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Microsoft's Windows 8 software appears to be driving buyers away from PCs and toward smartphones and tablets, research firm IDC said Wednesday. That's leading to the fastest drop in PC sales the firm has ever seen. Global shipments of PCs fell 14 percent in the first three months this year, IDC said. That's the sharpest plunge since the firm started tracking the industry in 1994. ...

While new satellite images show preparations for what is believed to be a coming long-range missile launch by North Korea, a second attempt in 2012 would be unprecedented, a top satellite image analyst told Security Clearance. There have been four launches of this scale since 1998, including a failed attempt in April of this year. A second launch in 2012 would be the first time North Korea has launched two systems of this class, their largest missile class, in less than three years. "The fact that they are now apparently preparing for a second launch in 2012 indicated that the...

hot make-out session. They were to blast anti-gay-marriage comments made by Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy. But gays preferred staying home to watch “The Real Housewives of New Jersey.” Tumbleweeds could have rolled through the Paramus Park Mall in New Jersey yesterday as a symbol for the lack of stamina in the national kissing campaign. From Georgia to California, protests drew yawns, not saliva. Even in Atlanta, the home of Chick-fil-A, only two dozen kissers showed up. And there was a similar lack of necking in Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and San Francisco.

Organizers of two “social justice” protests in Tel Aviv were disappointed Saturday night when just thousands turned out for the rallies. The evening was also marred by violent fights as some participants in one rally, held in Kikar HaBima, fought with security personnel at the other, held at the Tel Aviv Museum. One even attempted to burst onto the stage and disturb the event. Those causing the disturbance were apparently angered by signs bearing the words, “There is a Future” – the name of a new political party started by journalist Yair Lapid. They accused the Tel Aviv Museum protest...

Krauthammer: State of the union flopBy CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER January 28, 2012 - 12:24am Once upon a time, small ball was not Barack Obama’s game. Tuesday, it was the essence of his State of the Union address. The visionary of 2008 — purveyor of hope and change, healer of the earth, tamer of the rising seas — offered an hour of little things: tax-code tweaks to encourage this or that kind of behavior (manufacturing being the flavor of the day), little watchdog agencies to round up Wall Street miscreants and Chinese DVD pirates, even a presidential demand “that all students stay...

Everything you wanted to know about Romney and the flip flops throughout the years..this man will say anything to become president. Watch his answers change from abortion,gays to Reagan...

General Motors' much-hyped Chevy Volt has yet another distinction to add to its long list of commendations. We had all heard repeatedly about Motor Trends' Car of the Year award, Consumer Reports' recommendation and Jay Leno's love affair with the car, but the Volt now gets a less publicized, more deserved distinction from Yahoo Finance's 24/7 Wall Street site. The Volt has made the list of "The Worst Product Flops of 2011" and apologists for the vehicle are sure to, once again, attack the credibility of those issuing the opinion. The Obama Administrations' favorite car has had a rough...

In an appearance on "Fox News Sunday" a few days ago, Mitt Romney was asked whether, given what we know today, the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq was the right thing to do. Romney wouldn't say. "Oh boy, that's a big question," Romney answered. "And going back and trying to say, given what we know now, what would we have done? Would we have invaded or not? At the time, we didn't have the knowledge that we have now." Romney mentioned intelligence before the war suggesting that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. After the war, U.S. and international...

After two years on HLN, Joy Behar’s talk show will be cancelled come the end of the year, the network announced Thursday. “I am very proud of the show that we created at HLN and I owe tremendous thanks to the show team who made it possible,” Behar said in a statement. The NY Daily News adds: HLN general manager Scot Safon said, “Joy and her team produced over 500 episodes of a show that featured news-making interviews, great conversation and plenty of humor. We thank Joy for the many memorable moments she gave the HLN audience.” The final episode...

NOVEMBER PROJECT: The Daily Candidate will be looking into Romney's alleged 'flip flops' - due to the demand, of our viewers, to look into them. Our board has decided to investigate these 'changes' in policy. To do so we need your help. We would like to put together a panel of viewers: 1 Republican Romney Suppporter, 1 Republican Opposed to Romney, 1 Independent Opposed to Romney, and 1 Democrat/Obama Supporter. We will be using this panel to discuss the policy changes Romney has and/or hasn't had. WE NEED YOUR HELP - Please email us if you are interested in joining...

It's not as if we haven't already learned what a failure Barack Obama's green-tech stimulus has been in creating jobs. Solyndra collapsed with over a half-billion in taxpayer money out the door, wiping out a thousand jobs with it. After spending $17.2 billion of the $38.6 billion allocated for green-jobs stimulation, the programs have created a total of just over 3500 jobs, for a price tag of $4.85 million each. Now the Inspector General at the Department of Labor has recommended the shutdown of a green-jobs training program that has only placed 15% of its participants: A $500 million green...

Hard sales numbers will not be available for a week but the rankings on Amazon and Barnes & Noble provide a good indication of consumer interest. The Rogue is ranked in the fifties on both Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Deer in the Headlights is hovering in the seven hundreds on Amazon and in the two hundreds on Barnes & Noble.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama offered moral support Saturday to federal emergency management workers hunkered down for Hurricane Irene's weekend march up the East Coast and 14,000 active-duty and National Guard troops were put on standby for post-storm relief work. "Everybody here, you guys are doing a great job," Obama told dozens of workers on a visit to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's command center. Fully activated and operating around the clock, the center helps coordinate the federal response to natural disasters.

Obama Flip Flops on tapping Strategic Oil Reserve - FAIL « on: Today at 10:05:48 AM » Quote Modify Remove -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Obama flip flops on Strategic Petroleum Reserve posted at 2:50 pm on August 4, 2008 by Ed Morrissey http://hotair.com/archives/2008/08/04/obama-flip-flops-on-strategic-petroleum-reserve Via Jim Geraghty, who caught this even while on vacation. In August 2005, Obama agreed with George Bush’s decision to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in order to buffer the economy from the effects of Hurricane Katrina. However, Obama warned that such actions should only take place in times of real emergency (emphases mine): I agree with the...

Consider what Trump had to say about the Bush Administration's approach to Iran: "Maybe the President, instead of saying let's not even see this guy, maybe he should be negotiating with him, maybe he should be talking with him." Upon hearing that, Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doucy asked Trump with regard to Ahmadinejad, "Do you think he's mentally stable?" Trump replied, "Who are you talking about? The President?"

RUSH: Why... is... he... uh... talking... uh... this... way? He's even got a teleprompter in there and he's still talking like that. He's putting a period not at the end of every sentence, but at the end of every word. I'm talking about Obama and this abomination of a press conference. JOHNNY DONOVAN: And now, from sunny South Florida, it's Open Line Friday! RUSH: Yip yip yip yip yip yip yip yahoo. He said he wanted to close Guantanamo Bay sooner but we missed the deadline. We... missed... the... dead...line. This thing's been going on for over an hour, and......

You can't call it a stimulus, but Obama has announced a new $50 billion infrastructure initiative. This is going to be a big "nothing" on two levels. First, we hate to say it, but $50 billion just isn't needle moving, especially when you consider that the initial stimulus was $700 billion, and critics who said it was too small were looking for at least another half-a-trillion (or about that). But beyond that, it won't work out politically. That's what Paul Krugman correctly pointed out in his latest piece. Because the initial efforts to stimulate the economy failed (Krugman says it's...

LOS ANGELES — Hollywood suffered its first major flop of the year over the weekend with the debut of the expensive Iraq thriller “Green Zone,” which sold an anemic $14.5 million in tickets at North American theaters. Despite playing in more than 3,000 theaters, “Green Zone,” starring Matt Damon and directed by Paul Greengrass (“The Bourne Ultimatum”), was a distant second to Walt Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland.” That fantasy film was No. 1 for the second weekend in a row, with about $62 million in ticket sales for a new total of $208.6 million...Universal’s new leaders have pushed hard to...

President Barack Obama's public approval rating has plummeted faster than President Jimmy Carter’s, reports RealClearPolitics in its review of Gallup polling. Carter first polled at a 66 percent approval rating, dipping to 54 percent by September. Meanwhile, Obama has already tumbled down to 52 percent approval rating at the end of July, according to the latest Gallup survey. The bottom line: Obama began his presidency at 68, hitting 69 the following day. That translates to a 16 point drop since day one. In less time than Carter, Obama has fallen more, concluded the RealClearPolitics review. By contrast, Richard Nixon was...

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) continued his assault on President Obama's stimulus package on Sunday, calling the economic legislation a "flop." Cantor, appearing on Fox News Sunday, said the $787 billion legislation is not working. In particular, he said small businesses aren't hiring. The Virginia Republican has been a leading critic of Obama and the stimulus package in the last week. He delivered the Republican weekly radio and internet address on Saturday, saying that Obama's economic policies aren't working. Obama has stepped up his defense of the stimulus and his economic policies. He dedicated his Saturday radio and internet...

Dirty Dozen Ugliest and Lamest Cell Phones Ugly only begins to describe what is wrong with these cell phones. Some of them lack such phone basics as keypads and displays. Daniel Ionescu, PC World Sunday, May 03, 2009 10:00 PM PDT Twelve Cell Phones We Love to Hate Some cell phones really look great, but are impossible to use. Other cell phones have cool features, but are ugly ducklings. Then there are those rare mobile monstrosities that fail at both looks and usability. Some have pricing issues as well. Now to be fair, many cell phone makers fail when they...

One upside to Watchmen flopping: Warner Bros. will likely be able to pay Fox a smaller portion of the film's revenues to resolve their rights dispute. Last January, Warner Bros. settled its legal dispute with Fox over who owned the rights to Watchmen by agreeing to pay Fox up to 8.5% of the film's proceeds. But now that the $150 million movie's only grossed $180 million worldwide, Warner will probably only owe Fox about 5% of the film's proceeds. Furthermore, it's likely any sequels or spinoffs, which Fox also would have gotten a cut of the profits from, are dead,...

APPETITE FOR SELF-DESTRUCTION: I.B. BAD ON CHINESE DEMOCRACY IGA and Best Buy Faced an Uphill Fight in Their Efforts to Market GNR’s Album December 3, 2008 Many are expressing surprise that Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy sold only 255k in its first week as a Best Buy exclusive. But those who have closely analyzed the situation say that comparing GNR’s total with the 802k tallied by AC/DC in its Wal-Mart exclusive is like comparing apples and oranges, in that radically different circumstances surrounded the two projects. AC/DC outsold GNR by nearly 500k not because of any particular difference between the...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Despite a landslide for Democrats in the White House race, Americans voted more conservatively on Tuesday in a myriad of referendums on banning gay marriage and abortion. Voters in some states rejected gay marriage rights and affirmative action and approved restrictions on adoption for unmarried couples. However, results were mixed as other referenda across the country -- some 35 states were asked to consider 153 ballot questions -- showed voters in favor of assisted suicide and against outright bans on abortion. In California, Florida, Arizona and Arkansas, voters rejected gay marriage. In Arkansas, they voted to prevent...

Moments after voting to authorize the bill, the Democrat told the floor he had goofed. "I'd like to be recorded as a 'no' vote," he said, according to transcripts, adding that he had mistakenly voted in favor of the legislation. By claiming to have made an error, Obama's "intent" to vote against the measure was noted in the record. But his initial "yes" stood. Obama made six similar "mistakes" during his state Senate years, twice on hotly contested measures.

The "pro-choice" candidate for senator, and later governor, of Massachusetts is now the "pro-life" candidate for president of the United States. His record as governor is controversial, however. Interviewed by Tim Russert on "Meet the Press" last Sunday, Romney claimed that he took a "pro-life" position on "every piece of legislation" that came before him. But that is untrue, at least by his present definition of what constitutes "life." The Facts Romney announced his conversion to "pro-life" views in an editorial in the Boston Globe on July 25, 2005, the day after vetoing a bill expanding access to the so-called...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said in an interview published on Saturday the size of a residual U.S. force left in Iraq after the withdrawal of combat troops would be "entirely conditions-based."

Play of the Day: McCain's Mom on Mormons Nov 9 07:33 PM US/Eastern 103 Comments McCain’s Mother Goes After Romney and Mormons Related Stories Radar: McCain Clarifies Mom's Mormon Slam MEREDITH, N.H. (AP) - John McCain's 95-year-old mother, in a swipe at her son's rival Mitt Romney, said Friday that Mormons were to blame for the scandal that rocked the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. During an appearance on MSNBC, Roberta McCain laid out why her son, John, deserves to win the Republican presidential nomination. But in evaluating McCain's primary rivals, she criticized Romney's Mormon faith and his time in...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican John McCain says he opposed President Bush's tax cuts because they didn't come with spending cuts. That is not what he said at the time. In a presidential debate on Wednesday, McCain said he voted against the Bush tax cuts because he wanted to rein in spending. "I disagreed when we had tax cuts without spending restraint," the Arizona senator said. The explanation fits with his history of railing against wasteful federal spending. But it does not fit with McCain's comments when he opposed the Bush tax cuts in 2001 and 2003. In 2001, McCain said...

Forget Dennis Kucinich’s claims about seeing UFOs. The new unsolved mystery of the campaign trail is the “whisper.” The blogosphere was abuzz Friday morning over an audible whisper that cut through the mix during the GOP presidential debate in Boca Raton, Fla., the night before. It’s unclear who it was, but the voice could be heard after moderator Tim Russert asked Mitt Romney whether, as a fan of Ronald Reagan, he would “do for Social Security what Ronald Reagan did in 1983.” Right before Romney answered, somebody seemed to whisper: “He raised taxes.” And then Romney responded, as if taking...

A photograph of GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney at a 1994 Planned Parenthood fund-raiser has surfaced, once again raising questions about the former Bay State’s governor’s abortion flip-flopping. The picture, a copy of which was obtained by the Herald, shows Romney and his wife Ann at a house party fund-raiser in Scituate with Nicki Nichols Gamble, who was the president of the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts at the time. Romney has already downplayed ties to Planned Parenthood after revelations that Ann Romney donated $150 to the group. Gamble said the pic was snapped at an event at GOP activist...

The landscaper who Mitt Romney fired earlier this week for continuing to employ illegal immigrants says the termination boils down to little more than politics. The GOP presidential candidate cut ties with Ricardo Saenz, of Community Lawn Service in Chelsea, Mass., in anticipation of a Boston Globe article reporting that the company employed undocumented workers a year after the hiring practices were first revealed. Romney said he gave the company a second chance and that "the company's failure to comply with the law is disappointing and inexcusable." But Saenz told FOX25 in Boston that Romney did not demand that the...

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Tuesday in a Nevada television interview that he supports letting states "make their own decision" about whether to keep abortion legal. "My view is that the Supreme Court has made an error in saying at the national level one size fits all for the whole nation," Romney told Nevada political columnist Jon Ralston in a televised interview. "Instead, I would let states make their choices."

After years of claiming to be an excellent swimmer and stories of swimming at his house on Lake Winnipesaukee, a stunning new photo, sent anonymously to FreeRepublic, clearly indicates that this is yet another lie from the Romney machine! Photo: ROMNEY CAN'T SWIM!!!

HOLLYWOOD - Controversial filmmaker Michael Moore has defended his new documentary Sicko from claims foreign distributors aren't interested. The movie, which takes aim at America's healthcare system, has so far failed to attract bids in the U.K. Industry insiders suggest poor box office takings and mixed reviews in the U.S. could be to blame. However, Moore insists he's not worried by Britain's apparent apathy...

COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Demolition crews on Monday started tearing down a disputed youth center that was at the heart of recent street riots in Copenhagen. Workers wore face masks under their helmets to conceal their identities as an excavator tore into the so-called Youth House, a graffiti-sprayed brick building in the Noerrebro district of the Danish capital. A police anti-terror squad on Thursday evicted squatters from the building, triggering three nights of clashes with leftist youth that turned parts of the city into a battle zone. More than 600 people were arrested and more than 20 injured as protesters hurled...

Sales of boxed copies of Windows Vista at retail stores significantly trailed those of Windows XP in each product's first week on shelves, according to new figures from NPD. The market research firm's data showed the number of copies of Vista purchased was nearly 59 percent less than the number for its predecessor XP, looking at the first week of sales. Revenue was also down, but less dramatically, with the dollar value of first-week Vista sales off 32 percent from that seen with XP. Vista went on sale both on retail shelves and on new PCs on January 30. Businesses...

Ballmer delivers sobering message at Microsoft event By John Letzing, MarketWatch Last Update: 6:20 PM ET Feb 15, 2007 SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer tempered the expectations of analysts at an event Thursday, telling them their predictions for sales of the company's new operating system are too high, while those for its operating expenses may be too low. The New York event was held by Microsoft (MSFT Microsoft Corporation to lend insight into the company's strategy for its fiscal 2008 beginning in July. Without offering a specific differing forecast, Ballmer told assembled analysts their estimates...

The recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group were broadly welcomed by most Republicans and Democrats in Washington yesterday, but received a far cooler reception in Iraq, Iran, Israel and from the US military.The report, which calls for the withdrawal of all US combat troops from Iraq by early 2008, negotiations with Iran and Syria, and a renewed Middle East peace initiative, was a rare triumph of political compromise in Washington. But for those directly affected by the Iraq war and the wider regional instability — the Iraqis themselves, Israel and the US troops on the ground — the report...

Sheehan's Texas protests die down Nation: Anti-war demonstrations smaller; critics say movement lost fire. By Angela K. Brown, Associated Press Long Beach Press Telegram CRAWFORD, Texas - This one-stoplight town, especially the road leading to President Bush's ranch, turned out to be much quieter than it was last summer. The 700-resident town's streets were clogged last year as more than 10,000 people began streaming in over the 26-day vigil, which started when Cindy Sheehan demanded to talk to Bush about the war that claimed her oldest son's life in 2004. It was a different picture last month when war protesters...

The progressive network Air America tonight scoops up the slings and arrows it aims at President Bush and moves them to its new home a few blocks downtown. Starting tomorrow, Air America will be heard on WWRL (1600 AM), ending a 29-month run at WLIB (1190 AM). -snip- The move to WWRL will reduce Air America's coverage in some parts of the metropolitan area, since WWRL's signal isn't quite as strong as WLIB's and there are areas where it is hard to pick up. Questions continue to circulate about the financial health of the network, which has experienced cash crises...

Desiree Fairooz, of CodePink, a woman-initiated grassroots organization, traveled from Arlington to participate. After reading from a prepared statement, Fairooz lambasted the war, the president and government leaders who she said were in Iraq with the sole intent to steal oil, build an embassy and make the country "America's 52nd state."

    John Kerry's sorriest moment, until now, sounded like this: "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it." But this week he has arguably outdone that equivocation.     "It is essential to acknowledge that the war itself was a mistake," the Massachusetts Democrat told a crowd of cheering leftists Tuesday at the "Take Back America" conference in Washington. "It was wrong, and I was wrong to vote for that Iraqi war resolution." He called on President Bush to withdraw all troops from Iraq by the end of the year. Sen. Hillary Clinton disagreed and was booed. Thus,...

This is my first vanity, so please indulge me. Dixie Chicks tour tickets went on sale today to the public in many market and it's starting to look a disaster, especially in the Red States. There were initial indications that internet pre-sale ticket sales were going badly last week, but this confirms the news. A review of seat availabilities on Ticketmaster indicate first-day and pre-sale ticket sales for the portly traitors are: Detroit-Bad Pittsburgh-Disaster Philadelphia-Bad Boston-Almost Sold Out Wash. DC.-Selling Well Chicago-Selling Well Minneapolis-Bad Fargo-Meltdown Disaster Glendale, AZ-Bad Omaha-Disaster Denver-Disaster Dallas-Disaster Nashville-Meltdown Disaster Tampa-Meltdown Disaster Sunrise, FL-Meltdown Disaster Atlanta-Selling Okay...

The way I see it, Dan Brown should be very happy for Fandango, which allowed millions of theater-goers to see "The Da Vinci Code" before reading the reviews. Normally, movies don't crash, losing 57% of their audience in the second weekend. Especially not when the 2nd weekend is a holiday weekend and the first weekend was not. But normally people who see movies this stupid have already invested in their Jar-Jar Binks Happy Meal Action Figure. Go figure that the Happy Meal featuring a dead, naked museum curator with a pentagram scratched in his back didn't sell to well. (OK,...

Early critics seemed happy to try to break "The Da Vinci Code." Reaction ranged from halfhearted admiration to boredom to derision among journalists at the first press screening of the Ron Howard-Tom Hanks blockbuster in waiting, premiering Wednesday at the Cannes Film Festival and opening worldwide through Friday. "`Da Vinci' never rises to the level of a guilty pleasure. Too much guilt. Not enough pleasure," wrote critic Kirk Honeycutt in the trade paper The Hollywood Reporter.

Jeers, hisses and laughter was not "Canned", and what must have been a real disappointment for Tom Hanks who always looks surprised because of his facelift. The movie "The DaVinci Code", which is based upon a fictional story about how Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and had a child, takes two and a half hours to finish, but only thirty minutes to put a number of the audience to sleep, only to be awakened by laughter, where laughter is not appropriate or planned.According to reports some people walked out during the movie's closing minutes, and when the credits rolled there...

CANNES, France (Reuters) - Journalists gave eagerly awaited film "The Da Vinci Code" a cool reception at its first press screening on Tuesday, a day ahead of the world premiere of the adaptation of Dan Brown's controversial novel. The release of the big-budget Hollywood thriller has already prompted a wave of protests from Christians across the world who believe the theories put forward in the novel are blasphemous. One of the central characters suggests Jesus Christ married Mary Magdalene and they established a dynasty which elements within the Church would stop at nothing to try to cover up. The outcry...

The boycott of U.S. businesses dubbed "A Day Without Gringos," and aimed at supporting migrants in the U.S., appears to have had little impact, the head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico said Tuesday. Monday's protests were timed to coincide with "the Great American Boycott" in the United States, where hundreds of thousands of immigrants stayed away from jobs and schools across the country. "Even though we don't have conclusive numbers, I think there wasn't a lot of negative effect," Chamber President Larry Rubin said by telephone from Washington, where he and other business leaders are lobbying for...