YouTube Space Lab Winners from U.S. and Egypt Watch Their Experiments LIVE From Space on Thursday, September 13

Press release:

YouTube Space Lab Winners from U.S. and Egypt Watch Their Experiments LIVE From Space on Thursday, September 13

Live Stream Hosted by Bill Nye “The Science Guy” and transmitted from the International Space Station to the world via YouTube

New York, NY & London, England (August 29, 2012) – YouTube and Lenovo today announced the culmination of the YouTube Space Lab competition in which astronauts will reveal the results of the two winning experiments live from the International Space Station (ISS) and share them with to the world on YouTube.  The live stream will connect the ISS to YouTube’s London creator space on Thursday, September 13 beginning at 1:30 PM GMT/8:30 AM EST and will be hosted by Bill Nye “The Science Guy” and include the two global winners, Amr Mohamed from Alexandria, Egypt; and Dorothy Chen and Sara Ma, from Troy, Michigan in the U.S.
YouTube Space Lab, which launched in October 2011 with partners including Space Adventures and in cooperation with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), is a worldwide science competition that challenged 14-18 year-olds to design a science experiment that can be performed in space.  The world will now see the winning experiments performed by astronaut Sunita Williams during a live stream on YouTube from 250 miles above Earth aboard the ISS.  The forty-minute live program will begin with host Bill Nye interviewing the global winners and special guests via Google+ Hangout, and feature the story of Space Lab told through videos since its launch last year. Then, NASA's Mission Control Center will connect the studio to the ISS for a conversation with U.S. astronaut, Sunita Williams, and the results of the winning experiments.  
"Students from around the world came up with experiments that could only be performed where there is no gravity— the International Space Station,” said Bill Nye “The Science Guy” and host of the YouTube Space Lab live stream event.  “You and I will meet the winning young scientists and talk with astronauts in orbit.  So tune in to YouTube Space Lab and turn it up loud." 
Amr Mohamed (17-18 year old age group) and Dorothy Chen and Sara Ma  (14-16 year old age group) were named the winners at a ceremony in Washington, DC, in March.  The event was attended by Space Lab partners including NASA, ESA, and JAXA.  Now these winners will discuss the results of their experiments with the astronauts performing them aboard the ISS.
Amr Mohamed, 18, came up with an experiment to explore the question: “Can you teach an old spider new tricks?” As part of his prize, he went to Russia for a one-of-a-kind astronaut training experience in Star City, Russia, the training center for Russian cosmonauts. He proposed investigating the effects of microgravity on how the zebra spider catches its prey, and whether it could adapt its behavior in space.
Dorothy Chen and Sara Ma, both 16, created an experiment that asks: “Could alien superbugs cure disease on Earth?”.  Their experiment investigates whether compounds and nutrients can block bacterial growth differently in microgravity, which ultimately could lead a path to fighting germs more effectively on Earth.  As part of their prize, Dorothy and Sara toured JAXA facilities and watched the rocket with the winning experiments blast off from southern Japan.
Space Lab founder, Google’s Zahaan Bharmal added, “Our hope is that this live stream from space will be the world’s largest, coolest scientific classroom. Today’s Space Lab winners - as well as the millions of other young minds watching the stream on YouTube - represent tomorrow’s space explorers. They may one day walk on Mars!”
“For nearly 20 years – aboard the ISS and numerous space shuttle missions -- Lenovo ThinkPad laptops have played a critical role in space exploration and research,” said Tracey Trachta, vice president, Brand Experience, Global Marketing, Lenovo. “The YouTube Space Lab competition places technology and opportunity into the hands of tomorrow’s space explorers, and we’re thrilled to be a part of such an effort.”
For more information, please visit: https://sites.google.com/site/ytspacelab/press.
About YouTube
YouTube is the world’s largest online video community, allowing millions of people to discover, watch, and share original videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform, and inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for original-content creators and advertisers large and small. YouTube, LLC, is based in San Bruno, California, and is a subsidiary of Google Inc.
About Lenovo
Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a $US21 billion personal technology company serving customers in more than 160 countries, and the world’s second-largest PC vendor. Dedicated to building exceptionally engineered PCs and mobile internet devices, Lenovo’s business is built on product innovation, a highly-efficient global supply chain and strong strategic execution.  Formed by Lenovo Group’s acquisition of the former IBM Personal Computing Division, the company develops, manufactures and markets reliable, high-quality, secure and easy-to-use technology products and services. Its product lines include legendary Think-branded commercial PCs and Idea-branded consumer PCs, as well as servers, workstations, and a family of mobile Internet devices, including tablets and smart phones. Lenovo has major research centers in Yamato, Japan; Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China; and Raleigh, North Carolina.  For more information see www.lenovo.com.
About Space Adventures
Space Adventures, the company that organized the flights for the world's first private space explorers, is headquartered in Vienna, Va. with an office in Moscow. It offers a variety of programs such as the availability today for spaceflight missions to the International Space Station and around the moon, cosmonaut training, spaceflight qualification programs and reservations on future suborbital spacecraft.  A wholly owned subsidiary, ZERO-G (www.gozerog.com) conducts weightless flights.  The company's orbital spaceflight clients include Dennis Tito, Mark Shuttleworth, Greg Olsen, Anousheh Ansari, Charles Simonyi, Richard Garriott and Guy Laliberté. Cumulatively, Space Adventures’ clients have spent almost three months in space, traveling over 36 million miles. For more information, please visit www.spaceadventures.com.

Geico Elects to Go With Variety in Campaigns - Advertising

Excerpt from an article in

The New York Times

Friday, March 16, 2012

Geico Elects to Go With Variety in Campaigns - Advertising

By STUART ELLIOTT

HE is traveling “from sea to shining sea,” he declares, at a prodigious pace, visiting states with lots of electoral votes like California, New York and Texas as well as states with just a few like Nevada. And what he calls his “journey of epic proportions” is the subject of advertising worth tens of millions of dollars, on television and radio and on social media like Facebook and YouTube.

But no, he is not running for president. For one thing, his accent suggests he is not a natural-born American citizen. For another, he is not even human.

The “he” in question is the Geico gecko brand character, who is appearing in a campaign devised around a trip across the country. The campaign is joining at least five others that are currently promoting the insurance sold by the Geico Corporation, part of Berkshire Hathaway.

Geico likes to run several types of campaigns at the same time, each with a different theme. Its approach has inspired other insurers — among them Allstate, Progressive and State Farm — to pursue a similar strategy.

“We do have more than one arrow in the quiver, that’s for sure,” said Ted Ward, vice president and chief marketing officer at Geico.

“The common thread is the little green guy is ever-present in the mix,” he added, as the Geico “brand ambassador.”

The intent of the multiple campaigns is “trying to keep things fresh for the consumer,” Mr. Ward said. “We do some research,” he added, which finds that “people have some likes and dislikes” among the campaigns.

In addition to the gecko’s journey, they now include commercials that carry the theme “There’s an easier way to save”; ads that depict the Geico cavemen characters playing golf and tennis; commercials featuring an anthropomorphic pig that likes car, zip line and street luge rides; straightforward ads for motorcycle insurance; and magazine ads, tailored to the publications in which they appear, meant to remind readers that “it only takes 15 minutes to see how much you could save with Geico.”

Each campaign “has a purpose,” Mr. Ward said. “As long as each accomplishes its purpose, we’re comfortable with running more than one at a time.”

“And we have some more coming,” he added.

Smartphone App from IRS

News from the IRS:

IRS Unveils New Version of Smartphone App; IRS2Go 2.0 Offers Videos, Tax Help 

IRS YouTube Video: IRS2Go 2.0

Podcast: IRS2Go 2.0

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service announced today the availability of IRS2Go 2.0, an expanded version of its smartphone application designed to provide taxpayers easier access to practical tools and information.

The new app, available on the Apple and Android platforms, adds a new YouTube feature, news feed and tax transcript service in addition to existing tools, such as checking on the status of a tax refund.

“The new smartphone app provides an easy way for people to get helpful information about their taxes,” said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. “IRS2Go reflects a wider commitment at the IRS to find innovative ways to serve taxpayers in a rapidly changing world.”

The IRS released the first version of IRS2Go in 2011, and had more than 350,000 downloads. The phone app offers taxpayers a number of safe and secure ways to access information and keep current on practical tax information. 

The 2.0 version of the phone app includes three new tools:

• Watch Us. People can view IRS YouTube videos on their smartphones. The videos provide short, informative features on a variety of tax topics. The channel ranks as the fourth most viewed channel among more than 125 federal government YouTube channels. IRS also has YouTube channels available in multilingual and American Sign Language. 
• Get the Latest News. With this tool, users can have the latest IRS news releases delivered to their phones as it becomes available.  
• Get My Tax Record. Taxpayers can now order their tax return transcript from the IRS2Go app. The transcript will be delivered via the U.S. Postal Service to their address of record.

The free IRS2Go app will continue giving taxpayers access to the tools offered last year:

• Get Your Refund Status. Taxpayers can check the status of their federal tax refund through the phone app with a few basic pieces of information. An updated refund status is available about three days after the IRS acknowledges receipt of an e-filed return, or four weeks after mailing a paper return.
• Get Tax Updates. Phone app users enter their e-mail address to automatically receive simple, straightforward tips and reminders to help with tax planning and preparation. Tax Tips are issued daily during the filing season and periodically throughout the rest of the year.
• Follow the IRS. Taxpayers can sign up to follow the IRS Twitter newsfeed, @IRSnews, which provides easy-to-use information, including updates on tax law changes and important IRS programs.

Apple users can update or download the free IRS2Go application by visiting the Apple App Store. Android users can visit the Android Marketplace to download the free IRS2Go app.

For more information on IRS2Go and other products and services through social media channels, visit www.IRS.gov.