Joe Torre Hired to Manage Dodgers

Joe Torre was hired Thursday to manage the Los Angeles Dodgers,
taking the job two weeks after walking away from the New York Yankees.

Torre moved from one storied franchise to another, getting a
three-year contract. He takes over a team that finished fourth in the
NL West this season and hasn't won the World Series since 1988.

The 67-year-old Torre becomes the Dodgers' eighth manager since they
moved west from Brooklyn for the 1958 season. Torre grew up in
Brooklyn, rooting for the rival New York Giants and detesting the
Dodgers.

"As a kid growing up, you didn't like them,'' Torre said on WFAN
radio in New York less than an hour before the hiring was announced.
"As a player, to me the Dodgers were the Yankees of the National League
because ... you either loved them or you hated them.''

Torre guided the Yankees to four World Series championships from
1996-2000, and they made the playoffs in all 12 years he managed them.
After New York was beaten in the first round by Cleveland last month,
the Yankees offered him a one-year contract with a paycut.

Insulted, Torre turned it down. Torre was hired by the Dodgers on
the same day the Yankees formally introduced Joe Girardi as their
manager.

Technorati Tags: tonylimo, baseball, Torre

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New era dawns with Girardi at helm

Joe Girardi grinned, slipping on the pinstripes once more, signaling the opening of a new era in Yankees baseball.

Girardi was formally introduced as the 32nd manager in club history on Thursday, posing for photographs and reiterating his excitement for perhaps the biggest challenge of his multifaceted career in a press conference held in the Stadium Club at Yankee Stadium.

"I can't tell you how honored we are to be putting on this uniform for the third time," Girardi said after donning a jersey with the No. 27 on its back -- appropriate, perhaps, since Girardi will be trying to lead the Yankees to their 27th World Series title.

"This is the place to be. For the Girardis, this place is home."

The 43-year-old Girardi, the 2006 National League Manager of the Year, agreed to terms earlier in the week on a three-year contract reportedly worth upward of $8 million.

Succeeding Joe Torre after a 12-year run at the helm, Girardi inherits a Yankees club prepared for some transition, continuing to filter in younger talent while attempting to win its first World Series championship since 2000.

Though Yankees senior vice president Hank Steinbrenner preached during the interview process that observers should have "patience" with the new manager, saying that he would not necessarily be inheriting the 1996 Yankees, Girardi has objected to that viewpoint.

Technorati Tags: TONYLIMO, BASEBALL, YANKEES

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Avis Acquires 45% of Carey International Limousine

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — Avis Budget Group, Inc. announced today that it has acquired a significant interest in Carey International Inc. In connection with this transaction, Avis Budget Group invested approximately $60 million in cash and now owns approximately 45% of Carey’s common stock. In addition, Avis Budget also obtained a one-year option to increase its ownership stake in Carey to approximately 80%, subject to certain conditions, which would likely include the assumption or repayment of Carey’s existing indebtedness. Carey International, with approximately $250 million in revenue in 2006, is the market share leader in the approximately $5 billion chauffeured ground transportation category. Carey offers its customers consistently superior premium service through the industry’s only franchise system. Carey operates in 550 cities and 60 countries through its network of franchisees and alliance partners.

“With this investment, Avis Budget Group expects to be able to offer corporate customers and travel partners the most complete portfolio of local ground transportation products and services available anywhere,” said Avis Budget Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ronald L. Nelson. “As the world’s premier chauffeured services brand, Carey provides premium-quality services across a broad geographic footprint, making it an ideal partner for Avis Budget.”

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Yankees will formally introduce Joe Girardi on Thursday

The Yankees will roll out the red carpet for their new manager Thursday, formally introducing Joe Girardi at a Yankee Stadium press conference.

The event, slated to begin at 1 p.m., will feature all the pomp and circumstance, as Girardi will be presented with his pinstripes. This will be Girardi's third tenure in the Bronx, having played for the Bombers from 1996-99, winning three championships, then spending the 2005 season as Joe Torre's bench coach.

Girardi was hired Monday as the 32nd manager in team history, signing a three-year contract worth almost $8 million.

Technorati Tags: tonylimo, Yankees, Girardi

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A whole new ballgame

Torre won big in N.Y.; don't expect him to do it in L.A.

Posted: Wednesday October 31, 2007 1:08PM; Updated: Wednesday October 31, 2007 1:11PM

Never has a man been so fortunate to lose his job. Joe Torre is everybody's hero now, laughing it up with David Letterman,
getting pats on the back from the public and press for turning down the
New York Yankees' so-called insulting one-year offer of $5 million plus
incentives and now, apparently, on his way to the Los Angeles Dodgers,
who dumped a good man and a perfectly good manager, Grady Little,
in order give him the job. (Little may have officially resigned, but
there's no doubt he could read the handwriting on the wall.) George Steinbrenner's son Hank
says Torre ought to thank The Boss for hiring him 12 years ago. He
ought to be even more grateful that the Steinbrenners essentially fired
him now.

This isn't to say that Torre is a bad guy or bad
manager -- far from it -- but he has no particular magic, either. The
"genius" coach or manager is one of the great myths of modern sports.
There is no such thing, not today, when every team in every sport puts
so much time and effort into scouting and preparation and high-tech
study of opponents' strengths and weaknesses. It is virtually
impossible for any head man to consistently outsmart or outwork his
competitors. Torre is an experienced, intelligent manager who certainly
brought a steady hand to a volatile franchise, but it didn't take an
Einstein

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THE MOVE THAT HAD TO BE MADE

October 31, 2007 -- WE ALL like Don Mattingly and, really, what is there not to like?

As a player, Mattingly could have written a book on how to handle being the best player in the game and the most in-demand athlete in New York with grace. If that book is actually ever written, Alex Rodriguez should read it.

As a coach, Mattingly navigated an uncomfortable spot, being both Joe Torre's aide and his presumptive heir, with dignity and loyalty. He supported Torre unconditionally, gained Torre's complete trust. We never saw avarice for a job he clearly wanted, never heard even an off-the-record dagger toward the manager.

Again, it is hard not to like Mattingly. But if you were supporting Mattingly for Yankee manager over Joe Girardi, you were letting these feelings win. You were letting your heart beat your brain.

Is it possible Mattingly could have been a great Yankee manager? Yep. Is there a chance Girardi will self-sabotage his chances to succeed? You bet.

But this decision had to be made now, off available evidence. And when you put your fondness for Mattingly, the person, in check and let the coldness of logic rule, there really is no other way to go here. Because, as a catcher, Girardi understands pitching better, and the Yankees are now being built around young pitching. And because Girardi managed a near exclusive young team in Florida and is going to be handed an untraditional Yankee team, one deep in inexperience.

But this is going to be like riding the orneriest bull at the rodeo no matter the identity of the manager.

Technorati Tags: tonylimo, yankees, Torre

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JOE GOES HOLLYWOOD

TORRE AGREES TO MANAGE DODGERS

By GEORGE KING

JOE TORRE

October 31, 2007 -- With Grady Little out of the way in L.A., Joe Torre is the Dodgers' first choice to take over the club. According to sources Torre has agreed in principle to a three-year deal worth $14.5 million and could be introduced tomorrow, the same day the Yankees are holding a press conference to welcome Joe Girardi, Torre's successor, at Yankee Stadium.

VACCARO: Manager's L.A. Move Comes A Little Too Quick

SHERMAN: The Move That Had To Be Made

The Dodgers last night denied a deal had been reached. Sides are discussing the salary for Torre's potential coaching staff. Historically, the Dodgers have not paid coaches very well.

And Alex Rodriguez could be following Torre from The Bronx to Hollywood. One of the reasons Rodriguez opted out of the last three years on his Yankees contract was he wasn't sure what Yankee life would be like without Torre's calming presence in the clubhouse and dugout. In the Dodgers, Rodriguez will find a club in dire need of a jolt at the plate and in the stands.

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Wedding DAY, for Tonylimo......

see ya all in November , i'm getting married today and be on my honeymoon....by the time i get back the Yankees better have their manager in place and signed A-ROD.


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New York Yankees Contact Don Mattingly About Manager's Job

Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- The New York Yankees contacted Don
Mattingly about replacing Joe Torre as the Major League Baseball
team's manager.

Mattingly confirmed his interest in the position in a
statement released last night through his agent, Ray Schulte. He
will travel to Tampa, Florida, early next week to meet with
Yankees management, the statement said.

The New York Times reported today that the Yankees also
contacted Joe Girardi, the 2006 National League Manager of the
Year with the Florida Marlins and a former Yankees catcher, and
Tony Pena, the Yankees' current first base coach and the
American League Manager of the Year with the Kansas City Royals
in 2003.

Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman didn't immediately
respond to an e-mail, while Steve Mandell, Girardi's agent,
didn't return a voice-mail message left after business hours at
his Chicago office. An agent listing couldn't be found for Pena.

Mattingly, 46, was the Yankees' bench coach this season
after three years as the team's hitting coach. He's never
managed before.

One of the most popular players in the franchise's history,
Mattingly batted .307 with 222 home runs and 1,099 runs batted
in over his 14-year career. He was the 1985 AL Most Valuable
Player, a six-time All-Star and won nine Gold Glove Awards for
defense at first base.

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Yankee Fan

Hey Tony,

I never heard anyone tell the Steinbrenners that Torre managed to get the Bombers to the playoffs with about "Fifty" different pitchers this year! Any other manager would have finished in last aaaaaugh maybe second to last with what Torre had to deal with! They want him to cook the gourmet meal without all the gourmet trimmings! If the Yankees had the pitching staff of Detroit, Boston, Cleveland, and about half of the other major league teams, they would be IN the Series by now! Yankees had to score ten runs a game to be safe! That sucks big for the Bombers and any other manager they put in THAT situation!! I sure hope the baby Steinbrenners will suck it up and seek some advise from people who actually KNOW baseball now that they appear to be in the driver's seat!!

Joe LaBarbera (Yankee fan since that wimp Mazaroski hit that homer at Forbes Field)

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Yanks Risk Losing Rodriguez

At Yankee Stadium last week, Brian Cashman said he would recommend to ownership that the Yankees not chase Alex Rodriguez if he opts out of his contract and becomes a free agent. The comment seemed to hedge on his previous statements, putting the onus on George Steinbrenner to agree with Cashman’s stance.

Over two days of meetings in Tampa, Fla., Cashman made his point. Steinbrenner and his sons, Hank and Hal, agreed.

“Yes, I can reaffirm that,” said Cashman, the Yankees’ general manager, as he left Legends Field yesterday. “If Alex Rodriguez opts out of his contract, we will not participate in his free agency. That is accurate and that is definitive.”

The strategy is a gamble for the Yankees, who risk losing Rodriguez if they do not sign him before the opt-out date, 10 days after the end of the World Series. Rodriguez, who is likely to win his third Most Valuable Player award in five seasons, has financial incentive to explore the market.

“Both parties understand that they have rights,” Rodriguez’s agent, Scott Boras, said yesterday. “From the time they acquired Alex, the Yankees made clear that he had this right in his contract. Of course, what the team does and what the team chooses to offer the player, we leave that up to them. We have our rights, and they have theirs. Alex enjoys playing in New York, and we’ll leave it at that.”

After another unfulfilling postseason, though, the question is how badly Rodriguez wants to remain. He went 4 for 15 in the division series, and for all of his achievements, he has never played in the World Series.

The Yankees have lost 13 of their last 17 playoff games, and Rodriguez has absorbed the brunt of the criticism for hitting .148 in those games. In theory, he would not be as much of a focal point in another market, and he may believe another team offers a better chance to win.

Technorati Tags: AROD, YANKEES, SPORTS

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Torre Turns Down Yankees Offer

The New York Yankees

The Yankees offered Manager Joe Torre a one-year deal with a base salary of $5 million and the chance to make another $3 million in performance bonuses. But after 12 years and 12 postseason appearances (including four World Series titles), Torre turned it down.

“We respect his decision. We appreciate everything he’s done. But it is now time for the New York Yankees to move forward, and we will be doing it very quickly,” team President Randy Levine said.

General Manager Brian Cashman said that Torre’s successor has not been named, nor have potential candidates been formally identified. “I can promise you that the process is going to take some time,” Cashman said. “I ask for everyone’s patience as we review the individuals and make recommendations to ownership.”

Under the deal he was offered, Torre would have received a $1 million bonus for reaching the playoffs, another $1 million for reaching the American League Championship Series and $1 million if the team made the World Series. If he did lead the Yankees to the World Series in 2008, there would have been an $8 million option for the 2009 season.

Torre flew to Tampa earlier today and meet with Yankees officials at Legends Field, a day after George Steinbrenner, his sons and other Yankees executives held two days of meetings about the manager’s future.

Torre arrived at Legends at around 1:30 p.m. Eastern time. The meeting lasted a little more than an hour. Torre left the complex .

Technorati Tags: sports, torre, yankees

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Torre out of Yankees job..

Posted: Thursday, 18 October 2007 5:22PM Torre Rejects $5 Million Offer to Return to Yankees

NEW YORK (AP) -- Joe Torre is out as manager of the New York Yankees, rejecting a substantial pay cut after the team failed to make it past the first round of the playoffs for the third straight year. Torre turned down a $5 million, one-year contract Thursday that still would have made him the highest paid manager in baseball. Bench coach Don Mattingly is the leading contender to replace Torre, who led the Yanks to 12 straight playoff appearances and won four World Series championships. Yankees broadcaster Joe Girardi, the NL Manager of the Year with Florida in 2006, is another top contender. "It's a difficult day,'' general manager Brian Cashman said. But it was a day Yankees' fans could see coming. After losing the first two playoff games to Cleveland, owner George Steinbrenner said he didn't think Torre would be back if the Yankees didn't advance. Torre, who took over the team to start the 1996 season, made his decision after traveling fom New York to the team's spring training complex in Tampa, Fla. He was accompanied by Cashman and chief operating officer Lonn Trost. "It is now time for the New York Yankees to move forward,'' Levine said. Torre made $7.5 million this year, the final season of a $19.2 million, three-year contract. His new deal would have included substantial bonuses for each round of the playoffs the team reached.

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Apple iPhone users reporting unresponsive multi-touch displays

Just as we were starting to think that the Apple iPhone would make it through the launch windows relatively unscathed by hardware defects and technical faults, we’re getting reports of a small number of iPhones’ multi-touch displays going numb to touch-inputs.

Forum users at Apple Insider and MacRumors are complaining of a “dead strip” starting to plague some iPhones out there. The “dead strip” on the multi-touch display loses sensitivity to all touch-inputs, and seems to afflict the bottom or top portion of the screen. Explains one forum user, “”First the very bottom of the screen went out so I could not hit the space-bar on the keyboard, or change to the number/character screen. Then it got worse a few days later, now I cannot hit any of the main function buttons.”

Technorati Tags: tonylimo, Apple, News, iphone

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Tonylimo Show # 4 , Gas Station TV in NYC

The lastest in gas is TV at the pumps

Steinbrenner of Old Is Back

There is no soap opera in sports quite like the New York Yankees.

Think about it: Is there anyplace else where you can wake up on a beautiful October morning and learn that, with his team one game from elimination, the owner is threatening to fire his Hall of Fame manager, trying to fire an umpire and making predictions about future events over which he may have no control.

Love him, hate him or laugh at him, George Steinbrenner is a true sports icon if only in the sense that all lunatic owners past, present or future will always be compared to him. There are Babe Ruth-like feats in sports, Patrick Henry-like moments of oratory, Bobby Knight-like coaching temper tantrums and Richard Nixon-like acts of paranoia, lying and cheating. (See Bush, George W. for continuing comparisons).

Then there are acts of lunacy in sports ownership that can only be equated with George M. Steinbrenner.

For a while, it looked as if we had seen -- or, more significantly, heard -- the last of Steinbrenner. In recent years, virtually all of his contact with the public had come through carefully crafted "statements" put out by a private public relations firm on his behalf. Public sightings became more and more rare. When he showed up at spring training one day this past February, the stadium was virtually sealed off and reporters were pointedly kept away from him. He was at Yankee Stadium on opening day, but hadn't been seen there since.

Technorati Tags: tonylimo, yankees, nyc

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Union Officials Allege Deutsche-Bank Fire Cover-Up, Want Scoppetta Out

Posted: Tuesday, 09 October 2007 3:09PM

NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Two New York City fire unions claim the Fire Department is trying to cover up facts in the investigation into the fatal fire at the former Deutsche Bank building.

1010 WINS AUDIO: Juliet Papa reports

The heads of the Uniformed Firefighters and Fire Officers Associations say top brass at the department told fire chiefs at a meeting last month to stop sending any e-mails about the Aug. 18 fire at the Ground Zero skyscraper.

NYFD Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said Tuesday that the charges are false, and that he's only concerned with the compliance and accountability of FDNY regulations.

Technorati Tags: tonylimo, nyc, news

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Feel so bad about the Yankees....

Last night i watched the Yankees lose to the Cleveland Indians with a 6-4 loss. But Torre has to come back, there is no better manager suited for the job then Joe. Can you name anyone else...don't think so. If Torre goes somewhere else alot of Yankees will be going too.

"This has been a great 12 years," said Torre, who led the Yankees to 12 straight playoff appearances, won four World Series, appeared in six and copped nine AL East titles. "Whatever the hell happens from here on out I will look back on these 12 years with great pleasure. The 12 years just felt like they were 10 minutes long to be honest with you."

While his players professed their love for Torre, they likely ushered him out with a whimper, losing three of four to a team Johnny Damon still wasn't sure was better than the wild card Yankees.

Yankees Out... Torre?

Yankees Out... Torre?
Joe Torre's voice trembled just a bit when he described how proud he was of his players for digging out of a 21-29 hole to reach the postseason. That stirring comeback probably wasn't enough to save his job, though.

Technorati Tags: tonylimo, baseball, NYC

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NBC’s Zucker Calls for Allies in Copyright Battle

Jeff Zucker, the chief executive of NBC Universal, made a speech this week calling for a massive campaign to fight piracy of copyrighted works. Mr. Zucker was branded as the epitome of mainstream media cluelessness by bloggers, in part because his statements were made the same week that Radiohead, the musical equivalent of NBC’S hit, “Heroes,” decided to sell its latest album by letting fans download it for any price they choose.

Michael Arrington, the Tech Crunch blogger, called the speech “Scary Stuff.” Terry Heaton, a thoughtful blogger on new media, wrote of Mr. Zucker’s proposal that Internet Service Providers block copyrighted material on their networks:

This is one of the most dangerous and desperate things I’ve ever heard come out of the mouth of someone who, among other things, is charged with certain responsibilities vis-a-vis the First Amendment.

Mr. Zucker is hardly living in the past. NBC, after all, seems to have more digital officers than the Navy has rear admirals. And Mr. Zucker boasted of all of its initiatives:

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New Prototype Phone Gives Fitness Check

CHIBA, Japan (AP) -- It can take your pulse, check your body fat, time your jogs and tell you if you have bad breath. It even assesses stress levels and inspires you with a pep talk. Meet your new personal trainer: your cell phone.

The prototype Wellness mobile phone from Japan's NTT DoCoMo Inc. targets users with busy lives who want a hassle-free way of keeping track of their health, according to company spokesman Noriaki Tobita.

The phone, unveiled this week at the CEATEC electronics show outside Tokyo, has an inbuilt motion sensor that detects body movement and calculates how many calories you burn.

The sensor can tell whether you're walking, running, climbing stairs, or resting, and counts the calories accordingly to tally daily totals, Tobita said.

"It's with you wherever you go, like a portable personal trainer," he said.

Like Nike Inc.'s +Nike technology, the handset also keeps track of jogs, letting users set targets and keeping track of time, distance, and calories burnt - all while listening to music through headphones.

Hold the phone with outstretched arms, and it turns into a mini body fat calculator. A sensor at the top of the phone takes your pulse from your fingertip.

Worried about bad breath? Use the phone's breathalyzer. After Tobita blew on a tiny hole on the side of the handset for about three seconds, the screen flashed, "Not too bad."

The Wellness phone, developed by NTT DoCoMo and Mitsubishi Electric Corp., also asks questions to assesses stress levels and offers advice.

When the busy spokesman answered "Yes" to a series of questions - including "Do you feel lethargic?" and "Do you go to bed after midnight?" - a message appeared on the screen warning he was under a lot of stress.

"Don't worry, tomorrow's a fresh new day," the phone then flashed. "Keep your chin up!"

NTT DoCoMo is still testing some of the phone's other technology, including a function to keep track of meals and calculate calorific intake, as well as a networking capacity to let users share data, Tobita said.

Japan has some of the world's most advanced cell phones, enabling users to surf the Web, check in at airports and play motion games.

DoCoMo has not set a release date or price for the Wellness phone. The Tokyo-based company's phones are not sold overseas.

Technorati Tags: tonylimo, tech, cell phones

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Tonylimo Show # 3,

EBay Revises Its Ambitions for Skype

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 1 — EBay is finally acknowledging that it
paid too much for the Internet phone company Skype two years ago.

EBay is taking a $1.4 billion write-down for Skype, the Internet phone company; Niklas Zennstrom will no longer be its chief.
On Monday, eBay,

based in San Jose, Calif., said it was taking a $1.43 billion charge
related to the acquisition of Skype. EBay paid $2.6 billion for the
rapidly growing service in 2005.

Since the purchase,
Skype’s membership rolls have swelled past 220 million. But the
company has not had as much success making money as it has had growing.
Skype does not charge its users for calls to other Skype users. There
is only a small fee for calls to landline numbers and cellphones.

Skype
earned $90 million during the second quarter of 2007, far below
eBay’s projections. EBay said in a regulatory filing that the
charge was “the result of the updated long-term financial outlook
for Skype.”

Technorati Tags: tonylimo, tech news
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Proposal to Rename Queens Park for Phil Rizzuto

- Long before Phil Rizzuto took his place in the Hall of Fame, he
played ball for Richmond Hill High School. Now, residents of the Queens
neighborhood want to name the local public ballfields after him.

State Assemblyman Rory Lancman joined community leaders Monday to
announce their campaign to honor the Yankees shortstop, who died in
August at the age of 89.

The proposal is also meant to address the concerns of some community
members who are eager to get rid of the park's current name, Smokey
Oval, which they find offensive, Lancman said.

The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation says on its
Web site that the name refers to a time when the Long Island Rail Road
tracks nearby littered the park with soot and ash from railway smoke.
But Lancman says some members of the Sikh community are concerned
people will associate the name with smoking, a practice they reject.

The Parks Department said in a statement that the agency had not yet
received a formal proposal, but "would welcome the opportunity to
review'' the matter. The parkland contains ballfields, swings and
basketball and handball courts.

Rizzuto was the New York Yankees shortstop during the team's dynasty
years of the 1940s and 1950s; he later became a beloved broadcaster for
four decades.

Technorati Tags: TONYLIMO, YANKEES, NYC, RIZZUTO

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Mets Complete Collapse, Phillies Take NL East

After blowing a big September lead in the NL East, the New York Mets missed the playoffs Sunday when Tom Glavine was tagged for seven runs during the first inning of an 8-1 loss to the Florida Marlins in the regular-season finale.

New York's loss coupled with Philadelphia's 6-1 win over Washington gave the division title to the Phillies and sent the stunned Mets home for the winter wondering how they squandered a seven-game cushion over the final 18 days of an excruciating season.

Now, David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Pedro Martinez and the rest of this talented team will forever be remembered alongside the 1964 Phillies and other famous failures for skidding to one of baseball's most monumental collapses.

No major league team had owned a lead of seven games or more with 17 to play, or been up by at least seven on Sept. 12 or later, and failed to finish in first place


Technorati Tags: tonylimo, nyc, mets, baseball

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Tonylimo Show # 2

'Ninja Burglar' Strikes Again

The most wanted man on Staten Island
broke into a Todt Hill home on Flagg Place Thursday night. But he
didn't stick around very long. The homeowners, a dentist and his wife,
scared him off. The hooded thief became known as the "Ninja Burglar"
after more than a dozen North Shore break-ins. Residents are so on
edge, our Glenn Schuck says one man answered the door Saturday morning
holding a baseball bat.

The hooded thief is suspected in more than a dozen burglaries on Staten Island since last Spring.

In one incident earlier this month, a man claimed he stabbed the burglar after confronting him in his Donagan Hills home.

Anyone with information about the 'Ninja Burglar' is urged to call the NYPD's CrimeStoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.


Technorati Tags: Tonylimo, news, nyc, Ninja, crime

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The World's Fastest Limo?

Now here's something very much out of the ordinary. This unique black Ferrari 360 Modena carbon fibre stretch limousine will undoubtedly spin heads when it's unveiled at the European Limousine and Chauffeur Show in the UK this month. The fastest limo in the world according to owner Dan Cawley, the 23 feet long, 400bhp vehicle achieves 0-60mph in less than six seconds and has a top speed of 170mph.

Dan, of Style Limousines in Manchester, commissioned Carbonyte UK to build this outlandish vehicle spending over £200,000 on the modifications. Foregoing the mini bars found in other limos, the Ferrari has been equipped with an extra six seats and nine foot gull-wing doors so it can carry eight passengers in total.

Carbonyte UK is the pioneer of HotFusion Composite Manufacturing Technology that was used on the McLaren SLR Supercar.

Technorati Tags: TONYLIMO, NEWS, LIMOUSINE

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NYC Taxi Drivers Sue to Stop Installation of GPS Units

MANHATTAN (AP) -- A group of cabbies sued city regulators Wednesday in an attempt to block a new requirement that all taxis be outfitted with global positioning systems and software that will record where they drive. The move comes two weeks after thousands of cabbies went on strike for two days to protest the rule, which some have blasted as an invasion of privacy. In the suit, the drivers argue that the city overstepped its authority and acted unconstitutionally when it mandated the units. The suit also makes an unusual claim that the GPS devices will give away trade secrets by disclosing the cabbies' driving patterns. Most hacks, it explained, cruise routes of their own design that they believe lead to the most lucrative fares. "Each taxi driver regards his or her own pattern as proprietary,'' the suit said. Tracking those patterns would cause the drivers to give up their competitive edge, the suit claimed. Officials at New York's Taxi and Limousine Commission referred calls to the city's law department, which said it was reviewing the suit. The GPS units are among several pieces of new technology being phased into cabs this year, including credit card machines, a text messaging system and television screens for passengers. Taxi drivers and fleet owners are divided over the new equipment. Some have embraced it. Others have criticized it as costly and unnecessary. A faction of drivers, led by the Taxi Workers Alliance, struck for two days last month to call attention to the dispute. The Alliance also organized the lawsuit, which was filed at a federal court in Manhattan. The drivers are asking the court to block enforcement of the new technology requirements and reimburse drivers for the cost of installing any equipment already in place. It also seeks an injunction blocking the first round of enforcement of the rules. Cabs that don't have the technology will start failing city inspections as of Oct. 1. Within the past few weeks, the city has also begun fining cab owners who haven't yet signed contracts to install the equipment. Owners have also been threatened with suspensions for failing to comply.

Technorati Tags: tonylimo, NYC, TAXI, NEWS

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Tonylimo Sept 18

ASTORIA, I ADORE YA'

AFFORDABLE, FAMILY-FRIENDLY QUEENS AREA SEES ITS OWN CONDO BOOM

WITH numerous new developments and loft conversions - not to mention a slow but steady influx of new restaurants, bars and residents - Long Island City has generated the lion's share of buzz about Queens. But just north of that emerging district lies Astoria, an area that's long attracted a diverse mix of immigrants (Greeks, Italians, Arabs) and, in recent years, a steady stream of Manhattan rent refugees - young professionals drawn in by affordable prices, great restaurants and a quick commute to Midtown.

And now, a new trend is emerging in Astoria: shiny, new condo developments.

New construction is transforming this renter-friendly neighborhood into the city's latest, greatest 'hood for luxury residential buildings. Currently on the market are the Astoria Windsor at 30-80 21st St., with one-bedrooms with home offices starting at $530,000; the Ionian Condo, at 32-70 41st St., with three 923-square-foot one-bedrooms with balconies remaining for $516,544 and up; and Hoyt Terrace, at 25-47 23rd St., an eight-unit building with apartments starting at $259,000 for a 751-square-foot studio.

And many more are on the way. Developers are eyeing the formerly industrial buildings across from Socrates Sculpture Park and the area along the East River waterfront. TTW Realty is converting the former Sohmer & Co. Piano Factory - and, more recently, the home of the Adirondack Furniture Co. - to residences, while other projects (including a building designed by Karl Fischer) are in the works.

It all smacks of great things for the future. But with its busy commercial thoroughfares (Broadway, 30th Avenue, Steinway Street) packed with ethnic restaurants, supermarkets, fishmongers, green grocers and major retailers like the Gap and Victoria's Secret, Astoria already functions as a convenient, family-friendly neighborhood.

Unlike Long Island City's Hunters Point - where a hipster community is growing along Vernon Boulevard - Astoria is a sprawling, established area with a distinct personality of its own.

Technorati Tags: tonylimo, NY, Astoria, Condo's, NEWS

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Hands on: Getting down to iWork '08

Can Apple make even a spreadsheet cool? Our reviewer examines the new office productivity suite for the Mac.

September 17, 2007 (Computerworld) -- With iWork '08, the latest generation of its office suite, Apple has given Mac users a powerful alternative to Microsoft's Office for Mac. This new version finally offers an alternative to Excel called Numbers, a spreadsheet tool unlike any that has come before it. It also adds some great new features to iWork's other two applications -- the presentation program Keynote and the word processor Pages -- including a few that many users felt were lacking in previous releases.

For example, all the iWork applications now present a contextual Format Bar that displays only the controls or commands relevant to a selected item. This makes it easier to locate specific image effects, text styles or even spreadsheet functions based on what you are working with. In many cases, the Format Bar brings up commands that were always commonly needed but used to be buried somewhere in one of the tabs of the Inspector palette


Technorati Tags: Apple, tonylimo, tech

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`Sopranos' Wins Emmy for Best Drama

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Gone but not forgotten by
voters, "The Sopranos" claimed its final Emmy as best dramatic series.
Winners in other top categories were scattered across the prime time
landscape like the bodies of the show's fallen characters across New
Jersey.

A stunned James Spader felt like he
just "stole a pile of money from the mob" in winning best drama series
actor as a devilish lawyer on "Boston Legal" at Sunday night's
ceremony. And Sally Field was her flustered self as winner of best
actress in a drama for her matriarchal role in "Brothers & Sisters."

Spader rubbed out three-time winner James Gandolfini of "The Sopranos" and last year's upset victor, Kiefer Sutherland of "24."

Technorati Tags: Sopranos, tonylimo, news, emmys

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Simpson Arrested in Connection with Vegas Robbery

LAS VEGAS (1010 WINS)
-- O.J. Simpson was arrested Sunday and faces multiple felony charges
in an alleged armed robbery of collectors involving the former football
great's sports memorabilia, authorities said.


Prosecutors were planning to charge Simpson with two counts of robbery
with use of a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery, burglary
with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and
coercion, said Clark County District Attorney David Roger.

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Bonds' No. 756 ball generates more than initial estimates

SAN FRANCISCO -- Barry Bonds' record-breaking 756th home run
ball was auctioned Saturday for $752,467, well more than the
estimates by memorabilia experts.

Home run No. 755, the ball that tied the record, went for
$186,750, according to Sotheby's/SCP Auctions. Both final prices
included the winning bid plus a 20 percent buyer's fee, according
to the auction houses handling the sale.

Bonds broke Aaron's record of 755 with a shot into the
right-center field seats on Aug. 7 off of Washington Nationals
pitcher Mike Bacsik in San Francisco.

Matt Murphy, a 21-year-old student and construction supervisor
from New York, emerged from a scuffle with the record-breaking ball
after paying $100 for a $12 ticket during a layover on his way to
Australia from his hometown.

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Rodriguez Is Worth a Few More Wins, but Not $30 Million

From the moment Alex Rodriguez signed his 10-year, $252 million contract with the Texas Rangers
in 2000, he became the emblem for baseball’s talent sweepstakes run
amok. The total package was worth more than twice as much as any deal
that had preceded it, and the conventional wisdom was that Rodriguez
had made out like a bandit.

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Marc Jacobs

Marc Jacobs, originally uploaded by tonylimo.

Marc Jacobs

Marc Jacobs, originally uploaded by tonylimo.

Marc Jacobs outside the Mercer Hotel where he is living on 9/13/07

America at Home: Millions of Simultaneous Snapshots Will Show What 'Home' Means to Americans

America at Home: Millions of Simultaneous Snapshots Will Show What 'Home' Means to Americans

Yellow cabs celebrate 100 years

All hail the taxi: 2007 marks the 100th anniversary of the metered cab.

City officials yesterday marked the centennial by unveiling the
first yellow cab decorated with panels painted in floral patterns by
schoolchildren.

"What better way to celebrate the New York taxi's centennial than to
emphasize the creativity of our children and to display that creativity
for the enjoyment of millions of people every day," said Taxi and
Limousine Commission Chairman Matthew Daus.

It's the latest look for the iconic New York City yellow cab, which
originally was red. Businessman Harry Allen in 1907 assembled a small
fleet of 65 shiny red French Darracq cabs, equipped with meters, and an
industry was born.

Allen launched the business after becoming incensed when a hansom
cab driver charged him and a female companion what he saw as an
excessive amount of money - $5 - for a three-quarter-mile trip in
Manhattan, according to taxi historian Graham Hodges, author of "Taxi!
A Social History of the New York City Cabdriver."

"One hundred years of New York City wreaks many changes in our
lives," Hodges said yesterday. "The taxi driver and his cab are
enduring symbols of New York for tourists and denizens alike. Times may
change, but the hackmen, their virtues and their problems go on
forever."

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Is a Third N.Y. Baseball Team Feasible?

Imagine a baseball playoff race involving the Yankees, the Mets, and another team anchored in northern New Jersey. The Mets or Yanks would battle with the third team, sort of like the Dodgers and Giants of the Golden Era of New York baseball a half-century ago. Those two teams played their last New York City home games exactly 50 years ago this month and then departed for California. One present-day owner thinks that it is time for baseball to rectify its mistake and get a third team in the area.

The National League abandoned New York and squelched any plans for the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates
to take the Dodgers' and Giants' place. Indeed, the league had no plans
to return to New York until plans for a rival league, the Continental
League, were unveiled in the late 1950s. In October 1960, after there
was some congressional pressure put on the separate entities of the
American and National Leagues, the NL expanded into New York and Houston.

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AirPort Extreme Base Station with Gigabit Ethernet

Apple has made fast even faster. The AirPort Extreme Base Station (4.5 mice), in its first incarnation, achieved unprecedented speeds for Wi-Fi network transfers, topping 90 Mbps of actual throughput in ideal circumstances. Even in less-than-perfect conditions, the Extreme—with a recently updated draft version of the 802.11n standard—beat its 802.11g predecessor.

Apple has refreshed its previous Base Station by upgrading Ethernet from 10/100 Mbps to 10/100/1000 Mbps, offering Gigabit Ethernet in parity with the speed found on almost the entire Mac lineup. The lack of Gigabit Ethernet was our biggest carp in our last review

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NYC Health Officials: Rise in HIV Infections

NEW YORK (AP) -- Infection rates for AIDS rose over the past six years among gay men under 30. The New York city Health Department says new diagnoses of HIV among gay men under 30 increased by 33 percent during the past six years, from 374 in 2001 to 499 in 2006.

Gay males aged 13 to 19 also saw an increase in H-I-V rates: from 41 new cases six years ago to 87 in 2006.

The majority of new cases were among black and Latino gay men.

Every borough except Staten Island saw an increase in infection rates.

The health department did not offer explanations for why rates among young gay men under 30 or teens between the ages of 13 and 19 have increased.

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Remembering The Lost on Sept 11.

Victims' families huddled under umbrellas Tuesday in a park on the
sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in the first remembrance
ceremony held away from ground zero, an event that failed to evoke the
same emotions as the hallowed ground of the World Trade Center site.

"I guess they mean well, but I really wasn't happy,'' said Sal
Romagnolo, whose son, Joseph Romagnolo, worked in the trade center's
north tower. "I never got my son back. That's the only place we have,''
he said of the site of the fallen towers.

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In 3 Months, iPhone Sales Top a Million

Apple Inc. has sold its millionth iPhone less than three months after the device’s debut, allaying investor concerns that demand had slowed.

Last week, the company, which had set out to sell a million iPhones by the end of this month, cut the price of the handset, which doubles as an iPod music player, by a third, to $399.

It took almost two years for Apple to sell a million iPods, the chief executive, Steven P. Jobs, said in a statement yesterday.

“As far as dispelling the fears that the iPhone was off to a bad start, this should help that,” said Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray in Minneapolis.

Yesterday’s announcement showed that the price cut was strategic, he said. “It’s not anything wrong with the phone.”

Last Wednesday, Apple stock fell more than 5 percent in trading after the price cut, which analysts said suggested that orders had stalled. Mr. Jobs said last week that the discount would increase sales in this winter’s holiday season. He is counting on the phone to be Apple’s third main business alongside Macintosh computers and iPods.

Shares of Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif., jumped $4.94, or 3.8 percent, to $136.71.

Mr. Jobs said last week that Apple would give a $100 store credit to customers who paid $599 for the iPhone when it came out June 29. Customers sent hundreds of e-mail messages complaining about the price cut so soon after the phone’s debut, he said.

Demand for the iPhone has increased since the price cut, a UBS analyst, Benjamin Reitzes, said yesterday in a research note.

Technorati Tags: tonylimo, nyc, news, apple

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ROSIE AND TRUMP 'SLUG' IT OUT AGAIN...

ROSIE O'Donnell isn't done with The Donald. Page Six has
obtained pages from her new book, "Celebrity Detox," hitting shelves
Oct. 2, in which she calls Donald Trump "a torn scarecrow" and "a slug."

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Sept. 11, 2007 Events & Ceremonies

NEW YORK CITY
World Trade Center Site Memorial Ceremony
Tuesday morning, September 11
Zuccotti Park -- Adjacent to World Center Site at Liberty Street.
First responders will read the names of victims this year

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Interfaith Remembrance Service
St. Peter's Church, Barclay and Church streets in Lower Manhattan
2 p.m., Tuesday, September 11
The service will honor the 84 Port Authority employees who were killed on September 11, 2001, in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, as well as the victims of the 1993 WTC bombing.

NY Disaster Interfaith Services Co-Sponsors Buddhist's 9/11 WTC Interfaith Memorial
Floating Lantern Ceremony
Annual 9/11 Commemoration on the Water in Lower Manhattan
Tuesday, September 11, 6 p.m. at Pier 40
On the Hudson River at West Houston and West Streets
Free and Open to the Public

New Ipod's , iTunes changes highlight Apple Event

Appearing before the press today at San Francisco’s Moscone West expo hall, Steve Jobs took the wraps off an entirely revamped iPod line, highlighted by the addition of the iPod touch. Like the iPhone, the widescreen iPod touch is driven by a touch interface and features wireless networking capabilities. Apple also unveiled its new iTunes Wi-Fi Store and a custom ringtone maker for the iPhone. Get all the details in our live coverage of Steve Jobs’s presentation.

Apple did it , There Here New IPODS

The first look at the Nano's from Apple.....live from the Moscone Center West

NEW IPOD NANO'S HIT THE MARKET !!!!!

This is the first look at the new Apple Nano's that Steve Jobs is talking about now at Moscone Center West. "It's incredibly tiny, this is the new nano, it's incredibly thin. It's REALLY nice." Huge applause. "Let me show you some bigger pictures of it... comes in beautiful colors. So what's the...

read more | digg story

Who Founded Facebook? A New Claim Emerges

PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 29 Mark E. Zuckerberg is considered the founder of Facebook, the popular social networking Web site estimated to be worth upward of $1 billion. A screenshot of Aaron Greenspan's college project, FaceNet. Three Harvard classmates, the founders of ConnectU, have long...

read more | digg story

Fox News Anchor Slips Up and Says Blow Job on Air

While talking about J. Lo and her acceptance in her home town.

read more | digg story

Prostitution Targeted on CraigslistGARDEN CITY, N.Y., Sept. 4 The eight wo

GARDEN CITY, N.Y., Sept. 4 The eight women visited Long Island this summer along with vacationing families and other business travelers, staying in hotels and motels in commercial strips in middle-class suburbs like East Garden City, Hicksville and Woodbury. Their ages ranged from 20 to 32....

read more | digg story

Fatal Shooting at Queens Subway Station in Astoria

Police are looking for a group of four or five men seen running from the Brooadway train station in Astoria, Queens, where a 19-year-old man was shot in the head and killed. Police say the shooting was reported at 1:15 a.m. Monday. Police are questioning a number of people who were at the train...

read more | digg story

Original Macintosh User Manual with Pictures.

Thoughts on (and pics of) the original Macintosh User Manual... One of the more striking things was how every chapter is introduced with a full-color photo of Macintosh being used. Here they are (click on them to see bigger sizes)...

read more | digg story

Battle at Kruger

Family of Water Buffalo fight for their baby back...

A post about Marathon Swimmer Storch Hospitalized After Setting Record for

Marathon swimmer Skip Storch was in stable condition Friday in Nyack Hospital, where he was being treated for muscle tears, abrasions and hypothermia following his record-setting swim around Manhattan.

read more | digg story

NYC BIG WEEKEND GATAWAY....

Fewer Americans plan to travel by car this Labor Day weekend, AAA says, despite gas prices that are about a dime lower than a year ago.

The auto club's annual Labor Day survey, conducted by the Travel Industry Association, found that 28.9 million people will travel by car over the long weekend, down from 29 million last year.

Apple's new store

Apple's new store, originally uploaded by tonylimo.

Apple's new store

Apple's new store, originally uploaded by tonylimo.

Apple computer will open up its 3 rd NYC store, and this is where its going to be. In the meatpacking area, 14st and 9 ave.

Yankee Stadium last night

Yankee Stadium, originally uploaded by tonylimo.

taken last night while they where playing Boston from the VIP parking area.

iMovie '08

Apple redesigns and simplifies its desktop video program as an iPhoto for movies

Summary
Pros: Convenient centralized video library; much improved interface for new users; fast, no-render, no wait performance while editing; wide and seamless support of video formats; easy exporting and sharing of movies to YouTube and the improved .Mac Galleries.

Cons: Unfamiliar interface and workflow for those used to other video editing programs; slow load time for large media libraries; simplification means the loss of themes, third-party plug-ins, and advanced audio controls; decreased video quality due to single field processing; steep hardware requirements.

Processor Compatibility: Universal

OS Compatibility: 10.4 (Tiger)

Price as rated: $79 (as part of iLife ’08 suite); bundled free with new Macs. Best Current Price: $69.98 (via ProductFinder)

Company: Apple, www.apple.com

iPhone's is for sale by teen....lastest news

This is the phone that was unlocked live here this morning. It includes the phone, the worlds first serial dock, and the official unlock switch from the blog.

As a note, if you are only bidding on this to get an unlocked iPhone, don't. There are much cheaper and easier ways to get one. This is a piece of cell phone history. I have no intention of ever starting an unlocking service.

THIS IS THE EBAY SITE FOR THE TEEN

Unlocked iPhone

iPhone's Network Lock Hacked By Teen

A 17-year-old hacker has broken the lock that ties Apple's iPhone to AT&T's wireless network, freeing the most hyped cellphone ever for use on the networks of other carriers, including overseas ones.

George Hotz of Glen Rock, N.J., confirmed Friday that he had unlocked an iPhone and was using it on T-Mobile's network, the only major U.S. carrier apart from AT&T that is compatible with the iPhone's cellular technology. In a video posted to his blog, he holds an iPhone that displays "T-Mobile" as the carrier.

While the possibility of switching from AT&T to T-Mobile may not be a major development for U.S. consumers, it opens up the iPhone for use on the networks of overseas carriers.

"That's the big thing," Hotz said in a phone interview from his home.

Taxi Union Announces September 5th Strike

The Taxi Workers Alliance says that at 5 a.m. on Wednesday, September 5th its members will go on a 48-hour strike.

"No taxis would be operating on the roads,” said Taxi Workers Alliance Executive Director Bhairavi Desai. “We're asking drivers to keep their cars parked either on the streets or leave them at the garage.”

At issue is a new GPS system, a satellite-tracking technology the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission is requiring in all 13,000 of the city's yellow cabs. It's just one in a package of technology improvements that also includes a credit card reader and a video screen in every backseat.

read more, http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=72932

Cabbies Turning Up Strike Talk Over Technology

NEW YORK -- Taxi drivers who oppose having global positioning systems in their cabs have set a strike date. The New York Taxi Workers Alliance, which has more than 8,400 members, will call for drivers to strike on September 5th and 6th if city leaders don't drop plans for a GPS system that the group fears could be used to track drivers' movements.

All 13,000 city cabs will be required by the Taxi and Limousine Commission to install touch-screen and global positioning systems. The commission initially called for the technology while approving a 26 percent fare increase in 2004. Starting on October 1, as taxis come up for inspection, they will be required to have the technology.

The touch-screen monitors will let passengers pay by credit card, check on news stories, map their taxi's current location and look up restaurant and entertainment information.

The Taxi Workers Alliance opposes the GPS system -- saying it is an invasion of drivers' privacy.

Apple Gaining Marketshare, Mindshare

The latest numbers are looking good for Apple, especially in the Laptop market.

According to a ChangeWave survey, Apple's laptop share gained 5% over the past 90 days and is roughly 5% higher than a year ago, now sitting at 17%. The survey also indicates that 28% of potential buyers over the next 90 days will be choosing an Apple Laptop, and 23% choosing an Apple desktop.

In addition to the survey's findings, NPD data reported by Macworld pins June 2007 notebook retail market share at 17.6%, an increase of 2.2% over last year.

Overall, NPD places Apple as the 3rd largest US computer manufacturer, with a 5.9% U.S. market share, up 1.1% from last year's numbers.

Apple Update iMovie '08 to 7.0.1

Apple released iMovie '08 with iLife '08 in August. The new version rewrote iMovie from scratch, leading to some transition pains

Deutsche Bank Building Dropped After Deadly Fire

NY1 has learned that Bovis, the contractor at the former Deutsche Bank building site, moved Wednesday to fire its subcontractor, John Galt, following Saturday’s deadly blaze that claimed the fire of two firemen.

Bovis, along with the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, claims Galt demonstrated an inability in terms of its supervision and maintenance of the project.

This comes a day after the Manhattan district attorney announced the launch of a criminal investigation into the fire.

The investigation so far has revealed a building with a history of Department of Building violations, including several fines this year for failure to properly remove combustible materials and debris.

Space Shuttle Lands Safely Despite Gouge

— The space shuttle Endeavour glided to a safe landing here at 12:32 p.m. Eastern time, apparently not much worse for wear.

After two weeks of analyzing, worrying and ultimately taking no action to repair a small but deep gouge in the Endeavour’s underside, NASA flight controllers cleared the shuttle to return to Earth this morning.“You are go for the de-orbit burn,” Christopher J. Ferguson, an astronaut at the NASA’s mission control center in Houston, radioed to the Endeavour crew at 11:05 a.m. Eastern time.

Starting at 11:25 a.m., with broken clouds but otherwise blue skies over the landing strip and a steady breeze blowing near the ground, the Endeavour fired its maneuvering thrusters for 3 minutes and 35 seconds, to slow the aircraft and drop it out of orbit towards Earth’s atmosphere. The craft cruised southwest to northeast high over Costa Rica and Cuba, and then over southern Florida, as it descended.

Rapper Foxy Brown Accused of Lying to Police During N.J. Traffic Stop

There's another addition to rapper Foxy Brown's legal woes. This time, Brown is accused of lying to police during a New Jersey traffic stop.

The Record of Bergen County reports that Brown, whose real name is Inga Marchand, was driving a sport utility vehicle in Mahwah on Wednesday.

Authorities told the newspaper that the rapper was stopped for talking on a handheld cell phone and failing to stop at a stop sign.

Authorities say a check showed the SUV's registration had been suspended, and that the 27-year-old rapper gave officers a variation of her real name and a date of birth that was a year off.

Leona Helmsley, Hotel ‘Queen,’ Is Dead at 87

Leona Helmsley, the self-styled hotel queen whose prison term for income tax evasion and fraud was greeted with uncommon approval by a public who regarded her as a 1980s symbol of arrogance and greed, died yesterday at her home in Greenwich, Conn. She was 87.

HOT IN NY

HOT IN NY, originally uploaded by tonylimo.

when the temperature rises in NY last week, we se all sorts of strange people coming out of the woodwork.

Taken on 48st and 5thave.

The House..built in 1740's

The House..built in 1740's, originally uploaded by tonylimo.

From the pedestrian walkway on the Triboro bridge. it still stands today in Astoria NY. Astoria had mansion all along the East River at that time, this is where the weathly and privilege vacation before the Hamptons

christie brinkley ???

christie brinkley ???, originally uploaded by tonylimo.

this woman resembles the famous model
what do you think ?

Woman looking at the Met.

Woman looking at the Met., originally uploaded by tonylimo.

SKATERS in Central Park

SKATERS, originally uploaded by tonylimo.

this is what they do at the Band Shell at 72st every weekend.

Phil Rizzuto, Yankees Shortstop, Dies at 89

Phil Rizzuto, the sure-handed Hall of Fame Yankees shortstop nicknamed the Scooter who extended his Yankee life as a popular, even beloved, broadcaster, punctuating his game calls with birthday wishes to fans and exclamations of “Holy cow!” died Monday night. He was 89.

Don Imus back ?.....ho,ho,ho

The voice of Don Imus could resurface somewhere on the radio dial as soon as this fall, after he and CBS announced yesterday that they had settled the remaining differences surrounding his firing in April over remarks deemed insensitive to women and blacks.


Neither Martin Garbus, the lawyer representing the radio host, nor CBS, which owns WFAN, the AM station that had been the flagship for his morning talk show, would comment on the terms of their agreement, citing a confidentiality clause. Had he not been dismissed, Mr. Imus would have been paid nearly $40 million over the nearly four years that remained on his contract. While some Imus associates suggested yesterday that his final payment was at least $20 million, Karen Mateo, a spokeswoman for CBS Radio, characterized that figure as too high.

In fact, it was impossible for an outsider to know for sure yesterday how much CBS had agreed to pay him. It was also unclear yesterday where on the radio Mr. Imus might be heard next. Two people who had been apprised directly of his plans, but who would only speak on condition of anonymity, said he had yet to line up a deal elsewhere. But his agreement with CBS does not, apparently, set any restrictions on how long he must wait before restarting his morning show elsewhere. (It does, however, preclude his making disparaging remarks about Leslie Moonves, the president and chief executive of CBS, and vice versa.)

Feds Backing Bloombergs TraFFIC Plan....ouch...

Mayor Bloomberg's plan to charge drivers $8 to drive below 86th Street in Manhattan has taken a big step forward. Washington has agreed to give New York City hundreds of millions of dollars for the congestion pricing plan.

If implemented, the congestion pricing scheme proposed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg would be the first of its kind in the nation. London and Singapore have similar toll programs.

For weeks, New York officials haggled over whether to approve the mayor's idea in time to qualify for a share of $1.2 billion in federal aid. State leaders eventually struck a compromise keeping the plan alive, but it was unclear if the squabbles and delays soured federal transportation authorities on New York's novel attempt to reduce gridlock.

Bloomberg's plan would charge cars $8 and trucks $21 to enter Manhattan south of 86th Street on weekdays between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has been considering which five out of nine cities will receive a major infusion of cash for local traffic reduction plans, and Secretary Mary Peters was scheduled to make an announcement Tuesday morning.

Saturday Night Fever (Queens,NY)

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!
This is what tony does on in his spare time.