Fionn Oblatt blog

Simon Cowell: US `X Factor' panel yet to be set

LOS ANGELES – The judging panel for Simon Cowell's U.S. version of "The X Factor" has yet to be set and he suggested Paula Abdul is in the running.

During a teleconference Monday, Cowell reaffirmed that he's a "massive fan" of Paula Abdul, his former "American Idol" colleague. But he's still deciding who will join him in judging his new talent contest and the panel won't be announced for several weeks.

"The X Factor" is set to debut next fall on Fox. Cowell exited the network's "American Idol" in part to focus on the new show, which has been a successful format in several countries since its debut in Britain in 2004.

The winner of "X Factor" will get a $5 million record deal, which Cowell said won't be a "dressed up" sum: The top contestant will get $1 million a year for five years, separate from the costs involved in recording and promotion.

"It's a massive, massive risk but it's also an incredible incentive. It puts everybody, rightly, under an enormous amount of pressure," Cowell said, adding, "I believe I can find a star."

'Z'-names people react faster than 'A'-names: study

WASHINGTON (AFP) – People whose last name starts with a letter near the end of the alphabet react more quickly to opportunities to buy something than those whose surname starts with an early-alphabet letter, according to a recent study of consumer behavior.

But the trait is apparent only in relation to childhood last names, not for adult surnames, leading the authors of the study to hypothesize that it could be a reaction to the ordered world of childhood, in which Zs tend to go last and sit in the back row at school while As get first choice and front-row seats.

Researchers from Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business and Massey Graduate School of Business in Nashville put limited-time or -quantity offers to several groups of graduate students, and found that the later in the alphabet the person's last name, the quicker they were to buy.

"People with childhood last names late in the alphabet queue up faster to get something they value," Kurt Carlson of the McDonough School of Business, one of the authors of the study, told AFP.

Carlson and co-author Jacqueline Conard believe that's because late-alphabet children "develop response tendencies to manage the inequities that arise from the use of last names to order their environment," they say in the study published in the January edition of the Journal of Consumer Research.

"Late alphabet consumers want to make sure they?re the first in line. Children late in the alphabet will move quickly when last name isn?t a factor," such as when they are grown-up, says the study.

That rapid response means that late alphabet consumers "many times end up getting things that other people don't get when there are limited supplies," Carlson said.

On the other side of the coin, people with last names early in the alphabet "will be so accustomed to being first that individual opportunities to make a purchase won?t matter very much; they will ?buy late,?" the two researchers say.

In the queues that form outside large department stores before big sales or outside cinemas before the latest Harry Potter film, "you can expect that there would be fewer people early in the alphabet and more people later in the alphabet," said Carlson.

The last name effect could be useful for marketers and other people who are selling something, says the study.

Marketers can easily obtain lists of names for mailshots, or target everyone on Facebook whose name starts with a letter at the tail-end of the alphabet to better sell a limited-time offer or product.

The end of the alphabet was considered any letter from R to Z.

People with late-alphabet names responded to offers put to them in the study -- involving everything from wine to money to free tickets to a basketball game or a cheap backpack -- about one hour faster than those with names near the front of the alphabet.

H&R Block agrees to improve access for deaf

WASHINGTON – The nation's largest tax preparation company, H&R Block, agreed Monday to improve its services for deaf and hard of hearing people.

The Justice Department announced that H&R Block had agreed to a nationwide settlement to resolve a complaint filed by a deaf person in San Antonio, Texas, under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

"The agreement will ensure that individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing have equal access to tax preparation services at more than 11,000 offices nationwide," said Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.

In a written statement, H&R Block spokesman Gene King said, "We are happy to put this behind us and concentrate on serving all clients during our 56th tax season."

The company agreed to provide auxiliary aids and services such as sign language interpreters, to train its employees and to enforce policies for communicating with deaf and hard of hearing customers. It will post notices advising customers of their right to request a sign language interpreter or other aid.

The company agreed to pay a $20,000 civil fine and pay the person who filed the complaint $5,000 in damages.

H&R Block, headquartered in Kansas City, has more than 11,000 owned or franchised offices in the U.S.

Vick wins Comeback Player award

DALLAS – Michael Vick took a most unusual path to The Associated Press 2010 NFL Comeback Player of the Year award he received Saturday night.

In the 12-year history of the honor, no player has returned from jail to earn it.

After missing two seasons serving a federal sentence for dogfighting, then spending most of the previous year as a seldom-used backup in Philadelphia, Vick was back at his best in 2010. Taking over as starter in Week 2 after Kevin Kolb sustained a concussion, Vick ran and passed the Eagles to the NFC East title and a 10-6 record.

He also displayed the kind of reformation away from the game that impressed a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league. Vick received 29 1/2 votes, easily beating Seattle receiver Mike Williams, who got eight.

"The most fun I've ever had playing football," Vick said. "The guys. The organization I play for now. Coaches. Players. Just the way I live my life now. It's just been great.

"As a person and a player I learned a lot through my experiences on and off the field. Don't take anything granted anymore. Certainly, back then (in Atlanta), I was just playing and having fun. I'm doing the same thing now, but I understand the importance of it and how hard it is to get to where we are today. I'm just thankful for the opportunity."

Coach Andy Reid, who dealt with family problems when two of his sons were arrested on drug charges, believed Vick could change around his life. Few of Vick's supporters have been as staunchly behind him as Reid.

"He had a plan and he stuck to that, both on and off the field," Reid said. "He knew certain things he wanted to get better at and he was open to the coaching on it, and he got himself back into shape. ... So, he did a great job with the football part of it.

"And then he spends a tremendous amount of time in the public, in particular on his days off ... speaking and doing the best he can to right the wrong. You can never erase that, but you can sure help change others from falling into that same problem."

A star in Atlanta for most of his six seasons as a Falcon after being selected first overall in the 2001 draft, Vick missed 2007 and 2008 while incarcerated for 18 months in a federal prison. The Eagles signed him to a two-year contract worth 6.8 million; he once had a $130 million deal with the Falcons that was the NFL's richest.

Philadelphia traded Donovan McNabb to Washington in April, believing Kolb would be the starter. He was — for one game. With Kolb sidelined, Vick was sensational.

He threw for five touchdowns overall in his first two starts, both wins, then damaged rib cartilage against Washington, forcing him out for 3 1/2 games. But Reid let him keep the job, and Vick was even more dynamic when he returned.

In a Monday nighter against the Redskins, Vick had a performance for the ages, throwing for four touchdowns and running for two in a 59-28 win.

He also threw for three scores and ran for one in a 38-31 victory at the Giants, a game in which the Eagles trailed by 21 points in the fourth quarter.

"Michael has great instincts. Michael's got it all at this point," Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said. "Really, the most important quality, in my opinion, for a quarterback to have is gut instincts, then comes the decision-making and the timing and accuracy. Then comes the big arm and athleticism and those types of things. The gut instincts are critical for a quarterback, and you can see that."

Not only did Vick make a remarkable turnaround on the field, but his image is improving away from the game. Last month, Vick signed his first paid endorsement contract since his release from prison, a two-year deal with Unequal Technologies, a provider of the football pads Vick wore most of this season.

"To sum it all up, the last five months, have been delayed gratification," Vick said. "Things that I wanted to accomplish the last couple years that I couldn't and I had to wait for it, and I had to be patient, and I did it and it all paid off. I just thank God for putting me with the right group of people, with Andy, with a flagship organization, a great group of coaches. ... They give me all the credit, but I give them the credit."

Also receiving votes were Minnesota linebacker E.J.Henderson (3 1/2), New England receiver Wes Welker, Chicago linebacker Brian Urlacher and Kansas City quarterback Matt Cassel (2 each), and Pittsburgh safety Troy Polamalu, Seattle running back/kick ereturner Leon Washington, and Tampa Bay rookie running back LeGarrette Blount (one each).

Polamalu won the Defensive Player of the Year award earlier this week.

___

AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi in Philadelphia contributed to this story.

Microsoft Extension Puts H.264 Back in Chrome Browser

Google recently shook things up by announcing that thewill no longer support the H.264 video codec. Fear not, though--Microsoft has come to Chrome's rescue with a browser extension that enables Chrome on Windows 7 to play H.264 video content in spite of the Google snub.

A post onprovides some explanation for the Google decision. "Though H.264 plays an important role in video, as our goal is to enable open innovation, support for the codec will be removed and our resources directed towards completely open codec technologies."

Fair enough. But, A) Adobe Flash support is integrated into , and Flash supports H.264, so the move seems purely symbolic or political, and B) the WebM VP8 video codec that Google is supporting doesn't require patent-licensing payment right now, but is not that different from H.264 and may very well charge patent royalties in the future.

Al Hilwa, ananalyst, e-mailed me with a query regarding the Google decision. Question: "How can you put the growth of adoption of your most important software product at risk, fragment the most important standard you care about, and, at the same time, upset a lot of your developers and Web-content owners who will try to figure out how you are living up to your motto of not being evil doing this?" Answer: "You announce that you plan not to support H.264 in your Chrome browser."

Hilwa goes on to point out that the VP8 codec is still under development and is not ready for primetime. With such low penetration for VP8, Hilwa believes that asking developers and content owners to abandon H.264 in favor of the nascent codec will result in many choosing instead simply not to support the Chrome browser.

Theblog proclaims, "For many reasons - which you can read about on other blog postsand --H.264 is an excellent and widely-used video format that serves the web very well today. As such, we will continue to ensure that developers and customers continue to have an optimal Web experience."

Toward that end, Microsoft developed theto ensure that Windows customers at least will still be able to experience the vast content available on the Internet in the H.264 format.