Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2012/07/31/detention-clip-josh-hutcherson/
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Thursday, August 2, 2012
Watch 'Detention' Clip With Josh Hutcherson, Out Today On Blu-Ray And DVD
By Ashleigh Schmitz It's probably been a little while since your last Josh Hutcherson fix, but lucky for you, there's "Detention," which comes out today on Blu-ray and DVD. In this clip from the movie, you can get a look at Hutcherson talking about life after graduating, dating, and the slasher movie killer wreaking havoc [...]
South Korea sees sharp fall in July exports
NEW YORK (Reuters) - It took Jason Legate, a Walnut Creek, California-resident, all of 10 minutes to connect his computer to a London-based server and access BBC's coverage of the Olympics Saturday, thereby circumventing NBC's lock on coverage in the United States. The 31-year-old system administrator said he has watched??
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/south-korea-sees-sharp-fall-july-exports-044841524--finance.html
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Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Video: ?This is really the first social media Olympics?
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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/48429209/
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Recession, Libor, Facebook punish Europe's banks
ZURICH/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Leading European banks reported dismal profits on Tuesday, blaming everything from the continent's debt crisis and Spain's property market crash to Facebook's disastrous stock market debut.
Within a space of an hour UBS
Deutsche Bank, Germany's flagship lender, announced it will axe 1,900 jobs under a plan to cut costs by 3 billion euros and streamline its business. New co-Chief Executive Anshu Jain said expectations on profitability had moved "closer to our grim scenario".
Banks are suffering from the euro zone crisis that politicians are struggling to solve, a transatlantic investigation into interest rate-rigging and regulators tightening the screws on the industry.
"This is the longest tunnel I have ever been in and there's no sign of light at the end of it," said an investor who is a top 10 shareholder in Royal Bank of Scotland
The sharp drop in profits cast doubt on whether formerly blue riband banking sectors will ever recover the levels of profitability they enjoyed before the crash of 2008-2009.
"The question is whether we are entering a new paradigm, not only in investment banking but in wealth management and other products areas that are going to see lower returns," said Chris Wheeler, analyst at Mediobanca in London. "We are not going to return to pre-crisis levels even in wealth management, the question is how much lower will it be."
UBS, which had recovered well after being bailed out by the Swiss state, reported its second-quarter profit more than halved to 425 million Swiss francs as its investment bank made a loss after trading.
The bank took a 349 million Swiss franc loss on its role as a market maker on U.S. social networking site Facebook's
UBS blamed U.S. stock exchange Nasdaq's
AWAITING A RESOLUTION
UBS Chief executive Sergio Ermotti warned investors against expecting any rapid recovery. "A return of confidence can only happen when clients believe there is a clear and lasting resolution to today's economic and political challenges, and this will take time," he said.
Weak economic growth or outright recession across Europe has hit the banking industry, not least in Spain where the government has already agreed to take up to 100 billion euros in European Union aid to save its most troubled lenders.
A property market crash and recession has hurt even BBVA
BBVA, which is based in the relatively prosperous Basque country, will have to set aside more in the future and the impact of its sickly home market may be a drag for years.
Deutsche Bank also suffered a drop in trading at its investment bank where profit plunged 63 percent, underscoring the problems facing its new leaders.
In one of his first acts as co-CEO, former investment bank boss Jain is cutting numbers in what had been nicknamed "Anshu's Army". Most of the redundancies will come by the end of the year and be outside Germany - likely to include hundreds in London.
Costs at the investment bank represented 87 percent of income, and return on equity was just 5 percent, well below its cost of capital
In Austria, Erste Bank cut its 2012 profit outlook for the second time in three months in the face of deteriorating economies across Europe.
By later afternoon, UBS shares were down 6.2 percent, Erste shed 5.6 percent and Deutsche Bank was down 0.3 percent. BBVA was flat. The European bank index <.sx7p> dipped 2.75 percent.
MORE PAIN
Investors worry there is more pain ahead, particularly in the fallout from the rate-rigging scandal and in Britain from mis-selling insurance and complex interest rate hedging products.
Britain's Barclays
More than a dozen, including UBS and Deutsche Bank, are being probed by investigators looking at whether Libor and Euribor benchmark rates were manipulated.
UBS said on Tuesday it had appropriate provisions for all litigation. Deutsche Bank did not say whether it had set aside funds for potential costs.
Corporate treasurers, pension funds, charities and other investors are seeking advice on whether to pull their money out of banks, nervous that earnings will be eroded for some time by fines.
"There appears to be a common denominator: the absence of appropriate cultural and ethical values to guide bank management and governance," said George Dallas, director of corporate governance at F&C Investments.
One bright spot is that banks have remained in the black, in contrast to the darkest days of 2008/09. Deutsche Bank may need to raise capital, some analysts reckon, but there appears unlikely to be an immediate industry-wide dash for cash.
But even banks that are performing relatively well are struggling to regain investors' trust. S olid results from HSBC
(Writing by Steve Slater; Additional reporting by Sinead Cruise, Arno Schuetze, Sonya Dowsett; Editing by David Stamp)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/recession-libor-facebook-punish-europes-banks-153907344--sector.html
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USPTO Expands Trademark Law School Pilot Program ...
USPTO Expands Trademark Law School Pilot Program
Washington?- The U.S. Department of Commerce?s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today announced the selection of nine additional law schools to join the Trademark Law School Clinic Certification Pilot Program this fall. The program allows law students to practice trademark law before the USPTO under the guidance of a faculty clinic supervisor.
?Our trademark law school program continues to expand for the very simple reason that we see tangible benefits not only for students, schools, and the USPTO, but for local entrepreneurs and inventors as well,? said Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO David J. Kappos. ?By expanding education about trademarks and the trademark process, we help ensure that American businesses and entrepreneurs have the resources they need to grow, create jobs and compete globally.?
The selected schools are Arizona State University School of Law, California Western School of Law, Fordham School of Law, Michigan State University School of Law, University of Notre Dame, University of San Francisco School of Law, South Texas College of Law, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, and University of Washington School of Law. The law school pilot program promotes affordable intellectual property (IP) legal services to individuals and small businesses. Law schools participating in the program provide IP legal services to clients on a?pro bono?basis.
The USPTO accepts law schools into the trademark program that demonstrate strong clinic programs. Overall the schools must possess solid IP curricula supporting a participating student?s hands-on learning in the program; a commitment to networking in the community; comprehensive?pro bono?services; and excellent case management systems. Students in the trademark program can expect to draft and file trademark applications and respond to Office Actions. Each law school clinic program must meet and maintain the requirements for USPTO certification in order for student practitioners to practice before the USPTO.
For more information, contact William R. Covey, Deputy General Counsel for Enrollment and Discipline and Director of the Office of Enrollment and Discipline, at (571) 272-4097?or?Will.Covey@uspto.gov.
About the Author
Gene Quinn is a US Patent Attorney, law professor and the founder of IPWatchdog.com. He is also a principal lecturer in the top patent bar review course in the nation, which helps aspiring patent attorneys and patent agents prepare themselves to pass the patent bar exam. Known by many as ?The IPWatchdog,? Gene started the widely popular intellectual property website IPWatchdog.com in 1999, and since that time the site has had millions of unique visitors. Gene has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the LA Times, CNN Money, NPR and various other newspapers and magazines worldwide. He represents individuals, small businesses and start-up corporations. As an electrical engineer with a computer engineering focus his specialty is electronic and computer devices, Internet applications, software and business methods.
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Source: http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2012/07/31/uspto-expands-trademark-law-school-pilot-program/id=26969/
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Analysis: ASEAN path to economic union muddied by South China Sea
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Discord in Southeast Asia over how to deal with Beijing's claims in the South China Sea comes as the region struggles to overcome competing national interests and form a European Union-style economic community by 2015.
Political leaders and officials say the row may not directly affect plans by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for the economic integration of countries ranging from wealthy Singapore to impoverished Myanmar.
But what doesn't help is China's growing investment in the bloc's poorer members, which critics say gives it influence that it has effectively used to block a unified ASEAN stance in the South China Sea dispute. The South China Sea, which stretches from China to Indonesia and from Vietnam to the Philippines, lies atop what are believed to be rich reserves of oil and gas.
"It's not going to hold progress (on integration) hostage," ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan told diplomats in Jakarta, referring to a recent meeting in Cambodia, where rifts over the South China Sea prevented the group's foreign ministers from issuing a communique for the first time in its history.
"It is an early warning sign ... this will not be the last."
Southeast Asia is a hot destination for investors seeking returns that are drying up in Europe, still to recover in the United States and slowing in the rest of Asia.
Estimated net flows into offshore ASEAN funds stood at $1.4 billion in 2012 through June, according to data reported until July 10. By comparison, China and India offshore funds saw net outflows worth $1.6 billion and $185 million respectively.
Investors have high hopes for plans by the 10-member ASEAN for a single market and production base for a combined economy of $2 trillion, with free movement of goods, services, investment and skilled labor among 600 million people.
While there is consensus in ASEAN for economic union, the group struggles with political differences ranging from a land border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia to a cultural spat between Malaysia and Indonesia. The most destructive is the inability to deal with claims by four of its members, and China and Taiwan, in the South China Sea.
Since only some elements of the economic plan will be in place by 2015, such as zero tariffs, more developed members may have to push on with integration in a two-tier model, just as the European Union did, leaving the others at risk of missing out on regional investment.
ASEAN's older and more developed members are Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Brunei. Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar joined later.
The two-tier model could leave fringe members further exposed to influence from China -- and the United States -- as they seek influence through investment and diplomacy in a "Great Game" played out in the tropics.
China is already the top investor in Cambodia and Myanmar and is catching up with investment by Europe, Japan and the United States in the region overall.
"The difference is that China is giving something that Cambodia needs, while ASEAN is promising something that is abstract," said Aleksius Jemadu, dean of the school of political and social sciences at Pelita Harapan University in Jakarta.
"ASEAN countries will act based more on their domestic needs ... When this community is built we can't expect them to be in unison, just like what happened to the South China Sea."
ACRIMONY
At the Phnom Penh meeting of foreign ministers, some diplomats said Cambodia blocked the South China Sea dispute being put on the agenda at China's behest. Cambodian diplomats in turn accused the Philippines and Vietnam of trying to hijack the meeting.
China has maintained it wants to deal with the issue bilaterally.
The Philippines has said it deplored ASEAN's failure to address the row and criticized Cambodia for its handling of the issue.
Cambodia had GDP per capita of $900 in 2011 and foreign direct investment (FDI) of $800 million in 2010, according to World Bank figures. That compares to Singapore's $46,241 per capita and $39 billion in FDI.
The China Daily has said Beijing's investment in Cambodia from 1994 until 2011 was $8.8 billion.
Even without the economic and political differences, a lack of capacity among some of ASEAN's members is making it hard to implement economic agreements.
Completion of measures towards a single market in its 2010-2011 phase was only 49 percent overall, according to ASEAN's latest scorecard, with reform lagging in food and agriculture.
"Early achievements were based on low hanging fruit ... The process of transposing regional commitments into national laws is the biggest (challenge)," said Subash Pillai, ASEAN's director of market integration.
The Philippines struggles to send officials to meetings sometimes and can be slow making decisions, insiders say, and may even risk falling into the weaker group of Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar. These four are already being given more time to fully reduce tariffs.
"They might not be up to the same level," said Pillai.
A recent Reuters visit to Myanmar's central bank found just a few idle computers, a stark contrast to the soaring towers that control banks and policy in Singapore and Indonesia.
ASEAN MINUS X
The bloc's ASEAN Minus X mechanism allows "flexible" implementation of commitments, by enabling members to opt out of economic schemes if they are not ready.
This has already been used. Singapore and Laos are the only members pushing ahead with an agreement on education services. Six countries including Vietnam signed an agreement to link their stock markets by the end of 2011, to spur electronic cross-border trading, but only Singapore and Malaysia are implementing it.
"You cannot expect all countries to be moving ahead at the same time. The ones lagging behind will suffer," said another senior ASEAN official, who declined to be identified.
The South China Sea spat also shows the problems ASEAN has resolving major disputes. Unlike the European Union, an inspiration if not a model, ASEAN lacks elected members of a central parliament, a powerful executive body or a regional court to make law and enforce its will.
Instead, it has the Jakarta-based ASEAN Secretariat, a body with little clout.
"Without a strong central mechanism it is very difficult to coordinate and survey all the issues that could become big issues," said Surin.
The bloc will face further challenges as it tries to standardize customs procedures and open up protected industries such as financial services to competition from within. It has implemented free transfer of profits and dividends but needs to remove further barriers to intra-regional investment flows.
"They are behind schedule (on the economic community) and clearly not going to make it ... they are not going to see much action on services," said Hal Hill, professor of Southeast Asian economies at the Australian National University.
And China's expanding influence looms large.
"The Phnom Penh meetings in July were significant not just because China sought to divide ASEAN by leaning on Cambodia, but because China was happy to do so, so brazenly," said Bryony Lau, a researcher on the South China Sea for the International Crisis Group think-tank in Jakarta.
(Additional reporting by Olivia Rondonuwu and Martin Petty; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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Interview With Mr Michael Lu, Managing Director of Sono Restaurant ...
As part of my ?restaurant and food establishment? posts, Mr Michael Lu of Sono Restaurant has been kind enough to do a short interview about his business.
If you had to pick one thing out of your day, what?s the most exciting / favourite? A favourite part of my day is when I visit and walk around each of the three Sono Group restaurants, greeting all my happy customers and listening to all their positive comments about the good food.
Who is your ideal customer? Or perhaps, what?s the focus for your restaurant in terms of customers. Everyone is an ideal customer. The Sono Restaurant Group strategy is to cover all the market segments. This also helps the business when there is an economic crisis.
- The Sono Portside restaurant focuses on the high-end market.
- The Sono City restaurant caters for the middle market and the Nagomi Restaurant covers the bottom end of the market.
A balance with your customers is the ideal concept to have over the ideal customer. At Sono, we look to embrace everyone.
How are you improving on that weakness? I am trying to put myself in my staff?s shoes and look at my ?standards? from their angle and situation. I have realised that you need to be flexible and a little more understanding in business. I am also giving my staff more encouragement for their achievements and acknowledgement for reaching their standards.
What is your biggest strength? I never give up on anything. When I first bought the business, there were a few big problems at the start, so it was extremely hard work. Japanese restaurants are hard, as you need to hire authentic Japanese chefs, which is already a challenge. I was also young and the chefs were all around my father?s age. At first, no one really wanted to listen to me because of my youth and inexperience, but I kept improving and never gave up. The second restaurant we opened, Sono Portside, was even more complicated to set up, but I kept trying new things and never gave up. In some cases, people will give up when it gets to difficult but I found the more you persist, the better the results.
?
If you could change one thing about your businesses day-to-day routine, what would it be? We have a great routine set up and I wouldn?t change anything.
Any new specials you can tell your customers about? 
If you had a chance to say one thing to a brand new customer, before they walk in the door, what would it be? Don?t be afraid of Japanese food. Try new things, you will be surprised!!?
You can read about Sono Restaurant and contacts here?Sono Japanese Restaurant Portside Brisbane 2012
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