Apple Profits Nearly Double on Strength From Asia

   Asian sales of iPhones offset recent drops in U.S. orders.  The company reported record earnings Tuesday, April 24, 2012.  Nearly 20% of Apples first quarter revenue came from China, and surrounding countries.  That nearly tripled its revenue from the region a year ago.  "It was an incredible quarter in China," said Apple Chief Executive, Tim Cook.  Chinese consumers bought five times the number of iPhones they did a year earlier.  The strong earnings report sent Apple shares up $41, or 7.31%, to $601 per share, erasing parts of a weeks-long decline that saw the stock lose 13% since it's all-time high of $644 on April 10.  See also, http://www.nytimes.com/.

It Is Not A Raid On Four Major Hollywood Studios

   Walt Disney, Dreamworks Animation, Universal, and Sony see profit in China.  The Securities and (SEC) has sent letters to at least these four Hollywood studios.  The letters center on the studio's dealings with China Film Group, a state-run company whose, responsibilities include determining foreign movies get access to a limited number of slots each year for revenue sharing deals in the red-hot Chineese movie market, which is now the second largest in the world behind the United States.  China allows access 34 foreign movies per year, and collects up to 25% of the box office revenue.  The SEC letters may be related to compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act.   See also, http://www.reuters.com/.

AT&T Earnings Higher Than Expected

   Loser smartphone upgrade costs and an increase in wireless data sales for Apple Inc's iPad helped increase first quarter earnings for  AT&T.  Dallas-based AT&T net revenue rose 5.2% to $3.58 billion, or $.60 per share, from $3.41 billion, or $.57 per share a year earlier.  See also, www.bloombergnews.com.

Candy Spelling is Not The Only Thing That Sounds Good at The Century

   The Century is a luxury condominium high-rise tower in Los Angeles.  It's construction was completed in 2010.  The 41-story Century will include a restaurant run by high-profile Los Angeles chef David Meyers.  This undertaking is the first chef-driven restaurant in Los Angeles.  Candy Spelling, widow of television mogul Aaron Spelling, was one of the first buyers and is still decorating her penthouse.  See also, http://www.betterhomesandgardens.com/.

Three Minute Video on Cambodian Deportees Not Selected to White House

   The video by two students in Chicago, Anide Yoeu and Masahiro Sugano, is about issues affecting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.  They put together a film on the plight of Cambodian deportees.  The video was in response to a White House contest that would invite six of 11 finalists to the White House.  The event called "Champions of Change" is one of a series of events meant to honor people making a difference in their community.  The finalists feel that the fact that they were not included in the trip to Washington is due to the films close topic to a controversy over the record number of immigrants deported by the Obama Administration.  See also, http://www.washingtonpost.com/.

Unauthorized Audio from NBC Producer

   New York - NBC news fired one of its producers for submitting an edited recording of the neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman's 911 call.  The recording aired on NBC's "Today" show.  NBC has since apologized for having aired, what some call, misleading audio.  See also, http://www.nytimes.com./

Veteran Online Travel Pioneer Changes With The Times

   Travelocity turned 16 last month.  We sometimes think of themselves as, "one of the elderly companies in the space because we have been around since its inception...Yet 16 is quite young for a multi-billion dollar company," says Chief Executive Carl Sparks.  Travelocity was created in 1996 by the Sabre Group, then  part of American Airlines parent company, AMR Corporation.  In 2007 Sabre was taken private by Texas Pacific Group and Silver Lake Partners in a $5-billion deal.  Travelocity first offered travel content to consumers browsing the Web with 28.8 Kbps modems.  Since Sparks took the top job a year ago, he and his executive team have refocused the Southlake, Texas company on hotel products, build-your-own vacation packages, and mobile devices.  In February the company launched its first iPad app.  And, it is heavily promoting its "Travelocity Guarantee", under which Travelocity will match any lower price and give the customer $50 off another trip.  See also, http://www.wired.com/.

Digital Film Effects Artists Start Unionization Initiative

   Some picture industry workers call it sweatshop conditions sometimes.  Seven day work weeks, with 12-hour shifts is not uncommon for the 'electronic sweatshops'.  These artists that use computers to create digital images, are seeking health insurance and other benefits.  Visual effects artists are sometimes so poorly regarded, that their film credits are typically listed below the caterer.  See also, http://www.billboard.com/.

Journalists From Sun Daily Tabloid Arrested in London

   An employee of News Corps. Sun newspaper was arrested at his home in Kent, England at 6:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 19, 2012.  At about the same time, in Lancashire England, another employee was arrested as his home.  The employee from Lancashire was assigned to cover Britain's royal family.  He stated, that he had seen no evidence of mobile telephone voice-mail hacking at the Sun.  See also, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/.

Theatre Company Expands Beyond It's First State

    Austin, Texas - Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, a 10 theatre chain, that offers special food nights and themed nights on 'movie nights' in Austin,Texas, along with its distribution company, Alamo Distribution, is expanding nationwide, opening new theatres in New York, Denver, and possibly Los Angeles.  See full story, http://www.nytimes.com/.

Tupac Hologram | 2012 Tupac Performs Live on Stage - Coachella

Still Burgeoning Telephone, CableTV, and Internet Companies

   A bill to de-regulate internet-enabled voice and data transmissions won unanimous approval from a state Senate committee in its first legislature hearing.  The number of companies may be getting smaller in some large categories, such as internet providers.  And, the size of the companies may be getting larger as companies get acquired by still larger companies.  But, some of the issues of the internet, still make it seem like, the concept of linking as many computers together as possible is a young idea.  Silicon Valley, California companies need to have as little government regulation as possible, to provide "the certainty" to continue developing innovative, internet-powered products and programs", says Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima).  See also, http://www.wired.com/.

Iron Man 3 Set to Film in China

    The Chinese firm DMG, an advertising firm turned film producer and possible distributor, and Disney's Marvel Studio unit, are co-financing and distributing "Iron Man 3".  Filming on "Iron Man 3" will start in the U.S. in May and in China in late summer, for release in May 2013.  DMG will manage the Chinese production elements of  "Iron Man 3" and keep the China distribution righs.  "The co-production of "Iron Man 3" in China is testimony to the importance of this audience to Disney", says Stanley Cheung, Disney's greater China managing director.  See also, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/.

International Success at Warner Brothers Studios

   At 56, Jeffery Schlesinger is head of International Television at Warner Bros.  He oversees sales of Warner television and movie products internationally. He also heads 12 WB owned production companies in Britain and the Netherlands.  International sales of Warner content generate billions of dollars a year in revnue, for parent company Time Warner, Inc.  See also, http://www.latimes.com/.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Show Still Goes Without Axl Rose

     Axl Rose wasn't there, but the Rock and Roll  Hall of Fame ceremony went on without him.  The emotional ceremony in the past has been rowdy, awkard, and even touching, with tributes and unforgettalbe performances by some legndary rock groups.  Many of music's biggest stars paried in Cleveland, Ohio to live performances by Green Day, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Guns 'n' Roses.  "It dosen't appear to be somewhere I''m actually wanted, or respected", says Rose.

Music Therapy Puts Toys to Good Use

   Somehow elderly alzheimer, and possibly dementia patients, respond to the soul stirring vibrations of music.  The first time you see a telephone with big numbers for handicapped people to see easier, you might think, 'cool'.  Nintendo's Wii is being used is retirement homes to help seniors get exercise.  Ipods are now sprouting up retirement homes, as medical studies say there may be benefits of music as treatment.  Whether there is a physiological reason, or a simple cultural enjoyment has yet to be determined.  However, a New York city non-profit group, called Music and Memory, that donates iPods to nursing homes is attempting to enable the program to every nursing home in the U.S.  See also, http://www.nytimes.com/.

Forty Percent of One Billion Dollars Equals Kevin Systrom

   "We want to change the way people communicate and share in the real world", says CEO and co-founder Kevin Systrom, of Instagram (a photo sharing app on mobile devices).  Facebook announced a deal to buy the San Francisco company for $1 Billion, in order to allow facebook a stronger push into mobile devices.  See also, http://www.wired.com/.

Dodgers Organization Needs A Lot of Work

   For the team to be profiftable it may have to clench valuable television rights and spruce up the stadium.  Television rights are kind of formulaic, teams know from previous deals approximately how much money to expect from a particular deal.  However, when a team has to attract fans to a 50-year old baseball stadium, in an era when fans can view the game from many media outlets (television,computers, telephones, sports bar and grills, radio, etc.) one must wonder whether the Dodgers will attempt an L.A. Live-like development, or merely update concession stands and restroom areas.  See also, http://www.sportsillustrated.com/.

Some Tribune - Direct TV Channels Go On Standby

   From WPIX-TV in New York to KTLA-TV in Los Angeles, battles over fees between programmers and distributors have put some CWNetwork stations on stand-by.  Tribune Co. and satellite broadcaster DirectTV are squabbling over fees that Tribune wants DirectTV to carry its local television stations.  Early Sunday, Tribune signals around the country started coming off DirectTV's satellite service, including WGN America.  In 2010, Fox pulled its TV stations off Cablevision Systems, a large East Coast cable operator, for more than two weeks until a new contract was signed. See also, http://www.nytimes.com/.

Californian's Concerned of Big Corporations Collecting Private Data

   Those polled distrusted major internet and smartphone corporations intrusion into data gathering.  A majority of Californians surveyed said they distrusted, even well-known, firms.   Many of those surveyed in the latest USC Dornsife/Times Poll said they were concerned personal data could become public, or be harvested to sell them products.  In recent months, federal lawmakers have held numerous hearings about the need for privacy laws.  See also, http://www.nytimes.com/.