General Motors Co. posted a second-quarter profit of $1.3 billion Thursday and announced the retirement of Edward E. Whitacre Jr., the automaker’s chairman and chief executive.

Whitacre, who became CEO just this past January, said he would step down in September to be replaced by Daniel F. Akerson, a GM board member and managing director of the Carlyle Group buyout fund. Ackerson will replace Whitacre as chairman by year’s end.

“Ed Whitacre was exactly what this company needed, at exactly the right time,” said Pat Russo, lead director on the GM board. “He simplified the organization, reshaped the company’s vision, put the right people in place and brought renewed energy and optimism to GM.”  Russo also added that Akerson “brings broad business experience, decisive leadership and continuity” to the job.

Akerson, 61, joined the GM board in July 2009. Besides the Carlyle Group, he has also worked in telecommunications, serving as chairman and chief executive of XO Communications and at Nextel Communications. He was also chairman and CEO of General Instrument Corp.

“There are remarkable opportunities ahead for the new GM, and I am honored to lead the company through this next chapter,” Akerson said. “Ed Whitacre established a foundation upon which we will continue building a great automobile company.”

“The short-term global economic outlook is highly uncertain, presenting significant downside risks to future oil demand growth,” the Paris-based agency said in its monthly oil-market report.

The global economy is expected to grow by 4.5% this year and ease to 4.3% in 2011 but if growth rates were to stumble by about 30%, world oil demand would be expected to slide by 300,000 barrels a day this year and by a large 1.2 million barrels a day in 2011, the IEA said.

“We stand by our baseline assessment for a recovery in oil demand, but there remains a lot economic uncertainty in the short term and we recognize that,” said David Fyfe, head of the IEA’s oil markets team. He called the oil-demand projections “what-if” scenarios aimed at simply demonstrating the downside risks.

The IEA, energy advisor to many of the world’s largest energy consumers such as the U.S., made slight upward revisions to world oil demand this year and for 2011, but those were based on revisions to historical oil-demand data and on International Monetary Fund forecasts issued nearly four weeks ago. Since that time, economic news in places like the U.S. has become gloomier.

Ramadan is a period of increased spiritual fervor and giving to the very poor. A number of the earth’s one billion Muslims have been spending the last  few days getting ready for the month of Ramadan, the ninth and holiest month in the Islamic year.

Throughout a great deal of the planet, Ramadan starts tonight (Aug. 10) with the sighting of the new moon. For the following 30 days, believers will abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and having sex from dawn to dusk. For Muslims, Ramadan marks the month during which God, through the angel Gibril (Gabreal), revealed the Qur’an to the Prophet Muhammad.

Muslims all over the globe started observing the holy 30 days of Ramadan on Wednesday, having  dawn-to-dusk fast becoming a unique obstacle for the devout in the extreme Middle East summer. A scorching heat wave has blanketed a lot of the region, placing even the most hardcore followers to the test.In a number of areas — such as Egypt, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip — the hardship of abstaining from food, drink and cigarettes for 15 hours was compounded by frequent power outages.

Matthew R. Simmons, an energy investment banker who espoused the peak oil concept, grew to become an advocate for alternative energy and served as energy adviser to President George W. Bush, died at his North Haven island home, officials said Monday. He was 67.

The founder of Houston-based Simmons & Co. International authored the 2005 book “Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy,” elevating worries concerning Saudi Arabia’s oil reserves and delivering his concept that the planet was nearing peak oil production.

In 2007, Simmons founded The Ocean Energy Institute, a think tank and venture capital fund in Rockland to promote offshore wind energy research and development. The institute is a part of the consortium led by the University of Maine, which aims to design and test floating deep-water wind turbine platforms.

“Matt Simmons was an innovative thinker who pushed ideas that have the potential to yield a more environmentally and economically sustainable future for Maine and the world,” said Maine Gov. John Baldacci, who attended the opening of the institute’s headquarters last month.

In 1974, Simmons founded Simmons & Co. International, which became one of the largest investment banking providers serving the energy industry. He carried on to function as chairman emeritus until last month, when he launched onto the Ocean Energy Institute.

As an international energy expert, Simmons correctly predicted in 2007 that oil would surpass $100 a barrel. The following year, it peaked at $147 a barrel. Simmons was recently very critical of BP PLC’s handling of the Gulf oil spill and predicted the company would file for bankruptcy. In one interview, he said the cleanup costs could top $1 trillion.

Kagan was actually sworn in twice today by Chief Justice John Roberts. She recited the oath as prescribed by the Constitution during a private ceremony in a conference room at the Court; only her family was present.

Roberts then administered a judicial oath, with Kagan’s family and friends and reporters present.
Roberts then congratulated Kagan, to boisterous applause.

The former Harvard Law School dean was most recently solicitor general.  Republicans criticized her as a political liberal after President Obama nominated her to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, who turned 90 this year. But the Senate confirmed her this past week on a vote of 63-to-37.

At 50, Kagan is now the youngest member of the Court. But she isn’t expected to alter the ideological balance, where Stevens was considered a leader of the liberals.

But the president isn’t the only newsworthy person blowing out candles.  August 4 is also the birthday of Elizabeth, The Queen Mother (who would be 110) and famous trumpeter Louis Armstrong (who would be 109). Writer Percy Bysshe, the husband of “Frankenstein” author Mary Shelly, would be 218.

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If you are a new user of Ideal DVD to iPod converter, please first download the latest version 2.5.2 from http://www.idealdvdcopy.com/dvd-to-ipod.htm and install it. Then launch Ideal DVD to iPod converter, click Menu button, then click “Check Update” to download the new fixes from our server. And then you may follow the steps below to rip it to your computer as .mp4 file first.

1) Insert the DVD to your DVD drive.

2) Choose a proper title, audio track and subtitle. You may preview it to confirm if you have chosen a right one.

3) Choose a proper profile from the “profiles” dropdownlist. For example, you may choose iPad profile to rip if your device is iPad.

4) Click “Start” button to begin.

After ripping, you will get a .mp4 file, then you may follow the steps below to transfer that file to your iPod/ipad or ipod touch device.

1. Download free iTunes from http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/.

2. Connect your iPod/ipad/ipod touch to computer. And then launch iTunes.

3. Click “File->Add File to Library….” to choose the .mp4 file which was created by Ideal DVD to iPod Converter.

4. Drag the movie you just added to iPod/ipad/ipod touch icon.

Attention: if you are using the old version of iTunes, you need click “File->Update iPod” to sync your iPod.

For old users of Ideal DVD to iPod converter, please first ensure you are using version 2.5.2. You may click menu->About to learn it’s version number. If it is the latest version, then just click “Check Update” to download the new fixes for the recent DVD from our server. Then rip this DVD according to the above instructions.

If you still failed on this DVD, that mostly means the edition of your DVD isn’t one of which we’ve known. Please just keep the DVD in your DVD drive, then click Menu->”Export Ifo files”, and then you will get a .iba file, just save it to your desktop, then send it to us, we will give you a fix within one business day.

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As the business world is waking up to the power of mobile marketing campaigns and their unique ability to reach people where they spend their time – with their cell phones, the next logical question is HOW.

It wasn’t that long ago that websites and email campaigns were first being introduced as the modern way to engage with customers and clients. With 5 times as many cell phone users as internet users, the transition to mobile marketing will be even faster and more pervasive.

As Mobile Marketing of Maine (MMoM) partner Tobin Slaven explains, “There was a time when small business owners were saying, oh we’ve got to get a website, we’ve got to start collecting email addresses. And when folks see the advantages of mobile marketing they will be even more excited.”

“But when we started looking around the web for examples of how businesses are using mobile marketing campaigns, we couldn’t find one complete resource that covered all the bases. So we decided to write one.”

The result of all this web-based research is 5 industry specific case studies focused on real estate, restaurants, retail, sales, and professional practices – as well as a 15 page whitepaper that is the most comprehensive list of mobile marketing strategies available online.

Slaven invites any business owners or managers to visit Mobile Marketing of Maine’s site to download the free case studies or whitepaper. The case studies and whitepaper create a road map for any businesses or organizations to use to gather ideas about how others are reaching their customers/clients via their cell phones.

Mobile Marketing of Maine – Helping businesses and organizations reach people with your message where they live and play – on their cell phones.

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http://www.mobilemarketingofmaine.com/ – Call or text name and email to 207-358-4867 for demo.

Konkura is completely free and offers users the chance to join or create any sport, fitness or exercise challenge imaginable, making training and exercise more varied and motivational than ever before.

Whether you’re a serious athlete or just someone looking to get in a little better shape, there’s a challenge for you at Konkura.com.  And if you can’t find a challenge that’s just right, you can create your own challenge in moments, then invite your friends (or find new ones) with similar goals and interests to compete with, discuss training tips or just exchange friendly banter and mutual encouragement.

Konkura provides a free basis for gyms and health clubs to improve member engagement by setting challenges to motivate their members’ training.  Instead of relying on a paper-based “Challenge of the Month”, a wide range of challenges can be set up to suit all tastes, interests and fitness levels.  Gym instructors or personal trainers can create challenges based around particular classes or training goals.

Konkura allows such challenges to stretch across all health clubs in a chain, and can form the basis for great gym-challenge events that will promote the gym brand and generate excellent marketing and PR opportunities.

By encouraging members to join challenges, gyms will create communities with common interests, and make exercise more fun and varied, leading to improved member retention.  Creating great challenges also acts as a shop front to recruit new members.

Challenges on Konkura can involve any event that can be measured, e.g. via time, distance, repititions or other measures, and can include combinations of many different events.  

Simple, single-event challenges can be set up in moments, whilst Konkura’s advanced challenge engine allows users the flexibility to create challenges around multiple events and entire workouts, or include corrections for factors like weight and age.  Anyone can join in a challenge by posting their score together with comments, photos and videos.

About Konkura: Konkura is a new, free website that lets anyone – from serious athletes to those just looking to get in a bit better shape – find or create any sport, exercise or fitness challenge imaginable, then compete against like-minded people around the world.

We aim to build a worldwide community of people who enjoy the extra fun and motivation that friendly rivalry and banter bring to keeping fit or training for sport.

Much interest therefore is focussed on the live feed views from the site:

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Star Trek Convention:

In 1967, science fiction editor Arthur W. Saha applied the term “trekkies” when he saw a few fans of the first season of Star Trek wearing pointy ears at the 25th World Science Fiction Convention, on the day Gene Roddenberry showed a print of “Amok Time” to the convention. Saha used the term in an interview with Pete Hamill that Hamill was conducting for TV Guide concerning the phenomenon of science fiction.

The Trekkie phenomenon did not catch on with general public consciousness until years after the show was cancelled in 1969. The show began syndication in reruns during the early 1970s and the first fan convention devoted to Star Trek opened in 1972 in New York.

Star Trek conventions are organized gatherings of Star Trek fans. The larger ones usually have stars and production staff speak or at least sign autographs. It is also common for there to be booths where vendors will sell Trek-related merchandise or collectors will sell and trade. Most of the formerly Trek-only conventions of the mid ’90s have now expanded to include other sci-fi and fantasy series.

Calendar of World Events, with coverage, news and live views from around the world: http://www.myworldwebcams.com

Following the regulatory approval of the merger between T-Mobile UK and Orange UK, a new holding company called Everything Everywhere has been formed to manage both operators. The two brands will continue to trade side by side in the market, targeting different segments, while the integration of backroom operations is performed by the new management of Everything Everywhere. A timeframe for the complete integration of both operators into one brand is yet to be disclosed.

The UK mobile market suffered a decline in the first three months of 2010. After an impressive 2.37% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) increase and 3% year-on-year (y-o-y) increase at the end of December 2009, the market fell by 0.2% q-o-q at the end of March 2010 to 79.855mn subscribers. The performance in Q110 mirrors a similar trend in Q109, when the market slid into subscriber net loss following a strong performance the previous quarter. Four of the five mobile operators – Vodafone, T-Mobile, Orange and 3 – reported subscriber net losses in Q110, largely driven by losses to prepaid subscriptions. O2, which also lost prepaid subscribers in the quarter, recorded an impressive postpaid subscriber growth to end the quarter with subscriber net gain. BMI expects the market to expand but at a slower rate given that it is approaching saturation, with penetration hovering around 130%. We also reiterate our view that future growth in the market will be driven by increase in postpaid subscriptions as customers opt for high-end smartphones, often offered with competitively priced contracts.

BT continues to lead in the broadband market but much of its lead has been eroded by Talk Talk, which has migrated Tiscali subscribers unto its own network. Other alternative providers, including O2 and Orange, have reported strong uptakes of their broadband services. Cable operator Virgin Media and satellite broadcaster BSkyB have also reported strong broadband subscriber growth on their networks.

Although the fixed-line sector has been in a state of decline for years now, and is likely to remain so in the short term, we see it experiencing increased activity in the medium-to-long term. One key factor we expect to have an impact on the sector is the IPTV initiative Project Canvas. In June 2010, the BBC Trust gave its approval for the project that brings together members from the telecoms and broadcasting industries. With BT having received permission to offer triple-play packages, we expect it and Talk Talk to offer bundled packages including fixed-line services.

For more information or to purchase this report, go to:

-  http://www.fastmr.com/prod/75056_united_kingdom_telecomm …

Partial Table of Contents:

Executive Summary

SWOT Analysis

- UK Mobile Sector SWOT

- UK Fixed-Line Sector SWOT

- UK Broadband Sector SWOT

- UK Political SWOT

- UK Economic SWOT

Business Environment

- Western Europe

- UK

- Table: Western Europe Business Environment Rankings

Industry Forecast Scenario

- Mobile

- Table: Telecoms Sector – Mobile – Historical Data & Forecasts, 2007-2014

- Fixed-Line

- Table: Telecoms Sector – Fixed-Line – Historical Data & Forecasts, 2007-2014

- Internet

- Table: Telecoms Sector – Internet – Historical Data & Forecasts, 2007-2014

Market Data Analysis

- Mobile

- Table: UK Mobile Market, Q110

- Table: UK Mobile Market Net Additions, Q209-Q110

- 3G

- Mobile Contract Wins

- Table: Mobile Contract Wins

- Mobile Content

- Western Europe Overview

- UK

- Chart Type: table

- VAS Timeline

- Table: VAS Timeline

- Mobile Data

- Table: UK Mobile Market Overview

- Table: O2 – Mobile Market Overview

- Table: Vodafone – Mobile Market Overview

- Table: Orange – Mobile Market Overview

- Table: T-Mobile – Mobile Market Overview

- Table: Hutchison 3G – Mobile Market Overview

- Fixed Line

- Table: Exchange Line Numbers By Operator, 2008-2009 (’000s)

- Broadband

- Table: Residential And Small Business Broadband Connections (’000)

- Pay-TV

- Wireless Broadband

- Wireline (Fixed-Line & Broadband) Developments

- Table: Wireline Developments, 2008-2009

Regulatory Environment

- Table: Division Of Regulatory Responsibilities In The UK

- Background & Regulatory Bodies

- Regulatory Issues

- Competition

- Regulatory Development

- Table: Proposed average Mobile Termination Rates (pence per minute)*

Competitive Landscape

- Market Overview

- Table: Key Players – UK Telecoms Sector

- Table: Selected Operators’ Financial Indicators

- Table: NSN – Comparison Of Key Financial Data (2008-2009)

- Table: NSN Net Sales By Geography (Q409)

- Table: Key Spectrum Auctions In Western Europe (2010-2011)

- Table: Major NSN Contract Awards, Q409-Q110

- Table: Nokia Financial Highlights, 2007-Q209

- Table: Nokia’s Position In The Global Handset Market, Q209-Q208 Unit Sales (mn)

-

Full Table of Contents is available at:

– http://www.fastmr.com/catalog/product.aspx?productid=750 …

About Business Monitor International

Business Monitor International (BMI) offers a comprehensive range of products and services designed to help senior executives, analysts and researchers assess and better manage operating risks, and exploit business opportunities, across 175 markets.  BMI offers three main areas of expertise: Country Risk BMI’s country risk and macroeconomic forecast portfolio includes weekly financial market reports, monthly regional Monitors, and in-depth quarterly Business Forecast Reports.  Industry Analysis BMI covers a total of 17 industry verticals through a portfolio of services, including in-depth quarterly Country Forecast Reports.  View more research from Business Monitor International at http://www.fastmr.com/catalog/publishers.aspx?pubid=1010

About Fast Market Research

Fast Market Research is an online aggregator and distributor of market research and business information. We represent the world’s top research publishers and analysts and provide quick and easy access to the best competitive intelligence available.

For more information about these or related research reports, please visit our website at http://www.fastmr.com or call us at 1.800.844.8156.

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His career began when he was still in elementary school, when casting directors for Lord of the Flies stuck their heads in his fourth grade classroom asking for volunteers to audition. After some persuasion from his parents, Grover Dale and the late Anita Morris, were reluctant to making him into a child actor being actors themselves. After landing the role, Dale couldn’t get acting out of his system, to an extent. An also avid Hockey player, Dale kept up a good balance in his life acting in school plays and playing hockey.

After graduating from college Dale started to find theater work until landing a role in HBO’s The Pacific. Once that took off, he also had a recurring role on the hit show 24 as Jack Bauer who saved the world every week.