LOVE ANGELES

300,000 iPads Sold on Saturday?

Source: PC World - Not too Shabby, But…Let's take a look at the fineprint of Apple's impressive 300,000 iPad sales claim over this past weekend.

Apple said Monday that it had sold over 300,000 iPads on Saturday, which could be taken as a good sign of the device's potential success. One big wildcard here - these sales also include pre-orders and deliveries to the company's retail partners as well. That said, the true number of these devices sold is probably a good deal less than what the company would like you to believe.

Apple's new book store did well too, with a quarter million books downloaded on Saturday, and CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement that new iPad owners were downloading an average of about one book and three applications within hours of unpacking the device. All in all, iPad's launch numbers were very similar to the launch of the initial iPhone.

Some analysts had gone way overboard in their predictions, with Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster being the most overly aggressive with projected sales of 650,000+ in the first 24 hours. Much of this probably had to do with the overwhelming hype surrounding the device, which arguably was unwarranted in most cases. Lines for the iPad, as described by our own Harry McCracken, were in most cases much smaller than that for the iPhone.

The real test for the viability of this device remains in these weeks following the launch. Will the device continue to sell after the initial flurry of activity? Will we see another spike in purchasing when the WiFi+3G model releases late this month? It's hard to say. Price will likely play a large part in how this does, and the company has not been shy to say publicly it will tweak prices to meet its sales goals.

The answer will come when we get a better look at the demographics of its buyers. If its just the techie/Apple faithful/Gotta-have-it crowd, its going to be Apple's next iCube. However, if Ma and Pa begin snagging their own iPads, then we know Apple's onto something.

As much as I can't wait to get one myself, I'm still undecided here on how I think it will do. It's a big gamble for Apple, one I'm sure they'll hope will pay off.

NY Cab Driver Returns $21,000 to Visitor

Source: Yahoo – A New York City cab driver is being praised for returning over $21,000 lost by a visitor from Italy.

Felicia Lettieri, who's 72, left her purse in a Manhattan taxi on Christmas Eve. It contained traveling money for her and six relatives.

Police told them not to get their hopes up about finding it.

The cabbie drove about 50 miles, to a Long Island address he'd found in the purse. No one was home, so he left his phone number, and later returned with the money.

Lettieri's daughter, Maria Rosaria Falonga, told Newsday from Pompei, Italy that the cabbie also left a note.

He told her: "Don't worry, Felicia. ... I'll keep it safe."

The driver, Mukul Asaduzzaman, could not be reached for comment.

He refused a reward.

Love Angeles: Volume 1

A couple months after the birth of Love Angeles, I bumped into a very interesting man visiting from North Carolina at West Hollywood's Urth Cafe named Jerry Lee Davis. That day, I was truly aware of the impression he had left upon me (I even wrote an entry about it.) In dialogue, Jerry mentioned that he was a published author, filmmaker and businessman which, I admit, although it was inspiring to me, was not the source of my being impressed. I had the sense that Jerry was making a difference on the planet everywhere he went, simply by being the humble, caring and charismatic person he is. I immediately knew that I would be working with Jerry in many capacities for the bettermant of humanity and specifically through the upliftment of entertainment media. Last June, he packed his car and relocated to LA. We got to work immediately.

Shortly after, we formed a production company known as Done Media Group with a mission to use the power of the media in all its many forms to promote necessary and positive change in the world. We co-created and developed a variety of television shows, docu-series and documentaries which are either currently in pre-production or waiting to be picked up. This is a very exciting time for the company and I assure you that updates will be following very soon.

Ok, now that we got you caught up with all of that good news, I can tell you a little about the vision I have for a musical compilation entitled, you guessed it - Love Angeles! Well to be specific, the working title is actually Love Angeles: Volume 1 Love.

Much like the successful Cafe Del Mar compilation series, I envision an annual album celebrating the spirit of creative dreamers by the artists of "dream city." There is a movement happening in the world right now and each city will begin molding and reflecting her energy in its own unique ways. Love Angeles: Volume 1 Love will be one of these reflections born out of the world's most influential city. Now that the intention has been called forth, we look forward to selecting the music which finds its way to the track list. If you or someone you know has created music and would like to be considered for selection on the first volume, email forrest@donemediagroup.com.

Oh yes, I almost forgot. A few weeks ago, during a sunset meditation overlooking the sands of Santa Monica, I caught a glimpse or two of the first album cover. The visual for the album cover depicted the magnificent brightness of our Sun blocking out everything else in the background. I went home and came up with roughly 30 sample images that told my experience. I decided that I would share a few of the possible prints with the community above. (FYI - those are real pictures of our Sun)   

The Hundredth Monkey Effect

According to Wikipedia, The Hundredth Monkey Effect generally describes the instant, paranormal spreading of an idea or ability to the remainder of a population once a certain portion of that population has heard of the new idea or learned the new ability. However, for those of you that don't know the origin of this phenomenal Effect, you're not only going to get excited you're going to instantly re-realize how freaking similar we are, as today's modern civilization, to this wonderfully wild species.

The year was 1952. The setting was an island somewhere in the south seas. A few anthropologists were studying the behavior of the macaques, a Japanese Monkey native to the islands with a diet consisting primarily of sweet potatoes. By routine, the monkeys would dig up a potato, break it in half and eat only from the center in order to avoid the potato's sandy coat, discarding the rest. After one potato, the monkey would go back to dig another. One insightful afternoon, a pioneering monkey decided to rinse his potato, allowing him to eat it whole, and dig for fewer potatoes. Consequently, he not only began enjoying a cleaner habit, he instantly created more free time to enjoy the things he loved to do. Was he praised immediately? Just the opposite. His family and friends just couldn't understand why he was doing something so different! Despite this, some of the onlooking monkeys became privy to the transition and began washing their potatoes too. Slowly but surely, many more of the surrounding monkeys shared in the innovation.  Hundreds of monkeys continued to hold fast to their comfortable method even though they began to notice the abundance the other monkeys were enjoying at the beach. Now, supposedly when the hundredth monkey took the leap of faith, all the rest followed. Most remarkably and due to an evident mass consciousness, the paradigm immediately shifted amongst the monkeys inhabiting the neighboring islands too!

How does this apply to our modern business world? By opening up to healthier methods of living and working, you will effectively create more time and space to enjoy life, including relaxation, hobbies, service, family, etc. Not to mention the fact that just like that courageous monkey, you will inspire others to do the same.

Oh yeah, when it comes to your career, listen to your heart as opposed to the others around you - especially take caution with the ones "who love you the most." Your friends and family never want to see you let down, or for heaven's sake, fail. Remember, that's their stuff, not yours. Don't fret, your heart will bring you what you need and take you where you need to go!

Obama Experiences China's Great Wall

LA Times - "Reporting from Beijing -  When it came to China, President Obama's famous powers of persuasion failed to persuade.

He came bearing a long shopping list, including Chinese support for tougher sanctions on Iran and more flexibility by Beijing on currency exchange rates, but Obama was met with polite, yet stony, silences.

Only one more key meeting was scheduled for today before Obama's departure, a working lunch with Premier Wen Jiabao. Before flying to South Korea, the president will tour the Great Wall -- the famous symbol of Chinese tenacity and an appropriate backdrop for a visit in which China again showed its resistance to U.S. entreaties.

Not only is the U.S. president coming away without any definable concessions, but the Chinese appeared to be digging in their heels.

On Tuesday, just hours after Obama stood with President Hu Jintao in the Great Hall of the People, praising China's commitment to "move toward a more market-oriented exchange rate over time," a senior Chinese official called a news conference across town to issue a rebuttal.

"We maintained a stable yuan during the financial crisis, which not only helped the global economy but also the stability of the world's financial markets," He Yafei, deputy foreign minister, said, adding that it was too soon since the worldwide financial crisis to talk about a change of strategy.

The Chinese official also slapped down Obama's call for more Internet freedom, saying that "we need to ensure that online communications do not affect our national security."

Perhaps most disappointing was China's failure to budge in its opposition to tougher sanctions on Iran. With their extensive oil interests influencing their policies toward Tehran, the Chinese are increasingly seen as an obstacle to reining in Iran's nuclear ambitions.

But Obama had hoped that China would at least fall into step with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who publicly criticized Iran's intransigence during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit over the weekend in Singapore.

"I would not say that we got an answer today from the Chinese, nor did we expect one," said Jeffrey Bader, director of Asian affairs at the National Security Council, briefing U.S. journalists after the meeting between the presidents. He acknowledged that the Chinese were less worried about Iran's nuclear program than about North Korea's.

During the news conference at the Great Hall of the People, where the presidents each read 15-minute statements outlining the highlights of the meetings as they perceived them, Hu conspicuously omitted mention of sanctions against Iran, saying only that there were differences on some issues.

After the ritual handshake and posing for photographs, the leaders left the podium -- refusing to answer questions from reporters, which is unusual for a news conference, even in China.

It was in keeping with the character of a presidential visit notable for its formality and lack of spontaneity. Every aspect of Obama's visit was carefully scripted, with the Chinese government taking pains to make sure nothing was left to chance. Obama did not meet with Chinese journalists, lawyers, human rights advocates, environmentalists or any ordinary Chinese, and an expected meeting with Hu Shuli, who recently resigned as editor of China's leading business magazine, did not materialize.

During Obama's "town hall" meeting in Shanghai on Monday, the 50 students selected to question him were mostly officers of the Communist Youth League. Wary that Obama might say something provocative, the Chinese government refused White House requests that the event be broadcast live on nationwide television. Instead, it was broadcast only on Shanghai television.

Coverage of Obama's visit was also subdued, with noticeably fewer stories in the Chinese newspapers and shorter television reports than during other presidential visits.

Obama's limited results in part reflect the profound shift in Sino-U.S. relations and global politics, with China's rapid rise and America's weakened position, especially in the wake of the financial crisis.

"It used to be the U.S. could go around and say 'Do this and do that' because they had so much leverage," said Dali Yang, director of the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Chicago. "Today, the U.S. can't do that." Read more at LATimes.com

Brazil Takes Off

Economist - "WHEN, back in 2003, economists at Goldman Sachs bracketed Brazil with Russia, India and China as the economies that would come to dominate the world, there was much sniping about the B in the BRIC acronym. Brazil? A country with a growth rate as skimpy as its swimsuits, prey to any financial crisis that was around, a place of chronic political instability, whose infinite capacity to squander its obvious potential was as legendary as its talent for football and carnivals, did not seem to belong with those emerging titans.

Now that scepticism looks misplaced. China may be leading the world economy out of recession but Brazil is also on a roll. It did not avoid the downturn, but was among the last in and the first out. Its economy is growing again at an annualised rate of 5%. It should pick up more speed over the next few years as big new deep-sea oilfields come on stream, and as Asian countries still hunger for food and minerals from Brazil’s vast and bountiful land. Forecasts vary, but sometime in the decade after 2014—rather sooner than Goldman Sachs envisaged—Brazil is likely to become the world’s fifth-largest economy, overtaking Britain and France. By 2025 São Paulo will be its fifth-wealthiest city, according to PwC, a consultancy.

And, in some ways, Brazil outclasses the other BRICs. Unlike China, it is a democracy. Unlike India, it has no insurgents, no ethnic and religious conflicts nor hostile neighbours. Unlike Russia, it exports more than oil and arms, and treats foreign investors with respect. Under the presidency of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a former trade-union leader born in poverty, its government has moved to reduce the searing inequalities that have long disfigured it. Indeed, when it comes to smart social policy and boosting consumption at home, the developing world has much more to learn from Brazil than from China. In short, Brazil suddenly seems to have made an entrance onto the world stage. Its arrival was symbolically marked last month by the award of the 2016 Olympics to Rio de Janeiro; two years earlier, Brazil will host football’s World Cup.

In fact, Brazil’s emergence has been steady, not sudden. The first steps were taken in the 1990s when, having exhausted all other options, it settled on a sensible set of economic policies. Inflation was tamed, and spendthrift local and federal governments were required by law to rein in their debts. The Central Bank was granted autonomy, charged with keeping inflation low and ensuring that banks eschew the adventurism that has damaged Britain and America. The economy was thrown open to foreign trade and investment, and many state industries were privatised.

All this helped spawn a troupe of new and ambitious Brazilian multinationals (see our special report). Some are formerly state-owned companies that are flourishing as a result of being allowed to operate at arm’s length from the government. That goes for the national oil company, Petrobras, for Vale, a mining giant, and Embraer, an aircraft-maker. Others are private firms, like Gerdau, a steelmaker, or JBS, soon to be the world’s biggest meat producer. Below them stands a new cohort of nimble entrepreneurs, battle-hardened by that bad old past. Foreign investment is pouring in, attracted by a market boosted by falling poverty and a swelling lower-middle class. The country has established some strong political institutions. A free and vigorous press uncovers corruption—though there is plenty of it, and it mostly goes unpunished.

Just as it would be a mistake to underestimate the new Brazil, so it would be to gloss over its weaknesses. Some of these are depressingly familiar. Government spending is growing faster than the economy as a whole, but both private and public sectors still invest too little, planting a question-mark over those rosy growth forecasts. Too much public money is going on the wrong things. The federal government’s payroll has increased by 13% since September 2008. Social-security and pension spending rose by 7% over the same period although the population is relatively young. Despite recent improvements, education and infrastructure still lag behind China’s or South Korea’s (as a big power cut this week reminded Brazilians). In some parts of Brazil, violent crime is still rampant.

There are new problems on the horizon, just beyond those oil platforms offshore. The real has gained almost 50% against the dollar since early December. That boosts Brazilians’ living standards by making imports cheaper. But it makes life hard for exporters. The government last month imposed a tax on short-term capital inflows. But that is unlikely to stop the currency’s appreciation, especially once the oil starts pumping.

Lula’s instinctive response to this dilemma is industrial policy. The government will require oil-industry supplies—from pipes to ships—to be produced locally. It is bossing Vale into building a big new steelworks. It is true that public policy helped to create Brazil’s industrial base. But privatisation and openness whipped this into shape. Meanwhile, the government is doing nothing to dismantle many of the obstacles to doing business—notably the baroque rules on everything from paying taxes to employing people. Dilma Rousseff, Lula’s candidate in next October’s presidential election, insists that no reform of the archaic labour law is needed (see article).

And perhaps that is the biggest danger facing Brazil: hubris. Lula is right to say that his country deserves respect, just as he deserves much of the adulation he enjoys. But he has also been a lucky president, reaping the rewards of the commodity boom and operating from the solid platform for growth erected by his predecessor, Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Maintaining Brazil’s improved performance in a world suffering harder times means that Lula’s successor will have to tackle some of the problems that he has felt able to ignore. So the outcome of the election may determine the speed with which Brazil advances in the post-Lula era. Nevertheless, the country’s course seems to be set. Its take-off is all the more admirable because it has been achieved through reform and democratic consensus-building. If only China could say the same.