Stasia and Bob: 'Water Cube'

Stasia and Bob: 'Water Cube'

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The latest in Financial Infotainment--Minyanville

A friend of mine sent me a link to this website, Minyanville. The site is will worth visiting. Informative and entertaining. The stuff on China, subprime loans and trading is thought provoking. Chances are good you will be sending this link along to your freinds.


Some examples of the headline stories.

Fire in the Hole!
Todd Harrison
...as yesterday’s false alarm once again proved, structural smoke won’t matter until someone actually sees a fire.

Testing the Waters of Intel
Jeff Macke
Plucking at the strings of lunacy, trying to find something valid enough to trade off, thus becomes a somewhat futile exercise...

Stocks To Watch: Dell, eBay, Ford, IBM, Sysco
Minyanville Staff
Today's top stories and some stocks with potential to move...

Bear Stearns' Hedge Fund Mess
Bennet Sedacca
Brokerage paper has been widening relative to Treasuries of late, but so has everything else, as perhaps it should.

The Market's Remarkable Symmetry
The market may have an agenda higher in terms of time and price, but... there are many clusters of time, price and pattern projecting a turning point in this neighborhood.


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Robert T DeMarco Weblog: Long Live Sanjaya

Hey, I don't mind admitting it, I watch American Idol. Frankly, I find the show uplifting. What could be better than watching young people reach for their dream--the American Dream. If nothing else you need to admire them for have the courage to go for it. It beats sitting on your butt dreaming about what you want.

And I'll tell ya what. I am a big fan of Sanjaya. That's right. The kid has a voice like Stevie Wonder.



The thing that interests me the most is the fact that every single person I know hates the kid and does not believe he deserves to be in the top twelve. Well guess what? Most of them have been paying off their weekly bets to me as the kid moves on.

They continually ask me what I see in Sanjaya? I honestly believe he has a "fantastic" voice. No he isn't a showman, nor does he have a big act. He looks like a deer in the headlights. But let's face it I am not the only one that sees something in the kid, America, or a slice of America believes in him.

Do I think he will make it much further? No, I don't. On the other hand, it won't surprise me if he goes another couple of weeks. One thing for sure, he is going to need to knock the cover off the ball if he intends to move on this week. Can he deliver the big big performance when he needs it? I for one am rooting for him.

I was sorry to see Sundance go. He is really terrific. But, sometimes they just don't seem to learn you gotta sing something popular. A tremendous rendition of a song none of us every heard of insures one thing--back you go to your day job. Right Constantino?

From the Robert T DeMarco Weblog



Robert T DeMarco Weblog: Long Live Sanjaya

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Free Over the Air High Definition Television

"Did you know you can receive high definition TV programing free via a simple antenna? Imagine inviting your friends over and showing them a picture that is often clearer than cable and without the monthly cable bill."

To read the article in its entirety go to Robert T DeMarco Weblog: Free Over the Air High Definition Television.

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Alzheimer’s Disease: What is it? Who gets it? What causes it?

Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of a condition called dementia. It is named for the German doctor who first described it, Alois Alzheimer. What is it? Who gets it? What causes it?

You can read the entire post at The CareGiver Weblog

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The CareGiver: Huperzine A Factsheet (Alzheimer's)

I recently read about Huperzine A. The following page contains a fact sheet about the herb. Huperzine A may have cognition-enhancing activity in some.




Source Huperzine A


TRADE NAMES

Huperzine A is available from numerous manufacturers generically. Branded products include Memorall (PharmAssure), Huperzine Rx-Brain (Nature's Plus).

DESCRIPTION

Huperzine A is a plant alkaloid derived from the Chinese club moss plant, Huperzia serrata, which is a member of the Lycopodium species. Huperzia serrata has been used in Chinese folk medicine for the treatment of fevers and inflammation.

Huperzine A has been found to have acetylcholinesterase activity. Huperzine B, also derived from Huperzia serrata, is a much less potent acetylcholinesterase inhibitor. Natural huperzine A is a chiral molecule also called L-huperzine A or (-)-huperzine A. Synthetic huperzine A is a racemic mixture called (±)-huperzine A. Huperzine A is also known as HUP, hup A and selagine. In Chinese medicine, the extract of Huperzia serrata is known as Chien Tseng Ta and shuangyiping. Huperzine A derivatives are being developed for pharmaceutical application.

ACTIONS AND PHARMACOLOGY ACTIONS

Huperzine A may have cognition-enhancing activity in some.

MECHANISM OF ACTION

Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with neuritic plaques that affect the cerebral cortex, amygdala and hippocampus. There is also neurotransmission damage in the brain. One of the major functional deficits in Alzheimer's disease is a hypofunction of cholinergic neurons. This leads to the cholinergic hypothesis of Alzheimer's disease and the rationale for strategies to increase acetylcholine in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients. Two FDA-approved drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, tacrine and donepezil, are acetylcholinesterase inhibitors.

Huperzine A is also an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor and has been found to increase acetylcholine levels in the rat brain following its administration. It also increases norepinephrine and dopamine, but not serotonin levels. The natural L or (-)-huperzine A is approximately three times more potent than the racemic or (±)-huperzine A in vitro.

PHARMACOKINETICS

There are limited pharmacokinetic studies with huperzine A. It appears that huperzine A is rapidly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and transported to the liver via the portal circulation. Some first-pass metabolism takes place in the liver, and huperzine A and its metabolites are distributed widely in the body, including to the brain. Following ingestion, the time to reach peak blood level is approximately 80 minutes.

INDICATIONS AND USAGE

Huperzine A has potent pharmacological effects and, particularly since long-term safety has not been determined, it should only be used with medical supervision. It may have some effectiveness in Alzheimer's disease and age-related memory impairment. It has been used to treat fever and some inflammatory disorders, but there is no credible scientific evidence to support these uses.

RESEARCH SUMMARY

Numerous studies, most of them from China, suggest that huperzine A may be as effective as the drugs tacrine and donepezil in Alzheimer's disease. This is not so surprising since in vitro and animal model tests have demonstrated that huperzine A effectively inhibits acetylcholinesterase, an enzyme that catalyzes acetylcholine breakdown. Tacrine and donepezil work in the same way to conserve acetylcholine in the brain--the mode by which they presumptively improve memory and cognition in those with Alzheimer's and age-related cognitive impairment. Huperzine A may prove superior to tacrine (dose-limited due to its hepatotoxicity) if long-range studies, yet to be conducted, demonstrate its safety.

In one double-blind, randomized study, huperzine A, in injectable form, was tested against a saline control in 56 patients with multi-infarct dementia or senile dementia and in 104 patients with senile and pre-senile simple memory disorders. Huperzine A produced significant positive effects as measured by the Wechsler Memory Scale. Dizziness was experienced by a few of the huperzine A-treated patients.

In another study, this one multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled and randomized, 50 subjects with Alzheimer's disease were given huperzine A or placebo for eight weeks. Significant improvement was noted in 58 percent of the patients in terms of memory, cognitive and behavioral functions. Research is ongoing.

CONTRAINDICATIONS, PRECAUTIONS, ADVERSE REACTIONS CONTRAINDICATIONS

None known.

PRECAUTIONS

Huperzine A should be avoided by children, pregnant women and nursing mothers.

Because of possible adverse effects in those with seizure disorders, cardiac arrhythmias and asthma, those with these disorders should avoid huperzine A. Those with irritable bowel disease, inflammatory bowel disease and malabsorption syndromes should avoid huperzine A.

ADVERSE REACTIONS

Adverse effects reported with huperzine A include gastrointestinal effects, such as nausea and diarrhea, sweating, blurred vision, fasciculations and dizziness. Possible adverse effects include vomiting, cramping, bronchospasm, bradycardia, arrhythmias, seizures, urinary incontinence, increased urination and hypersalivation.

INTERACTIONS DRUGS

Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors: Use of huperzine A along with the acetylcholinesterase inhibitors donepezil or tacrine may produce additive effects, including additive adverse effects. Other acetylcholinesterase inhibitors include neostigmine, physostigmine and pyridostigmine, and use of these agents along with huperzine A may produce additive effects, including additive adverse effects.

Cholinergic Drugs: Use of huperzine A along with cholinergic drugs, such as bethanechol, may produce additive effects, including additive adverse effects.

NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS

Use of huperzine A with choline, phosphatidylcholine, CDP-choline and L-alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine hypothetically might produce additive effects, including additive adverse effects.

OVERDOSAGE

There are no reports of overdosage with huperzine A.

DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION

There are various forms of huperzine A available, including extracts of Huperzia serrata, natural (-)-huperzine A and synthetic racemic (±)-huperzine A. Natural (-)-huperzine A is approximately three times more potent than the synthetic racemic mixture. The doses of natural (-)-huperzine A used in clinical studies ranged from 60 micrograms to 200 micrograms daily. Huperzine A should only be used with a physician's recommendation and monitoring.

HOW SUPPLIED

Capsules — 50 mcg

Tablets — 50 mcg

LITERATURE

Cheng DH, Tang XC. Comparative studies of huperzine A, E-2020 and tacrine on behavior and cholinesterase activities. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1998; 60:377-386.

Cheng DH, Ren H, Tang XC. Huperzine A, a novel promising acetylcholinesterase inhibitor. Neuroreport. 1996; 8:97-101.

Quian BC, Wang M, Zhou ZF, et al. Pharmacokinetics of tablet huperzine A in six volunteers. Chung Kuo Yao Li Hsueh Pao. 1995; 16:396-398.

Tang XC, Kindel GH, Kozikowski AP, Hanin I. Comparison of the effects of natural and synthetic huperzine A on rat brain cholinergic function in vitro and in vivo. J Ethnopharmacol. 1994; 44:147-155.

Xiong ZQ, Tang XC. Effect of huperzine A, a novel acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, on radial maze performance in rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1995; 51:415-419.

Xu SS, Gao ZX, Weng Z, et al. Efficacy of tablet huperzine-A on memory, cognition and behavior in Alzheimer's disease. Chung Kuo Yao Li Hsueh Pao. 1995; 16:391-395.

Ye JW, Cai JX, Wang LM, Tang XC. Improving effects of huperzine A on spatial working memory in aged monkeys and young adult monkeys with experimental cognitive impairment. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1999; 288:814-819.

Zhang RW, Tang XC, Han YY, et al. Drug evaluation of huperzine A in the treatment of senile memory disorders. [Article in Chinese] Chung Kuo Yao Li Hsueh Pao. 1991; 12:250-252.

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Robert T DeMarco

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Cop 'talks' online to suicidal teenager

The successful real-time negotiation by Sgt. Tony Delgado is an example of how police are increasingly going online to solve crimes and defuse potentially volatile situations.

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Source SF Gate.com

A Fremont police sergeant got on a computer and used instant messaging to persuade a distraught 16-year-old boy barricaded in his house not to commit suicide, authorities said Friday.

The successful real-time negotiation by Sgt. Tony Delgado is an example of how police are increasingly going online to solve crimes and defuse potentially volatile situations.

"We're not afraid to experiment with technology. There's a lot of usage of the Internet," Fremont Police Chief Craig Steckler said Friday, noting that over the last three months, 25 percent of the department's reports of crimes came via e-mail.

At about 9 p.m. Thursday, a young woman called Fremont police to report that her 16-year-old ex-boyfriend was despondent and had threatened suicide while sending her instant messages, or IMs, said Fremont police Detective Bill Veteran.

Instant messaging is different than e-mail in that it allows users to communicate in real time, with both parties seeing each line of text right after it is typed.

Fremont police went to the boy's home near downtown, but he refused to answer the door, Veteran said.

Delgado, an overnight patrol sergeant who is a trained hostage negotiator, went to the girlfriend's home in Fremont's Warm Springs neighborhood. From her computer, Delgado initiated an IM conversation with the boy.

"The kid eventually agrees to come down and talk to the officer," Veteran said. The boy was taken to Washington Hospital in Fremont for a psychiatric evaluation. Delgado was not available for comment.

In Fremont, police have been on the forefront of using the Internet as a crime-fighting tool, taking crime reports online and, in accordance with Megan's Law, showing the general area of sex offenders' homes on maps on its Web site.

"To my knowledge, it's the first time that we've actually done a real- time (computer) negotiation," Veteran said. "I'm sure it won't be the last."

Police said the method of communicating with a barricaded person depends on the circumstances. In this case, "this was the most practical way at the time," Veteran said.

Law officers are trained to be prepared for anything when it comes to negotiating. In 1998, an Alameda County sheriff's deputy and a sign-language interpreter used their hands to help persuade a deaf man holding his 7-month- old son hostage to surrender.

And with the increasing popularity and ease of the Internet, officers now have another tool in their arsenal to resolve tense standoffs, police say.

"Could I see us using that medium in the future? Yes," said Petaluma police Officer Matt Thomas, a member of the board of directors for the California Association of Hostage Negotiators.

"If that medium was available, we would probably consider using that first before we went into the house," Thomas said Friday.

Police have sometimes been accused of moving too slowly to resolve standoffs, as was the case when the California Highway Patrol waited 13 hours before forcibly removing a suicidal man on the Bay Bridge last year.

But with instant messaging, there's direct communication -- and in the case of the suicidal Fremont teen, everything was resolved within minutes, Veteran said.

E-mail Henry K. Lee at hlee@sfchronicle.com.

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Microsoft sees blogs for the masses

The company that helped push word-processing and graphical computing into the mainstream wants to do the same thing with weblogs.

Source Microsoft sees blogs for the masses

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IMLogic Offers Free Blocking For Instant Messaging

The free product replaces products that cost anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000 to install and use.

You can easily find out if your employees are using instant messaging. All you have to do is get a free detection tools from IMLogic or another vendor that lets you check in on IM activity at no cost.

IMLogic today takes things a step further by today announcing that IM Detector Pro, which detects and can block IM usage is now available for free IM blocking. The free product replaces products that cost anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000 to install and use.

The Waltham, Mass.-based company says they're doing this now because blocking is just an interim step on the way to getting IM usage under control. IMLogic vice president of marketing Dave Fowler said, "Because we sell products that set up policy, we wanted to give them a sense of how big the problem was, and give them a chance to reduce it."

Enterprise administrators freely admit that IM is a productivity tool, but they are quick to point out the potential for security breeches and compliance violations that IM offers. "There are lots of organizations that use IM or other P2P technologies productively for their business," said Fowler, "but they are also being used in ways that are inappropriate and companies don't have a good sense of how much and why this technology is being used."

The company's strategy is of course backed by IMLogic's range of more sophisticated IM management products. IM Manager is sold to enterprise customers as both a client and a server product that can manage enterprise or public instant messaging domains.

Traffic can be forced to comply with policies, laws, and regulations, on an individual or group basis, and fine-tuned for each service, including file sharing services which may be in use illegally by employees. The product is even available for individuals, enabling parents to control IM usage by children.

"Any technology," concludes Fowler, "can be used for bad things. This helps people get rid of that." For further information, go to www.imlogic.com.

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Fifty-three (53) million American adults are Instant Message users

A new survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that fifty-three (53) million American adults are Instant Message users. Some 42% of online Americans use instant messaging, and 24% of instant messengers say they use IM more frequently than email.

Source Pew Internet

A new survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that fifty-three (53) million American adults are Instant Message users. Some 42% of online Americans use instant messaging, and 24% of instant messengers say they use IM more frequently than email.


Tracking figures by tracking firm comScore Media Metrix show that:

AOL Instant Message (the proprietary service to AOL subscribers) was used by 37% of those who traded IMs during the month. On a typical day during the month more than 5.7 million IM-ers were using this application.

Yahoo! Messenger was used by 33% of those who traded IMs during the month. This was the single most popular service used at work and the average user of the application spent 423 minutes using the application during the month – the highest total among the applications.

AIM was used by 31% of those who traded IMs during the month. This application had the greatest reach among college students and on any given day there were nearly 6 million people using the application, making it the most popular application on a typical day.

MSN Messenger Applications were used by 25% of those who traded IMs during the month.

America Online's offerings -- both to subscribers and those who use its free service -- accounted for 68 percent of all users. Yahoo! Messenger was used by 33 percent of IMers, and MSN'S Messenger saw action from 25 percent of the study.

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Industry Jabbers About Google's IM Product

If you believe comments made recently in discussion boards and blogs across the Internet, search giant Google is developing an instant messaging initiative.

Source Internet News.com

Industry Jabbers About Google's IM Product
By Sean Michael Kerner
If you believe comments made recently in discussion boards and blogs across the Internet, search giant Google is developing an instant messaging initiative.

The gist of the speculation is that in addition to leveraging its existing assets and expertise in search technologies, IM would allow Google to complete a communication platform that includes Gmail (its Web mail system) and Orkut (its community networking portal). Reports also indicate that Google's IM platform and client would be based on the open source Jabber protocol.

Google officials were unavailable for comment to either confirm or deny the rumor.

The Jabber Software Foundation (JSF), however, was available for comment. Peter Saint-Andre, executive director of the JSF, told InstantMessagingPlanet.com that the JSF always welcomes implementations and deployments of the Jabber protocols, which is also known as the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP).

"It is all speculation at this point, but if Google should choose to offer an IM service based on Jabber/XMPP technologies, they would be a welcome partner in the Jabber community's continuing efforts to ensure interoperability in instant messaging," Saint-Andre said.

He went on to detail that many high-profile companies such as IBM, HP, SUN and Oracle have already adopted Jabber/XMPP technologies, though he admits that the Google adoption would have a different sort of impact. "Google's impact would perhaps be more dramatic as their offering is likely an open, consumer-oriented service and their brand recognition is obviously at historic levels," Saint-Andre said.

Industry Open to Google's Entry
Members of the instant messaging community, including the leading open source instant messaging client implementation Gaim, are enthusiastic about the opportunities that Google may bring to Jabber/XMPP.

"I would love to see Google get involved in the IM world," Gaim lead developer Sean Egan told InstantMessagingPlanet.com. "They have enough pull on the Internet to possibly convert people en masse to Jabber, which is what Jabber needs. Gaim and plenty of other clients already support Jabber, so Google's IM users would have a wide selection of clients as soon as it launched."

"This could potentially be what brings Jabber into the eye of the general public," Egan said.

Part of the wild speculation surrounding the Google IM rumor also supposes that beyond being a potential tipping point for Jabber, a Jabber-based Google IM platform would supplant the already established public IM clouds of AOL, MSN and Yahoo.

Radicati Group Market Analyst Genelle Hung, however, doesn't buy into that hype despite the support a Google IM platform would inevitably get. "There would probably be a lot of grass-roots support — especially with consumers being unhappy with the 'big 3' [AOL, MSN, Yahoo!] for constantly changing their protocols and thus causing third-party clients such as Trillian and Gaim to break," Hung said. "An IM client based on open standards and APIs might be just what is needed to push further for IM standards and interoperability. However, I cannot believe that everyone on the other clients would hop over to the Google IM service anytime in the near future (should it happen) as IM is one of the "stickiest" and most loyalty-inducing features on the market today."

Jabber Software Foundation's Saint-Andre also agrees that a Jabber-based Google IM product wouldn't force the other IM services into nonexistence. He said he also sees a potential for industry standardization based a Jabber/XMPP Google service.

"In the short run, it is difficult to see why the IM services provided by AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo would disappear simply because Google started its own IM service," Saint-Andre said. "On the other hand, Google entered the search engine market at a time when Yahoo! dominated a very crowded market. Moreover, the existence of an open IM service offered by a company of Google's stature would combine with the large number of enterprise deployments to put significant pressure on the existing consumer services to offer true server-to-server interoperability."

Good for Jabber, Bad for Standardization?
IM Security and management vendor FaceTime Communications sees the situation somewhat differently. FaceTime Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Products Jonathan Christensen said he believes that the recent move by the MSN, AOL and Yahoo! to allow for interoperable enterprise gateways is a simple fact that should not be overlooked. Christensen explained that big three vendors have now made a move to standardize on SIP/SIMPLE and open source Jabber protocol XMPP is not part of that equation. SIMPLE, Christensen argues, already has a lot traction, owing to its SIP roots, that cannot be overlooked.

"If Google were to announce and run a Jabber-based system , rather than a tipping point for Jabber it would just be another point of fragmentation in the marketplace and another force potentially slowing consolidation in the industry," Christensen said.

That said, Christensen does recognize the fact that Jabber Inc has recently announced that it was working on providing an XMPP to SIP Gateway, to allow for interoperability on IBM's Lotus IM product (SameTime). It's unclear and unknown at this point if Google would go with a commercial implementation from Jabber Inc or work with the open source version of Jabber from the JSF.

The Unknown Google Stepchild
Outside of speculation, there is a currently little known reality about Google's current IM capabilities. It actually already has an IM tool and it's publically avaialbale — it's not even a Google Beta or a Google Labs project. Google though its acquisition of Blogger last year also acquired a company called Picassa, which also offer an instant messaging service. The IM technology is called Hello and is currently focused on instant messaging between people to share pictures and now to post pictures to a blog. Hello is currently available only for Windows and uses a proprietary protocol.

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AOL Instant Messaging Survey Lights The Way For New Marketing Opportunities

Instant messaging (IM) is now a mainstream communication platform for Web users, according to new data collected by America Online and Opinion Research Corporation, and the new usage figures are prompting the world's largest Internet Service Provider to aggressively market the Instant Messaging client as a unique opportunity for marketers.

The second annual instant messaging survey, which covered all IM platforms, queried 4,500 respondents in the top 20 U.S. markets. It found that 59 percent of Internet users use IM, 43 percent of employed IM users use it at work, 29 percent of IM users say they send as many or more IMs than e-mails per day, and 20 percent of IM users send mobile IMs or SMS text messages through a personal mobile device.

The survey also notes that IM now has deep penetration among all age groups. Ninety percent of online 13- to-21-year-olds are using IM, followed by 71 percent of online 22- to-34-year-olds, 55 percent of online 35- to-54-year-olds, and an astonishing 48 percent of online over-55s.

Strong usage has prompted AOL to develop unique marketing innovations for the IM client, which remain free to both members and non-members.

Its newest product, which AOL Media Networks Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Michael Barrett calls "the secret sauce" of the AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) marketing program, is called AIM Expressions. AIM Expressions is a service that was only available to AOL members, but with the launch of 5.9 in September, all AIM users will be able to participate. However, Expressions is a subscription service, priced at $1.95 a month, or $9.95 for annual subscriptions.

For marketers, AIM Expressions is a new interactive sponsorship opportunity that offers users the choice to decorate their AIM message window and client page with brand-related images or artwork, called "skins." "Skins" are customizable; advertisers can choose to include links to related Web sites, downloads, or game pages. Sponsored Expressions will also be free to all AIM users, requiring no subscription to use.

In addition to "skins," brands also can create personal avatars, called "super-buddies," which act like interactive buddy icons during conversation. For example, for the M&M's Expression, users can choose from one of several different colored M&M super-buddies, each with their own distinct characteristics and idiosyncrasies. The sponsorship was developed by AOL's creative department in conjunction with interactive shop Beyond Interactive, and the client.

According to Barrett, AIM Expressions can be "a powerful opportunity for marketers, because long after a campaign is over, [the expression and the character] are still part of the library of AIM Expressions." He added that any user who wants to take on another user's Expression can do so by simply clicking on the skin. Sponsored Expressions are also free to users.

Because AIM Expressions is completely opt-in, Barrett said there's no danger of bombarding users with messages. "[AIM Expressions] is hand-raiser, permission marketing," he said, noting that "if consumer appeal is low, consumer adoption will be low."

Barrett conceded that AOL is still selling advertising that skews to a mostly teen/young adult audience. He said AOL has yet to incorporate targeting into its inventory offerings; dayparting to workers during the day and a younger crowd at night is currently the best example.

For the future, he said AOL will look into targeting by IP address, industry, and geographic as well. Barrett also added that AOL will be working with its recent acquisition, interactive marketing firm Advertising.com, on new strategies, but would not go into specifics. "To be honest, we were as excited as we think marketers will be with the information [from the survey]," Barrett said, adding that AOL will continue to work on new offerings for marketers.

The AIM client currently offers three other advertising opportunities as well. The first is the text on the AIM Today start page, which offers content sponsorships to news and entertainment news providers. There is a banner on that page, and then there is the actual banner on the AIM client page, which contains users' buddy lists. This was recently video-enabled for ads of up to 30 seconds in length, and is frequency-capped at one per session, per day. ESPN, MTV, NBC, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and American Express have bought 30-second spots.

Takeovers are another sponsorship opportunity, according to Barrett, and are customizable. For example, for the "Garfield" movie launch, there were pawprints in the background of the AIM today page.

AIM Expressions "super-buddies" are currently in beta. The product launches full-time in September with AIM 5.9. Current AIM Expressions advertisers are Nike, M&Ms, Chicklets, Snapple, the Wall Street Journal Online, and movies "A Cinderella Story," "The Punisher," "13 Going on 30," and "The Last Samurai."

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America Online Inc.'s Second Annual Instant Messaging Trends

America Online Inc.'s Second Annual Instant Messaging Trends Survey Shows Instant Messaging Has Gone Mainstream

Teens and Young Adults Still Dominate But At-Work and Mobile Usage Is Growing Rapidly
Internet Users on High-Speed Connections Send More Instant Messages
Customizing "Away" Messages Remains Hot

55 and Older Say Photo Sharing is Important

New York, Miami and Chicago Are Most Active IM Cities; Dallas/Fort Worth Residents and San Franciscans Are Most Likely to IM from Work; Philadelphia Wins 'Water Cooler Award': Most Likely to Gossip about Co-Workers via Instant Message

DULLES, VA - August 24, 2004 - Teens and young adults still lead the way on instant messaging (IM), but usage in the workplace and on mobile phones and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) is on the rise, according to a new survey from America Online Inc. The second annual survey on instant messaging use in America, released today by the world's leading interactive services company, found instant messaging has gone mainstream, with preferences and habits as unique and diverse as its users:

* Nearly all surveyed teens and young adults (90 percent) engage in instant messaging, but IM is not the teen phenomenon it was once considered. An amazing 48 percent of those aged 55+ now use instant messaging, with photo sharing their favorite feature. Seven out of ten 22 - 34 year-olds and 55 percent of adults aged 35 - 54 use IM at home, at work or on any number of mobile devices.

* At-work use is gaining momentum with 27 percent of all IM users saying they use IM in the workplace - a 71 percent increase over last year. Fully 43 percent of employed IM users say they use desktop IM to communicate quickly in the workplace.

* Nineteen percent of IM users now send IMs or SMS text messages from mobile phones and PDAs, as compared with ten percent that did so last year. Thirty-two percent of these mobile messengers say they stay in touch with co-workers via mobile IM or SMS text messages while on business travel.

* The vast majority of those surveyed send IMs to keep in touch with family or friends (90 percent). Others use IM to share photos (28 percent), set up weekend or evening activities (22 percent), play games (14 percent) and get to know dates better (11 percent).

"Our second annual survey reveals that instant messaging has become part of the fabric of our daily lives, enabling all the roles we play from student to best friend, and from parent to busy professional," said Edmund Fish, senior vice president and general manager, Desktop Messaging, America Online. "It's clear that instant messaging has now gone mainstream; it's helping people do everything from spark new relationships to increase their productivity at work. We at AOL are extremely pleased to provide people everywhere with IM services that are reliable, easy to use and connected to a thriving global community."

Nationwide and around the world, instant messaging use is growing, with more than 7 billion [1] instant messages being sent every day worldwide, according to IDC. ComScore Media Metrix [2] reports that there are 250 million people across the globe - and nearly 80 million Americans - who regularly use instant messaging as a quick and convenient communications tool.

While more than 61 percent of those surveyed said they use more than one instant messaging application, AOL remains the leader, with 52 percent of users selecting AOL's instant messaging services, including the AOL(r) Buddy List(r) feature within the America Online(r) subscriber service, the free AOL(r) Instant Messenger(tm) (AIM(r)) service (http://www.aim.com) and the global ICQ(r) instant messaging service (http://www.icq.com).

The AOL instant messaging trends survey of nearly 5,000 respondents ages 13 and over was conducted in partnership with Opinion Research Corporation from June 7-17 and July 26-28, 2004.

Top 10 Cities and AOL's First Annual IM Awards

This year's survey includes a listing of America's top ten cities for IM usage and a number of "awards" for unique instant messaging habits of IM users in various cities.

According to the survey, the top ten markets for instant messaging are:

1. New York, NY 2. Miami, FL 3. Chicago, IL 4. Philadelphia, PA 5. Orlando, FL 6. Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX 7. Atlanta, GA 8. Washington, DC 9. Los Angeles, CA 10. Houston, TX

The AOL IM Awards include:

The Water Cooler Award: IM users in Philadelphia are most likely to gossip or complain about both their co-workers and their boss via IM (both 27 percent).

The Fastest Fingers Award: In New York and Dallas, IM users send the most instant messages per day (average 17 IMs per person).

The Job Jumper Award: In Tampa, IM users are most likely to send instant messages from work to look for new jobs (24 percent).

The 'An Affair to Forget' Award: IM users in Philadelphia are most likely to maintain multiple screen names to avoid an ex or a bad date (17 percent).

The Clark Kent Award: In Washington, DC and Minneapolis, IM users are most likely to have multiple screen names in order to maintain an alter-ego (20 percent).

The Chatty Charlie Award: IM users are the most "talkative" in Philadelphia and Miami, with an average of two instant messaging conversations going on at once.

The 'Come Here Often?' Award: In Atlanta and Sacramento, IM users are the most likely to use instant messaging to get to know dates or potential dates better (15 percent).

The Schoolhouse Rock Award: IM users in Atlanta are most likely to send mobile instant messages from a classroom or on campus (34 percent).

The Romance@Work Award: In Washington, DC, IM users are most likely to flirt or ask for or accept a date by instant message from the workplace (39 percent).

The Digital Don Juan Award: IM users in Cleveland are most likely to use their mobile phone or PDA for romance (56 percent). In fact, 31 percent have flirted and 38 percent have asked for or accepted a date via a mobile message.

Other Key IM Findings: Overall findings from the survey include:

* IM Gaining on or Surpassing Email for Many. Twenty-nine percent say that they send as many - if not more - IMs than they do e-mails, and the younger users are, the more likely they are to favor IM. Half (49 percent) of teens and young adults (ages 13-21) say they send more instant messages than e-mails, while only six percent of those 55 and older say they do.

* Teens and Young Adults Still Lead the Way: Ninety percent of Internet-savvy teens and young adults say they send instant messages, and 71 percent of those ages 22-34 say the same. America Online dominates the teen and young adult population with more than four out of five (81 percent) using the AIM service or the AOL Buddy List feature to send instant messages.

* High-Speed Boosts IM Usage: More than seven out of ten (71 percent) say they access the Internet at home using a high-speed connection, and 29 percent of those with high-speed access say this connectivity leads them to spend more time instant messaging.

* Variety is the Spice of "Away" Messages: One in four (25 percent) IM users changes his or her "away" message at least once a week. Nearly one in three (31 percent) reads other people's "away" messages every time they log on or every time a new one appears.

* Photo-Sharing Leads Features: The most important IM features nationwide are photo sharing (39 percent), customization (36 percent) and file sharing (32 percent). New Yorkers find the "away" message to be the most important feature (39 percent).

* IM Screen Name as Calling Card: When meeting someone new, those ages 13-21 are as likely to give out their IM screen names (52 percent) as their e-mail addresses (53 percent). This group is also as likely to use instant messaging (33 percent) as mobile phones (38 percent) to keep in touch with friends. Instant messaging is now tied with mobile phones (36 percent) as the preferred way to stay in touch with friends over the summer.

* Multiple Identities: More than one out of three (36 percent) IM users say they have more than one screen name. The majority (59 percent) says they do so to keep their groups of contacts separate, such as friends, family or co-workers. Thirty-one percent say they do so in order to monitor who's online without letting certain people know they are available, while 12 percent say they use alternative accounts to manage their online dating activities.

IM in the Workplace According to Osterman Research, 24 million instant messaging users in the U.S. log on from work, and 58 percent (nearly 14 million) use the AIM service. The AOL instant messaging trends survey revealed that nearly three out of four (71 percent) at-work IM users feel that instant messaging has had a positive impact on their work lives. The impact is even higher in Denver, where 88 percent of IM users maintain that their day-to-day business lives have benefited from instant messaging. More at-work highlights from this survey include:

* Over the Cubicle: The majority sends instant messages while at work to communicate with colleagues (70 percent), while 63 percent say they send IMs to get answers and make business decisions and 34 percent say they use instant messaging to interact with clients or customers. More than one in ten (11 percent) say they have used IM at work to avoid a potentially difficult in-person conversation.

* Checking In from Work: Nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of at-work IM users say they also send occasional instant messages during their workday to check-in with family and friends, while 22 percent of working parents surveyed say that IM provides them with peace of mind by enabling them to quickly touch base with their children from the office.

* IM a Flirt: More than one in five (21 percent) say they have flirted via instant message from work, and denizens of San Francisco are the most likely (47 percent) to send instant messages from the workplace for business, family or social purposes.

Mobile IM According to today's survey, 19 percent of IM users now send instant and SMS text messages from their mobile phones and PDAs, compared with just ten percent that did so last year. The AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) service is the most popular instant messaging application available on mobile devices, with 35 percent of mobile messengers choosing to use the AIM service or AOL Buddy List feature on their cell phones and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs).

* IM to SMS - Watch Out!: While SMS text messaging still dominates in the mobile messaging arena, 32 percent of all mobile messengers now use an instant messaging service on their mobile device instead of, or in addition to, sending SMS text messages. Men are slightly more likely than women to use mobile instant messaging (38 percent vs. 28 percent).

* Watch the Elbows: More than one in three (36 percent) mobile messengers have sent mobile IMs or SMS text messages from a mobile device in crowded public transportation, such as the bus or subway. Sporting events (25 percent), busy meetings (23 percent), campus classrooms (22 percent) and hospitals (12 percent) are other top places where mobile users find it convenient to send mobile messages.

* Work Connection: One in three (32 percent) mobile messengers send mobile IMs or SMS text messages to keep in touch with the office and make business decisions while on travel for work, and nearly three in four (74 percent) send mobile messages when they don't have time for a phone conversation.

* Pickup Line: Nearly one in three (31 percent) mobile messengers say they have used mobile IM or SMS text messaging for romance, including flirting (25 percent) and asking for or accepting a date (14 percent). Meanwhile, three percent have sent a mobile instant message to break up with a boyfriend or girlfriend and fully ten percent admit to having sent a mobile message while on a bad date.

Survey Methodology: Survey results are based on 4,510 respondents, 13 years and older, in the top 20 markets around the country. The survey was conducted June 7-17 and July 26-28, 2004 by Opinion Research Corporation www.opinionresearch.com on behalf of America Online. At-work instant messaging findings are based on those who work within organizations of 500 employees or less. The survey rankings are a compilation of several key factors, including the current percentage of instant message users; the number of people on their contact list; the number of instant messages sent per day; the average number of instant messaging conversations at one time; the number who customize their IM application; the number who have more than one screen name; the number who change their away messages; and the percentage who send more instant messages than e-mails.


About America Online, Inc.
America Online, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. Based in Dulles, Virginia, America Online is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies and e-commerce services.

[1] IDC Worldwide Enterprise Instant Messaging Applications 2003 Competitive Analysis: Putting IM To Work

[2] comScore Media Metrix, June, 2004

Contact Info:
Erin Gifford, America Online, Inc.
703-265-7285

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