Techcordance

AOL

Media giant Time Warner announced Thursday morning that it will cast off its AOL division to become a standalone company.
Before that separation can take place, Time Warner will buy the 5 percent of AOL owned by Google so that it will have 100 percent control of AOL. Time Warner expects the transaction with Google to take place in the third quarter and the final AOL spinoff around the end of the year.
As an independent, publicly traded company, AOL will focus on growing its Web brands and services, as well as its advertising business, according to Time Warner.
The separation of AOL from Time Warner will put a final nail in the coffin of one of the emblematic mergers of the dot-com boom and bust. Brimming with the abundant funds and hyper-optimism of the Web’s go-go years, AOL–then known as America Online–acquired Time Warner in January 2001 to create the world’s largest media company. Within a year, however, it was already apparent that the union of new and old media was not as “supercharged” as its backers had promised.

Terrorism

A former member of the Palestine Liberation Organization who converted to Christianity says the recent arrest of four Muslim men suspected in a plot to blow up two New York synagogues illustrates that homegrown terrorism is a growing threat in the United States and elsewhere.
Three of the Muslim men who were apprehended are Americans, and one is a Haitian national. A federal magistrate has ordered the four men to remain in custody. Prosecutor Eric Snyder told the court that the men are extremely violent, pose an extreme danger to the community, and were eager to bring death to Jews.
The suspects, who were under FBI surveillance for more than a year, planted what they thought were bombs in cars parked outside each synagogue. They then intended to shoot down planes with guided surface-to-air missiles, but the missiles and the car bombs — which were provided by an FBI informant — had been deactivated. Police say the suspects all had criminal records and may have converted to Islam while in prison. Authorities say they had no known ties to al-Qaida.

Prop 8

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The California Supreme Court upheld a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage Tuesday, but it also decided that the estimated 18,000 gay couples who tied the knot before the law took effect will stay wed.
The 6-1 decision written by Chief Justice Ron George rejected an argument by gay rights activists that the ban revised the California constitution’s equal protection clause to such a dramatic degree that it first needed the Legislature’s approval.
The court said the people have a right, through the ballot box, to change their constitution.
“In a sense, petitioners’ and the attorney general’s complaint is that it is just too easy to amend the California constitution through the initiative process. But it is not a proper function of this court to curtail that process; we are constitutionally bound to uphold it,” the ruling said.
The announcement of the decision set off an outcry among a sea of demonstrators who had gathered in front of the San Francisco courthouse awaiting the ruling. Holding signs and many waving rainbow flags, they chanted “shame on you.” Many people also held hands in a chain around an intersection in an act of protest.
Gay rights activists immediately promised to resume their fight, saying they would go back to voters as early as next year in a bid to repeal Proposition 8.
The split decision provided some relief for the 18,000 gay couples who married in the brief time same-sex marriage was legal last year but that wasn’t enough to dull the anger over the ruling that banned gay marriage.

Windows 7

SEATTLE (Reuters) -

Microsoft Corp is on track to release its new Windows 7 operating system in time for the holiday shopping season, an executive said on Monday, confirming talk it is ahead of its own conservative schedule for replacing the unpopular Vista system.

The world’s largest software company has so far been vague on specifying the timing of its new operating system, wary of disappointing customers. But it has broadly targeted the end of this year or the beginning of next year.

“Windows 7 is tracking well for holiday availability,” Bill Veghte, senior vice president of Microsoft’s Windows business said at an event on Monday, citing good test results on the early version of the system released to developers and the public over the past few weeks.

Global Warming?
When the Rev. James Merritt wants to talk about the environment, he does what any good Baptist preacher would do. He picks up the Bible.
“The first assignment that God gave to Adam was to take care of the Garden,” said Merritt, who was president of the Nashville-based Southern Baptist Convention from 2000-02. “As far as I know, that job has never been revoked.”
While most Christian ministers agree that human beings are to care for creation, they disagree on the details. That’s especially true about the topic of global warming.
A new survey from Southern Baptist-owned LifeWay Research found a split between mainline ministers, like Episcopalians and Methodists, and evangelicals like Southern Baptists. Mainline ministers believe that climate change is manmade and want to take action. Evangelical ministers, on the other hand, remain skeptical.
People in the pews disagree, according to a new poll from the public policy group, Faith in Public Life. It found that “over 60 percent of Americans, including majorities of white evangelical Protestants and Catholics” want to tackle climate change now.
Next month, Merritt will host a green evangelical gathering at Cross Pointe Church in Duluth, Ga. Called the Flourish Conference, it’s part of the so-called Creation Care movement.

ABC on Hulu

Disney will become a joint venture partner and equity owner of Hulu, taking a 30 percent stake in the YouTube competitor. Hulu will get more Disney programming, including full-length episodes of hit programs. The Disney-Hulu deal is a windfall for Hulu, but a blow for YouTube, as Hulu is succeeding in an area where YouTube has struggled.
The Walt Disney Company on Thursday announced what many analysts have been predicting: It’s buying a stake in online video-content aggregator Hulu.
Through a subsidiary of ABC Enterprises, Disney will join NBC Universal, News Corp., and Providence Equity Partners as a joint-venture partner and equity owner of Hulu. Disney is taking a 30 percent stake in the quasi-YouTube competitor.