blether noby: 2011

Saturday, December 31, 2011

US job market ends year in better shape (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The long-suffering job market is ending the year better off than it began.

The number of people applying for unemployment benefits each week has dropped by 10 percent since January. The unemployment rate, 8.6 percent in November, is at its lowest level in nearly three years.

Factory output is rising, business owners say they're more optimistic about hiring and consumer confidence has jumped to its highest level since April. Even the beleaguered housing market is looking slightly better.

"We are ending the year on an up note," says Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors.

Still, 25 million Americans remain out of work or unable to find full-time jobs. Most analysts forecast a stronger economy and job growth in 2012 ? and rule out a second recession ? but they caution that could change if Europe's debt crisis worsens or consumers pull back on spending.

On Thursday, the Labor Department said the number of people applying for unemployment benefits last week rose 15,000 to 381,000. But the four-week average, a less volatile measure, dropped to 375,000 ? the lowest level since June 2008.

When applications for unemployment benefits consistently fall below 375,000, economists consider it a reasonable sign that hiring is rising enough to push the unemployment rate lower. The four-week average has remained below 400,000 for seven weeks, the longest stretch since April.

A mildly positive report on housing also came out on Thursday. The National Association of Realtors said the number of people who signed contracts to buy homes rose in November to its highest level in a year and a half.

The association sought to temper enthusiasm by noting that the number of canceled contracts is also on the rise. But financial markets seized on the good news in both reports.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose more than 113 points in afternoon trading.

"The recovery in the labor market is maintaining its momentum," says Michael Gapen, an economist at Barclays Capital.

That's noteworthy for an economy faced with a debt crisis in Europe and, as recently as last summer, scattered predictions of a second recession at home.

There was plenty of reason for gloom. A political standoff over the federal borrowing limit brought the United States to the brink of default and cost the nation its top-drawer credit rating.

Most analysts now say another recession is unlikely.

The economy likely grew at an annual rate of 3 percent or more in the final three months of this year, analysts say. That would top the 1.8 percent growth rate in the July-September quarter, and the 0.9 percent growth rate in the first half of the year.

Employers have added an average of 143,000 net jobs a month from September through November. That's almost double the pace for the previous three months. Although it's below the pace from the first quarter of 2011,

Next year should be even better for hiring. The Associated Press surveyed 36 economists this month who said they expect the economy to generate an average of about 175,000 jobs per month in 2012. That's almost double the pace for the previous three months, but not as high as job growth in the first quarter of the year.

Job listings website Indeed.com says its revenue has more than doubled in the past year as companies spend more on recruiting. CEO Paul Forster says the healthcare, energy and information-technology sectors have the greatest increase in job openings.

More small businesses plan to hire than at any time in three years, a trade group said earlier this month. And a separate private-sector survey found more companies are planning to add workers in the first quarter of next year than at any time since 2008.

Consumers are also growing more confident. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose to 64.5 in December, the highest reading since April.

Still, the economy and job market remain vulnerable to setbacks.

Economists view Europe as the biggest threat to the global economy in 2012. Europe is expected to fall into recession as banks reduce lending and countries cut spending and raise taxes in response to a simmering government-debt crisis.

In the worst case, a government default could destabilize the eurozone financial system and trigger a global panic.

Economists are also concerned that consumer spending in the U.S. could taper off if wages ? which did not keep up with inflation in 2011 ? do not rise faster or if families decide to purchase less on credit.

In November, the unemployment rate fell to 8.6 percent from 9 percent to its lowest level since March 2009. About half that decline was attributed to the 315,000 people who gave up looking for work. When people stop looking for a job, the government no longer counts them as unemployed.

Economists surveyed by the AP predict the unemployment rate will fall to 8.4 percent by Election Day.

About 7.2 million people are receiving unemployment benefits. Congress agreed last week to keep the emergency benefits that half of them depend on for another two months, instead of letting them lapse at the end of this year.

___

Follow Christopher S. Rugaber at twitter.com/ChrisRugaber.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111229/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/us_economy

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Friday, December 30, 2011

Study: Indoor Tanning Linked With Early Onset of Skin Cancer (Time.com)

Given that indoor tanning beds were officially classified as a human carcinogen in 2009 -- up there with cigarettes and asbestos -- it should be fairly obvious that frequent tanning-booth exposure would increase your risk of skin cancer.

Indeed, the evidence linking indoor tanning with melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, and squamous cell carcinoma, one of the more common forms of the disease, is "convincing," according to the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer. But the research concerning tanning beds and basal cell carcinoma, the third and most frequent major type of skin cancer -- which accounts for some 80% of all skin cancer cases in the U.S. -- has thus far been inconsistent. (See pictures of a photographer's intimate account of her mother's cancer ordeal.)

Basal cell carcinoma, a slow-growing cancer, has traditionally been a disease of middle age. But it's been appearing with increasing frequency in people under 40, especially in women -- a demographic that also happens to like indoor tanning -- suggesting a link. So researchers at the Yale School of Public Health sought to study the association.

The study included 376 people under 40, who had been diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma between 2006 and 2010. They were matched with a control group of 390 dermatology patients who were diagnosed with minor skin conditions like cysts and warts. All participants had skin biopsies, and all were drawn from a Yale University database.

The researchers interviewed each participant about their UV exposure -- both in tanning beds and outdoors. They also asked about their history of sunburns, sunscreen use, family history of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers, and their self-reported eye, skin and hair color.

The conclusion: people who had ever used a tanning booth were 69% more likely to develop early-onset basal cell carcinoma than never tanners. Those who used tanning booths more regularly -- for at least six years -- were more than twice a likely to develop basal cell carcinoma, compared with never tanners.

The study found that women were far more devoted than men to indoor tanning, which might help explain why 70% of all early onset basal cell carcinomas occur in females. The authors concluded that about 27% of cases of early onset disease -- including 43% of cases in women -- could be prevented if people simply stopped using tanning booths.

That's a tall order, considering that some 30 million Americans use indoor tanning beds each year. Policy changes, such as the recent California ban on teen tanning, may help, the authors suggest. So would behavioral interventions aimed at women -- at least one study in 2010 found that the best way to get young women to tan less was to warn them about the skin-wrinkling effects of tanning-bed exposure, not the risk of skin cancer.

"Importantly, indoor tanning is a behavior that individuals can change. In conjunction with the findings on melanoma, our results for [basal cell carcinoma] indicate that reducing indoor tanning could translate to a meaningful reduction in the incidence of these two types of skin cancer," said Leah M. Ferrucci, first author of the paper and a postdoctoral fellow at the Yale School of Public Health, in a statement.

See TIME's Pictures of the Week.

See the Cartoons of the Week.

View this article on Time.com

Weissmuller's "Tarzan" chimp sidekick dies in Florida (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? Cheetah the Chimp, co-star of the 1930s "Tarzan" films with Johnny Weissmuller and one of the world's oldest chimpanzees, has died in Florida. He was thought to be about 80 years old.

The Suncoast Primate Sanctuary Foundation in Florida, where Cheetah spent his retirement days, said the chimp died on December 24 from kidney failure.

"It is with great sadness that the community has lost a dear friend and family member on December 24, 2011. Cheetah, star of the Tarzan films, passed away after kidney failure," the Sanctuary said on its website.

Cheetah was a character devised for the "Tarzan" films as a sidekick to the jungle hero, providing comic relief. The role was played by Cheetah and several other primates over the years.

Cheetah came to the Suncoast sanctuary around 1960 from Weissmuller's Florida estate, spokeswoman Debbie Cobb told The Tampa Tribune newspaper. Cobb said he appeared in the 1932-34 "Tarzan" movies and that he was thought to be about 80 years old.

Actress Mia Farrow, whose mother Maureen O'Sullivan played Jane to Weissmuller's Tarzan, posted a tweet on hearing of Cheetah's death, saying; "My mom, Tarzan's Jane, referred to Cheetah-the-chimp as 'that bastard' - saying he bit her at every opportunity. Cheetah lived to be 80."

The average chimpanzee is thought to live for 40 to 45 years in the wild and about 10 years longer in captivity.

Fans of the "Tarzan" chimpanzee have been petitioning over the last few years for the primate to be honored with a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, in a campaign called Go Cheeta.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Jill Serjeant)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111228/en_nm/us_cheetahchimp

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More Frustration For Boston College Hockey; Eagles Fall To Michigan 4-2

Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, site of the Great Lakes Invitational.

What is it with BC and midseason slumps? It seems every year we go through a stretch where it just seems like nothing can go right. Tonight was more of the same as BC fell to Michigan in the GLI semifinals, 4-2.

There were a lot of glaring issues in this game. First, the team didn't show up to play in the first period. BC once again played from behind most of the game - not a formula for winning hockey. Michigan scored early, just a minute and a half into the game, to go up 1-0, and scored again on a 5 on 3 late in the period to head into the locker room 2-0.

BC thought it would be a good idea to show up for the 2nd, and show up they did. In what was, for the most part, an absolutely sparkling period for the Eagles, BC roared back to tie the game. First, on easily the best shift of the game, BC managed to get the puck in the net after a full minute or two of possession in the Michigan zone. The Wolverines were completely gassed by the time the rubber hit the twine, and those on the ice were only too happy to take a seat. A few minutes later, BC got the equalizer on a power play.

Unfortunately, late in the third period, Michigan scored on a 2 on 1 break completely against the run of play to retake the lead for good at 3-2. The Wolverines iced it with an empty netter in the third.

Those odd-man rushes were really the story of the game. It's partially a product of BC's up-tempo style of play, but it just seemed like Michigan had a 2 on 1 or a clean breakaway every minute or two of this game. It was a theme all night and was the primary reason we lost the game. The biggest goals of the game - the first and third ones - were both the result of Michigan 2 on 1s.

Aside from those goals and the goal Michigan scored on the two-man advantage, Billett was superb. I know, I know, it's a classic "other than those two times he wasn't good, he was really good." But the fact of the matter is, without Billett in net, BC probably loses this game by a lot more. His rebounds were also much improved - much, much improved - though the second goal was a direct result of a bad rebound bouncing two feet from the goal line in the blue of the crease... *Facepalm*.

Less seasoned BC fans might start to get worried about the team right now, going 4-6-0 since mid-November, and no one would blame them. It can get frustrating. But this is pretty much par for the course for Boston College. Start out strong, go through a mind-knumbing mid-season stretch where we are frustrated at times and God-awful at others, and then go on a huge 2nd half run. BC actually looked like a national championship team for the first 16 minutes of the 2nd period, so it's clear the talent is there. Also, the addition of Bill Arnold, who is representing the USA in World Juniors, would definitely have helped.

Oh, and by the way... BC is somehow *still* ranked #3 in the pairwise rankings after the loss today.

BC plays Michigan Tech (Really? Michigan Tech?) in the GLI Consolation Game tomorrow afternoon.

Source: http://www.bcinterruption.com/2011/12/30/2669870/more-frustration-for-boston-college-hockey-eagles-fall-to-michigan-4-2

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Thursday, December 29, 2011

Gameloft sale prices Android games at $0.99 starting Thursday (Digital Trends)

Android gamers, you?re getting some post-Christmas attention from Gameloft. The French game developer says it will be knocking down the price of all its games to a paltry .99 cents.

So that means that those of you stuck with poorly planned New Years Eve events can download some decent distractions. The deal begins December 29 at 10:00AM Pacific time, and lasts until January 5 of the new year.

All of their games, which typically average at $5, are .99 cents; this includes Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation and most likely the popular Gangstar, 9mm, Order & Chaos, N.O.V.A and the Oregon Trail remake. The developer also has a few free games if you?re in the neighborhood already, as well as a current contest for a free Modern Combat 3 copy.

The massive discount extends the love already bestowed upon the iOS users as well as the Amazon Appstore earlier this month. The Amazon sale was Christmas oriented, and ended on Monday of this week.

The Android Market generosity extends to those across the pond as well. UK dwellers will actually be getting it for a little more than us according to Recombu, Gameloft Android games will be going for 69p. However, it?s not clear if all the games will be available at 69p for those in the UK.

Gameloft is in the habit of creating console-like experiences for mobile users. The company?s iOS activity has been significant, reaching a 200 million download milestone from the App Store back in July. Gameloft was also connected to the Sony Tablet S and the Tablet P to create an interesting lineup of games. Android and iOS gaming in general has been growing tremendously, recently beating out the revenue of traditional gaming companies like Sony and Nintendo.

Via Gameloft tweet

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

It Ain?t No ?Dalliance?, They Like the Crazy Ones (Balloon Juice)

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

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Sales at Union Gap Sears thought to be holding up

Associated Press and Mai Hoang
None

NEW YORK -- After a disastrous holiday shopping season, the parent company of Sears and Kmart will close at least 100 stores to raise cash -- a move that sparked speculation about whether the 125-year-old retailer can avoid a death spiral fed by declining sales and deteriorating stores.

Sears Holdings Corp., a pillar of American retailing that famously began with a mail-order catalog in the 1880s, declared Tuesday that it would no longer prop up "marginally performing" locations. The company pledged to refocus its efforts on stores that make money.

Sears' stock quickly plunged, dropping 27 percent.

Ryan Conger, manager of the Sears store in Union Gap, declined to comment Tuesday on the recent announcement.

But there may be a reason to believe that the Valley Mall anchor is not an underperforming location.

In a column published in the Yakima Herald-Republic in March 2010, the store manager at the time, Troy Larson, said the local store's sales at the time had not fallen compared to drastic sales declines reported by other Sears locations nationwide.

The closings are the latest and most visible move by Eddie Lampert, the hands-on chairman who has struggled to reverse the company's fortunes.

As rivals Walmart and Target Corp. spruced up stores in recent years, Sears Holdings struggled with falling sales and perceptions of dowdy merchandise.

Some analysts wondered if it was already too late, questioning whether the retailer can afford to upgrade stores as it burns through its cash reserves.

The sales weakness "begins and some would argue ends with Sears' reluctance to invest in stores and service," Credit Suisse analyst Gary Balter wrote in a note to clients.

"There's no reason to go to Sears," added New York-based independent retail analyst Brian Sozzi. "It offers a depressing shopping experience and uncompetitive prices."

Sears and Kmart were both retail pioneers. Sears' catalog and department stores were fixtures of American life stretching back to the 19th century before being hurt in recent years by competition from steep discounters and by missteps that included forays into financial services and the decision to sell off a lucrative credit card business.

Kmart helped create the discount-store format that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. came to dominate.

Some customers complained that they have a hard time connecting with the Kmart and Sears of today.

Preschool teacher Sara Kriz, picking up hair conditioner at a Kmart on Tuesday in Manhattan, said she used to shop at Kmart often but now goes there only once every few months: "Only when I have to," she said.

"It seems easier to go to Target and Walmart to get the same thing at the same price," Kriz added. "The stores are cleaner and they're better stocked."

Sears Holdings has watched its cash and short-term investments plummet by nearly half since Jan. 31, from about $1.3 billion to about $700 million.

The projected closings represent only about 3 percent of Sears Holdings' U.S. stores. And the company has actually added stores since the Sears-Kmart merger in 2005. It has about 3,560 stores in the U.S., up from 3,500 right after the merger, thanks to the addition of more small stores.

But the company hinted that more closings could be on the horizon as it focuses on honing the better-performing stores.

The store closings were expected to generate $140 million to $170 million in cash as the company sells down their inventory. Selling or subleasing the properties could generate more money.

Spokesman Chris Brathwaite said the company had not determined which stores would close or how many jobs might be cut. He disputed speculation that the company will have problems surviving, noting it still has $2.9 billion available under its credit lines.

"While our operating performance has not met our expectations, we have significant assets," including inventory, real estate and proprietary brands like Kenmore and Craftsman, Brathwaite said.

Still, the company's announcements were grim. In addition to the closings, it announced that revenue at stores open at least a year fell 5.2 percent for the eight weeks ended Dec. 25, a crucial time because of the holiday shopping season.

Kmart's layaway program, meant to help cash-strapped customers buy presents by paying for them a little at a time, faltered as Walmart and Toy R Us introduced or expanded competing programs. Sears stores reported softer sales of home appliances, usually a strength.

The company predicted that fourth-quarter adjusted earnings will be less than half the $933 million reported for the same quarter last year. It also expects a non-cash charge of $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion in the quarter to write off the value of carried-over tax deductions it now doesn't expect to be profitable enough to use.

* Yakima Herald-Republic business reporter Mai Hoang contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2011/12/27/sales-at-union-gap-sears-thought-to-be-holding-up

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Pakistan president vows defiance as crises mount (Reuters)

GARHI KHUDA BAKSH, Pakistan (Reuters) ? Pakistan's embattled but defiant President Asif Ali Zardari used the fourth anniversary of the death of his wife Benazir Bhutto to ensure supporters he would not resign in the face of numerous crises building around him.

Zardari, who became president after the former prime minister was killed in 2007 following her return from self-imposed exile, is facing perhaps the greatest threat to the government.

In a jab at the Supreme Court, which is considering an investigation into a memo asking the United States for help against the country's powerful military and which could implicate Zardari, he asked about the as yet unsolved case of his wife's assassination.

"People ask what happened to Benazir Bhutto's case," he said. "I ask (Chief Justice) Iftikhar Chaudhry: what happened to Benazir Bhutto's case?"

No one has yet been charged with her assassination at a huge rally outside Islamabad.

Police estimated Tuesday's crowd at more than 70,000.

Colorful banners sprouted from the throng, which spread out beneath the white, marble mausoleum that contains the bodies of Pakistan's most famous political family.

Speaking from behind bulletproof glass, Zardari appeared relaxed and healthy, likely calm rumors of his ill health.

He flew to Dubai on Dec 6 complaining of chest pains. Party members there told Reuters he had suffered a transient ischemic attack, a stroke-like attack that leaves no permanent brain damage. He returned on Dec 19.

Members of Zardari's Pakistan People's Party say opponents are working with the Supreme Court and the army to bring down the government.

The death anniversary came the same day the Supreme Court began deliberations on whether it could open its own investigation into the so-called "memogate" scandal.

It also came two days after cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan brought at least 100,000 people into the streets of Karachi in a rally that increases pressure the government and cements his standing as a political force.

The memogate hearing, which was adjourned without any decision, is likely to be front-page news on Wednesday, reflecting the intense interest in incremental developments in the crisis.

CALL FOR INVESTIGATION

It involves the publication an unsigned memo seeking Washington's help to rein in the military after U.S. forces found and killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May.

Pakistan's then ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani, has been accused of writing the memo on behalf of the government. He denies involvement but has resigned pending an investigation.

Chief of Army Staff General Asfaq Kayani has called for an investigation into the memo, which has set off a flurry of speculation of a rift between the government and the army which has ruled Pakistan for almost half of its 64-year history.

The political crisis also comes as ties between the United States and Pakistan drop to their lowest point in decades following a NATO cross-border attack on Nov 26 that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. A U.S. report on the incident blamed both sides for poor communications and bad maps.

The incident infuriated Pakistan's army, which is demanding an apology from President Barack Obama, and led to the closure of supply lines for coalition forces fighting in Afghanistan.

The army has denied planning to take power but Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has added to the intrigue and confusion.

Last week he surprised many by implicitly suggesting the military was a "state within a state" before reversing himself on Monday night and saying he was "happy" with Kayani and would not fire him or the head of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, as some media reports claimed.

Zardari "struck a defiant note, but refrained from attacking the military establishment," at the rally, said security analyst Imtiaz Gul. "This comes a day after Gilani also backed down, and based on that this smacks of some sort of 'backdown' on the part of the government."

Party members on the scene were upbeat.

"The army or the Supreme Court can do nothing to the government and our party," said Ali Gohar, 45, a PPP worker from the town of Sukkur who has come to pay homage to Bhutto.

"The PPP has the blood of martyrs in its foundations and we will support it as long as we live."

(Writing by Chris Allbritton; Additional reporting by Qasim Nauman and Faisal Aziz in ISLAMABAD; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111227/wl_nm/us_pakistan_politics

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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

The Most Popular Dear Prudence Videos of 2011

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Japan?s Sumally Interviewed by Wired Japan [TRANSLATION]

This article about Sumally was written for WIRED Japan, and I had the opportunity to translate it to English. Sumally has been covered before on PO, so consider this an update of sorts to the previous article. Sumally is an encyclopedia of all products. People can Want or Have any product that they come across online and archive them in a single unified format. The total number of Wants and Haves on Sumally has exceeded one million, and the number of items archived has surpassed 200,000.

Here is the article below, with comments from me indicated by italics.

Sumally, the new online service where Tokyo?s top creative talent are sharing their Wants and Haves, started from a desire to create an all-encompassing online encyclopedia of products. Here is what the four leading members of this exciting new service have to say.

Sumally is a new social networking service aiming to become the ?Encyclopedia of Products.? Kensuke Yamamoto, the CEO of Sumally, left his position as a magazine editor to become an entrepreneur and to pursue his vision of creating a place where users can catalog every product they ever wanted or had. He was joined by well-known web designer Yugo Nakamura, and together with Nakamura?s employees, design director Hideki Oowa and software engineer Keita Kitamura, they are working hard to create an online experience that will be successful at an international level. As the team prepares to release the next milestone for their service, which will allow users to buy and sell products on the site, our WIRED editorial team sat down with the Sumally team to share and discuss their ideas, hoping to find out how Sumally will help shape the technology driven future.

The entire interview lasted more than an hour, split between serious discussions about Sumally?s vision, hardships the team endured, creative solutions to get around them, and plenty of laughter.

Original article on Wired Japan

Kensuke Yamamoto (left center, see Wired photo)
President and CEO of Sumally. Graduated from Hitotsubashi University. After starting his career at Dentsu Inc., Mr. Yamamoto joined Conde Nast Publications Japan as an editor for GQ JAPAN. Resigned in September of 2009 to found Sumally in April, 2010.

Yugo Nakamura (right)
CEO and Designer of tha*?. Web designer, interface designer, and screen image director. Graduated University of Tokyo graduate school with a degree in engineering. Associate professor at Tama Art University. Became involved in interactive design in 1998, and founded design studio tha ltd. in 2004 to direct, design, and develop websites as well as video art. Won the grand prize at Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, and has received the Tokyo Interactive Award, the TDC Award, and the Mainichi Design Award.

Hideki Oowa (right center)
Design Director for tha*. ?Born in Tokyo 1972. Received a BFA degree in the United States. Participated in design projects of all sizes in various locations, including San Francisco, Chicago, New York, London, and Sydney. Returned to Japan in 2002, working at Business Architects, as well as a freelance web director. Went back to the United States to become senior art director at Method and AKQA. Became design director for Yugo Nakamura?s design studio ?tha ltd.? in November, 2010.

Keita Kitamura (left)
Programmer and Technical Director for tha*. Born in 1983, Kitamura dropped out of high school, and started working at Business Architects, Inc. After studying abroad, he joined design studio ?tha ltd.? as a founding member in 2004. Built an image bookmark service called ?FFFFOUND!? in 2007, which remains very popular among designers all over the world. Won awards for Japan Media Arts Festival, Tokyo Interactive Award, and ARS Electronica.

Can you tell us what Sumally is about, and the concept behind it?

Kensuke ? While I was an editor for a magazine, I started thinking about creating a ?Wikipedia for Products?. Not only am I in love with products of all sorts, but I also realized that even mainstream products, such as Leica cameras, Nike sneakers, Louis Vuitton bags, Comme des Garcons clothes, are not cataloged in an openly available format. This is a serious loss for our society, and it was clear to me that I had to create a universal format for archiving product meta data.

So, instead of creating a magazine, I moved on to creating an encyclopedia of all products. And instead of just having a picture and description of the product, like any modern encyclopedia in year 2010 should have, I decided that it was important that information such as who wants it, who has it, and who is selling it was also included. Furthermore, a system had to be in place to make the cataloging process simple.

Users have pulled down different products from different places online. Some of the commonly seen websites include Amazon, and fashion websites such as Mr.Porter and ZozoTown. I came across products from Esty too.

Mr. Nakamura, what was your first impression when you heard of Mr. Yamamoto?s idea?

Yugo ? Many online services are started by ?geeks?, or some sort of specialist involved in the domain of the service. They start small, and gradually become big. It was exciting to see an editor of magazine, someone in a completely different field, to want to start a new web-based online service. He was all smiles when he first came to talk to me, and announced ?I want to be the Japanese Zuckerberg.? At first I was speechless, but the idea seemed interesting, and thought that his idea just might work. I then spread the word to Hideki and Keita, both of whom were involved in creating UNIQLOOKS, and we all decided to give it a shot.

How about you, Mr. Oowa?

Hideki ? While we did pretty well with UNIQLOOKS, I had a gut feeling that we could go further in terms of designs and structure. That?s when the idea of Sumally came along. The fact that it was a startup and not a big enterprise was appealing, and Kensuke?s passion convinced me that the project was indeed feasible. Despite the hardships that comes with it, building a new online service from scratch is really exciting in a different way from creating advertisements.

And you, Mr. Kitamura?

Keita ? While our design work at tha is mostly for advertisements, I have always wanted to create an online service as well. So, Keita?s proposal came at the perfect timing. I was excited that I will finally be able to build my own online service. As Hideki mentioned, with advertisements, once it?s finished it is out in the open, and that is the end of it. On the other hand, building an online service allows to continually attract and build up a customer base, which is what I was looking for. I actually feel that suites my character better!

When investors make the judgement to support a startup, they look at the idea or the potential market size, but more importantly, they look at the team. The Sumally team is unique in the sense that they are not from the high tech industry which gives them a fresh eye. The uniqueness of the team can be confirmed by looking at the simple and sleek design of the website and its newly released iphone application.

?Advertisement is a short film, Service is a Soap Opera?

What is the difference between creating websites for advertisement and creating websites for an online service?

Yugo ? Advertisement is a one-shot deal like creating a short film or a movie. An online service, on the other hand, continues even after it?s released, more like a soap opera. Of course, not everyone can contribute to both kinds of website development. While developing an online service is interesting to me, I tend to lose focus when working on one project for a long time. Hideki and Keita prefer developing an online service though.

Hideki ? The line between an advertisement and an online service is becoming increasingly thin, especially since modern online advertisements require an interactive social networking feature. The difference lies in the amount of time the content needs to be relevant, and much higher level of passion and vision is required to maintain an online service that will disappear like one-shot advertisements. Furthermore, while advertisement projects come with a budget, building your own online service requires us to attain funding. Fortunately for us, Kensuke, with his passion and determination, has been able to deliver the funding we have needed.

Sumally has just started its journey. There are many online services that have succeeded in getting the attention upon release, but had difficulty maintaining user interest. Each and every decision they make will either engage users more possibly make them lose interest.

sumally

sumally-2

?Creating a truly international online service!?

Can you tell us more about your vision of creating a service that can change the world?!

Kensuke ? My saying that I want to change, not just Japan, but also the world, is a bit of an exaggeration, something I?ve been saying to stand out from the crowd. But I have always been passionate about and have great respect for brands that can make it in the global market. So yes, I do want to build an online service that can succeed outside of Japan. One of the things that I feel might have a chance at succeeding on the international level is the way Japanese people, and especially people living in Tokyo, create brands for specific product categories. A simple combination of a ten dollar t-shirt together with a five dollar skirt and perhaps a twenty dollar pair of shoes is enough to be branded as a specific ?style?, which seems amazing to me. This ability to quickly create recognizable name for a specific product category that represents context as well as interests is something unique to Japan, and something I think we should be proud of. And I am hoping that it will be relevant throughout the world.

Hideki ? Building content that is only relevant in Japan wasn?t what the tha team is about either, so ?Going global? was one of the key elements in deciding to create Sumally together.

Hideki ? Definitely. Of course, since most of our users are Japanese, we have to choose the words we use carefully. We are looking to strike the perfect balance between keeping the site user friendly for Japanese users and making sure that the site is viable in the international market.

Kensuke ? I want our online service to be just as user friendly for non-Japanese users as it is for Japanese users, while making sure that we keep our roots in Japan.

Yugo ? When we say global, we are not talking about the geographical transition from Japan to the rest of the world. Our challenge is whether Sumally can become an infrastructure for people when they talk about products. Online services such as Twitter and Facebook provide infrastructure, while advertisements function on top of such infrastructure. And we are an infrastructure type service.

Kensuke ? Making something fashionable is simple, if I am allowed to say so. But going beyond fashion and reaching sophisticated simplicity that can be appreciated objectively across the board is a totally different matter. That?s why I wanted to team up with Yugo Nakamura who can achieve this both in terms of programing and user interface design. Things have to work whether the product is an animation figure, golf club, or a teapot in order for our online service to be considered an infrastructure.

Making it universal to take it beyond fashionable.

What exactly do you mean when you say ?universal??!

Kensuke ? Magazines are segmented into categories such as street fashion, animation, or Internet related. ?Universal? is when you abandon that categorization based on taste. Until about 5 years ago, people were talking about how mass media would someday become segmented media. My thought at that time was that after segmented media would be ?micro-media collectives?. The ?2ch? online service, which I consider to be one of the best built media, is already structured this way.

In the 2ch system, there are 100 or so top level categories, and under them are 200 or so threads in each category, which makes it highly likely that every visitor will find something interesting. The fact that this simple aggregation of content is functioning as a single medium makes 2ch very powerful. It is my belief that such a platform, where the currently separate worlds of street fashion, animation, and gadgets can coexist, is the required structure for any successful media. This is what I mean by wanting to create something ?universal?.

Hideki ? This concept of being universal is something we have in common with the design concepts at tha. It isn?t the container of content that needs to stand out. Through our designs, we ensure that the content that stands upon the container shines through and looks good.

Kensuke ? That is why we need to build something that is more than just fashionable.

Now that Sumally has been launched, has it been used in a universal manner so far?!

Kensuke ? We?re still in our invite-only beta phase, hoping to start out with mostly influential users with a strong interest in products, and then gradually spreading out the user base. This makes it unlikely that the service is being used universally, but we are accumulating quite a collection of products across a wide range of categories, which is exactly what we were aiming for.

Yugo ? What I found interesting was how much effort Kensuke poured into attracting beta users for the service during the launch. Even many of my colleagues, many of them famous and very influential in their industry, have started to use the service. I really liked the idea of ?start building the people network first?.

Kensuke ? This part is similar to how we start up a magazine.

Keita ? While many people who can develop the system, the type of content you accumulate depends mostly on the people you attract to your service. It was a smart idea to start out by gathering many interesting people. It would be difficult for other startups to do what Kensuke did.

While many popular services penetrate from tech savvy people to mainstream, Kensuke has leveraged his network from his career as a magazine editor. Just by looking through Sumally products, one can meet fashionable and famous stylists and celebrities in different fields. It is similar to the marketing strategy of Ameba, the biggest blogging service in Japan. They succeeded in attracting all sorts of famous celebrities to blog use the service, which in turn brought in the mainstream users. In the case of Sumally, it is mostly because of the passion that Kensuke has that these well-known people have tried out the service.

The next step for Sumally: selling products via ?Social with Commerce?

What is the business model for Sumally?

Kensuke ? A new feature we have in mind is to be able to sell products on Sumally. Most e-commerce works by creating a list of what to sell. We believe that it would be a better user experience if it was the other way around, and users were able to shop from a list. Both real and virtual stores are separate establishments, giving more power to the merchant. Using a universal catalog of products, consumers will be able to indicate and share their wants, and instead of going to buy a product, merchants will come to sell the product. From the merchant?s perspective, instead of having to spend energy on attracting customers to the store, they can simply go to the consumer who is ready to buy. We would then receive a cut of the sale.

Is ?Social Commerce?, which is quickly becoming a buzzword, a category that Sumally belongs to?

Kensuke ? To be honest, I am a bit uncomfortable with the phrase ?Social Commerce?. In my opinion, it is more like ?Social with Commerce?. There are many catalogs that are made to look like a magazine, but everyone can tell that it?s still just a catalog. It is obvious when something is being pitched to you as a sale instead of when they are presented because they are good. Just like we all know that Takuya Kimura, a very famous actor and featured in commercials for the Toyota Carola, does not really drive that car in real life.

Since ?Social Commerce? services are based on the old e-commerce model, I believe that they are limited to just that: what the seller wants to sell. Sumally, on the other hand, is about sharing everything that is interesting. Rather than categorizing the products that are on sale, it is closer to adding an e-commerce feature to the Tumblr service. This is why I feel that ?Social with Commerce? would be a better description of what we are trying to do, than ?Social Commerce?.

The Sumally iPhone application is worth trying out. There is a feed tab where users can see all items shared by people they follow. On my Sumally tab, users can browse through products that they have Wanted or Haved. The Activity tab can be used to find people who have similar tastes as yourself, because you can see who else have Wanted or Haved the products that you have archived on Sumally.

Since it is be impossible to add every feature you can think of, what are the criteria for adding new features to Sumally?

BEAMS T on Sumally

Kensuke ? The most important thing is to have our users keep on using our service. An iPhone app, which is coming soon, will be the first. We also plan to add a feature similar to Facebook Pages for brands and stores. Users would be able to follow a brand and find out about new product arrivals and everything else about that brand. There are many other features that we?re considering, but we will take it one step at a time.

Hideki ? Since the concept of connecting people to products is at the core of Sumally, we want to make it easy for our users to discover other people and other products. New recommendations should flow by constantly, yet painlessly, and we aim to design and implement a best of breed system to make that possible.

Is there anything you would like to share with our readers about the near term plans for Sumally?

Kensuke ? Being able to buy and sell products on Sumally is definitely on the top of our to-do list.

What is the appeal of Sumally for people merchants?

Kensuke ? Since people are sharing what they want, merchants would be able to sell to those particular users who want the products. If there are 5 people who wants a 1,000 dollar Star Wars figure, toy stores all over the world would want to sell there. If 100 people indicated that they want the same pair of sneakers that Kayne West has, Nike would want to sell there.

Hideki ? I really want Sumally to be used all over the world. We are currently still in our beta phase, and most users are still from Japan. The key is how we would expand into markets outside of Japan. Just like we count many influential and taste-leaders from Tokyo as our users, we will have to attract the same kind of users from all over the world, and make it possible for anyone anywhere to take a peek into their closets.

Sumally

[Original article, Text by?Hiroki Maruyama, Translated by Yukari Mitsuhashi, Oct 31, 2011]

Sumally has also released brand pages and more than 50 brands have joined already. It works sort of like a Facebook page where brands can share newly available products with their core fans who have decided to follow. Very famous brands which have joined include Colette from Paris, Cibone, and Moma Design Store, and they have over 400 followers at present.

The next feature planned to be released is a smaller categorization of Wants and Haves. Users will be able to categorize their wants to something like ?Things I want for my next birthday? or ?Things I?m giving away? or ?My interior goods?. This should make the discovery process a bit easier.

Since Sumally began it has been invite-only in its beta phase in Japan. Most of the current users are from Japan with only 10 percent from outside Japan. Now that it are officially available to everyone, it aims to gain more users from Asia and the United States.

Source: http://www.penn-olson.com/2011/12/26/sumally-wired/

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Monday, December 26, 2011

Bieber surprises friend with car for Christmas

Tis the season for giving, and Justin Bieber pulled out all the stops for a Christmas present for his childhood friend, Ryan Butler.

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PHOTOS: Celebs with Bieber fever

"Justin got me a present. #swag!!!" Butler posted to his Twitter along with a pic of a brand-new ivory two-door Ford Mustang convertible Sunday.

The teen popstar and his BFF grew up together in Stratford, Ontario. Butler makes a cameo in Bieber's 2009 music video for his hit, "One Time."

PHOTOS: Celebrity Christmas cards

Despite his super-busy schedule, the 17-year-old "Under the Mistletoe" singer spent Christmas Day at home in Canada with his family ? sans girlfriend Selena Gomez. He posted a few photos of him and his two younger siblings (Jaxon, 2, and Jazmyn, 3) to his Twiter account.

PHOTOS: Justin and Selena's beach PDA

"Spending time with family ? feels really good. Going to get to see these smiles on Christmas," he wrote Saturday.

"Merry Christmas from the family!" he added Sunday.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45791353/ns/today-entertainment/

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Android App of the Week: The First Android Calendar for Gay Men

gay calendar Android App of the Week: The First Android Calendar for Gay Men

Well earlier this week we featured the Cameltoe App and now we have found the first Android Calendar for Gay Men.? Well this app is far from being fake and according to the developer it?s the first ever gay calendar for Android. I?m not so sure about that but we will roll with it for now.

Regardless of the truth of that statement, Calendar ? Gays is a calendar that features monthly photos aimed at gay men, and comes programmed with alerts for important dates for the gay community. On the productivity side, the calendar syncs with Google Calendar. There are also other themed calendars available from the developer available. The app?s sales page has a bit of a commercial vibe that might be a little off-putting for some, but if you?re interested, the app is on sale for $1.99 from the Android Market. If the gay men?s calendar isn?t for you, there are also several other calendars that might tickle your fancy by the same developer too.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChipChick/~3/p2TeoCCb3ro/gay-calendar-android.html

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About Automotive Mailing Lists : National Industrialization Day

Posted on | December 25, 2011 | Comments Off

About Automotive Mailing Lists

You are so easy to be discouraged while searching for quality automotive mailing lists because there are too many providers offering re-hashed and resold lists that are not up to date or accurate. They don?t know that accurate information is very important to most dealers and parts retailers.

Sometimes a warranty company may purchase bulk lists that were mostly inaccurate only to find it costs them more to have a bad list than the extra cost of an accurate and solid list. Finding this balance is critical for any direct marketing effort and is imperative for a successful campaign.

Some of the better automotive mailing lists include ?up to date? (weekly updated) year make and model data. To find out how accurate a vendor is, you should be asking questions like ?when was the file last updated?? and ?how many new records come into the system on a typical update?? You should see a consistency in the answers and the ability to test small and grow is critical instead of throwing all of your eggs into one basket so to speak.

In addition to the year, make and model data, credit data offers two great products.

For subprime buyers, credit scored data along with current loan information such as how many months are remaining and the size of the loan and monthly payments are useful for direct marketing. Some dealers that will target those that have marginal credit that have less than 3 months remaining on their current car. This audience is great because though they look forward to not having a car payment, many are already ready to get a new car. Your ability to target repeatedly this audience will pay-off as they start to consider buying their next vehicle.

Another variation of the credit score automotive mailing list is the credit triggered list which should come out daily.

These daily triggers are the most potent form of automotive mailing lists that currently exists. One of the biggest issues that dealers have is that these trigger leads exist. Their controversy can be your edge if you embrace the idea that people like to shop. Some of the best deals are closed after a customer has looked around first and that is why triggers have been a staple of the credit bureau database for so long. There is no better way to find interested and qualified buyers period. The biggest drawback is that they have already gone to a funding source for a quote but that does not mean you can?t come in with a better offer (better car and better financing package).

The challenge in general with automotive mailing lists is to find the one that is reasonably priced but that is highly targeted. Generating a massive qualified response and selling cars is what the name of the game is so make sure you have a vendor that gets it and a mailing list that is both targeted and accurate otherwise you are just throwing money down the tube.

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Source: http://www.nationalshakespeareday.com/278/about-automotive-mailing-lists

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Sunday, December 25, 2011

UweMuegge: #Lionbridge is hiring a #French #Lifescience #Localization #PM in #Dublin http://t.co/sJpTpSIX #jobs #xl8 #t9n #l10n

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Source: http://twitter.com/UweMuegge/statuses/150138655539867648

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Green Business Trend: ?Eco-Packaging? Takes Off

As you wrap, and unwrap, gifts this holiday season, you may notice they?re a little lighter than usual. It might be because more companies are easing up on the packaging ? or at least using eco-friendlier alternatives.

eco packaging

As the green movement grows up, there?s a new movement among businesses to find new, more planet-friendly ways to package their products. Some companies reduced their packaging footprint years ago by eliminating unnecessary plastic and cellophane or replacing non-biodegradable Styrofoam with paper and cardboard. But packaging technology has gotten more sophisticated, and there are higher-quality alternatives these days, from compostable plastic to recycled wood to biodegradable packing peanuts.

Earlier this year, several big companies? including Coca-Cola, Kellogg and Dow Chemical ? banded together to start the American Institute for Packaging and the Environment (Ameripen), an organization that will lobby for evaluating the impact of packaging on the environment and reducing its toll. And some product makers have pledged to stop using pollution-causing PVC plastic in their boxes.

Some of this shift might be due to pressure from major chains: Walmart and Target have put more pressure on their suppliers to use eco-friendlier packaging through their sustainability scoring.

For small businesses, though, determining what kind of packaging alternatives will work isn?t always easy, While there are lots of new, ?eco-friendlier? materials to choose from, small businesses need to be careful and do some research.

Here are a few of the considerations:

True environmental benefit. Even though a company may claim its product is offering an eco-friendly alternative, such as ?biodegradable? or ?recyclable,? that doesn?t necessarily mean its environmental footprint is much less than anything else. You need to know how much energy is used to produce it and transport it.
Cost. Many eco-friendlier materials are more expensive than ones that are more environmentally harmful. You either have to suck up the extra cost or be able to pass it along to your customers ? which isn?t always realistic. Be sure to understand the cost impact before switching to new packaging.
Feasibility. Eco-packaging may sound good, but will it actually be a good replacement for what you already use? It?s possible it won?t be as durable, so it?s important to get samples and test any prospective packaging before adopting it.

Given all these potential pitfalls, what do you do? Talk with other businesses in your industry or other businesses that have explored green packaging options. There are some nonprofits that help businesses adopt eco-friendlier packaging and can provide helpful research. Check out the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, for one.

Eco Packaging Photo via Shutterstock

About the Author

Kelly Spors is a former small-business and entrepreneurship reporter and blogger for The Wall Street Journal who has also written for Yahoo!, Entrepreneur, NFIB's MyBusiness magazine and The New York Times. Kelly is now a freelance editor and writer based in Minneapolis and has previously managed communications for an environmental non-profit that helps businesses find ways to be greener.

Connect with Kelly Spors:

Source: http://smallbiztrends.com/2011/12/green-business-trend-eco-packaging.html

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Saturday, December 24, 2011

Latest developments in Arab world's unrest (AP)

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SYRIA

Government forces surround residents of a restive Syrian village and kill all those trapped inside ? more than 100 people ? in a barrage of rockets, tank shells, bombs and gunfire that lasts for hours, The attack pushes the death toll for two days of violence across Syria to more than 200, and is one of the deadliest single events of the entire nine-month uprising against President Bashar Assad's authoritarian rule. The White House reacts by renewing its call for Assad to step down.

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EGYPT

Egypt's powerful Muslim Brotherhood, leading in parliament elections, refuses to join calls by secular and liberal activists for the ruling military to move up its handover of power to civilians. Activists are seeking to capitalize on anger over the military's heavy-handed crackdown on protesters in Cairo the past week to pressure the ruling generals to step down before the current target of the end of June.

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YEMEN

Nearly 200 people, among them 15 foreigners, have been killed in clashes over the past few weeks between an ultraconservative Islamist group and former Shiite rebels in northern Yemen. Four Russian citizens are among the dead. The tension between the Salafi Islamists, who are Sunni, and the former Hawthi rebels, who are Shiite, escalated in late November just as Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh signed a U.S.-backed proposal to transfer power to his vice president in exchange for immunity from prosecution. Saleh agreed to step down after a 10-month uprising.

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LIBYA

Moammar Gadhafi's captured son and one-time heir apparent, Seif al-Islam, is being treated well but has not had access to a lawyer, an international rights group says after visiting the prisoner. Seif al-Islam, who has been charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court, was captured in November by fighters from the town of Zintan in Libya's western mountains. Libya's national leadership in Tripoli is insisting on trying him at home, though they have yet to establish a functioning court system.

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BAHRAIN

The U.N.'s top human rights official urges Bahrain to release political detainees as a step toward reversing "deepening mistrust" between authorities and anti-government protesters. Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, says Bahraini authorities must unconditionally release those convicted in military tribunals or awaiting trial merely because they exercised their "fundamental rights" of expression and assembly.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111221/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_mideast_protests_glance

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Friday, December 23, 2011

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theGrio: Kardashians using 'slave labor'?

The Kardashians raked in millions this year from their numerous fashion lines, and today reports have surfaced that the family uses "slave labor" to manufacture many of their products.

TMZ broke the story this morning:

A human rights group is investigating claims that workers in China -- as young as 16 -- are working in squalid conditions to manufacture merchandise for the K-Dash by Kardashian label, the Kris Jenner Kollection and ShoeDazzle, according to a Star Magazine investigation.

The institute for Global Labour and Human Rights confirms with TMZ ... they have launched an investigation, amidst claims the Kardashians' products are produced in factories reeking of stench from sewage, with temperatures north of 100 degrees. An official from the organization tells TMZ, conditions in the factories that manufacture Kardashian products are "horrific."

There are also claims the employees work up to 84 hours a week, earning $1 an hour. The Kardashians rake in approximately $65 million a year.

Kris Jenner has since reached out to TMZ to give an update to the recent manufacturing controversy saying "the factories manufacture a number of products unrelated to Kardashian lines. Jenner adds, "As far as I know the factories that are used to manufacture the Kardashian clothing and shoes have nothing terrible going on at all and the factories are very well policed and meet factory standards."

Jenner added that she has not yet visited the factories in China to observe the working conditions first hand.

Deborah Benton, the Chief Operating Officer of the Kardashaian's premiere shoe brand, ShoeDazzle released a statement today saying that the factories they use are routinely inspected and always pass inspection.

"This issue of child labor is of paramount importance to us. We've been very focused on this from the very beginning," Benton said.

Kim, Kourtney, and Khloe Kardashian have yet to comment on the allegations.

For anyone interested in finding out if you own products that are made via 'slave labor' checkout the website slaveryfootprint.org.

For the latest celebrity buzz and entertainment news follow Chris Witherspoon on Twitter @WitherspoonC.

Source: http://www.thegrio.com/entertainment/kardashians-slave-labor-for-fashion-lines-tmz.php

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