Who ‘Ruled the Air’ in 1910? (And Who Rules It Now?)

• By Matthew Lasar, ars technica
• Categories: Spectrum, Telecommunications, Wireless

“We each have a signal. A stream of raw power that flows with us. A power. A superpower. A super communication power.” So proclaims Verizon Wireless’s innovative “Rule the Air” advertising campaign.

“Send your signal forth with luminous videos, glorious data, and sublime megapixels,” another Verizon ad urges consumers. “Transmit your latest brainstorm over the airwaves. You just might start a revolution.”

Indeed, the airwaves are fundamentally democratic, Verizon insists. “Air has no prejudice,” a procession of women declare in a Rule the Air video spot. “It does not care carry the opinions of a man faster than those of a woman. It does not filter out an idea because I’m 16 and not 30.” 

Verizon: Rule the air ad. spencss1 http://www.youtube.com/user/spencss1

Virtually unscathed

Revolutionary, democratic, unprejudicial — Verizon’s campaign comes as Americans debate whether the wireless broadband airwaves really represent any of these wonderful things. Who will really rule the air, consumer advocates wonder, smartphone users or the wireless carriers? Two mobile providers dominate the broadband airwaves and, thanks to a recent federal court decision, they enjoy unchecked power to limit or prioritize data, content, and features at their pleasure.

But this isn’t the first time a big carrier tried a charm offensive of this sort. A century ago, the insurgent phone company of the time — American Telephone and Telegraph — also found itself swimming in a sea of public worry. Consumers and independent providers feared (rightly, as it turned out) that the corporation would prevail in its ultimate goal, the acquisition of almost all of the nation’s phone lines.

And so AT&T launched the Progressive Era equivalent of a “Rule the Air” campaign. Obviously there’s a difference between then and now. Verizon offers wireless service; AT&T leased out its land lines. But in terms of policy objectives, the historian Roland Marchand thought that AT&T’s crusade worked.
When the Federal Communications Commission launched its first probe into the company’s aggressive practices in the mid-1930s, AT&T emerged “virtually unscathed” from the ordeal, Marchand noted in his classic history, Creating the Corporate Soul: The Rise of Public Relations and Corporate Imagery in American Big Business.


“When observers asked why investigations of the telephone monopoly had elicited almost no public support during the perilous mid-1930s, corporate analysts almost unanimously gave credit to AT&T’s 30-year campaign of coordinated institutional advertising and public relations,” his study concluded.
Let’s go back to the first “Rule the Air” campaign and see how it plied its magic.

The Multiplication of Power

Besieged by critics who warned that AT&T was gradually pushing independents out of the market, the company responded with a slogan: “One Policy-One System-Universal Service.” The “curse of Bigness” would be countered with the argument that bigness was best for consumers, for the nation, and especially for businessmen.

AT&T technology represented the “Multiplication of Power,” an early magazine advertisement insisted. The word “power” became ubiquitous in Bell ads. “Has the increased ability of the American business man to bring people to him from every locality, far and near, over the Bell Telephone System, been the cause of the mulitiplication of his power and his principality?” an ad rhetorically asked

You bet it had, just about every AT&T/Bell pitch proclaimed. AT&T represented the “Triumph of Science: Making a Neighborhood a Nation.”

And so it went — the telephone represented the “annihilator of space,” another magazine ad announced. AT&T “beguiled men with talk of their personal power,” Marchand observed, then piled on statistics about subscribers or dollars or lines or miles “to brag of the company’s own magnitude and resources.”

The early ads exhibited a decided penchant for the recitation — to the point of incantation — of large figures. Over the first 10 years, some 70 percent of the ads cited at least one figure in the thousands, millions or billions. Sixty percent included one or more figures in millions or above. Between 1908 and 1912, texts of seven individual ads incorporated ‘million(s)’ and ‘billion(s)’ at least four times. In 1914 the corporation outdid itself by including figures in the millions or billions some 14 times in its April advertisement and nine times in August.

Supreme and glorious

But, note the presence of a woman stretching out the “Transcontinental Phone Line,” a clear reference to the transcontinental railroad built a generation earlier. AT&T was always ambivalent about how to deploy feminine images.

As Marchand noted, the Bell System consistently pitched to the business class first — the phone represented as essential to companies and professionals. Bell ads often drew the latter as square-jawed guys confidently clinching deals in their offices. AT&T marketers were far more ambivalent about touting the telephone as a venue for “female” gossip (as if men didn’t gossip as well).

AT&T’s “bias towards ultilitarianism and no-nonsense masculinity” had a purpose, Marchand argued. “A monopoly utility company, one charged with supplying a functional service, needed to assume a dignified civic stature; it had reasons to shun any association with frivolous indulgences.”

But the corporation was also anxious to emphasize the “democratic” nature of telephone service, especially during the First World War, as women’s suffrage became a national issue and, in 1920, a national reality.
“War gave woman her supreme and glorious opportunity to enlarge her field of service,” an AT&T institutional ad explained shortly after the conflict. “In the counting house and chemical laboratory she has loaned her brains to the cause.” And “in telephone service, also, a host of capable, loyal daughters” further the nation’s future, the pitch continued.

Indeed, AT&T itself represented the essence of democracy, a publicly owned corporation exemplifying the central phrase of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address: “Of the people, by the people, for the people.”
“People of every walk of life, in every state in the Union, are represented in the ownership of the Bell Telephone System,” another ad explained. “People from every class… ”
And, of course, “Of all AT&T’s stockholders, the respectable, needy widow gained central station by virtue of her representation of the ‘many citizens of small means’ who depended on the company’s profits,” Marchand observed. “No plutocrats were visible here.”

Evading the worst

By the mid-20th century, these advertising campaigns had repeatedly helped AT&T to avoid anti-trust scrutiny, even as the company gradually gobbled up most of the nation’s phone carriers. In 1913, the corporation avoided breakup or nationalization by agreeing to connect with local carriers and to a more regulated approach to their acquisition. In 1919, the Bell System released itself from wartime government control.
“The leading AT&T executives … freely attributed the success of their negotiations to the previous 10 years of AT&T advertising,” Marchand concludes.

And in 1935, when the “seemingly inevitable” government challenge finally arrived:

The FCC’s relatively harmless specific recommendations, at a time when many corporations felt themselves gravely threatened or impaired, clearly represented a victory for AT&T. [AT&T] Vice President [Arthur] Page pointed to AT&T’s good public reputation as the reason such a “natural target” had escaped attention earlier in the “investigating craze,” and he took delight in the public’s apparent indifference to the investigation reports. Fortune magazine buttressed the judgment of AT&T’s executives that the investigation had “produced only the most trivial accusations” against the company. It credited the absence of any public outcry to the success of the corporation’s tireless advertising and public relations campaign.

A century later, we have a repetition of AT&T’s approach in Verizon’s “Rule the Air” offensive. Will it work? The campaign doesn’t seem to be getting great results in terms of new subscribers, but with Verizon’s 4G device lineup impending, that’s an unfinished story.

The bigger question is how we’ll define who really “rules the air,” and under what terms? Do consumers enjoy sovereignty solely by virtue of their purchase of the newest, coolest mobile-broadband device? Or must they have some say in the terms under which “the air” is sold to them, and under what circumstances data and features on the public byways are managed, prioritized or even barred?
Who rules the air? Hopefully this time around, that question won’t be decided by an ad agency.

Newscribe : get free news in real time 

Further reading

These nearly century-old magazine advertisements are just some of the amazing illustrations to be found in Marchand’s Creating the Corporate Soul, published by University of California Press. The 460-page book also includes chapters on the auto industry, the World Fairs of the 1890s through the 1930s, and General Electric. A great holiday gift for all technology lovers, you can buy it directly through UC Press here.
Follow us for disruptive tech news: John C. Abell and Epicenter on Twitter.
See Also:

• In Escalating War Against Verizon, AT&T Is Getting Tone Deaf — and …
• Verizon to AT&T: Can You Sue Me Now?
• Verizon Leads, AT&T Runs Last in Wired.com’s 3G Speed Test …
• AT&T Sees No Threat in a Verizon iPhone
• Cap My iPhone? Try This Instead, AT&T
• A Step Ahead of Regulators, Verizon Activates Concession Mode …

Tags: AT&T, Verizon

• Post Comment  | 
• Permalink

Also on Wired.com

• Secret Button Sequence Bypasses iPhone Security
  
• Celebrating 5 Years of Game|Life
  
• "Shiny App Syndrome": When Open Government Meets Closed Platforms
  
• More Facebook Privacy Woes: Gay Users Outed To Advertisers
  
• Hybrid CF Lightbulbs Offer Instant-On for the Incurably Impatient
  
• Bone Amp Gives iPhone the Horn
  

Related Topics:

• AT&T Inc., 
• Verizon Communications Inc., 
• Roland Marchand, 
• Association of BellTel Retirees Inc., 
• Federal Communications Commission, 
• Advertising

Read More http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/10/who-ruled-the-air-in-1910-and-who-rules-it-now/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29#ixzz13QZF4dq6

Dollar doldrums: No end in sight

10 Yr Treasury vs USD Index: Economic Analysis By HiddenLevers Aug 1 Aug 16 Sep 1 Sep 16 Oct 1 Oct 16 2.3% 2.4% 2.5% 2.6% 2.7% 2.8% 2.9% 3.0% 3.1% 76 78 80 82 84 5d | 1m | 3m | 6m | YTD | 1y | 5y | 10y | All Economic Analysis By HiddenLevers

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- All hail the puny dollar?

The greenback slipped once again Monday morning, falling to a new 15-year low against the yen. The dollar also fell against the euro and pound.

The renewed dollar sell-off comes after global financial ministers pledged to avoid currency wars at the conclusion of the G-20 meeting in South Korea Saturday.

Accusations of currency manipulation have roiled financial markets, with U.S. officials expressing frustration about how artificially low they believe the Chinese yuan is when compared to the dollar.

But global traders are continuing to sell the dollar. And that's because, somewhat ironically, many investors feel that the U.S. may be doing some manipulation of its own -- intentional or not.

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to unveil a new round of asset purchases at its next policy meeting, a two-day session that wraps up on November 3.

This so-called practice of quantitative easing is generally viewed as bad for the dollar because the Fed would be essentially printing money in order to pay for the long-term bonds it plans to buy.

Michael Pento, senior economist with Euro Pacific Capital in Westport, Conn., said that more quantitative easing is troubling because it may discourage foreign investors from buying the dollar, which is something they did in droves during the height of the financial crisis of 2008.

At that time, the dollar was still viewed as a safe bet and its status as the world's reserve currency was not in doubt. Pento worries that this may not be true for much longer.

"The dollar is being destroyed on a daily basis," he said. "Another massive round of easing would put everyone on notice that if you are seeking to hide in our dollar you will be severely punished."

0:00 /2:53Weak dollar is a double-edged sword

The fear is that if the dollar continues to fall, foreign creditors will eventually get tired of the weak dollar and sell their Treasuries. That would push long-term yields much higher and could help bring about inflation.

So far though, as the chart at the top of this column shows, long-term yields have been edging lower even as the dollar continues to fall.

Along those lines, not everyone is sweating the weak dollar. Alex Bellefleur, financial economist with Brockhouse Cooper, a brokerage firm in Montreal, said it's worth noting that the stock market has been rallying as the dollar has weakened.

"The U.S. dollar has been the laggard in international currencies. But that could help in terms of boosting exports and earnings for large companies," Bellefleur said. "We don't think this is something that's negative in the near-term."

The problem is that at some point though, the cons to the weak dollar will outweigh the pros.

Pento said that if the widely-watched U.S. dollar index, which measures the dollar against a basket of key currencies, falls below 70, that could jeopardize the dollar's standing around the world. That index is currently around 77.

But Bellefleur doesn't think that the dollar will slide that much more. He said that for the dollar to truly lose its reserve status, something has to replace it. And he doesn't believe that will happen anytime soon.

"There are still no alternatives to the dollar as the world's reserve currency. The euro used to be viewed as possibly being one but people have had second thoughts about that," he said.

Keep track of the dollar and other currencies

Dean Popplewell, chief currency strategist for Oanda, a Toronto-based foreign exchange broker, said investors should not forget gold. He noted that weakness in the dollar has coincided with the record run in the yellow metal.

So while investors may not think the euro can replace the dollar, gold -- which risk-averse investors love because of its tangible nature -- may be another story.

"At the moment, gold is trading as if it's the reserve currency. People want commodities over the dollar," Popplewell said.

Popplewell added that as long as the Fed has an easy money policy in place, the weak dollar trend is likely to continue. He predicts that the euro, currently trading around $1.40, could climb as high as $1.46 before the year is out.

"There will come a time when the dollar stops depreciating. But right now everyone has the same bet. It's a one-way, lemming trade," he said. "There is no money to be made on betting on the dollar at this point."

- The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paul R. La Monica. Other than Time Warner, the parent of CNNMoney.com, and Abbott Laboratories, La Monica does not own positions in any individual stocks.   

Newscribe : get free news in real time

Blood pressure checks performed by barbers improve hypertension control in African-American men

Neighborhood barbers, by conducting a monitoring, education and physician-referral program, can help their African-American customers better control high blood pressure problems that pose special health risks for them, a new study from the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute shows.
 

The study -- the first to subject increasingly popular barbershop-based health programs to a scientific scrutiny with randomized, controlled testing -- demonstrates the haircutters' heart health efforts work well enough that they could save hundreds of lives annually, according to results to be published online today on the Archives of Internal Medicine website at http://archinte.ama-assn.org/ and in the peer-reviewed medical journal's Feb. 28, 2011, print issue.

In the research -- led by Ronald G. Victor, MD, a hypertension expert and associate director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute -- barbers for 10 months offered blood pressure checks during men's haircuts and promoted physician follow-up with personalized health education for customers with high blood pressure. This enhanced screening program markedly improved blood pressure levels among the barbershops' patrons. Although blood pressure levels also fell in a comparison group whose members received only educational brochures about high blood pressure, the improvement was greater in the barber-assisted group.

Uncontrolled hypertension is one of the most prevalent causes of premature disability and death among African-Americans. African-American men have the highest death rate from hypertension of any race, ethnic and gender group in the United States – three times higher than white men.

"What we learned from this trial is that the benefits of intensive blood pressure screening are enhanced when barbers are empowered to become healthcare extenders to help combat this epidemic of the silent killer in their community"," said Victor, the Burns and Allen Chair in Cardiology Research. "Barbers, whose historical predecessors were barber-surgeons, are a unique work force of potential community health advocates because of their loyal clientele."

Since the 1980s, African-American-owned barbershops and hair salons have hosted screening programs for medical conditions that disproportionately affect African-Americans. Victor's study concludes that if hypertension intervention programs were put in place in the estimated 18,000 African-American barbershops in the U.S., it would result in the first year in about 800 fewer heart attacks, 550 fewer strokes and 900 fewer deaths.

Seventeen African-American-owned barbershops in Dallas and approximately 1,300 male patrons with confirmed hypertension participated in this study, which ran from March, 2006, to December, 2008, when Victor was professor of medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

All African-American men patronizing the participating shops were offered baseline blood pressure screenings for hypertension. The shops then were assigned randomly to the intervention or comparison group.

Barbers at the nine shops in the intervention group were trained to measure blood pressure properly and they offered free checks with every cut. If a customer's reading was high, the barber encouraged him to see his doctor, and, if he did not, the barber called the study's nursing staff to arrange a physician visit. The customer, in turn, got a free haircut if he returned to the shop with a doctor-signed referral card.

In the eight shops in the comparison group, customers received a blood pressure check at the study's outset, and then were offered standard educational pamphlets about hypertension.

At the study's conclusion, 20 percent more hypertensive patrons in the intervention group had their blood pressure controlled with medication compared to 10 percent in the control group.

"We need further exploration to make this kind of program scalable and sustainable," said Victor, who is launching a new study with African-American barbershops in Southern California. "If this kind of program could be applied to large numbers of African-American men, that would be an enormous asset in preventing heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure and other serious complications of hypertension,"

More information: Arch Intern Med. Published online October 25, 2010. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2010.390
Provided by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Newscribe : get free news in real time

MPs Giving a Dressing Down to Teresa!

Teresa stands by her blouse

By LEE YUK PENG
yukpeng@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: Seputeh MP Teresa Kok stood up to accusations that her long-sleeved blouse was “too revealing” for Parliament, saying she saw nothing wrong with her choice of outfit on Thursday.

The MP from DAP, who wore the blouse made of sheer material and a dress, was criticised during question time by Datuk Dr Marcus Mojigoh (BN–Putatan) who complained that her outfit was revealing (menjolok mata) and improper.

“It was long-sleeved and not entirely transparent. I see nothing wrong with the blouse. I will continue to wear it in future,’’ said Kok yesterday.

Dress issue: Kok showing the outfit she wore to Parliament on Thursday.

 

Kok, who was attacked 10 years ago in another episode involving her outfit, said the complaint was nonsense.

“I think Putatan (Dr Marcus) was seeking attention on TV since the first 30 minutes of question time is on live telecast,’’ she added.

Dr Marcus, citing Standing Orders, stood up to point out to Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia that Kok’s outfit was revealing and inappropriate.

Pandikar Amin, however, defused the situation, saying he was not drawn to Kok’s clothes.

When contacted, Dr Marcus argued that Kok should be wearing formal attire like her male counterparts.

“I stood to remind her that she was not in proper parliamentarian attire. One must be serious in Parliament and not main-main (fool around). She wore a fancy dress as if she was taking part in a fashion show. Parliament is not the place for her to show how nice her dresses are,” he said.

Standing Order 41(f) states that a woman should either be wearing national attire, sarong or long-sleeved blouse with knee-length skirt, ceremonial dress or any attire permitted by the Chair in the Dewan Rakyat.

Monday October 25, 2010

Giving MPs a dressing down must be done in private

I WAS bemused and at the same time irked by the news report in which Seputeh MP Teresa Kok (pic) was accused by Datuk Dr Marcus Mojigoh (BN-Putatan) of wearing a blouse that was “too revealing” for Parliament – and of all times, during Question Time.

Question Time in Parliament is an important session for MPs to discuss issues of national importance, not for trivial matters as an MP’s outfit.

Should it be true that any MP, regardless of whatever political party he or she belong to, has violated the dress code of Parliament, then he or she should be told in private by the Chair or Parliament officer in charge of protocol.

It is very unseemly for a person to criticise in public another person’s mode of dressing. In this case, more so because we are talking about national leaders who should know how to behave.

As a woman leader, Kok has it twice as hard as she is a minority in a very male-dominated field. It is difficult to retain your feminity when you are working with men.

If she were to dress a bit too feminine, she would be accused of “taking part in a fashion show”. And, if she were to dress more formally, she would be accused of trying too hard to be “one of the guys”.

As such, Marcus should have been more gracious when he found that her attire “menjolok mata” and behaved in a gentlemanly manner by going through the proper channels to advise her instead of shaming her in public, on national television no less.

Elected representatives should be more focused on doing their jobs.

JULIANA P,
Kuala Lumpur.

Dad's Weight and Diet Linked to Offspring's Risk of Diabetes

ScienceDaily (Oct. 24, 2010) — Medical researchers have for the first time shown a link between a father's weight and diet at the time of conception and an increased risk of diabetes in his offspring.

---

Medical researchers have for the first time shown a link between a father's weight and diet at the time of conception and an increased risk of diabetes in his offspring. (Credit: iStockphoto/Rob Friedman)

The finding, reported in the journal Nature, is the first in any species to show that paternal exposure to a high-fat diet initiates progression to metabolic disease in the next generation.

"We've known for a while that overweight mums are more likely to have chubby babies, and that a woman's weight before and during pregnancy can play a role in future disease in her children, partly due to the critical role the intrauterine environment plays in development," said study leader Professor Margaret Morris, from UNSW's School of Medical Sciences.

"But until now, the impact of the father's environment -- in terms of his diet -- on his offspring had not been investigated." The work formed the basis of the PhD study of Dr Sheau-Fang Ng, who showed that paternal environmental factors such as diet and weight are important contributors to disease in the next generation.

In the Nature study, male rats were fed a high fat diet to induce obesity and glucose intolerance and then mated with normal weight females. The resulting female offspring exhibited impaired glucose tolerance and insulin secretion as young adults.

"This is the first report of non-genetic, intergenerational transmission of metabolic consequences of a high fat diet from father to offspring," Professor Morris said.

"A family history of diabetes is one of the strongest risk factors for the disease; however until now, the extent of any influence of non-genetic paternal factors has been unclear."

Professor Morris said the research showed that overweight fathers can play a role in "programming" epigenetic changes in their offspring, possibly through effects on their sperm caused by their consumption of high-fat food. Epigenetics is a process whereby changes in gene expression -- and hence function -- can occur even when there are no alterations in the DNA sequence.

Professor Morris said the study expands our understanding of the role environmental factors might play on a child's physiology and metabolism.

"It adds another level to our understanding of the causes of the growing epidemics in obesity and diabetes," she said. "While here we studied female offspring, we need to examine whether the effect is also found in males."

The work was carried out in collaboration with scientists in the UNSW Schools of Medical Sciences and Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, the Garvan Institute, and the University of Adelaide.
Professor Morris will present the findings at the Australia and New Zealand Obesity Society meeting in Sydney.

Editor's Note: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

University of New South Wales (2010, October 24). Dad's weight and diet linked to offspring's risk of diabetes. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 24, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2010/10/101021103121.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29

Newscribe : get free news in real time

See Also:

Health & Medicine

• Diet and Weight Loss
• Obesity
• Diabetes
• Cholesterol
• Nutrition
• Fitness

Reference

• Diabetes mellitus type 2
• Glycemic index
• Diabetic diet
• South Beach diet

Sound of the Underground: New Acoustic Early Warning System for Landslide Prediction

ScienceDaily (Oct. 23, 2010) — A new type of sound sensor system has been developed to predict the likelihood of a landslide.

---

A diagram of the acoustic monitoring system. (Credit: Image courtesy of Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council)

Thought to be the first system of its kind in the world, it works by measuring and analysing the acoustic behaviour of soil to establish when a landslide is imminent so preventative action can be taken.

Noise created by movement under the surface builds to a crescendo as the slope becomes unstable and so gauging the increased rate of generated sound enables accurate prediction of a catastrophic soil collapse.

The technique has been developed by researchers at Loughborough University, in collaboration with the British Geological Survey, through two projects funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

The detection system consists of a network of sensors buried across the hillside or embankment that presents a risk of collapse. The sensors, acting as microphones in the subsoil, record the acoustic activity of the soil across the slope and each transmits a signal to a central computer for analysis.

Noise rates, created by inter-particle friction, are proportional to rates of soil movement and so increased acoustic emissions mean a slope is closer to failure. Once a certain noise rate is recorded, the system can send a warning, via a text message, to the authorities responsible for safety in the area. An early warning allows them to evacuate an area, close transport routes that cross the slope or carry out works to stabilise the soil.

Neil Dixon, professor of geotechnical engineering at Loughborough University and principal investigator on the project, explains how the system -- thought to be a global first -- works. "In just the same way as bending a stick creates cracking noises that build up until it snaps, so the movement of soil before a landslide creates increasing rates of noise," said Professor Dixon.

"This has been known since the 1960s, but what we have been able to do that is new is capture and process this information so as to quantify the link between noise and soil displacement rates as it happens, in real time -- and hence provide an early warning," he added.

The system is now being developed further to produce low cost, self-contained sensors that do not require a central computer. This work, which is being carried out under the second project funded by EPSRC, is focused on manufacture of very low cost sensors with integrated visual and/or audible alarms, for use in developing countries. Ongoing work includes field trials, market research and planning commercial exploitation of the technology.

"The development of low cost independent acoustic slope sensors has only become possible in very recent times due to the availability of microprocessors that are fast, small and cheap enough for this task," says Dixon.

As well as the life-saving implications for countries prone to disastrous landslides, the technique can also be used in monitoring the condition of potentially unstable slopes built to support transport infrastructure, such as rail and road embankments, in developed countries such as the UK.

Current development work is being funded through Loughborough University's knowledge transfer account, a fund supplied by EPSRC to help commercial exploitation of inventions arising from its research projects. A commercially available Alarms sensor is expected to be launched in the next two years.

Newscribe : get free news in real time 

See Also:

Earth & Climate

• Natural Disasters
• Landslides
• Earthquakes
• Environmental Policy
• Tsunamis
• Geography

Reference

• Landslide
• Geotechnical engineering
• Earthquake liquefaction
• Engineering geology

Baidu as the Google of China

Baidu: China's Google can't be beat

 
 Shares of Baidu have trounced Google's this year as the Chinese search engine's sales and profits soar. By Paul R. La Monica, editor at largeFirst Published: October 22, 2010: 12:19 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Some investors refer to Baidu as the Google of China.
But if Baidu keeps delivering quarterly performances like its most recent one, investors may have to start calling Google the Baidu of the United States.

Baidu reported third-quarter profits Thursday night that more than doubled, easily beating analysts' forecasts. Sales rose a stunning 76%. The company continues to gain market share in China while Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) remains a distant second -- especially after Google essentially threw in the towel on keeping a presence in mainland China.

Shares of Baidu (BIDU) shot up nearly 6% Friday morning on the news, hitting a new record-high in the process. Can the stock possibly still be a buy at this point?

It's getting tougher to blindly ignore the stock's exorbitant valuation. But amazingly, several analysts think Baidu has nowhere to go but up.

"All fundamental drivers for growth of online and search advertising in China remain unchanged, and Baidu remains the prime beneficiary," wrote RBC analyst Stephen Ju in a report Friday morning.

Aaron Kessler, an analyst with ThinkEquity Partners, added in a note Friday that Baidu had made great strides toward improving how much revenue it generates per click thanks to its Phoenix Nest program, which is kind of like Google's AdWords sponsored links service.

Baidu also has room to grow in another key area of online media -- contextual ads. Contextual advertising, displaying relevant ads over a network of sites (i.e. services like Google's AdSense), is something that Baidu is developing.
"Due to its superior technologies, Google remains as the biggest player in contextual ads in China, but the gap between Google and Baidu in market share is not huge," wrote C. Ming Zhao, an analyst with Susquehanna Financial.

0:00 /0:49Baidu feels lucky in Q3

Baidu, like Google, is also continuing to invest aggressively in research and development, in order to make sure that it holds onto its search lead and can catch up to Google in other areas.

Oppenheimer analyst Paul Keung noted in a report Friday that the company is dipping its toe in businesses that could eventually become big generators of revenues and profits, such as online video, mobile search and Baidu's so-called "box computing" initiative, which is Baidu's take on the apps craze.

"While there is no large [revenue] contribution in the near term, we believe even with fierce/crowded competition amongst the sectors [Baidu] still serves up as an advantageous newcomer," he wrote.

Google hits $600

Still, it's worth wondering if this is all more than priced into the stock already. Baidu trades at nearly 50 times 2011 earnings estimates, an incredibly rich multiple for a stock.

In order to make the case that Baidu is still a bargain, you have to factor in just how rapidly it's expected to grow. Kessler said in his report that the stock's current valuation is justified because he expects Baidu's profits to grow at a rate of 40% a year, on average, for the next few years.

In fact, he increased his price target on Baidu Friday to $135 a share, 25% higher than where it's trading at now.

Sure, Baidu isn't for the faint of heart. But it's undeniably a leader in one of the hottest segments of one of the world's hottest markets. Stocks like that often aren't on sale -- and for good reason.

Reader comment of the week. And my mind is on the brink. I wrote on Monday about how big bank stocks may face another problem with the foreclosure fiasco. That sparked one reader to endorse even tougher rules on the big banks.

"The banking industry needs to be changed to not make crazy profits. They provide a service that mom and pop shops can not. Every dollar they make comes out of a small business or large corporation's ability to hire more workers. Watch out for banks coming after you for every fee imaginable," wrote Mike Lenzini.

Over in the Twitter-sphere, I issued another of my crazy pop culture challenges Thursday. I noticed that shares of tobacco giant Philip Morris were down after reporting results. That got me humming a tune with the following lyric that I asked you to identify: "And curse Sir Walter Raleigh. He was such a stupid git!"

Many followers responded with the correct answer. "I'm So Tired" by The Beatles. But the first to do so was Sabin Woods (@clannwoods). Congrats! I'd give you everything I've got for a little peace of mind.

- The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paul R. La Monica. Other than Time Warner, the parent of CNNMoney.com, and Abbott Laboratories, La Monica does not own positions in any individual stocks.   
Newscribe : get free news in real time 

IMF meetings in October a cop-out

WHAT ARE WE TO DO
By TAN SRI LIN SEE-YAN

MAYBE I am getting old.

For 20 years since the early ‘60s, I was a regular at the annual meetings of the IMF (International Monetary Fund). Those days, the annual meetings were eagerly awaited and exciting – serious systemic international monetary issues were usually taken-up and resolved in corridors outside the main meeting.

While concrete action was definitely lacking, the just concluded mid-October meetings showcased the growing influence of emerging nations, who were on the verge of winning a greater share of IMF governance power. The flocking of a record number of private bankers and fund managers to gain insights from (and access to) policymakers from Asia, Africa and Latin America offered the main excitement – a further testament to the growing importance of emerging markets where generous returns have drawn (and continues to draw) an uncomfortably heavy flow of investment monies from the United States and Europe. The mood was absorbing.

I sense the common thread was countries pursuing a national agenda in a fruitless effort to resolve major global problems. It is clear no nation is really ready to act for the greater global good.

So what else is new. The main issue on the table was currencies, two to be precise – the US dollar and the yuan. The US dollar because it is deemed to be deliberately made too weak; and the yuan because it is deliberately managed too inflexibly (despite breaking away from its fixed parity with the US dollar on June 19).

Behind the squabbles, much is at stake – how to rebalance the global economy. The outcome was predictable – global economic co-operation was in tatters and the currency war is now destined to be picked up at the G-20 meetings in November in Seoul after the weekend meetings broke-up with no resolution.

Global economic adjustment

Let’s step back. This year has gone messy.

Policy-makers had thought having rescued the world from the brink of economic disaster, they would by now be plotting an exit from stimulation rather than planning again to boost demand. IMF data pointed to an anaemic global recovery after initially experiencing rather rapid growth albeit uneven.

As a result, GDP of the rich economies is still below pre-2008 levels. Stubbornly high unemployment is making lives uncomfortable and souring politics. Euro-zone narrowly avoided igniting a second worldwide crisis in May following the “bailout” of Greece and possibly other highly indebted euro-nations at risk of sovereign default.

Continuing massive monetary easing by the United States and until recently, euro-zone flooded global markets with US dollar in particular, forcing emerging economies like Brazil, India and Thailand to take steps to protect themselves from destabilising capital inflows, including exchange market interventions. The IMF now touts capital controls. Japan intervened in the currency markets for the first time in six years to halt its yen from being further appreciated but with little success.

Against this backdrop, the Oct 12 communiqué of the International Monetary & Financial Committee of the IMF stated firmly: “While the international monetary system has proved resilient, tensions and vulnerabilities remain as a result of widening global imbalances, continued volatile capital flows, exchange rate movements, and issues related to the supply and accumulation of official reserves. Given that these issues are critically important for the effective operation of the global economy and the stability of the international monetary system, we call on the Fund to deepen its work in these areas, including in-depth studies to help increase the effectiveness of policies to manage capital flows.”

What a cop-out.

IMF’s economic counsellor Blanchard is right in stating that “achieving a strong, balanced and sustainable world recovery was never going to be easy … It requires two fundamental and difficult economic rebalancing acts.”

First, internal balancing. Recession arose because private demand collapsed; fiscal stimulus helped alleviate the fall in GDP – which has to eventually give way to fiscal consolidation; this means sustained growth needs private demand to resume and be strong enough to take over and lead.

Second, external rebalancing. Most advanced nations (notably the United States) which relied excessively on domestic demand must now restructure to depend more on net exports to grow; similarly, most emerging economies (mainly China) which depended largely on net exports must now switch to rely increasingly on domestic demand. Adjustment problems arose because both rebalancing acts moved too slowly.

On paper, what needs to be done is straightforward. The private sector of high spending, high deficit rich nations need to deleverage quickly to reach the “new normal” referred to by this year’s Per Jacobsson lecturer Mohd El-Erian (Pimco, world’s largest bond fund). At the same time, economies with robust payments surpluses and strong investment opportunities need to let their exchange rates reflect the market and appreciate; while encouraging domestic demand to expand to offset consequential drag from fall in net exports. In practice, what happened was overdone and undercooked. Aggressive monetary easing by reserve issuing rich nations (again notably US) flooded the world with cheap US dollar, pushing exchange rates of strong emerging nations to revalue (since the US dollar as the world’s anchor can’t devalue on its own). Worse, capital recipients react stubbornly to accept the needed changes and acted to deflect the changes elsewhere. Hence, the currency “wars.”

Martin Wolf (Financial Times) sums it best: US wants to inflate the rest of the world, while the latter tries to deflate the US. Frankly, the US is getting desperate. The jobless recovery is not getting better fast. Debt deleveraging is moving too slowly. Monetary policy is up against Keynes’ liquidity trap (further falls in interest rates can’t stimulate demand). Inflation is low and falling. To avoid debt-deflation, the Fed has reintroduced QE2 (quantitative easing, Mark 2). The objective is to avoid deflation. The Fed is determined to do what it takes to meet this goal. Whatever impact this has on the rest of the world is collateral damage.
However, the World Bank has since warned that surging capital inflows threaten Asia’s economic stability, and fan fears of asset bubbles.

We can already see what’s going to happen. On Oct15, the Fed chairman sent a clear message, sledged-hammered home by four phrases in italics: The Fed takes its cues from two primary objectives: the “longer-run sustainable rate of unemployment” and the “mandate-consistent inflation rate,” adding what the Fed thinks of both right now: inflation is “too low” and unemployment “too high”. This means further QE2 is a given. The Fed will turn-up its electronic printing pieces, creates loads of US dollar and buys trillions of US Treasury debt, as it is poised to do to resuscitate the US economy.

As I see it, what’s unfolding are radically different views of the world. China does not accept that its under-valued exchange rate is a significant cause of global imbalances. Beijing goes on to suggest the US external deficits and fiscal deficits are self-inflicted. The common view in the United States is Asia’s excess savings created the US current account deficits.

So the solution lies in Asia. It has come to a stage of not who blinks first, but who moves if at all and in what direction. So there is no deal. Other emerging nations are mostly caught in-between: concerned about China’s currency misalignment which undercuts their exports; but worried at the same time that fund managers armed with lots of cheap US dollar, are driving their currencies higher in search of higher yields.

No doubt, QE2 is potentially very stimulative, with expansive ramifications for the global economy. This is particularly so if it compels other central banks to follow suit in retaliation to protect their currencies’ value and ward-off inflation. But does QE2 really work? It comes out loud and clear at the IMF meetings that European central banks and politicians need lots of convincing.

Despite almost identical problems-high unemployment and very low inflation, the Fed and the ECB (European Central Bank) walk vastly different paths in their policies. The Fed chairman attributed the unemployment “to the sharp contraction in economic activity that occurred in the wake of the financial crisis and the continuing shortfall in aggregate demand since then, rather than structural factors.” The Fed is wedded to using all tools at its disposal to lower long-term rates and goose growth to reduce the jobless. Hence, more QE2.

The Europeans regard their unemployment as more structural, reflecting labour rules. Axel Weber, Germany’s central bank chief, stresses: “my reading of what happened on the (euro-zone) labour markets is that what we’ve seen in the crisis is largely structural and we need structural policies.” Who’s right? In euro-zone, there is a wide gap – from 4.3% in Austria to 20.5% in Spain.

In the United States, there is growing concern that unemployment could become structural. The term “hysteresis” is now used to describe this dynamic in which the longer you remain jobless, the more your skills erode; as you get used to being out of work, you adjust your behaviour making re-entry to work tougher. The real challenge is whether more QE spurs real investment, badly needed to bring down the jobless rate.

In the United States, this gets more complicated because of viable attractive alternatives: including use as capital-protection against US dollar debasement and inflation; and greater growth prospects in emerging countries. Nobel Laureate Stigliz thinks QE is “ineffective in reviving the US economy … won’t do much to stimulate business directly.” For the ECB: “monetary policy cannot, by itself transform a jobless recovery into a job generating recovery.”

What’s to happen?

The world appears on the brink of a nasty confrontation over exchange rates. China’s central bank chief realises the yuan value will rise but its strength must depend on gauging fundamentals like inflation, growth and employment: “China likes to use more gradual ways to realise a balance between domestic and external demands … we have a package to enhance internal demand including consumption, social security system reform, new investment in the rural areas.” But the US is seeking to impose its will via the printing press: frankly, there is no limit to the amount of US dollar the Fed can create.

At its heart, the currency war appears more like a skirmish. The big problem lies in there being no political will to really reform the international monetary system. The core of the system is unstable. Reckless risk taking can once again lead to widespread collateral damage. The communiqué after the IMF meeting spoke of countries working “co-operatively,” but says nothing on how to find agreement on the issues that divide them.

● Former banker, Dr Lin is a Harvard educated economist and a British Chartered Scientist who now spends time writing, teaching & promoting the public interest.