GitHub Has Big Dreams for Open-Source Software, and More

The following is an excerpt from an article in:


The New York Times
Monday, December 31, 2012

GitHub Has Big Dreams for Open-Source Software, and More

By QUENTIN HARDY

Software is not merely about automating every aspect of our lives anymore. Some of its makers want to change the way we all interact, spreading their supposed egalitarian excellence.

Whether this is liberation into a new and better mode of being (and yes, the people thinking about this take it to that scale) or the folly of an industry in love with its success is one of the more intriguing questions of a world rushing to live online.

GitHub is a San Francisco company that started in 2008 as a way for open-source software writers in disparate locations to rapidly create new and better versions of their work. Work is stored, shared and discussed, based on the idea of a "pull request," which is a suggestion to the group for some accretive element, like several lines of code, to be "pulled," or added, to a project.

"The concept is based around change: what is the right thing to do, what is the wrong thing?" said Tom Preston-Werner, GitHub's co-founder and chief executive. "The efficiency of large groups working together is very low in large enterprises. We want to change that."

Mr. Preston-Werner's own company is something of a proxy for how he sees the world. GitHub has no managers among its 140 employees, for example. "Everyone has management interests," he said. "People can work on things that are interesting to them. Companies should exist to optimize happiness, not money. Profits follow." He does, however, retain his own title and decides things like salaries.

In his blog Mr. Preston-Werner has written about how important it is for  companies to expose as much of their inner workings as possible. Another member of GitHub has posted a talk that stresses how companies flourish when people want to work on certain things, not because they are told to.

For more, visit www.nytimes.com.

Chinese Firm Is Cleared to Buy American DNA Sequencing Company

The following is an excerpt from an article in:


The New York Times
Monday, December 31, 2012

Chinese Firm Is Cleared to Buy American DNA Sequencing Company

By ANDREW POLLACK

The federal government has given national security clearance to the controversial purchase of an American DNA sequencing company by a Chinese firm.

The Chinese firm, BGI-Shenzhen, said in a statement this weekend that its acquisition of Complete Genomics, based in Mountain View, Calif., had been cleared by the federal Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which reviews the national security implications of foreign takeovers of American companies. The deal still requires antitrust clearance by the Federal Trade Commission.

Some scientists, politicians and industry executives had said the takeover represented a threat to American competitiveness in DNA sequencing, a technology that is becoming crucial for the development of drugs, diagnostics and improved crops.

The fact that the $117.6 million deal was controversial at all reflects a change in the genomics community.

A decade ago, the Human Genome Project, in which scientists from many nations helped unravel the genetic blueprint of mankind, was celebrated for its spirit of international cooperation. One of the participants in the project was BGI, which was then known as the Beijing Genomics Institute.

But with DNA sequencing now becoming a big business and linchpin of the biotechnology industry, international rivalries and nationalism are starting to move front and center in any acquisition.

Much of the alarm about the deal has been raised by Illumina, a San Diego company that is the market leader in sequencing machines. It has potentially the most to lose from the deal because BGI might buy fewer Illumina products and even become a competitor. Weeks after the BGI deal was announced, Illumina made its own belated bid for Complete Genomics, offering 15 cents a share more than BGI’s bid of $3.15. But Complete Genomics rebuffed Illumina, saying such a merger would never clear antitrust review.

Illumina also hired a Washington lobbyist, the Glover Park Group, to stir up opposition to the deal in Congress. Representative Frank R. Wolf, Republican of Virginia, was the only member of Congress known to have publicly expressed concern.

For more, visit www.nytimes.com.

Maxim Magazine Focuses on Military, Veterans and Their Families

The following is an excerpt from an article in:


The New York Times
Monday, December 31, 2012

Maxim Magazine Focuses on Military, Veterans and Their Families

By CHRISTINE HAUGHNEY

CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ark. — Scaling elevator shafts and sliding through sewers in mud-caked fields at a military training camp here would not be what most people would call a vacation. But for 10 Special Operations soldiers from the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force, participating in an event called the Maximum Warrior contest, these challenges had a singular aim: to be in Maxim magazine.

Maxim, a testosterone-fueled magazine featuring adolescent humor and plenty of scantily clad actresses, has become for today’s Army what Esquire was to soldiers fighting in World War II and Playboy was during the Vietnam War.

“They’ve got hot chicks, guns, cars, trucks, a little bit of everything,” said Christopher May, a 38-year-old master sergeant in the Marines based at Camp Pendleton in California. He decided to compete in the contest, sponsored by the magazine, to enhance his credibility with younger officers who are die-hard Maxim fans.

On a recent December day in Crawfordsville, 20 miles west of Memphis, as he sat at a barracks table littered with Maxim magazines and cleaned his .45-caliber Remington pistol, he said that Maxim was “the most common magazine hanging around” during his eight deployments. That popularity isn’t an accident. The magazine has focused on the military, veterans and their families as a source of growing readership.

In 2013, Maxim hopes to turn its annual “Salute to the Military” issue — which includes content like how to approach dating after losing a limb in combat and highlights of celebrities who have served in the military — into a quarterly publication. Maxim will continue to work with the U.S.O. on military-sponsored events. It also will continue to run the Maximum Warrior contest, and will use videos from the event online and on the Maxim Xbox app.

The unabashed celebration of the military sets Maxim apart from many mainstream publications. Matt Willette, a 42-year-old special operations manager for ATK Tactical Systems — Blackhawk, provided the uniforms for the Maximum Warrior competition because he said the company wanted to reach military consumers who often buy their own gear. Mr. Willette, who served in the Army from 1988 to 1996, also likes Maxim’s pro-military approach.

“Most guys in the military have not been treated well by the media,” Mr. Willette said. “So when we do find one like Maxim, we want to embrace it.”

For more, visit  www.nytimes.com.

Press Release: December 28, 2012

Topics: Financial

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HP Issues Statement on Autonomy and 10-K

HP today issued the following statement related to its write-down of Autonomy as represented in its 2012 10-K:

HP has been very transparent about the issues relating to Autonomy and the reasons why we announced an $8.8 billion non-cash impairment charge on November 20th. As we have said previously, the majority of this impairment charge, more than $5 billion, is linked to serious accounting improprieties, disclosure failures and outright misrepresentations discovered by HP’s internal investigation into Autonomy’s practices prior to and in connection with the acquisition.

Our Form 10-K for fiscal 2012 is meant to provide the necessary overview of HP’s financial condition, including our audited financial statements, which is what our filing does. As disclosed in the filing, the U.S. Department of Justice advised HP that they have opened an investigation relating to Autonomy. HP is cooperating with the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the UK’s Serious Fraud Office in this matter. We continue to believe that the authorities and the courts are the appropriate venues in which to address the wrongdoing discovered at Autonomy.

Pearson to Take 5 Percent Stake in Nook Unit

The following is an excerpt from an article in:

The New York Times

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Pearson to Take 5 Percent Stake in Nook Unit 

By JULIA WERDIGIER 

Barnes & Noble moved to shore up its struggling Nook Media division Friday, agreeing to sell a 5 percent stake to Pearson, a British publishing and education company, for $89.5 million. 

In a sign of the headwinds the bookseller is facing, the company said in a regulatory filing that holiday sales were weaker than expected and that its Nook unit would fall short of projections for 2013. 

The forecast underscores the difficulties Barnes & Noble is having as it tries to build out its digital business and compete in a crowded market with giant companies like Amazon, Apple and Google. Sales for the first generation of e-readers have been dropping rapidly as consumers shift to tablets that can offer other forms of media like music, games and video. Just this week, Amazon was trumpeting banner sales of its Kindle Fire tablet over the holidays. 

By contrast, worldwide shipments of e-readers fell by 36 percent in 2012, according to a report released this month by IHS iSuppli, a market research firm. 

"The market's growth is slowing down," said James L. McQuivey, a media analyst with Forrester Research, referring to e-readers. "The easy customers have been snatched up. And the first customers are the best customers, who buy the most books. In the case of Amazon, you can compensate by selling merchandise to later adopters. Barnes & Noble doesn't have that luxury." 

Still, investors seemed to be cheered by the infusion of cash and the tie-in with Pearson's large education and textbook business. That market has trailed trade books in switching to a digital format, and Barnes & Noble could benefit as education books catch up. It could also try to make the Nook tablet a preferred device for educational content. 

For more, visit www.nytimes.com.

Hitachi’s Revival Isn’t So Good for the City of Hitachi

The following is an excerpt from an article in:


The New York Times
Saturday, December 29, 2012

Hitachi’s Revival Isn’t So Good for the City of Hitachi

By HIROKO TABUCHI

HITACHI, Japan — The biggest annual loss on record by a Japanese manufacturer jolted executives into action at the Hitachi Corporation, the century-old electronics and engineering behemoth that takes its name from this wind-swept industrial city on the Pacific Coast.

Since its 787 billion yen, or $9.2 billion, loss in 2009, Hitachi has staged an impressive turnaround, booking a record 347 billion yen ($4 billion) in net profit in the year through March 2012, while rivals like Sony, Sharp and Panasonic continue to struggle.

But in Hitachi, a city of 190,00 and the company’s longtime production hub, there is little celebrating. Instead, the deserted streets and shuttered workshops speak of the heavy toll levied by the aggressive streamlining, cost-cutting and offshoring that has underpinned Hitachi’s recovery.

The divergent fortunes of Hitachi and its home city highlight an uncomfortable reality: The bold steps that could revive Japan’s ailing electronics giants are unlikely to bring back the jobs, opportunities and growth that the country desperately needs to revive its economy.

The way forward for Japan’s embattled electronics sector, for now, is a globalization strategy that shifts production and procurement from high-cost Japan to more competitive locations overseas. As Japan’s manufacturing giants become truly global, a country that has so depended on its manufacturers for growth must look to other sources of jobs and opportunity, like its nascent entrepreneurs — a transformation far more easily said than done.

“Closing plants in Japan is a big deal, and we don’t take cutbacks lightly,” Hiroaki Nakanishi, Hitachi’s president and chief executive, said in a year-end interview in Tokyo. “But to return to growth, we have to cut loose what doesn’t bring profit. We have to be decisive.”

Japan is still grappling with the fallout from a decade-long, seemingly unstoppable decline of its electronics sector, once a driver of growth and a bedrock of its economy. Japan’s two biggest electronics companies, Hitachi and Panasonic, each have more in sales than the country’s entire agricultural sector, and other big electronics firms come close.

But for more than a decade, these technology companies have experienced little growth. Annual sales growth over the last 15 years at Japan’s top eight tech companies averages around zero, according to Eurotechnology Japan, a research and consulting company in Tokyo.

For more, visit www.nytimes.com.

Port Strike Averted After Partial Deal With Dockworkers Union

The following is an excerpt from an article in:


The New York Times
Saturday, December 29, 2012

Port Strike Averted After Partial Deal With Dockworkers Union

By STEVEN GREENHOUSE

Dockworkers dropped their threat of an imminent strike against ports from Boston to Houston after their union and shipping companies reached a deal on the main point of their dispute, a federal mediator announced on Friday.

The mediator said the two sides had agreed to extend the existing contract by 30 days, to Jan. 28, to give them time to try to reach an agreement on the remaining issues, including what the companies say are antiquated work rules. Late Friday, the two sides issued a new announcement, saying they had agreed to extend the contract an additional week, to Feb. 6, creating a new potential strike deadline.

The partial agreement means that the union, the International Longshoremen’s Association, will not carry out its threat to have 14,500 dockworkers go on strike this Sunday at 14 ports along the East and Gulf Coasts.

In a statement on Friday, George H. Cohen, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, said the two sides had reached an agreement in principle on a particularly contentious issue, known as container royalty payments.

The shipping companies share those payments with union members for each ton of cargo handled.

The union had for months denounced the companies’ proposal to freeze those payments for current longshoremen and eliminate them for future employees. No details about the agreement were disclosed.

“What I can report is that the agreement on this important subject represents a major positive step toward achieving an overall collective bargaining agreement,” Mr. Cohen said. “While some significant issues remain, I am cautiously optimistic that they can be resolved in the 30-day extension period.”

For more, visit www.nytimes.com.

China Toughens Restrictions on Internet Use

The following is an excerpt from an article in:


The New York Times
Saturday, December 29, 2012

China Toughens Restrictions on Internet Use

By KEITH BRADSHER

HONG KONG — The Chinese government issued new rules on Friday requiring Internet users to provide their real names to service providers, while assigning Internet companies greater responsibility for deleting forbidden postings and reporting them to the authorities.

The decision came as government censors have sharply stepped up restrictions on China’s international Internet traffic in recent weeks. The restrictions are making it harder for businesses to protect commercial secrets and for individuals to view overseas Web sites that the Chinese Communist Party deems politically sensitive.

The new regulations, issued by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, allow Internet users to continue to adopt pseudonyms for their online postings, but only if they first provide their real names to service providers, a measure that could chill some of the vibrant discourse on the country’s Twitter-like microblogs. The authorities periodically detain and even jail Internet users for politically sensitive comments, such as calls for a multiparty democracy or accusations of impropriety by local officials.

Any entity providing Internet access, including over fixed-line or mobile phones, “should when signing agreements with users or confirming provision of services, demand that users provide true information about their identities,” the committee ordered.

In recent weeks, Internet users in China have exposed a series of sexual and financial scandals that have led to the resignations or dismissals of at least 10 local officials. International news media have also published a series of reports in recent months on the accumulation of wealth by the family members of China’s leaders, and some Web sites carrying such reports, including Bloomberg’s and the English- and Chinese-language sites of The New York Times, have been assiduously blocked, while Internet comments about them have been swiftly deleted.

The regulations issued Friday build on a series of similar administrative guidelines and municipal rules issued over the past year. China’s mostly private Internet service providers have been slow to comply with them, fearing the reactions of their customers. The committee’s decision has much greater legal force, and puts far more pressure on Chinese Internet providers to comply more quickly and more comprehensively, Internet specialists said.

In what appeared to be an effort to make the decision more palatable to the Chinese public, the committee also included a mandate for businesses in China to be more cautious in gathering and protecting electronic data.

For more, visit www.nytimes.com.

Norwegian Earns Internet Stardom and an N.F.L. Tryout to Boot

The following is an excerpt from an article in:


The New York Times
Saturday, December 29, 2012

Norwegian Earns Internet Stardom and an N.F.L. Tryout to Boot

By DAVID PICKER

Havard Rugland does not have the pedigree one might expect for someone who has become an Internet sensation for kicking a football. He knows next to nothing about the sport. Just ask him to name the quarterback of the New England Patriots or the Denver Broncos.

“I have no idea,” said Rugland, a 28-year-old from Norway.

When asked how many yards an offense is penalized for a false start, Rugland paused. “I’d just be guessing,” he finally admitted.

“Look, I don’t know much about football,” Rugland said by telephone from his home in Algard, a small town near the southwestern coast of Norway. “But I’m fascinated by it. There’s great athletes and speed and big hits. I thought it was interesting. So I wondered, What can I do?”

Using tools not typically associated with athletic prowess — YouTube, Facebook, Skype and Gmail — Rugland parlayed a homemade video that went viral into a tryout as a kicker with the Jets last week. He might be the first professional prospect to replace college football experience with social media savvy. In the four-minute video, posted on YouTube in mid-September under the title “Kickalicious,” the left-footed Rugland pulls off some of the most amusing tricks with a football since Lucy began duping Charlie Brown. It has been viewed more than 1.5 million times.

In one clip Rugland kicks the ball from a dock to someone in a canoe floating about 25 yards away. Twice. In another, he kicks the ball into the arms of someone standing through a car’s sunroof. That might not seem so spectacular, except the car is cruising along a country road. The most eye-popping trick is saved for last. Rugland punts one ball high into the air and then quickly kicks a second ball off a tee. The balls collide in midair.

“That last kick, it took about eight tries,” Rugland said. “The basketball kick, I wanted it to go straight in, but it kept hitting the rim. That actually took a while. That could have been like 40 tries.”

Rugland is so accurate on so many difficult kicks that his video almost seems too good to be true. It brings to mind doctored videos featuring other athletes, like one of the Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant leaping over a speeding Aston Martin (Bryant never would have risked his knees). But Rugland insisted his video was real. He said that NRK, Norway’s public broadcasting network, reviewed the raw videos and concluded they were legitimate.

Regardless of the video’s legitimacy, Rugland ended up at the Jets’ doorstep, quite an accomplishment for anyone, let alone a Norwegian who had never played football at any level. His journey to New York provides a blueprint of sorts for anyone looking to turn a homemade video into a global hit.

For more, visit www.nytimes.com.

Supercomputers, materials and bears: ORNL marks eventful 2012

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Press Release:

News Release

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Media Contact: Morgan McCorkle Communications and Media Relations 865.574.7308

Supercomputers, materials and bears: ORNL marks eventful 2012

	ORNL Director Thom Mason presents Larry Brown, executive director of the Boy Scouts of America's Great Smoky Mountain Council, with a $150,000 gift from UT-Battelle for the council's ongoing campaign to renovate Camp Buck Toms. The gift will be applied toward the establishment of classrooms for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) activities at the camp. (hi-res image)

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Dec. 28, 2012 — The Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory regained the lead in high-performance computing, enjoyed record-setting recognition for its research and became a showpiece for renewable energy technology during 2012.

DOE's Office of Science reciprocated with favorable marks in its annual appraisal of managing contractor UT-Battelle. DOE cited the laboratory's operation of its scientific user facilities, its "delivery of impactful science" and a successful workforce restructuring to reduce operating costs.

"The dedicated efforts of our laboratory staff in all phases of science and technology and operational support have resulted in an excellent record of delivering science to the nation in 2012," said ORNL Director Thom Mason. "ORNL will continue to set the pace in research toward a clean and secure energy future."

ORNL's 2012 included achievements in both research and support.

ORNL solidified its standing in world-class scientific computing with the upgrade of the Jaguar supercomputer to the 27-petaflop/s Titan, regaining the top spot on the TOP500 list of the world's supercomputers. Titan also proved to be one of the world's most energy efficient number crunchers, ranking No. 3 on the Green500 list.

The Mars Curiosity rover successfully landed on the Red Planet and began transmitting historic data back to Earth, thanks in part to ORNL's role in making the radioisotope-fueled generators that power the NASA vehicle and its suite of instruments.

ORNL set a record for R&D 100 Awards, often called the Oscars of science and technology. Ten technologies involving ORNL research were named among R&D Magazine's top 100. The awards reflected the laboratory's strength in advanced materials research, including technologies related to high-temperature superconducting wire, super-tough protective coatings, advanced absorbents, an advanced rolling mill process and a low-cost, lightweight robotic hand based on additive manufacturing and fluid power.

ORNL officially received its new biomass-fueled steam plant from DOE, Johnson Controls and Nexterra. The new plant will generate up to 60,000 pounds of steam per hour from wood chips instead of fossil fuels.

Lab researchers received accolades from the scientific community. ORNL scientist Steven Zinkle was elected to the National Academy of Engineering for his research in materials subjected to extreme environments. Neutron scattering researcher Herb Mook won the prestigious Onnes Prize for superconductivity research.

ORNL's two world-class neutron facilities welcomed their 10,000th user since the addition of the High Flux Isotope Reactor's cold source and startup of the Spallation Neutron Source in 2006. Neutron scattering experiments at the facilities also resulted in 240 published scientific papers in 2012 (through the beginning of December), almost doubling its publications in the last two years.

Demonstrating the sort of leading-edge science that can be achieved with high-performance computing, an ORNL and University of Tennessee team used the Jaguar supercomputer (replaced this fall by Titan) to calculate the number of isotopes allowed by the laws of physics, in research that was published in the journal Nature.

Two longstanding ORNL institutions observed golden anniversaries: The Radiation Safety Information Computation Center and Oak Ridge Isochronous Cyclotron, which is part of the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility, marked 50 years of service to the scientific community. A few weeks later, the Holifield Facility ended its 50-year run due to budget cuts, but not before a flurry of last-minute physics experiments.

Community outreach activities included ORNL researchers volunteering hours of personal time to area high school teams for the FIRST Robotics competition, Team UT-Battelle's role in building a house marking Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties' 25th year and a $150,000 UT-Battelle donation toward STEM-related renovations to the Boy Scouts of America's local camp. The lab's United Way campaign raised more than $900,000 in a financially tough year.

ORNL's efforts in partnerships and technology transfer resulted in 203 new invention disclosures, 89 patent applications, 70 granted patents and the execution of 14 new cooperative research and development agreements with industrial partners.

Wildlife around the laboratory sometimes makes the news. The Oak Ridge Reservation experienced a flurry of bear activity in May, and one sighted bruin was eventually trapped by wildlife officers near the High Flux Isotope Reactor. The "subadult" -- i.e., young -- bear was relocated to an unpopulated area outside the Oak Ridge Reservation.

Finally, ORNL enjoyed one of its most injury-free years on record, continuing a trend of working safely.

This year's annual "report card" consisted of A-minus and B-plus ratings from DOE's Office of Science. UT-Battelle's award fee is approximately $10.5 million of a possible $11.2 million, or 94 percent of the potential fee.

The Fiscal Year 2012 Fee Determination and Annual Performance Appraisal awarded A-minus ratings for mission accomplishment; design, fabrication and construction; science and technology program management; leadership-stewardship; environment, safety and health; and infrastructure; and B-plus ratings for business systems and safeguards and security.

UT-Battelle manages ORNL for DOE's Office of Science. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit http://science.energy.gov/. --Bill Cabage

GE Press Release:

Donation enables Cambodia Children’s Fund to provide better quality healthcare to expectant mothers

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December 28, 2012

Phnom Penh, December 18, 2012 –GE’s Vice Chairman John Rice and wife Cammie recently visited the Cambodia Children’s Fund (CCF) Community Center to make a personal donation of a portable, palm sized diagnostic device with ultrasound technology. Designed for use by doctors to scan expectant mothers, the technology manufactured by GE and named ‘vscan’, is designed for use in remote areas where medical equipment and facilities are scarce or nonexistent.

Cambodia which has a population of over 14 million has one of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in South East Asia. Statistics show that while infant mortality rates of those under 5 years of age have declined from 95 to 45 deaths per 1,000 over the last ten years, neonatal mortality rates are high. About 790 mothers die each year in Cambodia from childbirth.

More than two billion people globally do not have access to basic elements of a healthy life, including the ability to see a doctor or visit a health clinic. The vscan is an example of an innovation that helps to overcome some of the major barriers in providing primary care such as access and cost.

The Fund provides life-changing education, nourishment and healing to vulnerable children from some of Cambodia’s most destitute communities. The Fund cares for more than 1,500 children today and has extended its services to provide for their families and communities in crisis.

CCF was founded by former film executive Scott Neeson, who traveled to Cambodia on holiday in early 2003 and found his life changed by the desperate circumstances and unlikely courage of Phnom Penh's most impoverished children. He is the Fund’s Executive Director, performing daily fieldwork and overseeing the operations of CCF’s various facilities.

Social Media Trends in 2013

Social media has had a huge footprint this year, but will the trend continue in 2013? Porter Bibb, Media Tech Capital Partners, weighs in.

Video from CNBC (4:04).

Social Media Trends in 2013

Fear of Amazon Pushes Stores to Offer Same-Day Shipping

The following is an excerpt from an article in:


The New York Times
Friday, December 28, 2012

Fear of Amazon Pushes Stores to Offer Same-Day Shipping

By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD and CLAIRE CAIN MILLER

Ivy Wu did not immediately need the navy lace cocktail dress she ordered the other day. But when a representative from Shoptiques, an e-commerce site, arrived at her Midtown Manhattan office with the dress only hours after Ms. Wu, 26, had placed her order, “I was really impressed that it was here,” she said.

This holiday season, same-day shipping has replaced free shipping as the new must-have promotion. It’s logistically complicated and money-losing — and may not even be a service that consumers want or need, analysts say. But retailers from Walmart to small shops like Shoptiques are willing to take the risk. Even the Postal Service has introduced a same-day option for retailers. And the reason is simple: fear of Amazon.com.

Amazon, the world’s biggest online retailer, has hinted that it will expand its same-day shipping service, giving customers the immediate gratification that has been the biggest advantage of brick-and-mortar stores.

For small outfits like Shoptiques, it is not an easy proposition. The courier who showed up at Ms. Wu’s office was the company’s head of boutique operations, who has put aside her regular job this holiday season to make deliveries by hand. Bigger retailers, like Toys “R” Us, Macy’s and Target, have worked with eBay to deliver items the same day, as have other old-line stores. Google has begun testing a local delivery service with several chains.

“There’s lots going on in this space, and it’s all driven by Amazon,” said Tom Allason, founder and chief executive of Shutl, a British same-day delivery service that will expand to the United States next year. “It’s not really being driven by consumers at the moment.”

The same-day delivery idea was a spectacular failure during the dot.com boom. Companies like Kozmo.com and Webvan went under because the services simply cost too much to be profitable. Amazon has offered same-day shipping since 2009, but with limits — only in big cities near Amazon warehouses on certain items ordered in the morning.

The geographical limits exist because Amazon had built warehouses far from major cities to avoid charging sales tax in certain states. But it has now given in on the sales tax fight, and in return, is erecting warehouses near cities like San Francisco, which analysts say is paving the way for faster, more widespread same-day delivery and spurring competitors.

For more, visit www.nytimes.com.

Payroll Firms in 'Fiscal' Wait Game

Martin Mucci, president & CEO of Paychex, discusses how his company is preparing for possible tax increases next year.

Video from CNBC (4:24).

Payroll Firms in 'Fiscal' Wait Game

Can the Fiscal Cliff Help Small Biz?

A number of experts are saying that small business will get hit the worst if we go over the fiscal cliff. Gene Marks of The Marks Group, explains why it's a mistake to generalize that more than 20 million small businesses nationwide will be affected.


Video from CNBC (3:04).

Can the Fiscal Cliff Help Small Biz?

EPA Chief to Step Down

CNBC's Michelle Caruso-Cabrera reports retired general Norman Schwarzkopf has died at 78. EPA Chief Lisa Jackson announced she is stepping down today. Chris Horner of The Competitive Enterprise Institute and author of "Liberal War on Transparency," provides perspective.


Video from CNBC (4:33).

EPA Chief to Step Down

GE Press Release:

GE Capital Aviation Services To Lease Two New Boeing B737-800s to New Customer Transavia France

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December 27, 2012

SHANNON, Ireland, December 21, 2012 – GE Capital Aviation Services Limited (GECAS), the commercial aircraft leasing and financing arm of GE, announced it will lease two new Boeing 737-800 aircraft to new customer Transavia France. Delivery of the aircraft is scheduled for early 2013 and will expand the airline’s fleet.
The low-cost carrier operates a fleet of 10 Boeing 737-800 aircraft to more than 30 destinations.

Contact Information

Name

Dan Whitney

Job Title

Director Global Communications

Division

GE Capital Aviation Services

Phone

203 585 2268

Fax

GECASNews

Mobile

203 300 8707

Email

dan.whitney@ge.com

About GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS)GECAS, the U.S. and Irish commercial aircraft financing and leasing business of GE, has a fleet of over 1,710 owned and serviced aircraft with over 220 airlines in over 75 countries. GECAS offers a wide range of aircraft types and financing options, including operating leases and secured debt financing, and also provides productivity solutions including spare engine leasing, spare parts financing and management. GECAS, a unit of GE Capital, has offices in 24 cities around the world. (www.GECAS.com) 

GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering, moving and curing the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE works. For more information, visit the company's website at www.ge.com

GE Press Release:

Voluntary Worldwide Field Corrective Action Issued for the T-piece Circuit used on GE Healthcare’s Giraffe and Panda Resuscitation Units

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December 26, 2012

Laurel, MARYLAND, December 26, 2012 ― On June 26, 2012, GE Healthcare initiated a voluntary worldwide field correction of the T-piece circuit used with GE Healthcare’s Giraffe and Panda resuscitation units. The T-piece circuits affected by this recall are sold under the following part numbers and contain a red inspection stamp (those containing a blue inspections stamp are NOT affected by this recall):

M1091335 Kit, Circuit, T-Piece Disposable, 10 pack

M1091316 Kit, Circuit, T-Piece Disposable, W MASK Size 0, 10 pack

M1091365 Kit, Circuit, T-Piece Disposable, W MASK Size 1, 10 pack

The T-piece circuit used with GE Healthcare’s Giraffe and Panda resuscitation units may impact patient safety. The issue occurs when the T-piece circuit is not able to achieve maximum PIP (Peak Inspiratory Pressure) of 45 +/- 5 cmH₂O as measured by the built-in Airway Pressure Manometer during the pre-use checkout procedure. The built-in Airway Pressure Manometer of the resuscitation system is not affected by this issue and will accurately display airway pressure. Clinicians should always use the airway pressure manometer to verify Peak Inspiratory Pressure (PIP). The affected units were manufactured from September 10, 2009 to May 10, 2012.

GE Healthcare initiated the field correction on June 26, 2012, and began notifying customers with affected units through an Urgent Medical Device Correction letter and follow up has been conducted to confirm their receipt of the letter. Through these efforts, approximately 84% of identified customers have confirmed receipt of the safety instructions provided and have also confirmed all affected product has been returned or destroyed. The remaining unconfirmed customers are being contacted directly to resolve and close the issue as soon as possible. Customers have been directed to NOT use the T-piece circuit with the part numbers listed above and to isolate all affected product. To date, no patient injuries have been reported with this issue.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has classified this recall as a Class I recall. FDA defines Class I recalls as “a situation in which there is a reasonable probability that the use of or exposure to the violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.”

For additional information regarding this field correction or to arrange return and/or replacement of the product, please contact GE Healthcare Customer Service at 1-800-345-2700.

Contact Information

Name

Annette Busateri

Division

GE Healthcare

Mobile

+1 262 442 0966

Email

Annette.Busateri@ge.com

About GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we partner with healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare systems.

Our “healthymagination” vision for the future invites the world to join us on our journey as we continuously develop innovations focused on reducing costs, increasing access and improving quality around the world. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employees are committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries.  For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website atwww.gehealthcare.com.

IBM Press Release:

IBM Helps Kraft Foods Deliver Smarter Service Across Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa

Kraft Foods extends engagement with IBM to build borderless operations through a single enterprise resource planning platform

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Prague, Czech Republic - 27 Dec 2012: IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Kraft Foods (part of the Mondelēz International group of companies) today announced the extension of their engagement until September 2015 to continue helping Kraft in their strategy of implementing three SAP instances globally in three years. This includes the roll-out of a corporate template to harmonize business process across their Developing Markets in CEE and MEA.

This extension marks the successful completion of the initial roll outs in Central Europe and Russia. The next project, Catalyst CEEMA Wave 4, is now in progress, covering an additional 11 countries in Eastern & South East Europe, Middle East and Northern Africa, with a planned go-live in May 2013. With the completion of the program in 2014, 22 countries in the CEE & MEA region will be operating on a single enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform, alongside their EU counterparts. 

"Our strategic engagement with IBM has helped Kraft Foods implement harmonized and integrated business processes across the EMEA region and at the same time, complete the integration of key acquisitions by Kraft. Despite the complexity faced and the number of countries and people involved in the Catalyst program, we have managed to adopt a genuine “one team” approach and the extension of our engagement is a testimony to the success we have achieved together," Bernd Ruschmeyer, IS Director Catalyst Program, Kraft Foods CEEMA. 

The significance of the project was also recognized at the SAP CEE Quality Awards Ceremony 2012 on October 25th in Prague, where Kraft Foods was announced the Gold Winner in the Large Implementation category. 

"Our ability to provide the best professional services helps Kraft build borderless operations so they can deliver products in smarter ways to their customers,“ said Vladimir Seibert, CEEMA Program Delivery Lead, IBM. "One of the key enablers to this long-term cooperation is our extensive ERP experience, capabilities and shared commitment to working collaboratively. This positions us well to continue delivering results that will help Kraft take on new business challenges and opportunities for growth." 

IBM has played a key strategic partner role in helping Kraft successfully deliver their multi-year program, providing the know-how and the expertise needed, bringing together functional and technical experts from across the globe. IBM’s ability to retain a core team of experts for Kraft, over an extended period of time, and to rotate these individuals through the different phases/projects in the program, has ensured maximum knowledge sharing, increased control over the template system and a very high standard of delivery excellence. 

About IBM

For more information about IBM, please visit: www.ibm.com.  

About Mondelēz International

Mondelēz International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MDLZ) is a world leader in chocolate, biscuits, gum, candy, coffee and powdered beverages. The company comprises the global snacking and food brands of the former Kraft Foods Inc. following the spin-off of its North American grocery operations in Oct. 2012. Mondelēz International’s portfolio includes several billion-dollar brands such as Cadbury and Milka chocolate, Jacobs coffee, LU, Nabisco and Oreo biscuits,Tang powdered beverages and Trident gums. Mondelēz International has annual revenue of approximately $36 billion and operations in more than 80 countries. Visitwww.mondelezinternational.com.