Jakarta Hotels Rocked by Explosions

At least eight people were killed on Friday in two separate explosions at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in central Jakarta, just over a week after the world’s most populous Muslim majority nation completed a peaceful presidential election. The first explosion was heard at the Marriott around 0745am local time. The hotel was targeted in 2003 by the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah, when a bomb set off by the Islamic terrorists killed 11.

The second explosion happened shortly afterwards at the Ritz-Carlton, less than 100m away. The explosion was believed to have gone off in the Airlangga restaurant. Indonesia’s Metro TV reported that eight people died from the blasts — six at the Marriott and two at Ritz-Carlton, and there were reports of a number of foreigners either among those killed or badly injured. The Jakarta police could not confirm if the blasts were caused by bombs.

One witness, Alex Asmasubrata, said he saw one westerner, who was not moving, being carried outside the Marriott, and three others who were badly injured. He said that the inside of the hotel was still smoky and there were four other westerners being taken out from the back who were “barely moving”. A hotel guest, Don Hanna of US-based Fortress Investment Group, said he felt the building sway at the time of the explosion.

“As I came out of the elevator in the lobby, there were drops of blood on the floor. Some staff appeared injured, they had blood on the shirts. People were nervous but I saw no panic,” he said. While the police were still investigating the cause of the explosions, there were fear on Friday that areas popular with foreigners had once again become targets for terrorists.

The country witnessed three major terrorist attacks in 2002-2005 — the October 2002 Bali bombings; the August 2003 bombing of the Marriott in Jakarta and the September 2004 bombing outside the Australian embassy. Indonesian stocks opened more than 2 per cent lower but recovered to less than 1 per cent down by 0300 GMT.

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Source: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/76c46078-7276-11de-ba94-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1

Tags: Jakarta hotels, explosions, Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Don Hanna of US-based Fortress Investment Group, Terrorist attack, global development news, global blog network, blogspot, Airlangga restaurant, Alex Asmasubrata, al-Qaeda-linked, Jemaah Islamiyah,

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Big Media Seek 21st Century Business Models

Media moguls at this week's Sun Valley conference have spent as much time discussing how to reconfigure business models disrupted by the Web as they have worrying about the weak economy.

With difficult credit markets and an unclear future, talk of dealmaking has been at a minimum this year. Yet there has never been a more important time for media conglomerates and their financiers to act and adapt to the Internet age. The mood at the conference was described as "somber" and "very bearish" by executives. While the recession was a key reason, the other was the uncertainty over how future profits can be made from distributing news and entertainment online and across devices like smartphones.

"We're not using long-form content on the Web because it's not clear to us that's the way people want to consume content, said David Zaslav, chief executive of Discovery Communications Inc, which owns the Discovery Channel. "But also the business model isn't there yet, so we're taking it slow," he said in an interview on the sidelines of the event organized by boutique investment bank Allen & Co.

In the late-night bar at the Sun Valley Lodge, from which the press was banned, most of the discussions were around the issue of free versus paid content, said one senior executive who asked not to be named as his conversations with other executives were private. The challenge is how media companies can keep alive the lucrative cable business model at a time when consumers are increasingly used to getting content for free online. Cable operators pay affiliate fees to cable networks for their programming, and both share advertising revenue.

Plans such as Time Warner Inc's "TV Everywhere" and Comcast Corp's "On Demand Online" seek to preserve that business model by offering cable shows on the Web to authenticated, paying cable TV subscribers.

"Authentication is an interesting intermediate step and is something that we're looking at," said Zaslav. The conversations about TV Everywhere are heating up. Google Inc CEO Eric Schmidt confirmed to reporters that he has had early talks with Time Warner about the possibility of getting paid cable shows up on YouTube. But he did not elaborate.

TV VS PRINT AND MUSIC

Television studio executives do not want to repeat the experience of their colleagues in the hard-hit newspaper and music businesses, and are worried that consumers will expect TV shows, movies and all professional programing to be free. Hulu.com, owned by News Corp, NBC Universal and Walt Disney Co, offers broadcast TV shows and movies for free on the Web, but there has been talk at Sun Valley among executives of introducing a paid content model.

Wired editor Chris Anderson argues in his book 'Free' that many companies, with media at the forefront, could build bigger and better businesses around the notion of giving away their content for free. Many executives in Sun Valley would not agree. 'Free' -- supported by advertising -- is not a new concept. After all, broadcast TV is free but its dominance has been eroded by cable channels and its future as an advertising outlet is bleak.

Newspapers owned by News Corp and others are fervently examining news-bundling pricing models to seek ways to get users to pay to read news online. One consideration may be to bundle different properties along vertical lines, such as business and sports news, for a monthly fee.

Far from free, what media moguls would want to preserve on the Web and mobile platforms is the dual-revenue stream from subscriptions and advertising. "The big thing for these guys is how do you come up with that dual revenue streams online," said Jeremy Alliare, chief executive of Brightcove, an online video company that partners with many major media companies. "Cable TV is a part of that but I think it's a broader industry discussion."

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Source: http://tech.yahoo.com/news/nm/20090711/wr_nm/us_sunvalley_media_5

Tags: Hulu, News Corp, NBC Universal, Walt Disney Co, YouTube, Brightcove, Cable TV, Comcast, Chris Anderson, Wired, Global Blog Network, Paid content Model, Media moguls, Sun Valley conference,

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This Recession Is So Bad Not Even Sex Sells

How bad is this recession? Even sex doesn't sell.

That's the glum assessment of those in the adult entertainment industry, hundreds of whom gathered last week for the annual Cybernet Expo conference in San Francisco. The industry, now a multibillion-dollar online business, has discovered that people just aren't willing to click-to-pay for vice the way they once did.

"Times are tough," Jay Kopita, director of operations for the expo, said with a sigh. "You'd think this would be recession-proof." Turns out pay-per-view sex is just another sector struggling in the downturn.

In many ways, the three-day gathering that ended Saturday was like any other Silicon Valley conference. It was held at the Holiday Inn and featured sessions on contracts and social media, speed networking and lots of late-afternoon schmoozing over drinks. "Sometimes these can be boring," admitted Ella Black, a performer with girl-next-door looks who just launched her own "solo girl" site.

On the other hand, shoptalk overheard in a hallway included the challenges of performing certain sex scenes. One popular seminar on shooting adult film featured a disrobing model. An after-hours party was held at fetish company Kink.com. During day hours, at least, the focus was clearly on business. Indeed, attendees said the mood was more somber than the go-go pre-recession days.

"A lot of companies have been bouncing checks," performer Annie Cruz said. "Some people have quit the business. A lot of companies have cut back shooting. There are a lot of girls who have not worked in a month." Cruz has seen her work schedule drop from 25 days a month to as few as five. "You would think porn would do better in times like this," the exasperated 24-year-old San Franciscan said.

Piracy is also cutting into profits with the proliferation of "tube sites" — the YouTubes of porn where copyrighted video clips are frequently illegally uploaded. "We are being devastated by this," said Dick Webber, who operates a Silicon Valley-based Web site and who, like the actors, goes by a stage name.

"The Internet is both a help and a hindrance," said longtime porn performer and producer Dave Cummings, who expects his next movie, "Knee Pad Nymphos Volume 10," to fall victim to online thieves. "I'm convinced the first day it's out it will be a popular video to be stolen."

Many at the conference talked of altering business plans to provide content, such as live Webcams, that can't be ripped off. "There is no incentive for a surfer to subscribe to a site unless you have some offering that is unique and can't be replicated on a tube site," Webber said.

More than anything, the Internet has made the adult industry more mainstream. Adult videos are still vilified by critics, but their stars are adored by autograph-seeking fans. Upon checking in at the expo, attendees, many of whom are eager to cloak their real identities, are asked what they want to be called on their name tags.

Some were soccer moms and dads. Model Black said she is a pastor's daughter. Cruz, who has a thing for whips and ropes, admits to being an inner geek — she designs Web sites at night — and is a comic book fanatic. "I'm a dork," said the performer in short shorts.

Cummings, who at 69 is the oldest active performer in the industry, said he is a retired Army lieutenant colonel and once taught at West Point. He has since performed in more than 600 scenes.

"That's a lot of sex," he said.

Source: http://www.siliconvalley.com/news/ci_12716498?nclick_check=1

Tags: Sex, Adult Video Industry, Soccer moms, Knee Pad Nymphos Volume 10, Youtubes of porn, Porn, Cybernet Expo, pay-per-view sex, Kink.com, Global Blog Network,

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Harvesting Water From Air

Not a plant to be seen, the desert ground is too dry. But the air contains water, and research scientists have found a way of obtaining drinking water from air humidity. The system is based completely on renewable energy and is therefore autonomous.

Cracks permeate the dried-out desert ground, the landscape bears testimony to the lack of water. But even here, where there are no lakes, rivers or groundwater, considerable quantities of water are stored in the air. In the Negev desert in Israel, for example, annual average relative air humidity is 64 percent – in every cubic meter of air there are 11.5 milliliters of water.

Research scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart working in conjunction with their colleagues from the company Logos Innovationen have found a way of converting this air humidity autonomously and decentrally into drinkable water.

“The process we have developed is based exclusively on renewable energy sources such as thermal solar collectors and photovoltaic cells, which makes this method completely energy-autonomous. It will therefore function in regions where there is no electrical infrastructure,” says Siegfried Egner, head of department at the IGB.

The principle of the process is as follows: hygroscopic brine – saline solution which absorbs moisture – runs down a tower-shaped unit and absorbs water from the air. It is then sucked into a tank a few meters off the ground in which a vacuum prevails. Energy from solar collectors heats up the brine, which is diluted by the water it has absorbed.

Because of the vacuum, the boiling point of the liquid is lower than it would be under normal atmospheric pressure. This effect is known from the mountains: as the atmospheric pressure there is lower than in the valley, water boils at temperatures distinctly below 100 degrees Celsius. The evaporated, non-saline water is condensed and runs down through a completely filled tube in a controlled manner. The gravity of this water column continuously produces the vacuum and so a vacuum pump is not needed. The reconcentrated brine runs down the tower surface again to absorb moisture from the air.

“The concept is suitable for various sizes of installation. Single-person units and plants supplying water to entire hotels are conceivable,” says Egner. Prototypes have been built for both system components – air moisture absorption and vacuum evaporation – and the research scientists have already tested their interplay on a laboratory scale.

In a further step the researchers intend to develop a demonstration facility.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090605091856.htm

Tags: Fraunhofer Institute, IGB Stuttgart, Logos Innovationen, Siegfried Egner, Negev Desert Israel, Global Development News, Global Blog Network,

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Venezuela Bans Coke Zero

CARACAS (Reuters) – The Venezuelan government of U.S.-criticPresident Hugo Chavez on Wednesday ordered Coca-Cola Co to withdraw its Coke Zero beverage from the South American nation, citing unspecified dangers to health.

The decision follows a wave of nationalizations and increased scrutiny of businesses in South America's top oil exporter. Health Minister Jesus Mantilla said the zero-calorie Coke Zero should no longer be sold and stocks of the drink removed from store shelves while the government investigated its ingredients.

"The product should be withdrawn from circulation to preserve the health of Venezuelans," the minister said in comments reported by the government's news agency.

Coca Cola said Coke Zero contains no harmful ingredients, but that it will stop production and remove the product from shelves during the ongoing investigation.

"Coca Cola Zero is made under the highest quality standards around the world and meets the sanitary requirements demanded by the laws of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela," the company said in a joint statement with its local bottling company.

Despite Chavez's anti-capitalist policies and rhetoric against consumerism, oil-exporting Venezuela remains one of Latin America's most Americanized cultures, with U.S. fast-food chains, shopping malls and baseball all highly popular.

Mantilla did not say what health risks Coke Zero, which contains artificial sweeteners, posed to the population. Coke Zero was launched in Venezuela in April and Coca-Cola Femsa, the Mexico-based company that bottles Coke products locally, said at the time it aimed to increase its market share for low calorie drinks by 200 percent.

The bottler was plagued with labor problems last year in Venezuela when former workers repeatedly blocked its plants, demanding back-pay. The government this year has seized a rice mill and pasta factory belonging to U.S. food giant Cargill and has threatened action against U.S. drug company Pfizer.

Chavez has also nationalized a group of oil service companies, including projects belonging to Williams Companies and Exterran.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090611/hl_nm/us_venezuela_coke

Tags: Coke, Coca cola, Coke Zero, Cargill, Hugo Chavez, Jesus Mantilla, Exterran, Williams Companies, Global Blog Network,

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