-
Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Apr 29, 2015
April 29, 2015
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
Shopping for Mom:
Digital advertising firm Criteo finds if kids (and dads) have already shopped, Mom will likely get jewelry for Mother's Day. Those shopping the week of May 04 are most likely to receive clothing/accessories from mass merchants or luxury brands and those shopping last minute (week of May 07) are more likely to grab flowers and gifts for their favorite matriarch. (Kaye)
A new survey from Ebates indicates moms would like some new dinner ideas: nearly half (40 percent) of moms would like a new cook book or even cooking classes this Mother's Day. (Kaye)
The Airlines:
You don't see this happen very often. Many airline pilots now carry iPads which contain all the information they used to carry in their (big) briefcases, like airport information and other things... at a savings of 35 pounds!
But American Airlines pilots --who carry the iPad-- had problems last night when several flights couldn't take off because a software problem in one of the iPad's apps, which handles navigation.
American has used iPads since 2013, and the company says this was the first time they ever had a problem with them. Yesterday the pilots had to get navigational charts before taking off.Sucking the life out of the wire services:
Congratulations to MICHELLE KEEGAN from "Ordinary Lies," who was just named the Sexiest Woman in the World by FHM. The glossy calls the actress "mind-bendingly sexy," while other notable contenders include 80-year-old foodie MARY BARRY coming in at 73, MILEY CYRUS at 32, RIHANNA at 23, BRITNEY SPEARS at number 12 and TAYLOR SWIFT at 15. Here's the top 10:
10. KELLY BROOK
9. EMILIA CLARKE
8. LUCY MECKLENBURGH
7. MARGOT ROBBIE
6. ARIANA GRANDE
5. CAROLINE FLACK
4. KATE UPTON
3. JENNIFER LAWRENCE
2. KENDALL JENNER
1. MICHELLE KEEGAN (Lee)Zero-tolerance:
A professor at Texas A&M failed an entire class.
Professor IRWIN HORWITZ told students in his Strategic Management class that they are "a disgrace to the school" and said he had reached his "breaking point." Horwitz explains, "I was dealing with cheating (and) individuals swearing at me."
Students are calling the allegations ridiculous. And Dr. PATRICK LOUCHOUARN, vice president of Academic affairs, says the school is not siding with the professor on this. (Still)Text me... in baby talk:
A new study of mobile device usage by babies and toddlers from the UC San Diego School of Medicine's Department of Pediatrics finds one third of babies brought to a clinic serving a low-income urban area were using mobile devices before they could walk or talk.
Some six-month-olds were using mobile devices for up to half an hour a day; one in seven toddlers in the survey set used a mobile device for at least an hour a day.
More than half of respondents reported allowing children younger than a year old watch TV shows on a mobile device with 24 percent saying their infants had made phone calls (intentionally???) and 12 percent say the tots had played video games.
It's similar to how the boob tube of yore was used as a babysitter, with 73 percent of respondents letting their kids use mobile devices while they're doing chores, 60 percent while they're running errands, and 65 percent as a way to calm their child.
FYI: The American Academy of Pediatrics advises that children under the age of two shouldn't be exposed to any electronic media --including TV, computers, smartphones, and tablets. (Kaye)Grace notes from Vinny Marino:
JACK ELY, the lead singer of THE KINGSMEN, has died. TMZ.com says the man who sang the words no one could understand to the band's 1963 hit, "Louie Louie" passed away on Monday. He was 71 and had been sick for a few years. Jack's son, SEAN, told Time magazine (quote), "Because of his religious beliefs, we're not even sure what (the illness) was."
Jack was a founding member of The Kingsmen and urban legend says it cost $36-dollars to record "Louie Louie" at a studio in Portland, Oregon. Because no one knew what Jack was actually singing, the FBI was convinced the song was obscene and wound up publishing a 455-page investigative report on it. Jack left the band shortly after the single was released. It's been covered by dozens of artists, but The Kingsmen's version is THE ONE! (Marino) -
-