RitzBitz

This shot of the Discovery space shuttle will be recreated into a 5-acre image. Photo by Todd Bradford, courtesy PowerfulPixel.

Florida-based PowerfulPixel is attempting to set a world record, and offering anyone the chance to take part. On Dec, 9, 2006, PowerfulPixel Founder Todd Bradford captured an image of the N.A.S.A Discovery space shuttle’s first night launch in approximately 4 years. The image gained popularity, and an idea intended to unite people from all across the nation, while breaking a world record, was born.

 

 

The photo will be used to set a new world record as the world’s largest photo mosaic. If completed, the project will break the current world record set in Spain on Oct. 31, 2006 by more than 43 times. The image will be almost 5 acres in size and visible from satellites orbiting miles above the earth.

PowerfulPixel will be printing out each and every pixel in the shuttle picture as a 4-inch square of color which will then be affixed to pieces of plywood. Over 6,650 pieces of 4-by-8-foot plywood will then be laid out on the ground to recreate the original picture. Once the project has been certified as a new world record, the project will be dismantled, and all the plywood will be used to build new homes for fellow Americans.

The pixels in the photo and all are available for a sponsorship fee of $12. Once all the pixels have been sponsored, the project will be built, displayed and certified. If someone sponsors a pixel, that person will receive a certificate of authenticity, their name will be displayed on the PowerfulPixel website , and once the goal is reached, every sponsor will be known as a world record holder.

Pixels can be sponsored to honor or memorialize a friend or family member as a unique gift. Schools can participate in the fundraising program, which uses the world record breaking project as a unique fundraising activity. If sponsors want to support a featured school or organization, 25 percent of the $12 pixel sponsorship fee will go toward their fundraising efforts. Sponsors may also earn rewards including mp3 players, digital cameras, trips to Florida, and rides on G-Force One airplane, where you can experience weightless flight just like the astronauts on the space shuttle.

New Google search features raise concerns among retailers, search engine marketers

Google Inc.,  Mountain View, Calif., helped change the way Internet users search for information on the web. Now, in a controversial new move, it’s changing the way Internet users search for information on individual sites, reports an Internet Retailer article. The new feature has been included in Google’s proprietary search algorithms but does not appear on just any search of a retailer or brand name.
“The feature will now occur when we detect a high probability that a user wants more refined search results within a specific site,” Google says on its blog, Googleblog.blogspot.com. “The sites that display the site search box are chosen algorithmically based on metrics that measure how useful the search box is to users.”

In searches this week on Google of the top 50 e-retailers, only six produced a listing with the Search Within a Site window, says Internet Retailer. They are: Newegg.com, No. 10 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide; Best Buy Co. (No. 11); Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (No. 13); QVC Inc. (No. 14); Target Corp. (No. 19); and Zappos.com Inc. (No. 31).

Over time Google noticed that searchers were typing in one keyword or phrase, getting search results, then immediately conducting another search, typing in the same keyword or phrase along with more specific text. Search Within a Site is designed to streamline searching. And because it gives Internet users many more hyperlinks within a single destination to choose from, it could help boost traffic to retailers, says the article.

The feature, however, raises two primary concerns among merchants, says Internet Retailer. Ads for competitors can be displayed on the Google results page of a site search and performing a site search on Google does not take into account merchandising rules retailers create for their own site search tool. Google emphasizes that Search Within a Site is designed to enhance the user experience to help users find what they are looking for more easily, and that retailers can control ads that appear on site search results pages through bidding on keywords.

“By showing ads on the results page from the Search Within a Site feature, we aim to help our users find ads that are both useful and relevant to their searches,” a Google spokeswoman tells Internet Retailer. “Our goal is to provide the best user experience, and ads that are related to searches from competing providers are useful to consumers. If a site owner wants to present sponsored listings for these searches, that site owner can participate in the AdWords auction.”

In other news, companies that provide services for improving websites’ search-engine rankings and running effective search-engine ad campaigns are now competing with Google, reports a PCWorld.com article. Bundled in the DoubleClick acquisition came Performics, which provides search-engine marketing (SEM) and search-engine optimization (SEO) services. This has created concern for SEM and SEO service providers, which now face Google, a key partner, also as a rival.

Over the past 7 years, as Google’s popularity with advertisers and end users has boomed, so has the SEM and SEO business. Marketers began spending significant amounts to advertise on search engines, primarily Google, and they realized that they needed help from SEM firms to design, fine-tune and track the effectiveness of those campaigns. At the same time, those marketers recognized that they also had to make sure that their companies’ websites ranked well on search engines when users entered keywords relevant to their businesses, which is what SEO service providers specialize in, says the article.

Before the DoubleClick acquisition, SEM and SEO firms saw themselves as providers of complementary services to Google, but now that Performics is part of Google, things have changed. There is a concern that Performics will get special access to inside information about Google’s search-engine algorithms, allowing Performics to provide SEO services that are more effective that its competitors’. Then there is the worry that Google will push its in-house Performics SEM services at highly discounted prices, or maybe even free, in direct competition with SEM service providers.

Yahoo! launches Shine website aimed at women

Yahoo! Inc.,

Yahoo! Shine creates a single destination for the approximately 40 million women between the ages of 25 and 54 who already come to Yahoo each month, says the company. The new site brings together the resources of several existing Yahoo sites, including Yahoo! Food and Yahoo! Astrology, and will incorporate content from Yahoo! Health.

The new site will also provide Yahoo advertisers with a single lifestyles destination to reach this demographic. The female (age 25-54) audience, which Yahoo has designated as “Chief Household Officers,” is a highly sought-after demographic for advertisers. It is made up of heavy Internet users, who are frequently the household purchasing decision makers.
Yahoo’s new woman’s site comes on the heels of the Ask.com announcement earlier this month to focus its search engine site on a narrower market consisting of married women looking for help managing their lives. Read more in the March 10 issue of Newsline International.
With the shift, Ask.com is returning to its roots by concentrating on finding answers to basic questions about recipes, hobbies, children’s homework, entertainment, and health. The decision to cater to married women primarily living in the southern and midwestern United States comes after Ask spent years trying to build a better all-purpose search engine than Google. The new Ask.com site also provides advertisers more focused marketing to the female demographic.

Xerox to pay $670 million to settle shareholder lawsuit over alleged accounting manipulation
Xerox Corp., Norwalk, Conn., will pay $670 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit over alleged accounting misdeeds, while its former auditor, KPMG LLP, will pay $80 million, reports The Wall Street Journal. The Xerox payment deals with allegations that it inflated earnings by manipulating past accounting, specifically in the mid-1990s. The company will place an additional $125 million in reserve for potential liability in three other pending lawsuits related to similar allegations. The settlement and reserve will result in a $491 million after-tax charge in the first quarter, says the article.

Xerox and KPMG LLP did not admit any wrongdoing, but claimed to settle the case “to avoid the time, expense and uncertainty of litigation.” Xerox toyed with bankruptcy in late 2000 when the alleged accounting scandal began to be investigated. Xerox has since come under new management and has restored its financial stability, says the article.

In 2002, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Xerox and some of its senior executives with engaging in a scheme to mislead investors about the company’s true financial situation during the mid-1990’s, when it posted robust financial results. The allegations centered on the way Xerox accounted for its leasing of copiers and other equipment to customers. By manipulating assumptions, Xerox artificially booked more of the lease revenue upfront rather than over the several-year life of the lease, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Xerox settled the charges from the SEC and agreed to pay a $10 million civil penalty. The company soon after restated 5 years of results, admitting its pretax income over that period had been improperly inflated by 36 percent, or $1.41 billion. The restatement followed an audit that found $6.4 billion of the company’s income had been improperly allocated over that five-year period. In one year, 1998, Xerox reported $579 million pretax profit, but actually had a pretax loss of $13 million, reports the article.

KPMG was accused in a civil suit of fraud for knowingly or recklessly allowing Xerox to mislead its shareholders by filing false financial statements. The SEC alleged that KPMG not only knew about but approved many of the illegal accounting techniques. KPMG settled the case in 2005, paying $22.5 million without admitting or denying the allegations.

People on the move
· Olympus Corp. of the Americas, Center Valley, Pa., announced F. Mark Gumz, president and chief operating officer of the global company’s wholly owned subsidiary in the United States since January 2000, will add chief executive officer to his title, effective immediately. His new position will utilize his longstanding experience with Olympus and the leadership skills developed during his more than 30-year career on behalf of the nearly 2,500 employees of Olympus companies in the Americas. Gumz is the highest-ranking official in the Americas and the first American to be appointed CEO of any Olympus entity. He will retain his positions as president of Olympus America Inc., Olympus Canada Inc., Olympus Imaging America Inc., and Olympus Medical Equipment Services America Inc. He also continues to oversee the operations of Olympus Latin America Inc. As of April 1, the Olympus Corp. holding company that provides shared services for all Olympus companies in the Americas, of which F. Mark Gumz becomes CEO, will be renamed from Olympus USA Inc. to Olympus Corp. of the Americas (OCA) to better reflect its regional geographic responsibility for North and South American Olympus operations.

· Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, N.Y., promoted Ann S. Turner chief marketing officer and vice president of Kodak’s Film, Photofinishing and Entertainment Group (FPEG), making her responsible for managing the Kodak brand across the company’s diverse portfolio of film and photofinishing products and services. The promotion is effective immediately. Turner previously was regional business general manager and vice president, Americas Region, Entertainment Imaging (EI) division. In her new role, she will provide leadership for marketing processes and strategies across all FPEG businesses, with dual responsibility for the EI marketing program and marketing services staff. Turner will relocate mid-year from New York City to the Kodak headquarters in Rochester. Assuming Turner’s responsibilities is Michael J. Morelli, who Kodak named vice president and general manager of its motion picture business in North and South America. Kodak also announced the appointment of Joel Proegler to the position of general manager, Film Capture, and vice president, FPEG. Proegler will oversee the Film Capture division’s worldwide operations, which comprise professional films, consumer films, and single-use cameras. Proegler is located in Rochester.

· Syntax-Brillian Corp., Tempe, Ariz., a manufacturer and marketer of LCD HDTVs, Vivitar digital cameras, and consumer electronics products, appointed Bradley Lines interim chief financial officer, effective March 24. Lines has been serving as the firm’s senior vice president of Finance and corporate treasurer. He will replace Jack Hodgson, who resigned as executive vice president, chief financial officer and director, to pursue other opportunities. Lines brings more than 26 years of experience in finance and operations before joining Syntax-Brillian in May 2007.

· Whitech USA Inc. , West New York, N.J., names Tobe J. Fitterman the new marketing coordinator for the company. While relatively new to the photo industry, Fitterman brings long-term business-to-business marketing, development and communication practices to Whitech. She has previously worked with retailers such as Foot Locker, Giorgio Armani, and Hertz Corp. on national roll outs, says Whitech.

· Olan Mills Inc., Chattanooga, Tenn., promoted David Butler president and COO, and Richard Restiano has joined the company as vice president and chief marketing officer. Both positions were effective March. Butler joined Olan Mills in November 1996 following an extensive career in retailing. Most recently, Butler served as president of the Church Directories Division at Olan Mills. Restiano has been in the photography industry for more than 30 years and re-joins Olan Mills after 4 years of leading the marketing efforts for a regional school portrait company in the Midwest where he opened four studios in the Chicago area. He first joined Olan Mills in 1993 where he worked in the school division and later became corporate vice president of Marketing.

Industry notes

· The Warner Bros. Studios Photo Lab in Burbank, Calif., recently began making fine art gicleé prints from Hollywood films and TV shows past and present available for purchase on its new website at www.WBphotocollection.com. In the most recent DIMAcast, PMA Senior Editor Jennifer Barr Kruger interviews Greg Dyro, director of the lab, about this new service.

· Drytac Corp., Richmond, Va., has acquired Advanced Finishing Solutions, an OEM provider and distributor of aqueous/UV-curable coating machines and liquid coatings. This move will position Drytac to leverage the growing demand for liquid laminating among users of flatbed inkjet printers, digital print-on-demand presses and photo printers, as well as operators of gicleé and fine-art studios, says the company. Advanced Finishing Solutions markets its products under such trade names as VERSA-Coater, PhotoMate, PressMate and DocuMate UV, Cyclone UV, AFC Liquid Coaters, ENDURACoat and INSTACure liquid coatings. Drytac is a manufacturer and distributor of mounting, laminating, framing and finishing materials, as well as finishing equipment, laminators, hot presses and accessories.

· Intel Corp., Santa Clara, Calif., closed a deal to create a flash memory chip company along with fellow chip maker STM Microelectronics NV and investment company Francisco Partner, reports The Associated Press. The new company, Numonyx B.V., will manufacture NOR and NAND flash memory chips used in digital cameras and many other portable devices. Intel said it has transferred its NOR flash memory business and other memory-chip manufacturing assets to Numonyx in exchange for 45.1 percent ownership of the company. ST Microelectronics acquired 48.6 percent of Numonyx and Francisco Partners acquired 6.3 percent ownership in exchange for a cash investment of $150 million.

· The Central Texas Chapter of the Professional Picture Framers Association (PPFA) — a PMA member association — will hold the Lone Star Picture Framers’ Conference, May 3-4, at the Omni Hotel, 700 San Jacinto, Austin, Texas. The event will feature a trade show, and educational seminars by framing industry experts Paul MacFarland, Chris Paschke, Linda Wassell, Fred Horton, and Don Berkman. The conference will also feature the Certified Picture Framer (CPF) exam, and the CPF Recertification course. For more information, visit www.centraltexasppfa.com.

· ScanMyPhotos.com , Irvine, Calif., is participating in the Photo Preservation Center’s “Great American Photo Scanning Project,” which began April 1. Created by the Photo Preservation Center, an educational division of ScanMyPhotos.com, and sponsored by ScanMyPhotos.com, “The Great American Photo Scanning Project” aims to promote scanning services and inspire people to have their shoeboxes of analog photo snapshots digitally scanned. Throughout April, ScanMyPhotos.com is providing up to 1,000 free photo scans to members of Flickr , MySpace , Blogger or Facebook, they will get up to 1,000 4-by-6-inch photos scanned to DVD, only paying $19.95 for return shipping and handling. The Photo Preservation Center features a national network of service providers, as well as links to photo scanning service providers who are current members of PMA, and a local listing of photo scanning service providers who are current members of the Independent Photo Imagers.

· Embedded imaging software company FotoNation Inc., Galway, Ireland, is featured in the March 28 Wall Street Journal on B1 . The article, “A Firm Makes Its Mark In the Blink of an Eye,” describes how FotoNation’s image-correction and facial detection software has made its way into dozens of camera models from name-brand suppliers like Nikon, Kodak, Pentax, and others.

· Olympus Imaging America Inc., Center Valley, Pa., will donate 10 percent of proceeds from its consumer products sold through the eBay Giving Works auction to C3: Colorectal Cancer Coalition and the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance (EIF’s NCCRA), to benefit advocacy and research. In addition to the proceeds raised, all Olympus cameras bought on eBay will be shipped with information about colorectal cancer screening. Colorectal cancer is not only one of the most preventable cancers, but also one of the most curable when detected at an early stage.

· YouTube , owned by Mountain View, Calif.-based Google Inc., plans to announce a new tool that lets anyone who uploads a video to the website see detailed metrics about who is watching the video, reports The Wall Street Journal. The new data will include measures such as the part of the world where a video is most-viewed, and how long it takes for a video to become popular. Only the person or organization that uploads a video will have access to this data. In coming weeks, YouTube also plans to introduce a feature that will indicate how a viewer came to a certain video — through a search engine, a related video, or a link on another website. YouTube is providing the tool for free in hopes that advertisers will use the data to figure out the best ways to advertise both on the video-sharing site and elsewhere, says the article.

· HARMAN technology Ltd., based in the United Kingdom, will take over the distribution of Paterson Photographic Products’ three specialty liquid film developers. Due to be offered in a 500ml size instead of the current 1-liter bottles, these developers give extra-sharp detail in silver gelatine images and were formulated by Geoffrey Crawley, the company said. The new distribution arrangement excludes the United Kingdom and a limited number of other territories where Paterson will continue to distribute its products. The agreement begins in all other areas but the United States on April 1, and takes effect in the United States on June 4. WYNIT Inc. the HARMAN technology distributor, will become the exclusive distributor of Paterson photo products in the United States.

· Nina Plastics Inc., Orlando, Fla., added a new division, formally Clear File Inc., which is now owned and operated by Nina Plastics under the direction of Satish Sharma, CEO and owner. Established more than 25 years ago, Nina Plastics specializes in quality packaging materials. Transformation of its corporate identity will take the company forward, along with Nina Plastics’ existing capabilities and technologies.