J.J. Abrams connects with Media Lab

MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito and famed filmmaker J.J. Abrams experienced what you might call a Vulcan mind meld yesterday.

Abrams took a tour of the lab and then Ito interviewed him in front of a packed audience. It was during their chat that the two men seemed to hit it off — and realize that the Media Lab has some creative similarities to Abrams' production company Bad Robot, where they don't always know how the story will end.

"What this place does is that it opens and expands your mind, opens doors that you weren't even aware existed," Abrams said. "I've never felt dumber at any moment in my life (than when touring the lab)."

An Emmy award-winning director whose list of film credits includes "Star Trek," "Mission: Impossible III," "Super 8" and the TV series "Lost," Abrams, 46, seemed to suggest a collaboration with the lab, a future-obsessed, unorthodox research facility.

"I am excited about finding ways of working with MIT," Abrams said at one point.

Yet for all his talk about opening doors, anyone who had hoped Abrams would open up about the puzzling series finale of "Lost" would have been disappointed to learn that he didn't play a part in the ending.

Abrams said that although he helped create the series, he was working on other projects during the production of the finale, which was widely panned for failing to tie up a series of loose ends created during the show's six seasons of alt-reality, sci-fi mystery.

"What I love about what he did," Abrams said of his co-creator Damon Lindelof, "was I think he answered the emotion of the show."

Abrams added, "I know people are frustrated because they want the physical answers. But there was a truth to what he did."

Ito asked Abrams for his thoughts on the Media Lab's unique operating model, in which they receive funding for open-ended projects. "You can't tell the Media Lab what to do," Ito said, adding "we don't do work for hire. You have to treat us like an artist."

Abrams described a similar philosophy at Bad Robot, where they "don't storyboard everything to death."

"We don't know exactly how it's gonna end up. But we believe in it," Abrams said.

How does Abrams decide when to take what he calls "that leap of faith" on a project? He says he has a singular criteria: It has to give him "the chills."

23.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

BP suspended from new US gov't contracts

WASHINGTON — BP is being temporarily suspended from new contracts with the U.S. government, the Environmental Protection Agency says.

Two weeks ago, BP agreed to plead guilty to charges involving the deaths of 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, which exploded and sank in April 2010, setting off the nation's largest offshore oil spill. BP will also plead guilty to lying to Congress about how much oil was spewing from the blown-out Macondo well

The agency said Wednesday that the suspension is due to BP's "lack of business integrity as demonstrated by the company's conduct with regard to the Deepwater Horizon blowout, explosion, oil spill, and response."

© Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

23.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

Disney, Sears used factory in fire

DHAKA, Bangladesh — Amid the ash, broken glass and melted sewing machines at what is left of the Tazreen Fashions Ltd. factory, there are piles of blue, red and off-white children's shorts bearing Wal-Mart's Faded Glory brand. Shorts from hip-hop star Sean Combs' ENYCE label lay on the floor, along with a hooded Mickey Mouse sweatshirt from Disney.

An Associated Press reporter searching the Bangladesh factory Wednesday found these and other clothes, including sweaters from the French company Teddy Smith and the Scottish company Edinburgh Woollen Mill, among the equipment charred in the fire that killed 112 workers on Saturday. He also found entries in account books indicating that the factory took orders to produce clothes for Disney, Sears and other Western brands.

Garments and documents left behind in the factory show it was used by a host of major American and European retailers, though at least one of them — Wal-Mart — had been aware of safety problems. Wal-Mart blames a supplier for using Tazreen Fashions without its knowledge.

The fire has elevated awareness of something labor groups, retailers and governments have known for years: Bangladesh's fast-growing garment industry — second only to China's in exports — is rife with dangerous workplaces. More than 300 workers there have died in fires since 2006.

Police on Wednesday arrested three factory officials suspected of locking in the workers who died in Saturday's fire, the deadliest in the South Asian country's less than 35-year history of exporting clothing.

Local police chief Habibur Rahman said the three will be questioned amid reports that many workers trying to escape the blaze had been locked inside. He said the owner of the factory was not among those arrested.

The three officials were arrested Wednesday at their homes in Savar, the Dhaka suburb where the factory is located. Rahman did not identify the officials or give their job status.

About 1,400 workers worked at the plant, some 70 percent of them women. Most are from the north, the poorest region of Bangladesh.

Workers who survived the fire say exit doors were locked, and a fire official has said that far fewer people would have died if there had been even one emergency exit. Of the dead, 53 bodies were burned so badly they could not be identified; they were buried anonymously.

The fire started on the ground floor, where a factory worker named Nasima said stacks of yarn and clothes blocked part of the stairway.

Nasima, who uses only one name, and other workers said that when they tried to flee, managers told them to go back to their work stations, but they were ignored.

Dense smoke filled the stairway, making it hard to see, and when the lights went out the workers were left in total darkness. Another worker, Mohammad Rajib, said some people used their cellphones to light their way.

"Everyone was screaming for help," Nasima said. "Total chaos, panic and screaming. Everyone was trying to escape and come out. I was pulling the shirt of a man. I fainted and when I woke up I found myself lying on the road outside the factory.

"I don't know how I survived."

Rajib said the factory conducted a fire drill just three days before the fire broke out, but no one used the fire extinguishers. "Only a selected group of workers are trained to use the extinguishers. Others have no idea how to use them," he said.

© Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

23.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

Stocks open lower, following European markets

NEW YORK — Stocks are opening lower on Wall Street. Investors are still waiting for signs of progress on the "fiscal cliff."

Just after the opening bell, the Dow Jones industrial average is down 45 points at 12,832. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is off five points at 1,393, and the Nasdaq composite index is down 15.

Stocks fell on Tuesday after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he was frustrated by the lack of progress in budget talks. Broad tax increases and government spending cuts take effect Jan. 1 unless there's a deal.

Elsewhere Wednesday, stocks are lower in Asia and Europe.

© Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

23.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ironwood drug wins approval in Europe

Cambridge-based Ironwood Pharmaceuticals and partner Almirall said today that European regulators have approved a drug to treat irritable bowel syndrome with constipation in adults.

The drug would be marketed in Europe as Constella, an oral, once-daily medication. Ironwood received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for linaclotide in August.

Almirall, which signed a license agreement with Ironwood in April 2009, under which the company holds exclusive marketing rights for linaclotide in all European Union member states, expects to launch Constella in Europe in the first half of next year.

"We look forward to continuing to work closely with our partner Almirall in their efforts to bring Constella to ... patients in Europe, and we will continue collaborating with our global network of partners with the goal of bringing this medicine to appropriate patients worldwide," said Ironwood's CEO Peter Hecht.

23.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

Online event space locator expands to Boston

Eventup, an online resource that helps event planners and consumers find and book unique venues, said today it is launching its sixth location in Boston.

Based in Santa Monica, Calif., the company has grown to include Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Miami and Chicago since its February launch.

The company said it offers a selection of more than 5,000 hard-to-find venues and is a timesaving solution that helps event planners and consumers research, price, confirm availability and book exclusive event spaces that fit their needs.

Services are free for customers, with property owners paying a 15 percent booking fee. Venue rates range from $500 to $100,000, Eventup said.

Eventup venues now available in Boston include the Waterworks Museum and the Royale Nightclub.

23.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

Devens-based AMSC cuts quarter of work force

AMSC, an energy technology company based in Devens, said today it has slashed its work force by about 25 percent and is also consolidating office space to lower operating costs.

The company, citing "challenging conditions" in the wind power market, said it now has about 340 employees worldwide after laying off more than 100 workers.

"Financing and cash flow among wind farm developers and wind turbine manufacturers have been constrained, which has impacted growth plans for some of our ... partners," AMSC chief Daniel McGahn said in a statement. "Given this environment, we made the difficult but prudent decision to reduce our work force in order to weather the industry downturn and minimize our cash usage."

The company expects the moves to reduce annual expenses by nearly $10 million, while lowering its annualized operating expenses to less than $58 million, once the savings are fully realized in the fiscal quarter ending June 30.

The company, which remains in court battles with China's largest wind turbine manufacturer and former customer Sinovel Wind Group Co., said its expects to pay nearly $2 million in cash severance costs in the fourth quarter of this year.

AMSC also revised its financial forecast for the third quarter. Revenues would most likely exceed $20 million while the company's net loss would be less than $24 million, officials said.

AMSC stock, which closed yesterday at $2.77 a share, fell nearly 12 percent to a low of $2.44 today.

23.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

Siemens to spin off majority in Osram unit

BERLIN — Industrial conglomerate Siemens AG has announced plans to shed a majority stake in its Osram unit, which makes light bulbs, in a spinoff to shareholders.

Siemens said today that its supervisory board will propose spinning off 80.5 percent of Osram, followed by a public listing of the division. It said existing Siemens shareholders will get one Osram share for every 10 Siemens shares they hold.

The company didn't specify when it hopes to conduct the spinoff. The plan will need approval by its annual shareholder meeting in January.

It said it will retain 17 percent of Osram, and the Siemens Pension Trust will hold 2.5 percent.

Siemens said in July that, because of the difficult market environment, it had scrapped previous plans for an outright stock market listing.

© Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

23.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

Nokia sues RIM for breach of contract

HELSINKI — Nokia Corp. is suing Research in Motion, the maker of the Blackberry, for breach of contract in Britain, the United States and Canada over cellular patents the two companies agreed on nine years ago.

The struggling cellphone and RIM agreed in 2003 on a "cross-license for standards-essential cellular patents." Since then, RIM has sought to amend the deal, claiming the license should also have covered patents for non-essential parts. A Swedish tribunal earlier this month ruled against RIM's claims.

Nokia says Wednesday that it is now filing a lawsuit to enforce the tribunal's latest decision against RIM's claims. According to that decision, RIM is not entitled to manufacture or sell WLAN products, used widely in smartphones, without first agreeing royalties with Nokia, which is based in Finland.

© Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

23.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

Costco plans special cash dividend of $7 per share

Costco plans special cash dividend of $7 per share

The Associated Press

Costco plans a special dividend of $7 per share next month in addition to the regular quarterly dividend the wholesale club operator pays shareholders.

The Issaquah, Wash., company said Wednesday that the special dividend will be payable Dec. 18 to shareholders of record Dec. 10. Costco Wholesale Corp.'s regular quarterly dividend of 27.5 cents per share will be paid Nov. 30 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 16.

Costco also said Wednesday that its November revenue climbed nearly 9 percent to $8.15 billion. Revenue from stores open at least a year rose 6 percent. The increase was 5 percent excluding gains from gasoline price inflation and stronger foreign currencies.

Revenue from stores open at least a year is a key gauge of a retailer's health because it excludes results from stores recently opened or closed.

Costco's shares rose $4.29, or 4.5 percent, to $100.80 in morning trading Wednesday. Its shares peaked for the past year at $104.43 in October. They traded as low as $78.81 in early January.

Many companies are making special end-of-year dividend payments or moving up their quarterly payouts because investors may have to pay higher taxes on dividend income starting in January.

Investors have paid a maximum 15 percent on dividends since 2003. But that historically low rate will expire in January unless Congress and President Barack Obama reach a compromise on taxes and government spending.

As it stands, dividends will be taxed as ordinary income in 2013, the same as wages, so rates will go up depending on which income bracket a taxpayer is in. For the highest earners, the dividend rate would jump to 43.4 percent.

Even if a compromise is reached, there's no guarantee that the tax rate for dividends will remain at its current level.

Fitch Ratings said Wednesday it was lowering Costco's issuer default rating one notch to "A+" from "AA-" because the company plans to take on more debt to pay the special dividend. Analyst Philip M. Zahn said "A+" is still considered an above-average, investment-grade rating.

Costco runs 618 warehouses in several countries, including 447 in the United States and Puerto Rico.

© Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

23.14 | 0 komentar | Read More