc Richard Mbah a Moute made the second of two free throws, James scored on a layup. Redick made a jumper, but Shane Battier and Allen closed out the Bucks with a pair of 3s. James then converted a three-point play and added a layup to complete the 19-5 run ? a spurt in which he had a hand in every single Miami score.

"At some point during that stretch right there, he decided he was going to put his imprint on the game and he did. In a big way," Boylan said. "When you're a superstar player like he is, that's what superstar players do."

NOTES: The Heat have won eight straight postseason games dating to last season. That matches the franchise record. ... NBA Commissioner David Stern was in attendance. ... James scored 30 or more for the 54th time in the postseason, second only to Kobe Bryant among active players. ... Milwaukee had seven of its 16 turnovers in the first quarter. ... The Bucks are now 20-26 in elimination games. ... Packers LB Clay Matthews was at the game.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/james-leads-heat-over-bucks-next-round-220510707.html

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Michael Jackson's life and death back in spotlight in new trial

By Jill Serjeant

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Almost four years after his shocking death, the bizarre life and sorry demise of Michael Jackson will play out again in a $40 billion civil trial that pits the singer's family against the organizers of a musical comeback that never happened.

Opening statements are set for Monday in what is expected to be an emotional, three-month long jury trial that seeks to hold AEG Live, the promoters of the never-realized series of 2009 London concerts, liable for the wrongful death of the "Thriller" singer.

The lawsuit, brought by Jackson's elderly mother Katherine on behalf of the singer's three children, alleges that privately-held AEG Live was negligent in hiring the physician convicted in 2011 of his involuntary manslaughter to care for the singer while he rehearsed for the series of 50 shows.

Jackson, 50, drowning in debt and seeking to rebuild a reputation damaged by his 2005 trial and acquittal on child molestation charges, died in Los Angeles of an overdose of the powerful surgical anesthetic propofol and a cocktail of other sedatives in June 2009.

His personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, is serving a four-year prison sentence after being found criminally negligent by administering propofol to Jackson as a sleep aid.

Murray's six-week trial in 2011 portrayed the former child star known for his stunning dance moves and spectacular public performances as a slurring, drugged-up man off-stage who slept with a toy doll on his bed and whose planned comeback tour was plagued with problems.

The civil trial in Los Angeles is expected to be just as sensational, although a request by TV networks for live coverage was turned down.

AEG Live contends that it did not hire or supervise Murray and claims that Jackson had prescription drug problems for years before entering into any agreement for the "This is It" London concerts.

The concert promoters also argue that they could not have foreseen that Murray posed a danger to Jackson.

SEX ABUSE TRIAL MAY BE REVISITED

Los Angeles Superior Court judge Yvette Palazuelos ruled last month that AEG Live can raise Jackson's 2005 child abuse case as it may be relevant to the singer's history of prescription drug abuse and despondency.

Jackson's two oldest children, Prince, 16 and Paris, 15, are on the witness list this time, although neither testified in Murray's trial. Singers Prince and Diana Ross are also potential witnesses along with the singer's ex-wives, Lisa-Marie Presley and Debbie Rowe.

"Any time you start injecting family members and rather sensitive issues (into the mix), there are going to be strong feelings," former federal prosecutor Marcellus McRae told Reuters.

Murray is not being sued but is also on the witness list, although he has made clear from jail that he will refuse to answer questions for fear of jeopardizing his appeal process.

McRae, now a trial lawyer with Los Angeles firm Gibson Dunn, said that while the criminal trial focused heavily on medical and scientific evidence - including a defense theory that Jackson gave himself the fatal dose of propofol - the jury in the civil case has a very different task.

"The jurors are going to be asked to decide to what extent a third party can be held liable for the actions of someone else.

"To what extent did they (AEG Live) have visibility into what Dr. Murray was doing, did they encourage what he was doing? To what extent was whatever Dr. Murray did a reasonable and foreseeable consequence," McRae said.

Katherine Jackson, 82, and her son's three children are seeking some $40 billion in damages from AEG Live for loss of the singer's earnings and other damages.

AEG Live has argued in court papers that the figure is absurd because Jackson's career was in a downward spiral at the time of his death.

The final amount will be determined by the jury should it hold AEG Live liable for negligence.

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Paul Simao)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/michael-jacksons-life-death-back-spotlight-trial-113256210.html

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The After Math: Exploring Glass, Apple's cash and Nintendo's no-go keynote

Welcome to The After Math, where we attempt to summarize this week's tech news through numbers, decimal places and percentages

We've been getting our first unfiltered experiences with Google Glass this week, which makes it the perfect time to go over some of the salient points up until now. At the same time, Apple sold more hardware, more apps and made even more money -- it was largely another good quarter for the Cupertino coffers. Add in a million-second game show and there are more than enough numbers to play around with in this week's After Math.

Filed under: Wearables, Apple, Google

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/IdYDWKuAGAs/

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JPMorgan co-COO Bisignano leaves to run First Data

NEW YORK (AP) ? JPMorgan Chase & Co. said Sunday that one of its co-chief operating officers is leaving the company, marking the latest high-profile departure since the bank's massive trading loss last year.

Frank Bisignano will become CEO of payment processor First Data Corp. on Monday. Matt Zames, who was co-chief operating officer with Bisignano, will become the sole COO of JPMorgan Chase effective immediately.

First Data said Bisignano, 53, succeeds Ed Labry, who has been interim CEO and president of Retail and Alliance Services since Jan. 28. Labry will continue as president of Retail and Alliance Services.

Bisignano and Zames were named co-chief operating officers in a management reshuffle in July after JPMorgan Chase revealed a trading loss of about $6 billion. The massive loss became a focus of the risky bets taken at large banks and oversight of traders who make those bets. It also prompted congressional hearings, as well as investigations by international regulators.

Others called for the resignation of CEO Jamie Dimon, who initially called the trade a "tempest in a teapot." Dimon later backtracked and apologized several times for the mischaracterization after the scope of the loss was revealed.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that Bisignano would be the ninth executive in the past year and a half to leave Dimon's operating committee of key decision makers.

Dimon and Bisignano have known each other since the 1980s, according to the Journal, and worked together at Citibank.

Before he was named co-chief operating officer this summer, Zames had taken over as chief investment officer for Ina Drew, who resigned in the days after the big trading loss was revealed.

JPMorgan also said Sunday that Paul Compton will become chief administrative officer. He is currently co-chief administrative officer of the Corporate & Investment Bank and deputy head of operations for JPMorgan Chase.

Louis Rauchenberger, who shares Compton's current role, will become sole chief administrative officer of the Corporate and Investment Bank.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-04-28-JP%20Morgan-Personnel/id-2cdf1cb364f345f4b87afc8a86e08128

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Obama: Flight delay fix a 'Band-Aid'

A United Airlines jet departs in view of the air traffic control tower at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Tuesday, April 23, 2013, in Seattle. A day after flight delays plagued much of the U.S., air travel is smoother Tuesday. But the government is warning passengers that the situation can change by the hour as it runs the nation's air traffic control system with a smaller staff. Airlines and members of Congress urged the Federal Aviation Administration to find other ways to make mandatory budget cuts besides furloughing controllers. While delays haven't been terrible yet, the airlines are worried about the long-term impact late flights will have on their budgets and on fliers. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

A United Airlines jet departs in view of the air traffic control tower at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Tuesday, April 23, 2013, in Seattle. A day after flight delays plagued much of the U.S., air travel is smoother Tuesday. But the government is warning passengers that the situation can change by the hour as it runs the nation's air traffic control system with a smaller staff. Airlines and members of Congress urged the Federal Aviation Administration to find other ways to make mandatory budget cuts besides furloughing controllers. While delays haven't been terrible yet, the airlines are worried about the long-term impact late flights will have on their budgets and on fliers. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

A passenger sits at right in the international terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson airport, Friday, April 26, 2013, in Atlanta. Congress easily approved legislation Friday ending furloughs of air traffic controllers that have delayed hundreds of flights daily, infuriating travelers and causing political headaches for lawmakers.(AP Photo/David Goldman)

The control tower stands in the background as a passenger lays on the pavement outside the international terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson airport, Friday, April 26, 2013, in Atlanta. Congress easily approved legislation Friday ending furloughs of air traffic controllers that have delayed hundreds of flights daily, infuriating travelers and causing political headaches for lawmakers.(AP Photo/David Goldman)

The control tower stands in the background as a passenger paces while on the phone outside the international terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson airport, Friday, April 26, 2013, in Atlanta. Congress easily approved legislation Friday ending furloughs of air traffic controllers that have delayed hundreds of flights daily, infuriating travelers and causing political headaches for lawmakers.(AP Photo/David Goldman)

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chief Michael Huerta testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 24, 2013, before the House Appropriations subcommittee on Transportation hearing on flight delays that are being caused by the FAA's decision to furlough air traffic controllers because of mandatory budget cuts. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama says the congressional fix for widespread flight delays is an irresponsible way to govern, but he's prepared to sign the legislation that lawmakers fast-tracked.

He says the bipartisan bill to end furloughs of air traffic controllers is a "Band-Aid" solution rather than a lasting answer to this year's $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts known as the sequester.

The cuts have affected all federal agencies, and flight delays last week left thousands of travelers frustrated and furious and Congress feeling pressured to respond.

"Republicans claimed victory when the sequester first took effect, and now they've decided it was a bad idea all along," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address, aired Saturday.

He singled out the GOP even though the bill passed with overwhelming Democratic support in both the House and Senate.

The president scolded lawmakers for helping the Federal Aviation Administration while doing nothing to replace other cuts that he said harm federal employees, unemployed workers and preschoolers in Head Start.

"Maybe because they fly home each weekend, the members of Congress who insisted these cuts take hold finally realized that they actually apply to them, too," Obama said.

Rushed through Congress with remarkable speed, the bill marked a shift for Democrats who had hoped the impact of the cuts would increase pressure on Republicans to reverse the broad cuts.

Republicans have rejected Obama's proposal to replace the spending reductions with a mix of spending cuts and tax increases.

"There are some in the Obama administration who thought inflicting pain on the public would give the president more leverage to avoid making necessary spending cuts, and to impose more tax hikes on the American people," said Rep. Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania in the Republican address.

Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said the FAA could have averted the flight delays on its own by cutting costs elsewhere and rejiggering work schedules, but chose not to do so.

The bill signed by Obama would let the FAA use up to $253 million from an airport improvement program and other accounts to halt the furloughs through the Sept. 30 end of the government's fiscal year.

Faced with the prospect that emboldened Republicans will push to selectively undo other painful effects of the cuts, the White House said Friday that a piecemeal approach would be impractical, but wouldn't definitely rule out signing other fixes.

___

Online:

Obama address: www.whitehouse.gov

GOP address: www.youtube.com/HouseConference

___

Follow Josh Lederman at https://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-04-27-Obama/id-c88b7744f98741a593395484027d06d8

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Iterations: How Six Technology Investors Size Up The Google Glass ...

Editor?s Note: Semil Shah is a contributor to TechCrunch. You can follow him on Twitter at @semil.

People won?t stop talking about Google Glass, and rightfully so. Ever since the epic parachute-hangout demo, the Valley has been buzzing about the future coming of what is arguably one of the biggest potential advancements in computer interfaces since the iPhone. Lately, the buzz has been bubbling as Google employees, early adopters (Scoble just posted his detailed review), tech bloggers, and contest winners have started to receive their glasses, combined with heavy, consumer-focused advertising, a dedicated fund pairing Google?s own venture arm with two of Sand Hill?s most storied venture capital firms. It?s gotten so much ink that new monikers have emerged, such as ?Glasshole,? and the phenomenon was hilariously lambasted in the latest installment of ?Jesus Christ, Silicon Valley,? a Tumblr devoted to over-the-top yet oftentimes valid tech-focused satire.

There?s so much to investigate with respect to Glass, so in this week?s ?Iterations? column, I?m just going to focus on the early-stage investment side. There?s no shortage of opinions here. My two cents is while Google is investing lots of dollars into a consumer-focused campaign, Glass will not initially be a device that the majority people will want, need, or be able to afford (unlike a cell phone), even when the price comes down. It will also be a very different type of interface. That said, it?s no matter, because the commercial applications for Glass are boundless: Imagine a bunch of kids on a school trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, able to press on Glass and learn more about the sea life they see in the tanks. Well, I don?t even know if that?s possible on a watery service, but regardless?instead, I emailed a handful of experienced technology investors I know well to briefly weigh on how they think of Glass as an interface to invest in and around. Below is a collection of the answers I received, edited briefly:

Bill Lee is a serial entrepreneur, currently working on a mobile app, Twist. He?s also a well-known angel investor and LP in the Valley, and also sat down with me ?In The Studio? earlier this year:

I?m skeptical that GG will get mass adoption. As someone that grew up with glasses, I couldn?t wait until I got LASIK/corrective eye surgery. I just can?t see myself wearing glasses again voluntarily (no disrespect to fashion icon NBA basketball players such as Lebron James wearing hipster glasses). While I don?t think there will be mass adoption, I do see several niche markets springing up. For example, people that really need glasses (elderly, jewelers, surgeons, etc.) should derive tremendous benefit from GG applications. I haven?t seen any GG pitches yet, but I expect to see several this year. As with all investments, I?d put more emphasis on finding the right team than needing to be the first in the space. If GG takes off, there should be ample room for a great team to innovate even if they aren?t first. ? Bill Lee

Matt Ocko is a partner with Data Collective and one of the most selective seed-stage technology investors in the Valley:

In five years, it?s not about Google Glass per se, which is a brave but still early evolutionary step, but how dependent everyday people will become on certain types of ubiquitous but non-intrusive tech. ?Specifically, tech that has to be amazingly powerful and sophisticated to achieve that very non-intrusiveness in the first place. A great example ? and I think, the more interesting story ? is speech recognition, which of necessity is a big part of Glass. Whether it?s in every car via a service arrangement with Apple and Google competing with each other to be the backend, or in lightweight smart earphones that can be left in for one or more days, or in Google Glass-like glasses, always-on listening with deep, smart taxonomies will be a fact of life ? i.e., near total adoption by the middle classes of the G7 and beyond.

As an investor, I am looking for companies that presume the success of this kind of technology, then look at how they can apply equally profound compute and algorithmic innovations to transform different industries. For example, what do certain medical practices look like when the EMR/EHR platform is listening in on doctors and nurses, and has something like IBM Watson behind it, watching for missed diagnoses (e.g., sepsis in a hospital), mis-medication, or even malpractice? What does CRM look like when a salesperson?s or customer service rep?s efficacy can be analyzed in real-time from their conversation with a customer? ?If the video appurtenance to GG?s ?speech recognition delivery platform? (my own biased view) turns out to be important, then machine vision becomes the next huge ubiquitous technology (where Google already has an early lead), and we ask questions like ?what does the advertising targeting chain look like when every product in a store is lit up under live video scrutiny by the analog of Google Goggles???I?m indifferent to whether other hardware makers develop their own products, but a) I think they have to, if they want to be part of the ?always listening? value chain, whether or not there is a screen attached (the GG incarnation) and b) I want them to, so that a ?thousand flowers bloom? and there is innovation and consumer choice that drives rapid adoption. ? Matt Ocko

Manu Kumar is a former entrepreneur and now microVC with K9 Ventures focusing on deeper technology investments, and about a year ago, hung out with me In the Studio to discuss mobile camera imaging:

While I was a student at Carnegie Mellon, there was a lot of work on ?wearable computing? back then. For instance, check out VuMan from 1997 and Navigator. I cite these to show that the concept of Google Glass as a wearable computer is nothing new. It?s been around for well over a decade. What has changed is that now the technology has become advanced enough to make it a *lot* smaller, *somewhat* less dorky, and by means of being connected, hugely more information-rich.

I believe that Google Glass will be a long-term platform. The initial consumer adoption will be by early adopters ? by a lot of us Silicon Valley geek-types who want to play with the tech. However, I suspect that the real adoption will come from more commercial applications ? people who need to work with their hands and can benefit from instant access to information. Police cars are equipped with computers to provide cops with access to information on the road. You can imagine a Google Glass app designed specifically for police, fire, EMS etc. Likewise in construction, maintenance, inspection, lots of tasks become orders of magnitude more efficient, when imagined with Glass as the underlying platform.

As you know, I?ve been spending a lot of time on computer vision, cameras, etc. Glass presents the first really usable Augmented Reality platform, because it?s the first time that you can get a true overlay on reality, without having to be walking with your phone/tablet in front of your face! ?I?ve already had conversation with some companies who are doing advance computer vision and augmented reality work where they could potentially do interesting things with Google Glass. However, since it?s been in such limited distribution so far, it won?t be until they get their hands on it and can evaluate what it?s capable of, before we can really talk more concretely about it. In other words, I?m very curious to see the potential of Glass as a platform for new products/companies, but don?t have enough information to act on it just yet. ? Manu Kumar

Albert Wenger?is a partner with Union Square Ventures:

I am quite optimistic about the long term potential of augmented reality. But I question whether now is the right time for a top down adoption strategy with a polished consumer product. It seems to me that we are at the hacker and early adopter stage instead. By going with an immediate mass market strategy and embracing celebrities I think Google is taking a very big gamble. Let?s keep in mind that the iPhone was far from the first smart phone. A lot of software and application tinkering had happened on Blackberries and other predecessors most of which had niche use cases. I often find myself saying to entrepreneurs that you ?can?t push on a string.? It may be a tired cliche but it seems highly relevant for consumer products. If people aren?t ready for it, no amount of hype or spending will make the product stick. The people who are ready now are the hackers and tinkerers. So why not embrace them instead? (reproduced from Albert?s blog, with permission). -Albert Wenger

Hemant Taneja is a partner with General Catalyst:

Seeing a device from your childhood science fiction novels become reality is one of the most exciting moments for any of us who work in tech. However, the commercial success of Google Glass relies on three crucial parts. First, consumers must love the hardware. The product has to be intuitive and function seamlessly with everyday activities. Second, Google must develop a high-quality API that allows developers the freedom to create top-notch software and fully leverage Glass? capabilities. Third, Google has to ensure that the best applications are discovered by users. All three of these areas are non-trivial and will take more time, and users should be prepared for the day when hype meets reality. Google Glass is an entirely new form factor, and thus there will be a longer uptake time than we have just saw the past two years with tablets. Given that dynamic, we are going to look for simple but effective applications that can can go mainstream as adoption of the Glass product increases with Google?s future iterations of the product. -Hemant Taneja

Rohit Sharma is a venture partner with True Ventures:

As an investor, the most exciting possibility about Google Glass is the behavior change it might produce. If Glass or other devices begin to connect and share meaningful information about consumers and their digitized presence, it opens up a massive new arena for applications. Another possibility is that Glass becomes the hub for multiple devices (FitBits, bloodchem sensors, watches, etc.) and becomes an additional app platform connected to but independent of smartphones/tablets. I don?t know if consumers will adopt it, that?s the biggest ?if? ? not the technology or the devices. There?s plenty of time for investing in a post-Glass reality if adoption happens. I haven?t seen any pitches yet but also haven?t been looking yet, as I?m much more interested in the behavior change it induces and provokes. -Rohit Sharma

General Catalyst Partners, SunBorne Energy, TuneIn, Sand9, GridCO Systems, SynapDx, Stripe, Humedica, CLEAResult Consulting, Jumptap, Virtual Instruments Corporation, Hunch (ebay), M-qube (verisign)

Hemant is a managing partner at General Catalyst Partners in its Palo Alto office. Hemant is also co-founder and Chairman of the Advanced Energy Economy. Prior to joining General Catalyst, Hemant founded a mobile software company that was acquired. He is a graduate of MIT.

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Rohit Sharma is the CEO at Syfto, Inc. Previously, he was a CEO at Vdopia Inc. and an investor with Mohr Davidow Ventures (www.mdv.com) focusing on companies in the areas of network computing, storage, and data communications technologies. Rohit has been a successful entrepreneur in the MDV ecosystem, creating the optical switching technology that led to the founding of ONI Systems in 1998. He served as ONI Systems EVP and CTO overseeing all aspects of technology development and strategy...

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Bill Lee was CEO and co-founder of Remarq, a Benchmark Capital-backed collaboration company. At Remarq, Bill guided the company in its development of a complete end-to-end Internet messaging and collaboration platform. Before its acquisition by Critical Path in March 2000, the company developed high-volume messaging platforms for sites such as eBay, Sun, Novell, and Amazon. The company raised over $43 million in venture and debt financing. Bill has been appointed by the Mayor of San Jose to the Redevelopment Committee...

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Albert combines over 10 years of entrepreneurial experience with an in-depth technology background. As an entrepreneur, he has founded or co-founded five companies, including a management consulting firm (in Germany), a hosted data analytics company, a technology subsidiary for Telebanc (now E*Tradebank), an early stage investment firm, and most recently (with his wife), DailyLit, a service for reading books by email or RSS. Albert also served as the president of del.icio.us through the company???s sale to Yahoo. His technology...

? Learn more K9 Ventures, CardMunch, Refocus Imaging, Inc., Twilio, iMeet, Inc., SneakerLabs, Inc., Octane Software, Netspoke, Laminar Software, Inc.

Manu is the founder and Chief Firestarter at K9 Ventures. Manu previously founded, grew and sold two successful ventures. He was the Founder, President and CEO of SneakerLabs, Inc. ??? a company which developed software and services for web-based customer interaction. After the successful acquisition of SneakerLabs (March 2000), Manu served as the Vice-President of Interactive Technologies for E.piphany. He then served as the Chairman and CEO of iMeet, Inc. ??? a provider of web-conferencing services. After the merger...

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Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/28/iterations-how-six-technology-investors-size-up-the-google-glass-opportunity/

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Economic growth gauge at 2-year high last week: ECRI

MADRID, April 25 (Reuters) - Playmaker Andres Iniesta has dismissed the idea Barcelona are at the end of an era following their 4-0 Champions League mauling by Bayern Munich. Barca, who lifted the trophy in 2009 and 2011, were the favourites to win the competition ahead of Tuesday's semi-final first leg but they were so outclassed by the Germans that many pundits believe their recent spell of dominance is over. "I think it is unfair to talk of a cyclical change," the Spanish World Cup winner told a news conference on Thursday. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/economic-growth-gauge-2-high-last-week-ecri-143418074.html

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Brad Grey Discusses Piracy, Failure of DreamWorks Deal During 'Charlie Rose' Appearance

By Brent Lang

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Brad Gray kept dodging questions during an appearance on "Charlie Rose" Wednesday about why the Paramount's deal to purchase DreamWorks SKG ended with the exits of Steven Spielberg and David Geffen from the studio lot, but the tenacious anchor would not let the studio chief duck his queries.

Grey insisted he did not want to speak ill of anyone. He dissembled. He leaned back on the old standby, "I don't know."]

Pressed about reports that personality clashes with Geffen had doomed the pact, Grey countered with praise.

"My regard for David Geffen is extremely high," he said. "I think that David Geffen is one of the greatest, not only showmen, but one of the greatest businessmen."

He said that the $1.6 billion deal to purchase DreamWorks' library and bring its team to Paramount was critical to the studio, because it came at a time when there were very few films in its production pipeline. After Geffen and Spielberg's employment contracts ended, DreamWorks became an independent production company in 2008 with funding from Indian-based Reliance ADA Group.

"I can't tell you exactly what it was," Grey said, after Rose refused to let the subject drop. "I can only say that in life when you have the greatest expectations and you try to do things the right way, it doesn't always work out."

Grey insisted that the studio maintains strong ties with Spielberg, noting that the director is producing the next "Transformers" film for Paramount. He added that he expects they will work on future project together.

Grey also dipped his toe into the hot-button issue of piracy during the cordial twenty-five minute grilling. He noted that relations have started to improve between Silicon Valley and Hollywood despite the divide over issues like SOPA, the anti-piracy legislation that went down to defeat in Congress last year thanks to a grassroots campaign that was fostered by the online community.

"The biggest search engines in the world are trying to sort out how we handle this together to make sure that our artists and studios and all the people - all the thousands and thousands and thousands of people - at work are able to be legitimately paid and the product isn't being stolen," Grey said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/brad-grey-discusses-piracy-failure-dreamworks-deal-during-114942752.html

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SmackDown Five-Point Preview: April 26, 2013

All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. ? 2013 WWE, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This website is based in the United States. By submitting personal information to this website you consent to your information being maintained in the U.S., subject to applicable U.S. laws. U.S. law may be different than the law of your home country. WrestleMania XXIX (NY/NJ) logo TM & ? 2013 WWE. All Rights Reserved. The Empire State Building design is a registered trademark and used with permission by ESBC.

Source: http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/2013-04-26/five-point-preview

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Fireballs! 'Tis the season for massive meteors.

Tonight (April 23) through Friday at dawn may be your best chance of the year to spot a fireball, a meteor that shines brighter than Venus, the brightest planet in the sky.

By Joe Rao,?SPACE.com / April 23, 2013

In this picture provided by Wally Pacholka of AstroPics.com, a Geminid fireball explodes over the Mojave Desert in the Jojave Desert, Calif. on Dec. 13, 2009. Unlike this Geminid fireball, the fireball-watching in the next few nights isn't connected to the just-completed Lyriad meteor shower or any other regular meteor shower.

Wally Pacholka / AstroPics.com / AP

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The dramatic fireball that exploded over Russia in February got many people wondering if there is any way to anticipate future dazzling meteors before they appear.

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Well, meteors not associated with an annual shower are certainly tough to predict. But there are some patterns that skywatchers can keep in mind to maximize their chances of spotting a fireball (which technically is any meteor that shines more brightly than Venus in the sky).

For example, springtime is "fireball season," when the number of bright meteor sightings increases by as much as 30 percent, NASA experts say. And the three-day stretch from Tuesday (April 23) to Thursday (April 25) is perhaps the best time to watch for the next prospective fireball event, which might possibly even lead to the fall of a meteorite.?

Over the years, some real dazzlers have been seen during this time frame. And in at least two cases, the orbits of the meteors were virtually identical, suggesting Earth might hit more such space rocks when it passes through this part of its orbit.

A river of rubble?

Is there perhaps a "river of rubble" orbiting the sun that is populated by rather large meteoroids?

Unlike most of the annual meteor showers that are composed chiefly of dust and sand-sized particles ? such as the Lyrids, which peaked overnight Sunday (April 21) ? this supposed fireball stream might be made up of objects that are considerably larger, perhaps originating in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter or perhaps being shed by the nucleus of a long-dormant comet.?

The circumstantial evidence for such a meteor stream lies with two brilliant fireballs that appeared during the 1960s.

One of these fireballs cast shadows over northern New Jersey on April 23, 1962. The other was seen by thousands of people over England, Wales and Northern Ireland on April 25, 1969 and also dropped a 0.6-pound (0.27 kilograms) meteorite in the town of Sprucefield, Northern Ireland.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/JN_cGf2dRGw/Fireballs!-Tis-the-season-for-massive-meteors

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Flood Insurance info - Ann Delaney Beach Blog

A representative from a local insurance agency will be in our office tomorrow to provide updates regarding flood insurance ? a hot topic for shore property owners. ?I will post an update after the meeting.

In the meantime, I am reading notes from the FEMA web site regarding the pending changes (ironically, in place or pending prior to Sandy).

On July 6, 2012, a law took effect requiring FEMA to take immediate steps to eliminate a variety of flood insurance subsides. ?The insurance discounts currently in place will be phased out over a period of time. ?Starting January 1, 2013, flood insurance premium rates for subsidized non- primary residences will begin increasing. ?Although the legislation called for a 25% increase over 4 years, there is?pending legislation that will modify this time frame to?12.5% increase each year over an 8 year period.

Keep in mind, most flood insurance policies range from $400 to $1800 per year (depending on the elevation of the structure)- often more reasonable than the typical home owner?s policy.

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Source: http://anndelaney.com/2013/04/25/flood-insurance-info/

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LB Prostitution Sting: Quentin Groves Arrested for Solicitation

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/04/lb-prostitution-sting-quentin-groves-arrested-for-solicitiation/

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I'm Clive Thompson, and This Is How I Work

When journalist Clive Thompson tweeted that he was "kind of slow" in terms of productivity, I had serious doubts. For a writer with so much on his plate (including gigs at Wired and The New York Times Magazine, as well as a book coming out this fall), he must have a few tricks up his sleeve, right? Turns out, Clive's version of "slow" is anything but. I caught up with the busy Brooklynite to find out what gadgets, apps, and inspirations keep him cruising along.

Location: Brooklyn, NY
Current Gig: Contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and Wired; author of Smarter Than You Think: How Technology is Changing our Minds for the Better, coming out with Penguin in September
Current mobile device: iPhone 4S
Current computer: MacBook Pro primarily, though I also have an old Dell runing Ubuntu, and another old Dell running XP.
One word that best describes how you work: "Bursty"

What apps/software/tools can't you live without?

I'm a pack rat when it comes to research. I like to save everything, because you never know when it'll be useful. I write primarily long-form magazine pieces and books, each of which takes months to report and sometimes years to gestate, so I often find myself realizing an interview or study I encountered three years earlier is suddently useful now. So I lean heavily on tools for finding and saving everything.

For face-to-face interviews, I use a Livescribe pen, which is invaluable even though the software is kind of creaky. I use Skype out for most of my phone interviews, and Call Recorder to save those files. I have a Scrivener database for my research?whenever I read anything interesting, I make a note about it and paste in any relevant passages. The note-writing is a crucial part of the task for me, because it requires me to slow down and make sense of what I?m reading, instead of just blindly clipping and saving everything. I also use DEVONthink to mirror a lot of my Scrivener notes and store the full text of the thousands of scientific papers and articles I?ve read and found worth saving.

When I?m reading, I write tons of marginalia?again as much for sense-making as for retrieval. When reading in PDF format, I either use Acrobat Professional on my desktop or iAnnotate PDF on my iPad. My book reading is split probably 50/50 between paper and digital books. For digital books, I mostly read in Kindle or Stanza on my iPad or phone and export the notes and highlights locally. I use Project Gutenberg and Google Books a ton for reading out-of-copyright digital books; indeed, my reading probably has a huge pre-1923 bias because so much amazing stuff is so easily available before copyright laws tightened up.

For paper notes and marginalia, I?m addicted to Palomino Blackwing pencils?the lead is gorgeous and almost as dark as ink! I?m also shamelessly addicted to Blackwing Long Point Sharpeners. When I?m writing, I do much of my organizing on paper, but almost any paper will do; I don?t have much of a preference.

Pictured above: Some of Clive's favorite tools.

For books, I also rely heavily on the Brooklyn Public Library system. My local branch is only a few blocks away, and the main branch?a bike ride away?has JSTOR and other academic databases, a godsend for science research.

For collaborating with other people?editors, researchers, other writers?I often use Google Docs and Dropbox. That?s just for stuff that isn?t sensitive or where the privacy of interviewees isn't an issue. If privacy and security are an issue, I keep all the files local and stored in TrueCrypt volumes.

I text like a maniac, particularly with my wife, and probably ? of my texts are written with Siri, particularly if I?m walking around the neighborhood. I wish there were a better voice-transcription tool, because I?m unsettled by Apple?s long-term storage of my Siri utterances. I also frequently use it to dictate notes and ideas that occur to me while I?m away from my desk. When I?m at my computer I sometimes use Dragon Dictate to dictate notes or passages from paper books.

For keeping abreast of news and the people I?m interested in, I use Bloglovin for RSS, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook (a bit). I?m old-school with daily news. I still read the New York Times and Wall Street Journal in paper every day, though I read a gazillion odd niche blogs and sites online too.

I rely on Youtube heavily when I?m making things or fixing things. I?d probably have cut off every finger I have with high-powered tools if I hadn?t first watched maker and fixer videos to learn safe techniques.

I use Google Translate amazingly often, sometimes daily, because it?s baked into Chrome for autotranslating when I?m surfing foreign-language web sites. It?s terrible for many languages (like Mandarin) but shockingly good with the European romance ones.

I have a Sprint MiFi for roaming data?it's wildly expensive but has saved me in deadline situations. I use Time Machine religiously to back up my data, which also saved me when my Mac?s hard drive suddenly failed a few months ago.

I?ve been a Rhapsody subscriber since 2004, but use Shazam as my primary music-discovery tool, identifying stuff I hear when I work in cafes or bars.

What's your workspace like?

My work is split into research and writing. I do a lot of interviews, which are either face-to-face out in the field, or on Skype using a headset at home. My ?office? is a desk crammed into the corner of my bedroom. It?s nothing fancy?just a regular office chair and an Ikea desk. When my back starts to ache, I?ll carry my laptop downstairs and work standing up on the counter in my kitchen. If my research involves a lot of reading I?ll go to a cafe or the library, too. For writing, I do short pieces at my desk, but for long ones I need to be in a cafe: The extra background noise seems to help!

What's your best time-saving trick?

I don?t know if you?d call it ?time saving? so much as ?time generating," but I go mostly offline on the weekends. I generally don?t check email from Friday night until Monday morning. I still text like a freak, because that?s how my social life is organized! But by staying off email I also find I tend to not engage in social media much either. This leaves my weekends free for a lot of slower thinking and reading that?s a nice break from the zingy pace of being at a screen all the work week.

I also tend to engage in social media in periodic massive dives, instead of darting over every few minutes and distracting myself all day long. Instead of checking Twitter a few times an hour, I check it only a few times a day, and if I get busy I might just forget to check it for days at a time. I?ll ignore a useful blog for weeks and weeks, then sit down and spend a few hours reading everything that happened in the last two months. Fortunately, while my work requires me to pay attention to the news, my writing and research goes very, very slowly?so for the purpose of my research, it doesn?t really matter if I follow a breaking news story hours, days, or even weeks later. Basically I try to decouple myself from the daily news cycle as much as possible. I turn off the alerts for every single piece of social media I use.

That said, I still manage to spend way too much time online.

What's your favorite to-do list manager?

My to-do lists are all just plain-text?a single text file on whatever computer I?m using, and sometimes a piece of paper if I?m out in the field. I?ve tried endless to-do apps and none of them ever worked for me!

For timed events and meetings, I rely heavily on Google Calendar. This is one time when alerts are very useful for me: I have Google Calendar set up to email me 12 hours before a meeting, then text me one hour before. I space out easily, so this is life-saving. I can?t tell you how many times I?ve totally forgotten about a meeting until I get a text message reminding me I?m supposed to be in the city in an hour!

Besides your phone and computer, what gadget can't you live without?

Those Palomino Blackwing pencils. They're so delightful they make me want to write more often by hand, which is useful in its own way. My thinking moves in slightly different modes when I write by hand versus writing on a keyboard, so it's like a form of cognitive diversity.

Pictured above: Clive's workspace.

What everyday thing are you better at than anyone else?

I doubt I'm better at any single thing than anyone else. I read a ton of poetry, and while that's a pleasant/obnoxious enough thing to brag about, I doubt it's a habit people wish they were "better" at.

What do you listen to while you work?

Silence! I almost never listen to music while working. Vocals utterly distract me. I very occasionally listen to classical while doing research. Recently I've been loving Zoe Keating's Into the Trees.

Are you more of an introvert or an extrovert?

I'm 80% extrovert, 20% introvert.

What's your sleep routine like?

I am a night owl all the way. I can?t get a single blessed piece of work done before 11 AM, except for drinking coffee and reading the news and dorking around online. If I didn?t have children to get to school in the morning I?d probably stay up until 2 or 3 AM every day and sleep until 10 AM. My best work hours are often from 8:30 PM, after my kids are in bed, until 1 AM.

Fill in the blank. I'd kill to see _______ answer these same questions.

E.E. Cummings. I've been reading his Complete Poems from 1904 to 1962, and his productivity is completely insane and stunningly high quality. How the hell did he do it? A lot of authors' complete-works editions include plenty of filler, but not here. Cummings takes pretty much every single poem and knocks it flaming out of the park.

What's the best advice you've ever received?

?If you want to understand what?s going on in the world, get out from behind your desk.? This is advice specific to reporters, but it extends to a lot of other fields too. Early on in my career a lot of long-time, old-school reporters told me this. They were right. These days it?s easier than ever to feel you know how the world works from sitting at your desk, because there?s such a welter of knowledge on tap. But there?s no substitute for seeing things and talking to people.

---

The How I Work series asks heroes, experts, brilliant, and flat-out productive people to share their shortcuts, workspaces, routines, and more. Every Wednesday we'll feature a new guest and the gadgets, apps, tips, and tricks that keep them going. Have someone you'd kill to see featured, or questions you think we should ask? Email Tessa.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/14IFz1yir04/im-clive-thompson-and-this-is-how-i-work-479520206

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