Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Satire: Halellujah Chorus: Silent monks perform humourously to great chorus ... is this a case of lip-synching?

Technics: Facebook; Fb forced into Initial Public Offering on the public stock exchange/

This is the clearest collection of details, accompanied by a hard-edge analysis, of the latest shenanigans at Facebook, and against Facebook in the legal sphere of enterprise regulations by the Securities Exchange Commission.

School bans Facebook for a week: 

five lessons students learned

Will Facebook Succumb To IPO Pressure?

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s probe into trading of Facebook shares on private marketplaces has some asking whether the regulator might pressure the social network to have an initial public offering.
An article in The New York Times says the SEC gave Facebook permission to grant restricted stock to its employees without having to list them publicly and make the financial disclosures required of public companies.
Federal law draws the line between public and private at 500 shareholders. Facebook obviously has more than twice that number of employees, but the SEC might be concerned with how many stakeholders aren’t employed by the social network.
The auctions on SecondMarket and SharesPost of Facebook holdings are currently limited to professional investors. But new funds that own some of these shares potentially give access to a wider array of buyers.
Even so, these funds still have some prerequisites about the minimum net worth who can buy in. That combined with the rules of SecondMarket and SharesPost could conceivably slow down the growth in the number of shareholders to a level acceptable to the SEC.
Or maybe not. That’s why the regulator’s asking questions right now. Perhaps the SEC’s timing will complement other legal developments so that any pressure for a Facebook IPO would kick in after the  Winklevoss twins   go away.
Oral arguments for the twins’ appeal of the $65 million settlement begin next month, and the issue going before the court concerns allegations of securities fraud. Those are two words that no one wants to see in an IPO prospectus.
Do you think the SEC’s investigation of Facebook stock trades on private markets will lead to regulatory pressure for an IPO?
-- Technowlh







Music: All Genres USA 2k10: Top 50 songs plus click-up for top 100

From the Country Music Association's email newsletter;


The Americana Music Association announced its year end Top 100 Albums of the Year.  The Top 100 albums are based on those records reported to the Americana Airplay Chart during the period of November 17, 2009 through November 15, 2010.  We’ll serve up the first half of the list and you can visit the Americana Music Association website to access the full list of all 100 albums…

The Top 50 most played albums, as charted on the Americana Airplay Chart are:

1.   Various Artists, Crazy Heart Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, New West
2.   Rosanne Cash, The List, Manhattan
3.   John Hiatt, The Open Road, New West
4.   Carolina Chocolate Drops, Genuine Negro Jig, Nonesuch
5.   Ray Wylie Hubbard, A Enlightenment B Endarkenment Hint There Is No C,  
           Bordello/Thirty Tigers
6.    Robert Earl Keen, The Rose Hotel, Lost Highway
7.    Band Of Heathens, One Foot In The Ether, BOH Records
8.    Avett Brothers, I And Love And You, Columbia
9.    Patty Griffin, Downtown Church, Credential
10.   Reckless Kelly, Somewhere In Time, Yep Roc
11.   John Mellencamp, No Better Than This, Rounder
12.   Darrell Scott, A Crooked Road, Full Light
13.   Merle Haggard, I Am What I Am, Vanguard
14.   Alejandro Escovedo, Street Songs of Love, Fantasy
15.   Willie Nelson, Country Music, Rounder
16.   Lyle Lovett, Natural Forces, Curb/Lost Highway
17.   Carrie Rodriguez, Love And Circumstance, Ninth Street Opus
18.   Robert Plant, Band of Joy, Rounder
19.   Paul Thorn, Pimps & Preachers, Perpetual Obscurity
20.   Los Lobos, Tin Can Trust, Shout! Factory
21.   Jim Lauderdale, Patchwork River, Thirty Tigers
22.   Cross Canadian Ragweed, Happiness And All The Other Things,
                Universal Records 
23.   Red Molly, James, Independent
24.   Chip Taylor, Yonkers NY, Train Wreck
25.   Yarn, Come On In, UFO
26.   John Prine, In Person & On Stage, Oh Boy
27.   Tift Merritt, See You On The Moon, Concord
28.   Various Artists, Twistable Turnable Man, 
                 A Musical Tribute To The Songs Of Shel Silverstein, Sugar Hill
29.   Dave Rawlings Machine, A Friend Of A Friend, Acony
30.   Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Speed Of Life, NGDB
31.   Kevin Welch, A Patch Of Blue Sky, Music Road
32.   Johnny Cash, American VI: Ain’t No Grave, American/Lost Highway
33.   Elliot Randall and The Deadmen, Caffeine & Gasoline, ER
34.   Ray LaMontagne and The Pariah Dogs, God Willin’ & The Creek Don’t Rise, RCA
35.   Shelby Lynne, Tears, Lies & Alibis , Everso/Fontana/CO5
36.   Marty Stuart, Studio B Sessions, Sugar Hill
37.   Sam Bush, Circles Around Me, Sugar Hill
38.   Will Kimbrough, Wings, Daphne
39.   Corb Lund, Losin’ Lately Gambler, New West
40.   Elizabeth Cook, Welder, Thirty Tigers
41.   Kevin Deal, 7 Seven, Blind Nello
42.   Allison Moorer, Crows, Ryko
43.   Ryan Bingham and The Dead Horses, Junky Star, Lost Highway
44.   Eleven Hundred Springs, This Crazy Life, Smith Entertainment
45.   Guy Clark, Somedays The Song Writes You, Dualtone
46.   Dierks Bentley, Up On The Ridge, Capitol / Sugar Hill
47.   Patty Loveless, Mountain Soul II, Saguaro Road
48.   Drive-By Truckers, The Big To-Do, ATO/RED
49.   Tim O’Brien, Chicken and Egg, Howdy Skies
50.   Eilen Jewell, Butcher Holler – A Tribute To Loretta Lynn, Signature Sounds



-- Country Music Gal

Sports: National Football League: list of contenders for league's leadership

NFL playoffs: who needs what to clinch

NEW YORK (AP) — Three division titles remain undecided heading into the final week of the NFL season: the AFC South, NFC South and NFC West.

Indianapolis wins the AFC South by beating visiting Tennessee on Sunday, or if Jacksonville loses at Houston. The winner of Sunday’s game in Seattle between the Rams and Seahawks wins the NFC West.

While the AFC wild cards belong to the Jets and either the Ravens or Steelers — whichever doesn’t take the AFC North — five teams have shots at NFC wild cards: Atlanta, New Orleans, Green Bay, Tampa Bay and the New York Giants.

So the AFC is not very complicated, with New England the East winner, Kansas City champion of the West, and either Baltimore or Pittsburgh taking the North. The Steelers hold the tiebreaker over the Ravens and are at Cleveland on Sunday. Baltimore hosts Cincinnati.

The Chiefs and the AFC South winner will host a wild-card round playoff game.

Things are more unsettled in the NFC, where Chicago (North) and Philadelphia (East) own division titles. Seattle (6-9) could become the first division winner in NFL history with a losing record if it beats St. Louis (7-8) in their finale, which has been flexed to a Sunday night game.
-- Sportikos posting AP via Daily Caller.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Technics: Net Neutrality: John Fund [WSJ], Open Internet Coalition, and Michelle Malkin











John Fund The Net Neutrality Coup  [Wall Street Journal; Decd21,2k10]


The campaign to regulate the Internet was funded by 


a who's who of left-liberal foundations.


... Thanks to Don McNally


-------------------------------
Ryan Kim [GigaOm; Dec21,2k10]









What the Web Is saying: Net Neutrality Rules










... Thanks to

O

pen 



I

nternet 

C

oalition





















-------------------------------




Michelle Malkin [Dec22,2k10]








... Thanks to 






Michelle Malkin Blog









-- Technowlb


Saturday, December 18, 2010

Music: CountryUSA: Top 50 Country for 2010



Lee Brice photo courtesy of Curb Records.

Billboard.com has just released it’s year end charts for 2010.  Leading the pack are a group of up and coming male artists with surprisingly few established superstar names in the top 10.  Here are the 50 most popular country songs for the year based on radio airplay audience impressions as measured by Nielsen BDS (song, artist, album):

  1. “Love Like Crazy” – Lee BriceLove Like Crazy
  2. “Rain Is A Good Thing” – Luke BryanDoin’ My Thing
  3. “Why Don’t We Just Dance” – Josh TurnerHaywire
  4. “All Over Me” – Josh Turner, Haywire
  5. “The Man I Want To Be” – Chris YoungThe Man I Want To Be
  6. “Roll With It” – Easton CorbinEaston Corbin
  7. “Gimmie That Girl” – Joe NicholsOld Things New
  8. “All About Tonight” – Blake SheltonAll About Tonight
  9. “Come Back Song” – Darius RuckerCharleston, SC 1966
  10. “She Won’t Be Lonely Long” – Clay WalkerShe Won’t Be Lonely Long
  11. “The House That Build Me” – Miranda LambertRevolution
  12. “American Honey” - Lady AntebellumNeed You Now
  13. “‘Til Summer Comes Around” – Keith UrbanDefying Gravity
  14. “Highway 20 Ride” – Zac Brown BandThe Foundation
  15. “Keep On Lovin’ You” – Steel MagnoliaValentine’s Day Soundtrack
  16. “Crazy Town” – Jason AldeanWide Open
  17. “Our Kind Of Love” – Lady Antebellum, Need You Now
  18. “Water” – Brad PaisleyAmerican Saturday Night
  19. “A Little More Country Than That” – Easton Corbin, Easton Corbin
  20. “Farmer’s Daughter” – Rodney AtkinsIt’s America
  21. “I’m In” – Keith Urban, Defying Gravity
  22. “Lover, Lover” – Jerrod NiemannJudge Jerrod & the Hung Jury
  23. “Little White Church” – Little Big TownThe Reason Why
  24. “History In The Making” – Darius Rucker, Learn To Live
  25. “Temporary Home” – Carrie UnderwoodPlay On
  26. “That’s How Country Boys Roll” – Billy CurringtonLittle Bit of Everything
  27. “Smile” – Uncle KrackerHappy Hour
  28. “Pretty Good At Drinkin Beer” – Billy Currington, Enjoy Yourself
  29. “Undo It” – Carrie Underwood, Play On
  30. “Stuck Like Glue” – SugarlandThe Incredible Machine
  31. “Hillbilly Bone” – Blake Shelton & Trace Adkins, Hillbilly Bone
  32. “The Truth” – Jason Aldean, Wide Open
  33. “Ain’t Back Yet” – Kenny ChesneyGreatest Hits II
  34. “American Saturday Night” – Brad Paisley, American Saturday Night
  35. “The Boys of Fall” – Kenny Chesney, Hemingway’s Whiskey
  36. “Free” – Zac Brown, The Foundation
  37. “If I Die Young” – The Band PerryThe Band Perry
  38. “Mine” – Taylor SwiftSpeak Now
  39. “Unstoppable” – Rascal FlattsUnstoppable
  40. “I Gotta Get To You” – George StraitTwang
  41. “Backwoods” – Justin MooreJustin Moore
  42. “Consider Me Gone” – Reba McEntireKeep On Loving You
  43. “Souther Voice” – Tim McGrawSouthern Voice
  44. “I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes” – Dierks BentleyFeel That Fire
  45. “White Liar” – Miranda Lambert, Revolution
  46. “As She’s Walking Away” – Zac Brown Band with Alan Jackson, You Get What You Give
  47. “Why Wait” – Rascal Flatts, Nothing Like This
  48. “Need You Now” – Lady Antebellum, Need You Now
  49. “This Ain’t Nothin’” – Craig MorganThat’s Why
  50. “The Breath You Take” – George Strait, Twan