7:58 PM
My family is excited that Harry Potter World is coming to Universal Studios Hollywood. It is sad that the Gibson Amphitheater will be closed, but the $1.6 bil expansion will bring a lot of visitors to Universal Studios. This Harry Potter World will be less than half the size of the one in Orlando...and the Orlando land already uses every inch well. The project will bring 30,000 jobs and $15 mil in annual taxes:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-fi-ct-gibson-amphitheater-20130425,0,7805486,full.story
Police and building inspectors ordered an 8-story building to be evacuated yesterday because of deep cracks in the walls...but garment factory (sweat shop) owners ordered their 2,000+ workers to come to work today. The building collapsed this morning, killing at least 238 people and injuring hundreds:
http://bismarcktribune.com/news/world/workers-pinned-in-bangladesh-rubble-cry-for-rescue/article_102cb21b-fc8c-5f32-8cdb-89bcd204129d.html
Experts warn that a huge plague of mosquitoes is coming to the area east of the Mississippi that are also being threatened by floods. Last year's record drought didn't kill the mosquitos, the eggs just waiting out the drought and will hatch once it rains:
http://www.tennessean.com/viewart/DA/20130425/NEWS01/304250019/Weather-extremes-could-cause-plague-mosquitoes
I am jealous that freshmen Engineering students at Rice University got to design a better coffee solution for astronauts...I never had anything cool like that in my Intro to Engineering Design classs:
http://www.rdmag.com/news/2013/04/space-coffee-gets-upgrade
The new $100 bill sure looks tough to counterfeit:
http://gizmodo.com/5995338/heres-your-new-and-improved-hundred-dollar-bill
12 words on a fake Tweet (a fake AP tweet reporting explosions at the White House) caused investors to dump $134 bil in stock on Tuesday:
http://www.wirelessdesignmag.com/news/2013/04/how-phony-tweet-and-computer-trades-sank-stocks?et_cid=3216645&et_rid=60838639
Report states that Verizon is getting ready to bid $100 bil to buy Vodafone's 45% ownership in Verizon Wireless:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/report-verizon-readies-100b-bid-vodafones-verizon-wireless-stake/2013-04-25
Here is an example of how Verizon's rural partners expect to make a lot of money from their LTE partnership with Verizon. The Ketchikan, Alaska provider will get revenue from Verizon whenever a Verizon customer uses their cell phone in Ketchikan (cruise ships go there, for example), bringing them a lot of money. The Alaskan carrier will have to pay Verizon fees when their customers visit the other 49 states, but that is a much smaller number of people than the visitors to Alaska. The big benefit for Verizon is that they get to provide excellent coverage in rural areas without having to buy and manage the equipment:
http://www.fiercebroadbandwireless.com/story/verizon-rural-partner-expecting-upside-roaming-revenues/2013-04-24
NASA put Nexus One smarthpones into orbit as a kind of prototype satellite, where commerical technology can be used for space exploration:
http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-firing-cell-phones-space-060502017--politics.html
The Department of Transportation is asking auto makers to prevent drivers from reading text messages, viewing photos, display scrolling text, and using video apps on their in-car electronic systems while the car is in motion:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9238663/Feds_want_in_dash_tech_disabled_when_cars_are_moving
Amazon is reportedly preparing to sell a TV set-top box that will sync with Amazon's Instant Video service. There are a LOT of companies already in this space, but that sure isn't scaring Amazon off...prepare for Amazon to undercut everybody's prices:
http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/amazon-preps-kindle-tv-set-top-box-148893
For $299, you can skip the lines and have all you can eat at Universal Studios Hollywood or Magic Mountain. Disneyland has a VIP tour that costs $355 per hour for a group up to 10 people, where Seaworld's group tour costs $1,200. Demand to skip lines and save time are prompting all theme parks to offer these types of VIP experiences...and they sure are profitable for theme parks!
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-theme-park-vip-20130426,0,2605306.story
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-fi-ct-gibson-amphitheater-20130425,0,7805486,full.story
Police and building inspectors ordered an 8-story building to be evacuated yesterday because of deep cracks in the walls...but garment factory (sweat shop) owners ordered their 2,000+ workers to come to work today. The building collapsed this morning, killing at least 238 people and injuring hundreds:
http://bismarcktribune.com/news/world/workers-pinned-in-bangladesh-rubble-cry-for-rescue/article_102cb21b-fc8c-5f32-8cdb-89bcd204129d.html
Experts warn that a huge plague of mosquitoes is coming to the area east of the Mississippi that are also being threatened by floods. Last year's record drought didn't kill the mosquitos, the eggs just waiting out the drought and will hatch once it rains:
http://www.tennessean.com/viewart/DA/20130425/NEWS01/304250019/Weather-extremes-could-cause-plague-mosquitoes
I am jealous that freshmen Engineering students at Rice University got to design a better coffee solution for astronauts...I never had anything cool like that in my Intro to Engineering Design classs:
http://www.rdmag.com/news/2013/04/space-coffee-gets-upgrade
The new $100 bill sure looks tough to counterfeit:
http://gizmodo.com/5995338/heres-your-new-and-improved-hundred-dollar-bill
12 words on a fake Tweet (a fake AP tweet reporting explosions at the White House) caused investors to dump $134 bil in stock on Tuesday:
http://www.wirelessdesignmag.com/news/2013/04/how-phony-tweet-and-computer-trades-sank-stocks?et_cid=3216645&et_rid=60838639
Report states that Verizon is getting ready to bid $100 bil to buy Vodafone's 45% ownership in Verizon Wireless:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/report-verizon-readies-100b-bid-vodafones-verizon-wireless-stake/2013-04-25
Here is an example of how Verizon's rural partners expect to make a lot of money from their LTE partnership with Verizon. The Ketchikan, Alaska provider will get revenue from Verizon whenever a Verizon customer uses their cell phone in Ketchikan (cruise ships go there, for example), bringing them a lot of money. The Alaskan carrier will have to pay Verizon fees when their customers visit the other 49 states, but that is a much smaller number of people than the visitors to Alaska. The big benefit for Verizon is that they get to provide excellent coverage in rural areas without having to buy and manage the equipment:
http://www.fiercebroadbandwireless.com/story/verizon-rural-partner-expecting-upside-roaming-revenues/2013-04-24
NASA put Nexus One smarthpones into orbit as a kind of prototype satellite, where commerical technology can be used for space exploration:
http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-firing-cell-phones-space-060502017--politics.html
The Department of Transportation is asking auto makers to prevent drivers from reading text messages, viewing photos, display scrolling text, and using video apps on their in-car electronic systems while the car is in motion:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9238663/Feds_want_in_dash_tech_disabled_when_cars_are_moving
Amazon is reportedly preparing to sell a TV set-top box that will sync with Amazon's Instant Video service. There are a LOT of companies already in this space, but that sure isn't scaring Amazon off...prepare for Amazon to undercut everybody's prices:
http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/amazon-preps-kindle-tv-set-top-box-148893
For $299, you can skip the lines and have all you can eat at Universal Studios Hollywood or Magic Mountain. Disneyland has a VIP tour that costs $355 per hour for a group up to 10 people, where Seaworld's group tour costs $1,200. Demand to skip lines and save time are prompting all theme parks to offer these types of VIP experiences...and they sure are profitable for theme parks!
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-theme-park-vip-20130426,0,2605306.story