PODCAST: What’s in a name, Blue Ivy and the Weather Channel
At mid-day tech types will gather round their screens big and small for the latest unveiling from Apple. It is widely believed this will be a smaller version of the iPad. For now people are calling it the “iPad Mini,” which might or might not be the actual name.
It’s bad out there not even the iPad Mini can perk up Wall Street. The latest batch of underwhelming earnings, the usual worries from Europe — so far it’s adding up to a big drop on Wall Street. Gloomy global earnings forecasts came from 3M, UPS, and DuPont. But, Facebook earnings out after the bell today — that’ll cheer everybody up, right?
High frequency trading is the computer-based buying and selling of shares within fractions of a second. Some 60% of US stock trades are carried out this way. High speed trading has been blamed for the “flash crash,” and for stacking the deck against ordinary investors, but now a new report from Britain says this kind of trading is mainly beneficial.
The Weather Channel Companies has decided its name no longer fits. The company is dumping the word “Channel,” to reflect its broader scope. Dropping a word is one way to rebrand yourself. But what about using words that aren’t words at all?
Speaking of names, Rolling Stone reports hip-hop power couple Jay-Z and Beyonce have been dealt a setback by Uncle Sam. The two attempted to trademark the unusual name of their daughter, Blue Ivy, as a brand name for their own line of baby products. Might have been possible, if not for an objection by Blue Ivy Events — a Boston wedding planning business founded in 2009 — when Blue Ivy the baby just a bling-bling in her daddy’s eye.
This week, the way Texas funds public schools is on trial. Districts across the nation have seen tough budget cuts in recent years, and, as in Texas, some are going to court to fix what they call an unfair system.
Last night’s presidential debate about foreign policy covered a range of topics. As expected, the candidates touched on China and its high-profile relationship to the United States.
One notable moment in the vice presidential debate came when Joe Biden pointed out Paul Ryan had requested stimulus dollars for businesses in his district. This week a newspaper in the pivotal swing state of Ohio investigated a similar phenomenon: Whether business interests that received money from the stimulus were now backing Republicans, who are trashing it. The Cleveland Plain Dealer looked specifically at energy grants and loans, and found a number of examples around the region.
And finally, the historical references were flying at last night’s foreign policy debate. Among other things, President Obama reminded Mitt Romney the military days of horses and bayonets are over. Well, this morning Joe Biden has taken things positively prehistoric. On CBS, Biden accused the Romney/Ryan ticket of “rattling the saber tooth.” Hey Mr. Vice President: The Pleistocene called, they want their metaphor back.
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