The Morning Buzz

Microsoft's Bing gains on Yahoo, Google
Wed Jul 15, 2009 12:16pm EDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp's market share of the U.S. Internet search market increased modestly in June, the first month that it fielded its new Bing search engine, according to the latest data from research firm ComScore.
Microsoft captured 8.4 percent of U.S. Internet searches in June, up from 8 percent the month before, largely at the expense of rival Yahoo Inc, whose market share fell to 19.6 percent in June from 20.1 percent in May.
Market leader Google Inc's share was unchanged from the prior month at 65 percent.
"Given all the publicity and advertising around Bing, we were expecting a month-on-month increase," said Citi analyst Mark Mahaney, in a research note issued soon after the figures were published.
"But we think it's too early -- need three to four months to call a trend -- and the June move wasn't material enough to make any definitive statements as to whether Bing is a search market share game changer," said Mahaney. "We continue to view Bing as a very solid product, but one facing a very large uphill battle."
Microsoft has been pouring investment into its money-losing online services business in an attempt to counter Google's dominance in the Internet search market.
There is still a possibility that Microsoft will strike a partnership with Yahoo to combine their online advertising strengths, after Microsoft's aborted attempt to buy Yahoo outright last year.
Microsoft shares rose 3.1 percent to $23.83 on Nasdaq. Yahoo and Google shares also rose.
(Additional reporting by Bill Rigby in Seattle)
(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Derek Caney and Gunna Dickson)

The Morning Buzz

China bans electro-shock therapy for Internet addicts

Tue Jul 14, 2009 5:41am EDT

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has banned electro-shock therapy as a treatment for Internet addiction, citing uncertainty in the safety and effectiveness of the practice after criticism in the local media.
The Ministry of Health announcement followed recent media reports about a controversial psychiatrist in Linyi, Shandong Province, who administered electric currents to nearly 3,000 teenagers in an attempt to rid them of their Internet habit.
The Chinese government has led a campaign for over a year against Internet addiction, saying young people's excessive time in Internet cafes, known as Web bars in Chinese, is hurting their studies and damaging family life.
"Electroshock therapy for Internet addiction...has no foundation in clinical research or evidence and therefore is not appropriate for clinical application," read the notice, posted on the ministry website (www.moh.gov.cn).
The world's most populous country also has the world's largest Internet population, with almost 300 million users at the end of last year, according to the China Internet Network Information Center.
Problems caused by Internet over-use are also on the rise, especially among young Chinese seeking an escape from the heavy burden of parental expectations. There are over 200 organizations offering treatment for Internet disorders in China.
The developer of the "electric impact therapy" is Doctor Yang Yongxin, also known as "Uncle Yang," who runs a boot camp called the Internet Addiction Treatment Center at Linyi Mental Hospital, the China Youth Daily said.
Patients are given psychotropic drugs as well as electro-shocks, at a cost of 5,500 yuan ($805) a month.
Strictly trained in military ways and accompanied by their parents, the young patients are prohibited from outside contact.
Most of them were sent to the hospital by force, the China Youth Daily added.
Neither Yang nor his six colleagues at the camp were qualified psychotherapists, it said.
($1=6.832 Yuan)
(Reporting by Liu Zhen and Lucy Hornby; Editing by Miral Fahmy)

Wazian Revolution

Quote:
It wasn’t until I started to date my fiancé that I considered myself a true Wazian, even though before that my name to most Asian friends was Wazian. Hopefully the promotion of the word Wazian will inspire other white males and even white females to learn and enjoy the Asian cultures and what they have to offer. Dating Asian females and males is only a small part of being a Wazian.

Last week in my short blog on Wazian vs Wasian my last statement I noted that just because you are dating an Asian does not technically make you a Wazian. Being a Wazian is a culture all on its own. Realistically you’re a white male or female that has been strongly influenced in the Asian culture. The reason why most White males and females that are in a relationship with an Asian classify there self as a Wazian is because day and day out they are subjected to the culture. This does not mean that if you are not in relationship with an Asian that you are not a Wazian. Many Wazian live or hang out with groups of Asians. Growing up I only knew of one other true Wazian. I say true Wazian because we did have other white males and females that would hang out with us, but there was obvious distinction between them and the “true” Wazians.

One thing that I would like to see more of is the promotion of Wazians. For a white male or female to take part in Asian cultures and learning to respect there ways will increase the spread of Wazians and the acceptance of Asians in both relationships and friends. Even though I live in an area where racism is close to nil, I know that there are some places in the world where Wazians are looked down upon. I assume that this dates back to WW2, Vietnam, and other wars in Asia where Caucasians countries played a roll. There was a lot of white males who would get into relationship with the Asian females and went against there cultures. Some went to the extreme and brought there partner back to there own country. Where these men classified as Wazians? I don’t believe so, but some may argue. This was not always true and there were some military personal that would try to learn the Asian culture. A good example of this, though it was a fictional movie was Good morning Vietnam. Where Robin Williams character took special interest in a Asian female. He tried his best to learn about the culture. I do understand that this was a fictional character, but it does show that even at the time Wazians were present.

I would like to see the Wazian community grow larger and gain more respect from both Asians and Caucasians. I would like to get around the stereotyping that wazian are just white males that date Asian females because there “hot” or “submissive” and prove to these people that Wazians have great respect for the Asian culture.

The Morning Buzz

Microsoft takes on Google with free Office programs

Mon Jul 13, 2009 9:31am EDT

By Jim Finkle
BOSTON (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp will release a free version of its dominant Office software that users can access over the Web, catching up with products that arch rival Google Inc launched three years ago.
The world's largest software maker will offer a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation software and a note-taking program with the same look and feel of their counterparts in the Office suites that it sells for personal computers.
It is the latest salvo in an intensifying war between the two technology giants. Google announced plans last week to challenge Windows with a free operating system. Microsoft introduced a new search engine, dubbed Bing, last month, that has taken a small amount of market share from Google.
A free version of Office could hurt sales of Microsoft's top-selling and most profitable business unit. One of Office's most popular titles is a home version that sells for $150. It includes the four programs that Microsoft will give away.
"Microsoft is in a tough spot. Their competition isn't just undercutting them. They are giving away the competitive product," said Sheri McLeish, an analyst with Forrester Research.
The Office division rang up operating profit of $9.3 billion on sales of $14.3 billion in the first three quarters of the software maker's current fiscal year.
McLeish said she expects Microsoft to overtake Google in the market as the hundreds of millions of people who use Office flock to try out the Internet version.
Microsoft will seek to make money by using it to lead those users to its ad-supported websites, including the Bing search engine. Analysts have said that Bing's early signs of success suggest Microsoft may be rounding the corner in efforts to turn around its money-losing Internet division.
Microsoft will release the free offering when it starts selling Office 2010, it next major release of the product, sometime in the first half of next year. Its current version came out in January 2007.
The software maker unveiled an early release on Monday at a conference for business partners in New Orleans. It will be distributed to tens of thousands of testers.
Company spokeswoman Janice Kapner said the free Web version will provide "a very rich experience" and probably have more functionality than Google.
Office 2010 is among a wave of upgrades to Microsoft programs planned over the next year. A new version of its ubiquitous Windows operating system is coming out in October and a new version of its widely used email server is also in the works.
Microsoft also plans two other Internet versions of Office for businesses.
It will host one of them at its own data centers, charging a yet-to-be-announced fee for that service. Businesses with premium service contracts will have the choice of running the Web-based version from their own data centers at no extra cost.
(Reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Richard Chang)

The Morning Buzz

Apple Reportedly Recalls iPod Nanos in Korea

July 10, 2009 -By PCMag.com Staff

Apple has apparently agreed to a recall of its first-generation Apple iPod nano MP3 players in South Korea after reported cases of the batteries exploding.
The Korea Agency for Technology & Standards requested that the iPod nanos be recalled after four reported cases of the devices overheating or exploding, according to the Korea Herald. "Customers who are concerned about possible overheating of the battery can get it exchanged," Park In-kyu, an official with the Korea agency, told the paper.
The paper reported that Apple rejected the term "recall," however, but offered to replace the batteries and external shells of the MP3 players.
Dow Jones Newswires bureau in Korea also confirmed the official's report. "On July 7th, Apple sent a letter saying it will accept the recommendation made by the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards," the agency said, as reported by the wire.
Apple declined to comment to the two news agencies.

Wazian Vs Wasian

You would be very surprised how many Wazian there are in the world today. I believe there are a lot of Wazians out there that have no idea that there is a term for who they are. There also seems to be a lot of variations of the term. The most common and most accurate would be Wasian. I have also heard others like Whasian, Wazn, white-asian, and wapanese. So why call myself a Wazian and not Wasian? Well it’s really how my friends spelled it and it just stuck. I guess you could say it’s the slang to Wasian as Wasian is the Proper word (if there really is a “proper” word for it)

What makes a white male a Wazian? Wazians tend to hang out with a group of Asians and usually they are the only white male in the group. Some tend to date Asian females. In both cases the white male starts to take on Asian cultures. Some examples would be eating Asian food, taking part in social events like Chinese new years, gambling, and dating Asian women.

I found after living with a group of Asians that I would eat Asian food on average 5 days a week. I grew up in a very European house hold and in a small town where other then your local North American Chinese food there was not really any other Asian restaurants and never ate Asian food at home. So after living with a group of Vietnam’s friends and one Japanese friend it was interesting and adventures to eat different Asian foods. This led to eating other Asian foods like Thai, Japanese, and Filipino. Pho and Bun turned into an everyday food for me and watching my roommate eat Balut (a fertilized duck (or chicken) egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside that is boiled and eaten in the shell.) for the first time was a surprise but then was normal. Would this classify me as a Wasian? Not exactly but combined with taking part in social events including Chinese new years, gambling, weddings, and family get together it started to all come together.

It wasn’t until I started to date my fiancé that I considered myself a true Wazian, even though before that my name to most Asian friends was Wazian. Hopefully the promotion of the word Wazian will inspire other white males and even white females to learn and enjoy the Asian cultures and what they have to offer. Dating Asian females and males is only a small part of being a Wazian.

The Morning Buzz

More Web attacks, North Korea suspected

Thu Jul 9, 2009 12:03pm EDT

By Jack Kim
SEOUL (Reuters) - A fresh wave of cyber attacks that slowed U.S. and South Korean websites this week hit more targets on Thursday, a Web security firm said, while the South's spy agency has said the hacking may be linked to North Korea.
The impact of the attacks, aimed so far at dozens of sites including the White House and the South's presidential office, was seen as negligible, experts said, but served as a reminder that Pyongyang has been planning for cyber warfare.
"The anticipated attack did take place, but considerable countermeasures were taken and it did act as a defense to some degree," an official at the online security firm Ahnlab said.
Some South Korean government websites, including the Defense Ministry and the National Intelligence Service, were affected. Access to some U.S. government sites, including the State and Defense Department, from South Korea appeared to be disabled.
In Washington, U.S. government officials said all federal websites were up and running and there was no impact from any new attacks on Thursday.
The Pentagon said it had experienced an increase in cyber activity for about 24 to 48 hours after the July 4 holiday but the upswing had no significant effect on operations.
The Internet sites of some South Korean banks experienced a surge in access requests but a bank official said programs were run to disperse traffic and bring service back within an hour.
If the North was responsible, it would mark an escalation in tension already high from Pyongyang's nuclear test in May, a barrage of ballistic missiles in July and repeated taunts of long-time foes Seoul and Washington in its official media.
But some analysts questioned the North's involvement, saying it may be the work of industrial spies or pranksters.
One online expert was quoted as telling a South Korean daily that tracking the spread of the malicious software showed it had originated from an IP address based in United States.
The attacks will likely be regarded by the North's leadership as a victory for Kim Jong-il -- even if Pyongyang was not behind them -- because they hurt the country's traditional foes, adding a new dimension to the threat level posed by the reclusive state.
The attacks saturated target websites with access requests generated by malicious software planted on personal computers. This has overwhelmed some targeted sites and slowed server response to legitimate traffic.
PYONGYANG PLANS FOR CYBER WARFARE
The attacks did not lead to a breach of sensitive government material or damage online infrastructure in South Korea, the world's most wired country, government officials said.
But the National Intelligence Service said in a statement it was stepping up alert to monitor potential attacks against the network of energy and communications facilities.
South Korean media quoted parliament members saying after an intelligence briefing on Wednesday that the spy agency believed "North Korea or pro-North elements" were behind the attacks.
The defense ministry is allocating 26 billion won ($20.33 million) to beef up security for its computer system, according to a budget request it released on Thursday.
U.S. officials would not speculate on who might be behind the attacks but noted that U.S. government websites face attacks or scams "millions of times" a day.
An expert on North Korea at the Heritage Foundation, Bruce Klingner, said the North had in operation a military unit with up to 1,000 skilled computer hackers created 10 years ago.
"Pyongyang has an extensive and capable cyber terrorism effort to provide asymmetric attack capabilities," he said.
Internet access is denied to almost everyone in hermit North Korea, but intelligence sources said Pyongyang had placed a high priority on developing cyber attack skills.
Last month, the North warned of "high-tech war" against the South for spreading what it said was false information about its involvement in cyber attacks.
($1=1278.9 Won)
(Additional reporting by Rhee So-eui and Jungyoun Park in Seoul, Clare Baldwin and Jim Christie in San Francisco and Deborah Charles and David Morgan in Washington; Editing by Eric Beech)

© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved

A Study

The economist Ray Fisman examined racial preferences in dating using data from a Speed Dating experiment.

Here is an exert from the study.

Racial Preferences in Dating - Raymond Fisman, Sheena S. Iyengar, Emir Kamenica, & Itamar Simonson - June 28, 2006
"In fact, when we run the regressions separately for each race, we find that even Asian women find white, black, and Hispanic men to be more attractive than Asian men.Given that Asian men were the group that other races expressed strongest preference against, and that Asian women expressed the least preference against other races, this finding suggests that attractiveness may play an important role in the determination of racial preferences, especially those against Asian men. We similarly find that for females, Asian partners are consistently rated as less attractive, though we also find that black females receive significantly lower ratings relative to whites. As above, we find that when these regressions are run separately for each race, even Asian men find white, black, and Hispanic women to be more attractive than Asian women."

http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/rfisman/RACE_resubmission_final.pdf


This does show that Asian females are more attractive to non-Asian men, but it based on attractiveness. Does talking to someone for a few minutes have enough impact on why an Asian female would be attracted to a white male or vice-versa? Do you believe in love at first site? Both are valid questions. Though I think there is more to it then that and I believe the the connection between white males and Asian females is more then just looks.

The Morning Buzz

Google takes aim at Microsoft with new PC platform

Wed Jul 8, 2009 10:28am EDT

By Alexei Oreskovic and Edwin Chan
SUN VALLEY, Idaho (Reuters) - Google Inc plans to attack Microsoft Corp's core business by taking on the software giant's globally dominant Windows operating system for personal computers.
Google, which already offers a suite of e-mail, Web and other software products that compete with Microsoft, said on Tuesday it would launch a new operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks.
Microsoft shares fell 1.4 percent to $22.22 in early Nasdaq trade on Wednesday. Google shares rose 1.2 percent to $401.36.
Called the Google Chrome Operating System, the new software will be in netbooks for consumers in the second half of 2010, Google said in a blog post, adding that it was working with multiple manufacturers.
Netbooks are low-cost notebook PCs designed for Internet surfing and other Web-based applications.
"It's been part of their culture to go after and remove Microsoft as a major holder of technology, and this is part of their strategy to do it," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at Enderle Group. "This could be very disruptive. If they can execute, Microsoft is vulnerable to an attack like this, and they know it," he said.
Google and Microsoft have locked horns over the years in a variety of markets, from Internet search to mobile software. It remains to be seen if Google can take market share away from Microsoft on its home turf, with Windows currently installed in more than 90 percent of the world's PCs.
The news comes as executives from the world's biggest technology and media companies, including Google and Microsoft, gather in Sun Valley, Idaho for an annual conference organized by boutique investment bank Allen & Co.
A spokesman for Microsoft declined to comment.
Key to success will be whether Google can lock in partnerships with PC makers, such as Hewlett-Packard Co and Dell Inc, which currently offer Windows on most of their product lines.
Hewlett-Packard Co , the world's largest PC brand, declined to confirm if it would sell PCs running on the new operating system.
"We are looking into it" said HP spokeswoman Marlene Somsak, referring to the operating system. "We want to understand all the different operating systems available to customers, and will assess the impact of Chrome on the computer and communications industry."
Google's Chrome Internet browser, launched in late 2008, remains a distant fourth in the Web browser market, with a 1.2 percent share in February, according to market research firm Net Applications. Microsoft's Internet Explorer continues to dominate with nearly 70 percent.
FAST AND LIGHTWEIGHT
The new Chrome OS is expected to work well with many of the company's popular software applications, such as Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Maps.
It will be fast and less memory-intensive, enabling users to access the Web in a few seconds, Google said. The new operating system is based on open-source Linux code, which allows third-party developers to design compatible applications.
"The operating systems that browsers run on were designed in an era where there was no web," Sundar Pichai, vice president of product management at Google, said in the blog post. The Chrome operating system is "our attempt to rethink
what operating systems should be."
Google said the operating system was a new project, separate from its Android mobile operating software found in some smartphones. Acer Inc, the world's No. 3 PC brand, has already agreed to sell netbooks that run on Android to be released this quarter.
The new system is designed to work with ARM and x86 chips, the main chip architectures in use in the market. Microsoft has previously said it would not support PCs running on ARM chips, allowing Google an opportunity to infiltrate that segment.
Charlene Li, partner at consulting company Altimeter Group, said Google's new system could initially appeal to consumers looking for a netbook-like device for Web surfing, rather than people who use desktop PCs for gaming or high-powered applications.
But eventually, the Google operating system has the potential to scale up to larger, more powerful PCs, especially if it proves to run faster than Windows, she said.
Google did not say how much it would charge for the operating system (OS), but Enderle expects Google to charge at most a nominal fee or make it free, saying the company's business model has been to earn revenue from connecting applications or advertising.
Microsoft declines to say how much it charges PC brands for Windows, but most analysts estimate about $20 for the older XP system and at least $150 for the current Vista system.
Altimeter's Li added: "A benefit to the consumer is that the cost saving is passed on, not having to pay for an OS. It's clearly positioned as a shot across the bow of Microsoft."
(Additional reporting by Kelvin Soh in Taipei, Jim Finkle in Boston; Writing by Tiffany Wu, editing by Will Waterman and Derek Caney)

http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE5670VT20090708?sp=true

Why?

This question comes up once in a while. Why do white guys go for Asian women? I can't speak for everyone but there is some main reasons.

Reason #1 - Asian women follow tradition, which brings respect and loyalty. Obviously this is broken by a lot of Asian ladies who live in non Asian countries and have be subjected to the local ways. Female Asians are brought up to find one man who is going to be there life partner. I do find though that a lot of Asians living in Asia get married and bare children at a young age do to this theory.

What this means to us white men? Simple really, you can feel that you can trust your partner and also know that she has respect for you. I'm not in anyway saying that white,black, and Hispanic ladies can't do this. What I'm saying is that Asians are brought up like this and tend to stick with there values.

There is a negative to all this. I have found that Asian ladies are more "clingy". I also find that because of the language barrier they rely on us men more.

Reason #2 - Asian bodies are some of the most exotic and beautiful bodies on earth. To each there own, but Asians in general are petite in size and because of there diet are toned. I will get into the Asian food later, but there food plays a huge roll in there looks and maintaining a slim body. Asians also seem to have less acne (I will have to do some research in that for another post).

What could be the down side of all this? Well eating rice everyday and believe me they do can get to a non Asian male very fast do to our nature of eating different carbs.

I also would like to point out that Asian females tend to Age well, but seem to reach a plateau where it changes to the worse very fast, unlike non-Asians who age slowly over time. I don't believe there is any proven facts to this and very curious if anyone has found research on this.

So as you can see those are two very good reasons WHY we are attracted to Asian females. I would love to hear other reasons WHY you or someone you know is or was attracted to an Asian.