Tuesday, September 15, 2009

“Daily Minute: Tuesday, Sept. 15 - Taunton Gazette” plus 3 more

“Daily Minute: Tuesday, Sept. 15 - Taunton Gazette” plus 3 more

Daily Minute: Tuesday, Sept. 15 - Taunton Gazette

Posted: 15 Sep 2009 06:25 AM PDT

Word of the Day
Eleemosynary el-ih-MAH-suh-nair-ee (adj.) Of, relating to or supported by charity -- Merriam-Webster.com

Web Site of the Day
Official site of Agatha Christie
Are you a fan of crime novels in general or Agatha Christie in particular? Then head to this site, which has a wealth of Christie-related information, including biographies of her most well-known characters, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.

Number to Know
24: Ranking of William Howard Taft in CSPAN's 2009 poll of the best presidents. Taft was born on this date in 1857.

This Day in History
Sept. 15, 1981: The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approves Sandra Day O'Connor, who becomes the first female justice of the Supreme Court.

Today's Featured Birthday
Actor Tommy Lee Jones (63)

Daily Quote
"It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them." – Author Agatha Christie, who was born on Sept. 15, 1890, and died in 1976.

The World in 5 Minutes
The top news, entertainment, sports and business stories in a nutshell. Check it out.

Today's Laugh
A parody and satire site of current events, covering everything from Barack to Britney. Based in Plymouth, updated daily.

Profile America
Sept. 15:  Three important dates in American newspaper history occurred in September — spanning almost 200 years. On this date in 1982, USA Today began publishing. Critics at the time said the idea of a national newspaper was doomed to failure — now, USA Today is the country's largest selling daily. On September 18, 1851, the New York Times issued its first edition. And, on September 25th in 1690, the first newspaper in America, Public Occurrences Both Foreign and Domestick, was published for one day in Boston — before being shut down by unhappy British authorities. There are 1,422 daily newspapers published across the nation. Of these, 907 have Sunday editions. Find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Frederic Begin  - Variety

Posted: 15 Sep 2009 05:21 AM PDT

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First look: Zune HD - Ars Technica

Posted: 15 Sep 2009 07:44 AM PDT

The Zune HD goes on sale today, and the firmware for the new device should be available by the time you read this (initial devices were shipped without the needed firmware, making them all but useless until hooked up to a PC). Hopes that Microsoft might offer support for the Mac or for Linux machines didn't pan out (and were always a long shot), but the Zune does have a few slick tricks up its sleeve. Let's run them down in preparation for our full review later today:

3.3 inch OLED screen: Sure, we knew all about it, but how does it look? With a unit in our grubby little hands, we can confidently say it looks pretty damn good. Colors are saturated and the screen is terrifically bright—so much so that even my dad (!) commented after seeing the device begin playing its demo movie. Resolution is 480 by 272, and the Zune HD features an accelerometer this time in order to do automatic screen rotation. The screen is driven by NVIDIA's high-def, low power Tegra chip.

Apps: Yes, apps are coming to the Zune, but in a limited way. Here's how Microsoft puts it: "Simply go to the apps catalog and select the ones you want and sync them to the device. Zune apps are free. We are introducing a handful of new and updated casual games, along with a select group of utility apps, such as weather and calculator. These first apps for Zune HD are an introduction of what will be an ever growing library."

Sounds neat, and should add a good bit of utility to the device, especially if Microsoft rolls out a competent e-mail reader (a Web browser is built into the operating system). But it's also clear there will be no third-party app ecosystem—probably a wise choice, given Microsoft's small market share here and the wide range of competing smartphone platforms and portable game devices, each with their own app stores and developer ecosystems.

ZuneHD_apps.jpg

Size: The Zune HD is much smaller than expected from pictures—significantly smaller than either an iPhone or an earlier hard-drive Zunes. In fact, it's half the depth of the earlier hard-drive Zunes. It's larger than the iPod nano and the earlier Zune flash units. Two models are available, 16GB and 32GB flash units, in five colors.

Rich artist information: Zune HD will automatically grab album art but also extra material like biographies and related artist information when synced to a PC, even if the songs came from somewhere besides the Zune music store. This information will be viewable on the device while playing back media.

Codec support: All the bases are covered here. The Zune HD can handle WMA, AAC, and MP3 audio along with H.264, MPEG-4, and WMV video, along with (hugely) limited support for DVR-MS files from the company's own Windows Media Center DVR. When provided with the right connectors (sold separately), it can output some HD video over HDMI.

Wireless: Still present, and the Zune HD is still capable of syncing its media wirelessly with a PC. Like Zunes before it, the Zune HD can also stream music directly from the Zune music store for those with an unlimited monthly music pass. 802.11b/g are supported, but not 802.11n.

"Hello from Seattle": Yup. It's written on the left side of the device in tiny, totally lowercase gray text.

The headphone jack: It's on the bottom.

We'll be bringing you our complete Zune review later this evening. If you have any questions you'd like answered, leave a comment and we'll do our best to oblige.

For Fifth Straight Year, Hispanic Business Magazine Names Verizon One ... - PR Newswire

Posted: 15 Sep 2009 07:08 AM PDT

NEW YORK, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Hispanic Business magazine has named Verizon to the publication's 2009 DIVERSITY ELITE 60 list. It is the fifth consecutive year that Verizon has been named to the annual list.

The September issue of Hispanic Business magazine will feature the list, which is comprised of companies committed to workforce diversity initiatives, marketing strategies and supplier diversity initiatives that benefit the Hispanic community.

The ranking is determined by more than 32 variables that measure a company's commitment to diversity and the Hispanic community, including a company's board membership, senior leadership, recruitment and retention, marketing, and business conducted with Hispanic-owned businesses. Verizon is ranked 11th on this year's list.

"At Verizon, we understand that diversity and inclusion, to be a competitive advantage, must be embraced at all levels of the business and must be woven into the corporate culture," said Magda Yrizarry, vice president for workplace culture, diversity and compliance at Verizon. "We're honored to have our long-standing commitment to diversity recognized by Hispanic Business magazine."

(Note: A video of the opportunities for professional growth at Verizon is available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlGjR1Bm4jw&feature=channel_page.)

In the Community

In 2008, Verizon spent more than $3.4 billion with diverse suppliers. The Verizon Foundation, the company's philanthropic group, contributed more than $12.7 million in 2008 to programs and organizations that support the Hispanic community.

Last year alone, the Verizon Foundation awarded $680,000 in academic scholarships to 146 Hispanic college students across the country.

And in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, which is observed from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, Verizon Thinkfinity.org, a free educational Web site, will offer a rich collection of free K-12 lesson plans, activities and educational resources to help students celebrate the diverse history and important contributions Latinos have made to American culture.

A Great Place to Work

In September, BusinessWeek magazine again ranked Verizon 22nd on its list of Best Places to Launch a Career. And earlier this year, for the seventh consecutive year, LATINA Style magazine named Verizon to the publication's Latina Style 50, an annual list of the best companies for Latinas to work for in the U.S.

Other diversity honors earned by Verizon in 2009 include being named to Diversity MBA magazine's list of Best Companies for Diverse Managers and Working Mother magazine's list of Best Companies for Multicultural Women.

Over the past few years, Verizon's employee development, education and training budget has totaled approximately $1 billion. In 2008 alone, Verizon employees logged more than 11 million training hours to advance their knowledge of a wide range of key issues including compliance, privacy and security; to learn new management techniques; and to develop the skills needed to deliver the nation's most advanced broadband networks to customers.

Also in 2008, the company invested $117 million in the education of its employees through its tuition assistance program, which pays 100 percent of approved tuition and fees, up to $8,000 per employee per year, at accredited institutions.

For more information about Verizon's commitment to diversity, visit the company's press kit on diversity at http://newscenter.verizon.com/kit/diversity/.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) , headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving more than 87 million customers nationwide. Verizon's Wireline operations provide converged communications, information and entertainment services over the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network. Wireline also includes Verizon Business, which delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world. A Dow 30 company, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of more than 235,000 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of more than $97 billion. For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

VERIZON'S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive speeches and biographies, media contacts, high-quality video and images, and other information are available at Verizon's News Center on the World Wide Web at www.verizon.com/news. To receive news releases by e-mail, visit the News Center and register for customized automatic delivery of Verizon news releases.

SOURCE Verizon

Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/094251.html

Website: http://www.verizon.com
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