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Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check
October 15, 2009
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Looking at Logos:
It's official: The Wall Street Journal has overtaken USA Today for the title of highest daily circulation.
The Journal pulled an average daily paid circulation of 2.02 million copies over a six-month period, while longtime circulation champ USA Today had 1.88 million paid subscribers. That's down from nearly 2.3 million as a cover-price hike and declining hotel occupancy took their toll. (Maiman)
The Internet:
It could be a fairly unproductive day at the office. If your computer didn't catch Microsoft's updates yett, you'll have to wait for 34 updates today from Microsoft.
According to CNET News, Microsoft released a one-day record number of patches to fix 34 security holes in its Windows operating systems. The company also issued its first critical update for Windows 7.
The patches will protect users from hackers or malicious software downloaded from the Internet. They also fix vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer, Office, Media Player, Outlook and other products.
You can get the updates automatically if you turn on the Automatic Updates feature. There are also links to the patches on Microsoft's security website. (Page)
Trade Secrets:
Kellogg's has had it with other cereal makers capitalizing on the success of their Corn Flakes by selling knock-offs. Brand Republic reports Kellogg's will begin laser-branding individual flakes with the company logo, then loading a scoopful into each box. They might extend this to other Kellogg's cereals down the road. With private-label products a growing category in food marketing, Kellogg's wants to make it absolutely clear that they don't make cereal for anyone else's label. (Kaye)
Sucking the life out of the wire services:
A model who looked emaciated in an ad has been fired for being too fat.
The obviously Photoshopped ad is striking and immediately caused an uproar when it was posted online. In an ad for RALPH LAUREN, which appeared only in Japan, the model, FILIPPA HAMILTON, looks so ridiculously skinny that her hips appear to be smaller than her head.
Now Hamilton tells the NY Daily News that she was fired in April because, at 5-foot-10 and 120 pounds, she weighed too much. "They fired me because they said I was overweight and I couldn't fit in their clothes anymore," she said.
Ralph Lauren says the "image in question was mistakenly released."
Editor's note: "But," he added, "I do find photos of starving women in Darfur to be highly erotic."
--The only time I'd ever want a woman as skinny as in the ad would be if I smoked a pipe and needed a pipe cleaner. (Maiman)
As ROMAN POLANSKI waits for his extradition hearings behind bars in Switzerland, he's working on finishing up his latest film.
The film's screenwriter tells the London Times that Polanski had finished editing the film and is now giving specific instructions to his crew so that "The Ghost" can be ready to premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in February as scheduled.
The film stars PIERCE BROSNAN as a British prime minister accused of war crimes, in what has been widely described as a thinly veiled dramatization of former British Prime Minister TONY BLAIR. (Maiman)
Locked Up for their own good:
Facebook can be a dangerous place to post personal information --even if you're a criminal.
The BBC says 26-year-old MAXI SOPO was on the run from the U-S Justice Department after scamming banks for a quarter of a million dollars. That's why he fled the country and headed to Cancun, Mexico. And, he would have gotten away with it too --if it hadn't been for that pesky Facebook.
Authorities say --instead of laying low-- Maxi kept updating his Facebook status. He allegedly posted messages about how he was "living in paradise" and "loving life." Police were able to track his exact whereabouts and pass it on to Mexican authorities, who took him into custody.
Editor's note: I can't wait to read the Facebook status updates he makes from prison. (Still)
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