Archive for November, 2009

Ali had Frazier. Coke has Pepsi. The Yankees have the Red Sox.  Now Wal-Mart, the mightiest retail giant in history, may have met its own worthy adversary: Amazon.com.  In what is emerging as one of the main story lines of the 2009 post-recession shopping season, the two heavyweight retailers are waging an online price war that is spreading through product areas like books, movies, toys and electronics.
The tussle began last month as a relatively trivial but highly public back-and-forth over which company had the lowest prices on the most anticipated new books and DVDs this fall. By last week, it had spread to select video game consoles, mobile phones, even to the humble Easy-Bake Oven, a 45-year-old toy from Hasbro that usually heats up small cakes, not tensions between billion-dollar corporations.

Comedian Stephen Colbert took the “Night Train” and it nearly left him speechless.  Colbert donned a reddish-orange racing suit Sunday and went on a ride with U.S. bobsled driver Steven Holcomb. He was in the black sled that Holcomb had just driven to the four-man World Cup gold medal at Mount Van Hoevenberg.

TUCSON, Ariz. — Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli watched as red-clad Arizona students ringed the sidelines as time ticked down, ready to rush the field.

“I saw it and I actually smirked,” Masoli said. “It was kind of funny. I wasn’t really worried about it.”

The Ducks’ gifted quarterback ruined the celebration in Arizona Stadium and started another one in Eugene.

Oregon’s starting quarterback Jeremiah Masoli (8) passes for a touchdown against Arizona’s Xavier Kelley (15) in the first half of an NCAA college football game at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Ariz., Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009.

Oprah announced she will leave her show in September of 2011 to start a new tv network.  She will most likely begin work on the network immediately, while spending less and less time on her TV talk show.  The network will be called the Oprah Winfrey Network.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Hundreds of Sarah Palin fans lined up Wednesday at a Michigan book store to get the chance to meet the former Alaska governor as she kicked off a national tour for her book “Going Rogue.”

Some supporters camped out overnight to be among the first to get wristbands from the Barnes and Noble bookstore at Woodland Mall in Grand Rapids. Those with the orange bands will get the opportunity to have the former 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate sign their copies of the book at the three-hour signing event Wednesday evening.

The memoir was released Tuesday but has topped best-seller lists for weeks.

“Everyone here has been excited and patient,” Barnes and Noble spokeswoman Maddie Hjulstrom said of the waiting crowd.

Read the rest of this entry »

The dispute between Greg LeMond and Trek moved closer to a jury trial yesterday when U.S. District Court Judge Richard Kyle heard oral arguments connected to the case, and deferred ruling on two summary judgment motions.

He suggested to both parties that an out-of-court settlement is considered in order to avoid what could be an explosive trial next spring.

“We’re certainly not averse to settling it,” said LeMond’s attorney Jamie DiBoise, according to New York Daily News. Trek attorney Ralph Weber indicated that both sides would meet soon to decide availability for settlement talks.
Read the rest of this entry »

SEATTLE (AP) – Microsoft’s Bing search service will pull more information and tools from other Web sites as the company tries to distinguish itself as part of its challenge to market leader Google.

Traditionally, search engines from Google Inc. and others respond to users’ queries by offering links to other sites that Web surfers can go to for information.

Microsoft Corp., whose search engine ranks third behind those from Google and Yahoo Inc., introduced several changes Wednesday aimed at answering people’s questions without sending them to an outside page.
Read the rest of this entry »