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Breaking Up Is Hard to Do If You're Google

Fri, 12/10/2010 - 10:16 by Rick Aristotle ...

 In the end, it was Groupon's fear -- and not its greed -- that apparently derailed a roughly $6 billion buyout from Google(Nasdaq: GOOG). Business Insider's Nicholas Carlson is reporting that Groupon was demanding a chunky termination fee to protect itself from deal-stomping antitrust regulators. Once Google balked at the lofty insurance sum, the two companies went their separate ways.

 

Study: Microbes helping in gulf spill

Fri, 10/22/2010 - 09:50 by Prince damin

Cambridge, Mass. -- Microbes in the Gulf of Mexico may be consuming more of the gases spewed from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill than previously thought, researchers say.

Research carried out before the oil rig exploded and gushed more than 200 million gallons of crude into the gulf measured the anaerobic oxidation of methane, a major component of the spill, by microbes living in brine pools on the sea floor, ScienceDaily.com reported Thursday.

"Because of the ample oil and gas reserves under the Gulf of Mexico, slow seepage is a natural part of the ecosystem," Peter R. Girguis, a professor of biology at Harvard University, says.

Japan refinery to close as demand shrinks

Fri, 10/08/2010 - 00:20 by Prince damin

Tokyo -- A major oil refinery in Japan may be slated to close due to falling demand, sources told the newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun.

JX Holdings Inc., may close down its Negishi Refinery in Isogo Ward, Yokohama, as demand for gasoline in Japan is expected to decline 16 percent in the next five years, Yomiuri Shimbun said.

The refinery produces 270,000 barrels per day, about half of what JX Holdings plans to trim from its current production of 1.8 million barrels a day, produced by eight refineries. By the end of the month, the firm expects to cut production to 1.4 million barrels per day, sources told the newspaper.

U.S. romance novel publisher going digital

Sat, 08/07/2010 - 22:17 by Prince damin
New York -- A major U.S. publisher of paperback books says it is giving up mass-market print books and will make them available only on a digital or print-on-demand basis.

Dorchester Publishing in New York decided to make the switch after seeing its book sales plummet 25 percent overall last year with steep declines in orders from key major retailers, The Wall Street Journal said.

Dorchester churns out multiple bargain-priced titles in the romance, horror, western and other genres for sale in specialized book stores as well as major big-box department stores. The company expects digital sales to double next year.

Secret to success: Exports and low wages

Wed, 08/04/2010 - 02:08 by Prince damin

Berlin -- Job openings are springing up at major industrial firms in Germany, where wages are stagnant and fear keeps wage demands low, market analysts said.

"Fear of unemployment made workers more willing to accept concessions," The New York Times quoted Commerzbank economist Ralph Solveen as saying.

"That will certainly change in the next few years," he said.

Investor George Soros wrote recently that "Germany is actually making it more difficult for the other countries to regain competitiveness."

In Germany, exports are up and the unemployment rate down, falling to 7.6 percent from 9.1 percent at the first of the year and from 13 percent five years ago.

Report: Web sites crank up tracking tools

Sun, 08/01/2010 - 00:14 by Prince damin

New York -- Major U.S. Web sites are increasing the number of so-called tracking tools that collect personal details on behalf of marketers, the Wall Street Journal said.

The newspaper said some sites will be capable of planting more than 100 such tools at a time on the computers of visitors that allow real-time surveillance of their activities and generate detailed databases of consumer preferences.

The Journal said its investigation focused on 50 Web sites accounting for about 40 percent of U.S. page visits. A dozen sites, including Comcast.net and MSN.com, installed more than 100 such tracking files on test computers. Google and similar sites also use a plethora of tracking files to develop targeted advertising.