alphadogg writes “Starting in Might, many will have the opportunity to see computing done the old-fashioned way: with lots of gears, a large crank, and some muscle. The Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA, will unveil a new construction, the first in the US, of the 19th-century British mathematician Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine No. 2, an improved version of his earlier design for a mechanical digital calculator. It weighs in at two tons more than the Difference Engine built in 1991 at London’s Science Museum. Microsoft millionaire Nathan Myhrvold commissioned and paid for the US model.”

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esocid writes “A team of European scientists has deliberately triggered electrical activity in thunderclouds for the first time by aiming high-power pulses of laser light into a thunderstorm. At the top of South Baldy Peak in New Mexico during two passing thunderstorms, the researchers used laser pulses to create plasma filaments that could conduct electricity. No air-to-ground lightning was triggered because the filaments were too short-lived, but the laser pulses generated discharges in the thunderclouds themselves up to several meters long. Triggering lightning strikes is an important tool for basic and applied research because it enables researchers to study the mechanisms underlying lightning strikes. Moreover, triggered lightning strikes will grant engineers to evaluate and test the lightning-sensitivity of airplanes and critical infrastructure such as power lines. Research into laser-triggered lightning has been going on for some years. Until now, no experiment was able to produce a long enough plasma channel to affect the electrical activity inside clouds.”

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crossconnects writes to mention that Discovery is reporting that astronomers have found a nearby star with a mild surface temperature of 660 degrees fahrenheit. “The spectacularly unspectacular object is of special interest because it falls right smack in the middle of the final frontier that divides mega-planets from the puniest stars. Stars in that realm theoretically qualify as an entirely new stellar type — what’s called a Y class dwarf.”

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reverseengineer writes “Eminent physicist John Archibald Wheeler has died from pneumonia at the age of 96. The coiner of the terms ‘black hole’ and ‘wormhole,’ Wheeler popularized the study of general relativity, and advised a distinguished list of graduate students including Kip Thorne and Richard Feynman. Other work included a collaboration with Niels Bohr to develop the ‘liquid drop’ model of nuclear fission. Max Tegmark, a cosmologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, stated of Dr. Wheeler, ‘For me, he was the last Titan, the only physics superhero still standing.’”

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Filed under: Products and services, Small business

Markel Corporation (NYSE: MKL), insurer of specialty properties and real estate, recently acquired Specialized Insurance Inc., which focuses on insurance for service garages at vehicle dealers and gas stations. The move is said to be in keeping with Markel’s intentions to grow this sector of it’s business. Specialized Insurance Inc. already acted as agent for Markel. Financial details of the acquisition remain undisclosed.

Markel has been in the business of insuring specialty properties and other niche markets since 1930. The company issues policies covering everything from archery ranges and railroads to pollution liabilities and paintball tournaments. The company has net annual cash flow from operating activities in excess of 500 million, but that figure has been in annual decline since 2004.

Markel’s major competitors are American International Group Inc.(NYSE: AIG), Chubb Corp. (NYSE: CB), and Travelers Companies Inc. (NYSE: TRV). As a group, shares of the four companies are performing sluggishly with all four holding share value at least 10% below their respective 52-week highs.

Short interest in Markel has been increasing, and is currently at it’s highest point since October 1, 2007. Short interest is reported by AOL Money and Finance to be 2% of float. Markel has 9.94 million shares outstanding with an average daily trading volume of 17k shares.

Institutional interest in Markel Corp is 100%, with the greatest interest being held by Ariel Capital Management with a total of 818,641 shares being held by that company at the time of this research. Current analyst sentiment on the stock is a strong hold.

Gary Sattler is a freelance blogger and holds interest in MKL via Vanguard Group Inc.

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Filed under: Bad news, Products and services, Consumer experience

An Associated Press news release stated that Malt-O-Meal has voluntarily recalled several breakfast cereals in connection with 23 cases of salmonella poisoning in 14 says. The press release indicates that the recall, issued April 5, 2008 is aimed at bags of cereal which were produced in the last 12 months at Malt-O-Meal’s Northfield Minnesota facility.

The company is privately held.

The press release states: “(The cereals) were distributed nationally under the Malt-O-Meal brand name, as well as private labels including Acme, America’s Choice, Food Club, Giant, Hannaford, Jewel, Laura Lynn, Pathmark, Shaw’s, ShopRite, Tops and Weis Quality. The cereal bags have “best if used by” dates from April 8, 2008 (coded as APR0808), through March 18, 2009 (coded as MAR1809).

The company urges consumers to discard any unused cereal bearing the effected dates. Retailers have been notified to remove affected product from their shelves. For complete details on this recall, you may review the company’s own public notice of recall on the Malt-O-Meal website.

Malt-O-Meal President and CEO Chris Neugent states in the company press release: “Malt-O-Meal has a strong food safety record and we are constantly looking for ways to improve our products and procedures to exceed industry standards. We have a strong food safety program in place throughout our operations, including our warehouse, processing facility and distribution system.”

Gary Sattler is a freelance blogger and the Malt-O-Meal, Cinnamon Toasters cereal he ate this morning was quite delicious.

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Filed under: Earnings reports, Bad news, Products and services, Recession

Timberland Co. (NYSE: TBL), manufacturer of outdoor apparel and footwear, reported a 33% drop in revenue back in February, due mainly to a decline in its sales of boots and children’s footwear. Seacoastonline.com reported, excluding restructuring costs, the company said that it earned 52 cents per share in its fourth quarter. That earnings report came in one cent higher than the results expected by analysts polled by Thomson Financial. The company is currently in the process of dual share buy-back plans, initially involving over 12 million shares of it’s Class A Common Stock.

While the company has experienced tough times in the marketing of outdoor shoes and boots, the manufacturer reported an increase of approximately 3% in its sales of accessories and apparel, which includes its strong SmartWool socks line. While the company has weathered a drop in domestic same-store sales of more than 9%, Seacoastonline.com reported that sales for the company declined only 5.5% globally in the fourth quarter. Careful watch on the economy might expose this stock as a nice quick pick in the event of a retail turnaround. Timberland is working to revitalize sales by applying additional new focus on footwear aimed at the food service, health care and hospitality industries.

Timberland is currently trading at approximately 50% off its 52-week high of $27.76 per share.

Gary Sattler is a freelance blogger and does not knowingly hold positions in the companies he blogs about.

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Cognitive Dissident writes “Intellectual property thuggery is not restricted to the IT and entertainment industries. The Might 2008 edition of Vanity Fair carries a major feature article on the mafiaa-like tactics of Monsanto in its pursuit of total domination of various facets of agribusiness. First in GM seeds with its ‘Roundup Ready’ crops designed to sell more of its Roundup herbicide, and more recently in milk production with rBGH designed to squeeze more milk out of individual cows, Monsanto has been resorting to increasingly over-the-top tactics to prevent what it sees as infringement or misrepresentation of its biotechnology. As with other forms of IP tyranny, the point is not really to help the public but to consolidate corporate power. Quotes: ‘Some compare Monsanto’s hard-line approach to Microsoft’s zealous efforts to protect its software from pirates. At least with Microsoft the buyer of a program can use it over and over again. But farmers who purchase Monsanto’s seeds can’t even do that.’ and ‘”I don’t know of a company that chooses to sue its own customer base,” says Joseph Mendelson, of the Center for Food Safety. “It’s a very bizarre business strategy.” But it’s one that Monsanto manages to get away with, because increasingly it’s the dominant vendor in town.’ Sound familiar?”

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You asked questions about Skewz.com on April 2nd and April 3rd. Here are your answers. This media bias stuff is tricky to deal with. Both Skewz and Microsoft’s Blewz are trying, anyway. Skewz people say they want to jump into the conversation attached to this post, so if you have any follow-up questions please feel free to ask them.

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Filed under: Earnings reports, Bad news, Products and services, Consumer experience, General Electric (GE)

Royal Philips Electronics, the largest consumer electronics maker in Europe, reported this morning a decline in its first-quarter profit. As another sign that the slumping U.S. economy is hurting companies overseas, Philips posted a bigger-than-expected 28% fall in its core profit after weak North America television sales offset gains in its health care and lighting businesses.

The company’s first-quarter net income was 219 million euros ($347 million), lower than 875 million euros reported last year when Philips benefited from higher gains on the sale of stakes. For its overall sales, the world’s largest maker of lighting posted a growth of only 1% to 5.96 billion euros ($9.44 billion), while comparable sales saw a decline of 9% in North America, hurt by weak results from the company’s TV business.

The company’s quarterly earnings figure included a gain of 83 million euros on the partial sale of its shareholding in LG Display Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LPL), Philips said, while, the prior-year quarter results included a net gain of 733 million euros from the partial sale of the shareholding in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (NYSE: TSM).

“Our results are clouded, more than we like, by the adverse situation in our TV business,” and lower license income, Philips Chief Executive Gerard Kleisterlee stated.

On Friday, Philips’ rival General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) announced an unexpected first-quarter profit drop, reflecting the negative effects of difficult capital markets and the tumbling U.S. economy. It looks like challenging market conditions which which put a curb on consumer spending are continuing to have a bad impact on more an more companies amid fears about a global economic slowdown.

Eliza Popescu is a financial writer for the on the internet investment advisory service Investor’s Observer.

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