Rabu, 24 November 2010

Burt's Bees, Aveeno Top the List of America's - TOPS

Beauty

Burt’s Bees, Aveeno Top the List of America’s Greenest Brands

Advertising conglomerate WPP just released its annual list of America’s Greenest Brands–beauty labels Burt’s Bees and Aveeno landed in the top ten.
We’re not surprised by either choice. Both companies have made eco-consciousness a pillar of their branding strategies. And maybe most importantly, their products actually work.
An interesting takeaway: No fashion brands or apparel retailers topped the list. While “natural” beauty products have been de rigueur for a couple of decades, eco-friendly clothing only caught on over the last five years or so. Many apparel manufacturers claim it’s nearly impossible to create sustainable clothing at a rock bottom price, which means very few big brands are full-on eco-friendly.
Do you believe designers and retailers need to think harder about creating eco-friendly clothes? Or are they doing the best that they can?

Selasa, 23 November 2010

Susan Boyle Tops US, UK Album Charts - TOPS

Susan Boyle's "The Gift" CD

Susan Boyle Tops US, UK Album Charts

Scottish singer Susan Boyle has the best-selling album in the U.S. this week. Her holiday album, The Gift, sold 318,000 copies and debuts at Number One on the Billboard 200. Boyle also tops the U.K. albums chart. She's the first artist in more than 40 years to simultaneously occupy the Number One position in both countries in a 12-month period. Boyle's debut album, I Dreamed A Dream, topped charts in the U.S. and U.K. simultaneously in December 2009.

Other Top 10 entries on this week's Billboard 200 include Kid Cudi's "Man on the Moon 2: The Legend of Mr. Roger" (Number 3), "Now That's What I Call Music! 36" by various artists (Number 4), Bon Jovi's "Greatest Hits" (Number 5), Reba McEntire's "All The Women I Am" (Number 7) and Cee Lo Green's "The Lady Killer" (Number 9).

Aguilera Makes Film Debut

"Burlesque" Motion Picture soundtrack, featuring Christina Aguilera and Cher

Christina Aguilera makes her motion picture debut this week in Burlesque, which co-stars 63-year-old Cher. Cher's last film role was in Tea With Mussolini in 1999. Burlesque opens nationwide on November 24. Eight of the 10 songs on the soundtrack are performed by Aguilera. Cher performs the other two. The soundtrack will be released on November 23.

New Michael Jackson DVD Hits Stores

On November 23, Epic/Legacy Recordings will release "Michael Jackson's Vision," the first-ever collection of all the short films produced by the late "King of Pop." The box set features four-and-a-half hours of material on three DVDs. The 40 videos in newly restored color and remastered audio include 10 that were previously unavailable on DVD.

Fans Beware - Garth Brooks Ticket Prices to Increase in 2011

Garth Brooks' 'The Ultimate Hits' CD

Garth Brooks' 2011 shows at Wynn Las Vegas will be much more expensive than this year. Owner Steve Wynn is raising ticket prices from $125 to $225. "When the greatest live performer of our time appears in such an intimate theater, the seats should be priced at least competitively," Wynn said. "I believe Garth Brooks is still under-priced." Garth is well known for keeping ticket prices affordable for his fans. He says, "I am flattered Steve Wynn believes in me… My only concern is the audience."

Justin Bieber Prepares for Black Friday Album Release

Justin Bieber

Pop star Justin Bieber's new album, My World's Acoustic, will be released on November 26. That date, known as "Black Friday," is one of the busiest holiday shopping days of the year. My World's Acoustic is available exclusively at Wal-Mart stores and Walmart.com. In addition to stripped-down versions of Bieber's hits, the album contains one new song, called "Pray."

New Album Releases November 23:

"My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" by Kanye West
"Cannibal" by Ke$ha
"Stadium" by Akon
"Pink Friday" by Nicki Minaj
"Libra Scale" by Ne-Yo
The original motion picture soundtrack to "Burlesque"
"34 Number Ones" by Alan Jackson
"Relentless" by Yngwie Malmsteen
"Happy Christmas" by Jessica Simpson
"Most Wonderful Time of the Year" by Scott Weiland
"The Hits Collection, Volume 1" by Jay-Z

Musical Events/Festivals/Benefits:

Charlie Daniels Band "The Essential" CD

The 2010 "Charlie Daniels Band & Friends Christmas 4 Kids Concert" will take place November 22 at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium. Montgomery Gentry, Jake Owen and Sawyer Brown will also perform at the sold-out event. The annual charity concert raises money for Christmas 4 Kids, an organization that provides underprivileged children with Christmas shopping sprees.

Look Who's Going On Tour!

U2's 12 Singles CD

This week, Irish rock group U2 will take its "360 Tour" to New Zealand and Australia. The band performs in Auckland, New Zealand on November 25 and 26, then heads to Australia for eight more shows in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Perth. U2 last performed in Perth in 1998. The outing wraps up on December 19. Rapper Jay-Z will open all of the concerts.

Legendary singer Kenny Rogers will launch his 2010 "Christmas & Hits Tour" on November 26 in Bossier City, Louisiana. He'll perform in 20 North American cities through December 22. Kenny's first live holiday album, "Christmas Live," is now available exclusively on his website (www.kennyrogers.com). The album includes 12 holiday favorites recorded on his annual Christmas tour.

On November 26, "The Judds: The Last Encore" tour will begin in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It's been 10 years since the mother-daughter duo performed their last tour. Their 18-city outing will wrap up on December 19 in Phoenix, Arizona. Fifteen percent of proceeds from sales of VIP and Fan packages will go to St. Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee

TOP ONE PERCENT SOCIETY-Tops

The Top One Percent Society (TOPS) was founded in July 1989 by Ronald K. Hoeflin, Ph.D.

TOPS is a high IQ society, at the 99th percentile of intelligence, dedicated to the intellectual stimulation and growth of its members. To this effect a journal (Termite) to which any member can submit letters, essays, poems or art, has been set in place. TOPS belongs to the Ronald K. Hoeflin High-IQ Society.

Vanderbilt tops No. 8 North Carolina 72-65-Tops

By The Associated Press
uzz up! SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - John Jenkins scored 16 points, and Festus Ezeli and Jeffery Taylor each had 15 to lead Vanderbilt to a 72-65 win over reeling No. 8 North Carolina 72-65 on Sunday night in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off tournament.

      The Commodores (3-1) beat a top-10 team for the first time since knocking off No. 1 Tennessee on Feb. 26, 2008.
      The few hundred Vanderbilt fans who made the trip to Puerto Rico serenaded the Tar Heels (2-2) with chants of "Overrated!" For this year's Tar Heels, they might be right.
      Coach Roy Williams insisted after losing to Minnesota on Friday that he didn't think anymore about last year's 17-loss debacle. He'll be forced to answer more questions now about what's wrong with the slumping Tar Heels.
      Tyler Zeller had 20 points and 10 rebounds for North Carolina. Harrison Barnes rebounded from a bad performance to score 11.

      (Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Harry Potter Hottie, Emma Watson Tops Sexy Brits Poll Read more: Harry Potter Hottie, Emma Watson Tops Sexy Brits Poll , Koimoi.com -Tops

Harry Potter hottie Emma Watson topped a new list of the Sexiest British Actresses Under 30. Just days before the penultimate Potter film Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1 hit cinemas, the actress had beaten Keira Knightley to the top of a new Fandango.com poll.

Emily Blunt, Sienna Miller, Keira Knightley

Watson’s Potter pals, Katie Leung and Bonnie Wright, also made the top list, as did Knightley’s Never Let Me Go co-star, Carey Mulligan, Emily Blunt and Clash Of The Titans star, Gemma Arterton. Over 4,000 film fans were polled for the online survey. The top 10 list has Emma Watson at the top followed by Keira Knightley, Emily Blunt, Sienna Miller, Gemma Arterton, Bonnie Wright, Rebecca Hall, Carey Mulligan, Katie Leung and Hayley Atwell.

Analog Devices 4Q Profit Tops Wall Street Views-Tops

Analog Devices (ADI) surged to a 52-week high Monday, but the shares slipped after revealing late Monday a soft first-quarter outlook.

Higher sales and tighter expenses helped ADI achieve a stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter profit.

The Norwood, Mass-based company posted net income of $224.99 million, or 73 cents a share, compared with $105.61 million, or 36 cents a share, in the same quarter last year, beating the Street’s view of 70 cents.

Revenue for the maker of analog, mixed-signal and digital signal processing integrated circuits was $770 million, up 35% from $571.6 million a year ago, ahead of average analyst estimates polled by Thomson Reuters of $755.81 million.

Earnings were cushioned by tighter expenses, only marginally higher at $230 million compared with the year-earlier period.

“The fourth quarter culminated a very strong year for ADI in which we achieved record revenue, profitability, and cash flow,” ADI CEO Jerald G. Fishman said in a statement.

“For fiscal year 2010, revenue increased 37% and earnings nearly tripled,” a reflection of a stronger market, and the company’s multi-year refocus on certain innovative products, he said.

Last quarter, ADI was able to increase its gross margin to 65.2%, compared with 55.5% in the same quarter last year, driven primarily by strong sales growth, lower manufacturing costs and increased factory utilization.

Customer end bookings were lower-than-expected, as customers began to lower their inventories in response to shortened industry lead times. Softer orders in August and September were offset by strong orders in October.

The company’s board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of 22 cents a share, to be paid on Dec. 22 to shareholders of record at the close of business on Dec. 3. The board has also authorized the repurchase of an additional $1 billion of common stock under ADI’s existing program.

Looking ahead, the company expects fiscal 2011 first-quarter earnings in the range 63 cents to 67 cents a share on revenue of $715 million to $740 million, which would be down 4% to 7% sequentially.

“Overall, customer feedback indicates that end demand remains strong in most end markets,” Fishman said.

Level 3 stock is tops in trading-Tops

BROOMFIELD -

Level 3 Communications (NASDAQ: LVLT) stock was one of the Top 10 most heavily traded stocks mid-day after partner Netflix Inc. announced it was creating a streaming-only subscription.

Broadband fiber company Level 3 said on Nov. 11 that it would be the content delivery network for Netflix, the video entertainment company.

Level 3 stock was trading in the $1.08 range around lunchtime on Monday.

Netflix said it is moving away from its current model of DVDs in the mail by offering the 100 percent streaming option in the United States for the first time. The streaming-only subscription will be $7.99. The base subscription, including movies and TV shows streamed instantly over the Internet and DVDs by mail, will increase by $1 to $9.99.

"We are now primarily a streaming video company delivering a wide selection of TV shows and films over the Internet," Reed Hastings, the company's co-founder and chief executive officer said in a statement on the company's blog.

Storage of the Netflix library of about 20,000 titles is slated to move to Level 3 by the end of the year, the company said. Level 3 also plans to upgrade its content delivery network capacity.

Netflix expects to have 19 million customers in North America by the end of the year.