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 A piñata in the Amazon conference room where Prime Day coordinators gathered in 2015 to oversee the company’s first Prime Day sale. The original event was code-named piñata. (Photo: Elizabeth Weise)

 SEATTLE—At Amazon headquarters here, two floors of conference rooms are outfitted as war rooms, the better to absorb the crushing blow of 85 million Prime shoppers feverishly tapping on the best slow cooker deals.

 Prime Day (or Prime Day plus six hours) is almost here.

 What started as an experiment to shake-up the shopping doldrums of July, with perhaps a sprinkle of inspiration from Alibaba's wildly successful Single's Day, has turned into one of Amazon's biggest sales days.

 Last year, analysts estimate Prime Day sales totaled between $500 million and $600 million, or 1.5% of its third quarter sales — compared with the $3.34 billion spent online by Americans this past Black Friday at retailers. Amazon (AMZN), which does not release sales figures for the event, said they surpassed the prior year's Prime Day by more than 60% worldwide.

 While this year’s Prime Day will almost certainly out-perform last year’s, in the bigger picture Prime Day just isn't as relevant as holiday sales in November and December, said Alasdair McLean-Foreman, founder of Teikametrics, a company that provides data analytics and optimization technology for sellers on e-commerce platforms.

 Sales are by no means the only important metric. At heart, Prime Day is “another excellent branding opportunity to own consumer mind share,” McLean-Foreman said.

 Related:

 Bursting digital shopping carts help Amazon and the tens of thousands of companies that sell on its site to level out demand over the year, adding a nice bump of sales in July when things are typically flat, says Gene Alvarez, an analyst who follows the company for Gartner.

 It’s also a chance for Amazon to tout voice-ordering and to get more people engaged with its Echo voice-operated devices.

 But mostly it’s a chance for Amazon to gather information, both in general and as a kind of stress test for the holidays.

 Amazon’s vice president for Prime, stands in the conference room where his team oversaw Amazon’s first Prime Day sale in 2015. The event was code-named Piñata and the room was decorated with piñata cutouts and actual piñatas. The one he holds in his hand was the only piñata remaining in the conference room in 2017. (Photo: Elizabeth Weise/USA TODAY)

 “Prime Day is about experimenting and learning more about the customer experience and willingness to shop in new ways,” Alvarez said.

 Amazon is prepping for this year's Prime Day, which starts Monday at 9 PM Eastern and runs for 30 hours across 13 countries, to be a big one.

 Amazonians (Amazon's internal name for its workers) who work on Prime are expected to block off June and much of July and take their summer vacations after the dust has cleared.

 Code Name: Pinata

 It’s all a long way from its beginnings as a doldrums of July sale, originally code-named Piñata.

 The first Prime Day in 2015 got off to a somewhat inauspicious start. The team focused on the event had taken over a small conference room decorated with Piñata cutouts as its operations center.

 Prime hit first in Japan, 16 hours ahead of Seattle. As the sale began there, customers rushed online to start buying and the Amazon.jp site promptly crashed.

 Greg Greeley, Amazon’s vice president for Prime, literally fell off his chair as he lunged to deal with the problem. The team got the site up and running again in two minutes but the magnitude of what they’d launched was clear.

 “I got on the phone with AWS and I told them, ‘When the sun comes up here, this is going to be huge,’” he told USA TODAY last week.

 The first Prime Day in 2015 came about as the company was casting about for a celebration for its twentieth anniversary, though it resembled Singles’ Day in China, an obscure event for bachelors that the Chinese digital giant Alibaba turned into a cultural event beginning in 2009, selling $17.8 billion in goods last year.

 Just as with Black Friday deals, the question for consumers is always whether they’re getting deals or duds. Amazon’s first try at Prime Day in 2015 was panned by some because too many deals seemed instead to be merchants clearing out unsold inventory, with Twitter calling out garage-sale like goods such as shoe horns and granny panties.

 The next year Prime Day felt a lot more like Black Friday, though an analysis by The Wirecutter found that while there were thousands of deals, few were what it termed "great deals."

 This year, Amazon is pledging that price for all its limited-time lightning deals will be the lowest for that item offered on its site in the last 365 days.

 It won't be the only game in town. JCPenney, Kohl's and Macy's are all offering exclusive discounts before and during Prime Day, though Walmart, Target and Lowe's are among the big names who appear to be skipping the event.

 Amazon uses both human and robot workers in its warehouses. (Photo: Amazon)

 In the first two years Prime Day was also a big enticement for customers to sign up for Amazon’s Prime membership service, which offers free two-day shipping and same-day shipping in many cities plus a host of perks.

 Prime members are a major sweet spot for Amazon. According to figures released last week by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, there are now 85 million highly remunerative Prime members in the United States, up from 65 million a year ago. Once in the Amazon eco-system they spend on average about $1,300 per year, compared to about $700 per year for non-member customers.

 Forrester’s Amazon analyst Brendan Witcher expects the company to heavily promote its Echo family of voice-activated devices as it continues efforts to build-out its already substantial lead in voice assistants. This includes the new Echo Show, which comes with a 7" screen.

 Amazon Echo Show (Photo: Reviewed.com / Jackson Ruckar)

 “It wouldn't surprise me if almost every step of the purchasing journey will include some mention of Amazon Echo,” he said.

 Amazon’s overall goal, which Prime Day contributes to, is to do with retail what Apple did with music – build an ecosystem of delivery that will become an ecosystem of buying, Witcher said.

 The work that Amazon has put into Prime Day is paying off for the third-party sellers on Amazon’s site, who now make up more than 50% of units sold by the company.

 Austin, Texas-based Silk Innovation sells mobile phone cases. The company set its sales targets in the spring, ordering from China and having the products shipped directly to Amazon fulfillment centers.

 CEO Matt Altschul expects a 25% jump in sales in July due to Prime Day.

 “I wish I had a story to tell you that everything’s wild and we all had to work our butts off, but I don’t," he said. "It’s the beauty of Amazon’s automation.”

 Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2u8NTs2 ||||| Amazon.com’s (amzn) Prime Day on Tuesday was marred with many customers reporting problems checking out, potentially denting business on a day the online retailer is hoping will yield hundreds of millions of dollars in sales and spur sign ups to its Prime program.

 On Tuesday morning at 7:40 Eastern time, the retailer said on Twitter that some customers were having problems with the website. At 11:18 a.m., or two and half hours later, the company told Fortune by email that the problem had been resolved.

 Some customers are reporting difficulty with checkout. We're working to resolve this issue quickly. — Amazon.com (@amazon) July 12, 2016

 But by then, Amazon was dealing with angry shoppers. Earlier, some customers took to Twitter to also complain about problems like adding items to carts. And by early morning, the hashtag #PrimeDayFail, which gained traction during last year’s inaugural event after many customers were underwhelmed by items included in the deals, was trending again.

 Sad to wake up early for Prime Day & NOT be able to add to cart. #PrimeDayFail — John Gann (@thejohngann) July 12, 2016

 The snafus were poorly timed for the online retailer, whose $81 billion in annual sales make it the largest e-commerce player in the U.S. by far, doing six times more business than Walmart.com (wmt). Still, investors shrugged off the problems as the stock hit an all-time high on Tuesday.

 Amazon debuted Prime Day last year as a one-day sale exclusively for members of its Prime subscription shopping service. The company’s goal is to create a new shopping holiday like Black Friday—the busy shopping day after Thanksgiving—to encourage more spending on its site. While Prime Day is a manufactured shopping event, the sale is a big deal for Amazon: retail advisory firm FBIC, has forecast predicts Prime Day could generate $525 million in sales, up 26 percent from its $415 million estimate last year.

 The larger point for Amazon is to stoke enrollment in its Prime service, which for $99 a year, among many benefits, offers customers free two-day delivery and access to Amazon’s TV and movie streaming service. Prime enrollments peaked on July 14 last year, one day before Prime Day. According to comScore data, 21.7 million unique visitors went to Amazon.com on Prime Day last year, making it as big a deal as Cyber Monday. And Consumer Intelligence Research Partners estimated this week that 63 million people in the U.S. are Prime members, up 43% from a year earlier.

 Amazon’s Prime Day has prompted many traditional retailers to hold their own events. Most notably, Walmart this week waived minimum online order sizes to get free shipping.

 The Amazon snafus are reminiscent of website problems retailers like Target (tgt), Best Buy (bby) and Neiman Marcus have all dealt with in the last few years on major online shopping occasions. ||||| Now playing: Watch this: The real deals of Amazon Prime Day

 It's beginning to look a lot like Prime Day.

 On the evening of Monday, July 10 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, and 6 p.m. in the UK, Amazon will kick off its third annual sales event. It's basically a Cyber-Monday-in-July that promises extra savings over and above the company's usual discount prices. But that evening start is reminiscent of Black Friday sales that start on Thanksgiving: This year's Prime Day runs for 30 hours, straight through July 11.

 So who's allowed to get in on this Prime action? What's going to be different compared with last year? How can you be sure Amazon's Prime Day price is actually the best price?

 I've got all the answers. Here's everything you need to know about Prime Day 2017.

 Days of Prime Day past

 Amazon's first stab at Prime Day (in 2015) was to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Although the event proved a big success in terms of sales, customers found a lot to dislike. The biggest discounts were on Amazon's own products (Kindles, Fire tablets, Echo products and so on), and those seemed to come and go at random.

 Last year, things went better, with lots more inventory and category-driven search that made it easier to sift through the nearly 100,000 sale items.

 Why you should care about Prime Day

 In 2016, Amazon's big categories were TV and toys. The company promised twice as much TV inventory as "Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined," and toy deals that would run "nearly all day."

 Will those be the spotlight categories this year as well? That remains to be seen, but there will undoubtedly be countless other deals. And Amazon will offer Alexa-powered specials as well, so if you own an Amazon Echo ( ), Dot or Tap, you might be able to score some exclusives. (You can already ask Alexa to spill some rumors.)

 Amazon is also promising savings of "up to 40 percent" on Kindle Unlimited membership, though it's not quite clear what the "up to" part is about. Currently, the ebook/audiobook subscription service costs $9.99 per month, or £7.99 in the UK.

 ...and why you shouldn't care

 If we haven't met before, I'm Rick "The Cheapskate" Broida, and I write about tech deals pretty much every day of the year. And let me tell you, every day is Prime Day. By which I mean there are great bargains to be had all the time.

 Yes, as with Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Amazon may shave a few extra dollars off a TV or Kindle. But also as with those days, supplies will be limited. And the TV might be an off-brand model that wasn't really what you had in mind.

 In other words, resist the hype. If there's a particularly good deal to be had on a product you've been eyeballing, by all means grab it. But don't think this is your only opportunity to save big.

 Furthermore, with Amazon planning to roll out new deals "as often as every 5 minutes" throughout the day, this is a rabbit hole you might want to avoid. Prime Day will definitely not be Productivity Day if you're refreshing your browser every 5 minutes. (Though see below for a handy way to keep tabs on specific deals.)

 Prime Day is for Prime subscribers

 Amazon Prime is, of course, the subscription service that affords unlimited two-day shipping, movie and unlimited music streaming and various other perks. It costs $99 per year (a very good deal, in my humble opinion), or £79 in the UK.

 In order to take advantage of Prime Day deals, you must be a Prime subscriber. That's the bad news; the good news is that if you've never tried the service before, you can get a free trial -- and that trial membership qualifies you for Prime Day savings.

 By the way, if you're a US college student, you can get a six-month free trial of Amazon Prime, after which you can snag a membership for just $49 -- 50 percent off the regular annual price.

 Prime Day deals have already started (sort of)

 Head over to amazon.com/primeday (here in the UK) and you'll find some deals rotating in and out before the official kickoff on July 10. Some of the deals are better than others. For instance, as of Friday, July 7, there are digital versions of some pretty great movies on sale for just $5. I'll update the post if there's anything further to report.

 Use the Amazon App to get deal notifications

 Amazon

 Part of the challenge of Prime Day is keeping tabs on the deals that interest you, especially those scheduled to begin later in the day. If you forget, you might miss out.

 Fortunately, the Amazon App lets you track upcoming deals and receive notifications when they're about to begin. It's available for Amazon Fire (natch), Android and iOS in their respective app stores. (The app also affords benefits like voice-powered search and shipment tracking.)

 Don't assume Prime Day is the best day

 As I noted above, where I come from, every day is Black Friday, Cyber Monday or Prime Day. That means you should approach every deal with a little bit of skepticism -- or at least a little bit of research.

 One great place to start: CamelCamelCamel, the site that tracks Amazon price histories. (It can also notify you when Amazon products go on sale; I recently explained how to use it to track those rare Amazon Echo deals and you can see Amazon's current deal offerings here.)

 Before you pull the trigger on any Prime Day deal, copy the URL, paste it into CamelCamelCamel's search field and check the results. You may discover that the product has indeed been priced lower in the past, and therefore may be again.

 At the same time, consider using a browser plug-in such as Honey, which can instantly inform you if any third-party sellers have the same product for a lower price (which doesn't happen often, but it's worth checking).

 Finally, be sure to check other sites. Best Buy, Walmart and other major stores may well trot out their own answers to Prime Day, offering loss-leader pricing on popular items.

 How waitlisting works

 Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET

 Like Amazon's daily Lightning deals, most Prime Day deals are available in limited quantities -- and once they're "claimed," they're gone. Or maybe not: You may see a Join Waitlist button that'll put you in the queue to grab an item if it becomes available.

 How does that happen? Sometimes other customers will add an item to their cart, then decide not to buy it (or fail to complete the purchase within 15 minutes) -- at which point it goes to the next person in line. That could be you, so don't be shy about joining the waitlist if it's something you really want.

 Ask Alexa for exclusive deals

 Amazon already offers exclusive deals to owners of the Echo, Echo Dot, Tap and other Alexa-enhanced devices: You just say, "Alexa, what are your deals?"

 It should come as no surprise, then, that Amazon's gal is serving up Prime Day exclusives as well -- starting with a deal on Prime itself. If you're not already a subscriber, you can say, "Alexa, sign me up for Prime," and you'll get an annual membership for $79 instead of the usual $99.

 Beyond that, ask Alexa for "Prime Day deals," both leading up to the big day and on the day itself. One item to consider: the Bose SoundLink Bluetooth Speaker III. Alexa will score you a $50 discount, a bit better than the $41 discount afforded to regular Amazon shoppers.

 Editors' note: This article was originally published on July 5, 2016, and has since been updated. ||||| Amazon is hoping to lure more shoppers to its Prime member program with its annual Prime Day. Deals for shoppers actually begin a little earlier, starting this evening. The company claims there will be "hundreds of thousands of deals" with "new deals starting as often as every five minutes." But if you're hoping to save twice - deals plus sales tax-free shopping - think again: as of April 1, 2017, Amazon began collecting sales taxes from all states with a sales tax. That means that Prime Day 2017 won't be sales tax-free.

 The online retail giant had previously fought the imposition of sales tax on a state by state basis - from court battles to corporate exemptions. Today, Amazon collects sales tax in 45 states plus the District of Columbia (you can see the list here). Amazon does not collect sales tax in Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon: those states do not have a state sales tax.

 Collecting sales tax on online purchases has been a controversial subject for years. Companies which make sales over the internet are still subject to the same sales tax collection requirements as so-called "brick and mortar" stores. Generally, the test is whether the company has a physical presence in that state: if a company has a physical presence in a state, they are required to collect and remit sales taxes. The test is the result of 25-year-old Supreme Court ruling in Quill Corp. v. North Dakota. In that case, the Court ruled that only those companies with a physical presence inside a state can be required to collect sales tax, "continuing value of a bright-line rule in this area." The key, of course, is that the definition of physical presence can change even as technology changes - and the definition isn't consistent from state to state.

 In Massachusetts, for example, a new rule would have applied sales tax to certain out-of-state businesses who use internet cookies. Internet cookies are data files which are stored on your computer by a web browser and contain information about you - often, your name and interests - that companies use to tailor your internet experience. The Department of Revenue in Massachusetts claims that like software, internet cookies are "present in the state and serve to facilitate such vendor’s in-state sales." That, they believed, was enough of a presence to require the collection of sales tax.

 NetChoice, a trade association of Internet companies and organizations, and American Catalog Mailers Association ("ACMA"), a trade association representing the interests of companies, individuals, and organizations engaged in and supporting catalog marketing, disagreed. In June, the two organizations filed suit to stop the new rule from taking effect. Among the arguments in the lawsuit were allegations that the Commonwealth had not followed proper procedures with respect to the directive.

 The rule, which was expected to take effect on July 1, 2017, was eventually revoked. However, it's not completely buried. I fully expect to see it again after some procedural tweaks. And other states are watching closely to see what happens. If the revised rule successfully moves forward, it could change the way that state revenue departments view - and tax - online sales from out of state retailers.

 (You can read more about the history of sales tax and presence here.)

 Of course, even if a company doesn't charge you sales tax, that doesn't mean that you get a pass. States that impose sales tax typically also impose use tax. Use tax is the equivalent of sales tax for taxable purchases not taxed at sale by the retailer - like that furniture you bought across state lines in a sales tax-free state. If a purchase is subject to use tax, you are supposed to self-report and pay the tax. About half of all states offer a line on their income tax returns now for this purpose; otherwise, there are separate tax forms for your completion.

 As you can imagine, between the complexity and the insanity of this rule, most consumers ignore the use tax. A 2015 poll conducted by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) found that 62% of registered voters were not aware that use taxes were payable (downloads as a pdf). Most of those polled felt that the best way to collect sales tax was to tax at sale, not by asking consumers to self-report and pay.

 Some states have pretty aggressive enforcement divisions which target use tax. It's easier, as you can imagine, when retailers keep track of sales for out-of-state buyers (car dealers and art houses often do this). Now, some states, like Colorado, are passing new rules to require out of state retailers to report more information about sales. Many online retailers who are either seeing the writing on the wall or are weary of fighting against the inevitable, have been quietly shifting operations to collect sales tax in most states. Amazon is one of the largest retailers to do so: founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos, Amazon reported revenues of $107.01 billion in 2016. The company is ranked at #237 in Forbes' Global 2000 and #12 on Forbes' list of the Most Valuable Brands.

 So, be prepared to pony up sales tax for purchases made on Amazon in most states. You can find Prime Day deals on amazon.com/primeday from 6 pm PT / 9 pm ET on July 10 (if you use Alexa on the Echo, Dot, Tap, Show, Fire TV/Fire compatible tablets, or the Dash Wand, deals start 2 hours earlier). According to Amazon, new deals start as often as every 5 minutes for 30 hours straight.

 Want more taxgirl goodness? Pick your poison: follow me on twitter, hang out on Facebook and Google, play on Pinterest or check out my YouTube channel. ||||| Now playing: Watch this: The real deals of Amazon Prime Day

 July 10 will mark the start of the third annual Prime Day -- or Amazon's massive 30-hour sale. With nearly 100,000 products on sale and with staggered start times for deals, it can be a lot to take in. And with so many people watching and waiting for deals to go live, some of the best will come and go in a hurry.

 Fortunately, you can set up alerts for deals that you're interested in. Here are three ways to get notified of deals on Prime Day.

 Watch deals

 Taylor Martin/CNET

 You can't sit around waiting all day for the deals you're interested in to go live. And if you're not careful, you might forget to check in and miss a deal.

 With the Amazon Shopping app on Android and iOS, you can watch upcoming deals so you're alerted when they go live.

 Tap the hamburger button in the top left to expand the menu and select Today's Deals. Swipe left to switch to the Upcoming tab to view all the deals which haven't started yet. Beneath each item is a button that says Watch this deal. The first time you hit the button, you will be asked to enable notifications. Once you do, any time a deal you're watching goes live, you will receive a push notification.

 If push notifications still aren't working, you may need to enable notifications in the app settings. Tap the hamburger button in the top left to expand the menu and tap Settings. Then tap Notifications and to the right of Your Watched & Waitlisted Deals make sure the toggle is in the On position.

 All of the deals you're watching can be found under the Watching tab. Deals that have gone live will appear in larger card views at the top, while upcoming deals are listed below. Deals will jump to the top of the list -- ahead of those that are already available -- when they're just minutes away from going live.

 To stop watching a deal, either locate the item again under the Upcoming tab or in the Watching tab. If the deal hasn't started yet, tap the Watching button to stop watching it. If the deal has gone live, you will need to tap the action overflow button (three vertical dots) and select Stop watching this deal.

 Add items to your wish list

 Taylor Martin/CNET

 Browsing the upcoming deals is only one way to tackle Prime Day. But what are the odds that you're going to see something you're actually looking for in the never-ending list of upcoming deals on Prime Day?

 You're better off approaching it from the other direction by building a list of items you need or want. Then, on Prime Day, Amazon will notify you if items from your wish list are part of a Prime Day deal. So it's wise to spend some time perusing Amazon to curate (or prune) your wish list ahead of Prime Day.

 While browsing Amazon from the Android or iOS apps, you can quickly add items to your wish list by long pressing and dragging it to your list at the bottom.

 Better wish list alerts

 Taylor Martin/CNET

 Not all Prime Day deals are worth getting excited about. In fact, if the last two years serve as any indication, most of the deals are just all right.

 However, if you want to make sure you're getting the best deal possible for the items on your Amazon wish list, you'll want to enlist the help of one of the best price tracking services out there, camelcamelcamel.

 Typically, people use camelcamelcamel to create individual price alerts, so when a item's price drops below a certain threshold, they receive an alert. But camelcamelcamel has an even better feature: wish list sync. This allows you to build your Amazon wish list and create a rule for which you want to be notified. For instance, I'm only notified when the price of an item drops to at least one penny below its lowest price ever. Best of all, it creates an RSS feed for your price drop alerts, so you can even add the alerts to your favorite RSS reader.

 To set up wish list alerts:

 Go to camelcamelcamel.com and login or create an account.

 At the top of the site, click Your account .

 . In the left menu, click Wishlists .

 . Click Add Wishlist .

 . Go to your Amazon wish list and click Share (an email icon just above the list of items).

 (an email icon just above the list of items). Copy the list URL and paste it in the Wishlist URL field on camelcamelcamel.

 field on camelcamelcamel. Under Advanced Options , select which prices you wish to watch (Amazon, third-party new and third-party used).

 , select which prices you wish to watch (Amazon, third-party new and third-party used). Set a desired price, either a static price or an amount below the current or lowest recorded price.

 Click Add Wishlist to finish.

 Now when the price of anything on your Amazon wish list drops below a certain threshold (set by you), you will receive an email notification. You can also view the deal in your RSS reader or by going to camelcamelcamel.com directly.

 Also, be sure to check out Rick Broida's list of 9 things you should know about Prime Day. ||||| Yesterday’s checkout glitches didn’t impact Amazon’s ability to pull off another successful Prime Day sales event, as it turns out. The online retailer announced this morning, without giving specific figures, that its Prime Day 2016 was the “biggest ever.” Not just in terms of other Prime Days, either, but the “biggest day in the history of Amazon .” Tuesday’s customer orders were up by more than 60 percent worldwide, compared with last year’s Prime Day, and up by more than 50 percent in the U.S. Amazon says it was also the “biggest day ever” for Amazon devices globally.

 This contradicts early reports that seemed to indicate that Amazon’s Prime Day 2016 U.S. sales were flat, according to ChannelAdvisor. However, ChannelAdvisor doesn’t monitor Amazon’s first-party sales, like those on its own devices – it only examines a sample of Amazon seller data.

 Instead, Amazon’s announcement is more in line with analyst expectations of Prime Day doubling last year’s sales, potentially even hitting close to a billion, some believed.

 Amazon had discounted a variety of its devices, including Kindle e-readers, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Echo speakers, and more. These discounts were clearly able to boost Amazon’s overall sales for the day, as was the fact that Amazon better spread out its sales throughout the day, compared with last year. Many of its limited-time “Lightning deals,” for example, launched in the evening on Prime Day.

 The retailer says that it sold over 2.5 times more Fire TV devices compared with last year, and Fire TV Stick was the best seller globally of all Amazon’s devices. Amazon said it sold hundreds of thousands of Kindle devices on Prime Day, as well.

 In the U.S., Amazon device sales were up by 3 times, compared with Prime Day 2015. And Prime Day was the biggest day ever for Amazon’s smart connected speaker Echo, which was also up over 2.5 times from last year. Current Echo owners were even shopping Prime Day via their speakers, the retailer notes, as Prime members bought on average one Alexa-exclusive deal per second via voice.

 Amazon didn’t tout how many of its Dash buttons sold – the push-button ordering dongles that were marked down to $0.99 on Prime Day – but said that top brands were Cascade, Charmin and Tide.

 Other top sellers included TVs (more than 90,000 sold), over 2 million toys and over 1 million shoes, 14,000+ Lenovo laptops, 23,000+ iRobot vacuums, over 200,000 headphones, and more.

 Just as important, Amazon seems to have recovered from last year’s consumer backlash against Prime Day. Despite its great numbers in 2015, Amazon customers derided the sales event as “an online garage sale” due to the junky nature of some of the deals, and their inability to catch the best offers before they were sold out.

 According to Adobe Digital Insights, which tracked over 4 million social engagements by online consumers, people were happier this year with Prime Day than in 2015.

 39 percent of overall sentiment was related to sadness this year, compared with 50 percent last year. Joy increased to 30 percent, up from 23 percent in 2015. 22 percent of sentiment was attributed to admiration and 9 percent to surprise, both which tend to be on the positive side of the scale.

 In addition, even those who were complaining online weren’t doing so because of deal quality. Instead, the checkout glitches – a purely technical matter – were to blame.

 Adobe also noted that the most positive chatter was around Kindle products, Echo, and the Xbox One bundle.

 Oh, and in case you’re wondering – Amazon says it will being doing Prime Day again next year. No surprise there.

 (Article updated 7/13/16, 1:40 PM ET with Adobe’s more current statistics.) ||||| Prime Day starts tonight! And if you’re hoping to grab some of the hottest deals, vigilance is critical. The problem: You’ve got a life to lead —and constantly refreshing the Amazon homepage at your desk isn’t a good way to impress your boss.

 Fortunately, there are a number of ways to track the onslaught of bargains. Just remember that if you see one that intrigues you, you may need to act fast.

 The app – Amazon’s Shopping App (available for Android and iOS) is the most direct way to keep an eye out for discounts on items on your wishlist. Go to the app’s settings menu, click notifications and toggle alerts on for “Your Watched and Waitlisted Deals.” From there, go to the main dashboard and select “Today’s Deals” (it’s a long list). See something you want? Select the “Watch this deal” button below it.

 Alexa – Amazon’s Echo devices are getting first crack at a number of exclusive deals. If you’ve got one in proximity, ask, “Alexa, what are your deals?” and she’ll read out bargains to you regularly. (Just be sure you’ve enabled voice purchasing beforehand.)

 Amazon Assistant – If you can’t keep the Amazon homepage open throughout the day, you can enable it to push alerts to you. Amazon Assistant is a browser add-on that provides instant deal notifications (as well as order updates, etc.).

 CamelCamelCamel.com – Not all Prime Day deals are actually deals. CamelCamelCamel doesn’t track Prime Day sales, per se, but it does follow the price history of all products on Amazon. You can set it to send an alert when the price drops to a certain point. That way, you’re not only among the first to know when the deal hits, but you won’t fall for “special prices” that aren’t all that special.

 SlickDeals – There are a number of deal hunting Websites online, but few are as voracious as SlickDeals.net. The site has a Web-based price tracker that can alert you to deals not only on Amazon, but on other sites.

 Facebook – Odds are you’re going to be checking in on Facebook Monday evening and sporadically throughout Tuesday anyway, so make it work for you. Head over to Amazon’s page on the social network and follow it. Last year, the company sent out extra deal notifications via Facebook and while it hasn’t made any announcements about doing so again this year, it can’t hurt. |||||
What is a summary?

– Will the third time be the charm for Amazon? Its now-slightly-misnomered Prime Day (it's actually 30 hours long, not 24, this year) kicks off at 9pm EDT Monday. Its inaugural sale in 2015 didn't blow consumers over; in 2016 there were early-morning website issues for some customers. This year, Amazon is ready, at least by USA Today's account, which notes that two floors of conference rooms at HQ have been "outfitted as war rooms" to support the onslaught of shoppers, all of whom must have a Prime membership to get the deals. More: The figures: Prime Day 2016 saw an estimated $500 million to $600 million in sales (Amazon didn't release official numbers). That's a fraction of the $3.34 billion spent on the Black Friday that followed months later, but Amazon said the total was up 60% over 2015, with 2017's Prime Day expected to be even bigger. What does bigger look like? Beating 2016 Prime Day records like these perhaps, per TechCrunch: More than 90,000 TVs, 1 million shoes, 23,000 iRobot vacuums, and 200,000 headphones were sold. It's a win-win for Amazon: There's a big upside involved in reeling in new Prime shoppers (the count has increased about 20 million year-over-year in the US, to 85 million): Their Amazon spending is almost double that of a non-Prime customer: $1,300 a year versus $700. What's on sale? Some 100,000 items, per CNET, but those items don't all go on sale at once. It offers tips on how to be alerted to the best deals (one smart one involves using your Amazon Wish List). Fortune offers some other ways, including a convenient-sounding Alexa tip. So are the deals deals? In some cases. Quartz points out that the Wirecutter gadget-review site examined 8,000 deals last Prime Day and recommended fewer than 1% of them: 64. One handy tool: CamelCamelCamel.com, which prompts you to input a product URL and then lets you know how that stacks up to what Amazon has charged for the item in the past. There's reason to care: ... and also reason to avoid the "rabbit hole" altogether. Rick Broida makes both cases at CNET. One dose of reality: If you've enjoyed Amazon's tax-free shopping in the past, it's, well, a thing of the past. Forbes points out that since April 1, Amazon has been levying sales tax for shoppers in all states with a sales tax (five don't have one: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon).


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FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) — Italian government bond yields rose Tuesday after Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services cut Italy’s credit rating one notch, putting further pressure on euro-zone leaders to stem the region’s ongoing sovereign-debt crisis.

 Late Monday, S&P; lowered Italy’s long-term credit rating to A from A-plus and cut its short-term rating to A-1 from A-1-plus, citing a weak economic outlook and ongoing political gridlock. S&P; also said the outlook for Italy’s ratings is negative, meaning a further cut is possible.

 The move by S&P; took markets somewhat by surprise. All eyes had been on rival ratings firm Moody’s Investors Service, which had announced last week it would take an additional month to decide whether to downgrade Italy’s ratings.

 “Just when everyone was waiting for Moody’s to downgrade Italy, S&P; gets in first with what is a much more damaging downgrade as its rating of Italy was already the lowest of the three agencies,” said Gary Jenkins, head of fixed income at Evolution Securities in London.

 Click to Play Scrutiny on Italy, Qantas and Japan Asian markets react to S&P's cut to Italy's sovereign-debt rating, while a strike at Australia's Qantas airline leads to flight cancellations for thousands and possible reforms in Japan may lure more foreign investment.

 The yield on 10-year Italian government bonds /quotes/zigman/4869096/delayed IT:10YR_ITA -0.07% jumped as many as 16 basis points, but trimmed the initial rise to trade at 5.59% in recent action, a rise of 7 basis points, according to FactSet Research. Yields move inversely to bond prices.

 Meanwhile, the premium demanded by investors to hold Italian 10-year bonds over German bunds /quotes/zigman/4869083/delayed DE:10YR_GER +0.02% widened by around 9 basis points to stand at 3.82 percentage points.

 Talk of further buying of Italian bonds by the European Central Bank helped pull down yields from initial highs, analysts said.

 The downgrade could increase Italy’s borrowing costs just as the country embarks on a large-scale refinancing program that entails nearly 30 billion euros ($41.3 billion) of gross bond issuance in October and November, said Boris Schlossberg, director of currency research at GFT.

 “These upcoming bond auctions could become the true test of the country’s credit strength and, if investors balk at rolling over its debt, the downward pressure on the euro could quickly accelerate,” he said.

 On Tuesday, the euro initially dropped against the dollar U.S. in the wake of the downgrade, then bounced. The euro /quotes/zigman/4867933/sampled EURUSD +0.1148% lately traded at $1.3666 in recent action, down from around $1.3685 in North American trade late Monday.

 Worries about the banks

 Rising borrowing costs highlight worries that the region’s sovereign-debt crisis could engulf Italy, outstripping the euro zone’s rescue resources and throwing the future of the euro into doubt. Italy’s economy is the third-largest in the euro zone and its bond market is the third-largest in the world.

 The European Central Bank began buying Italian and Spanish bonds in early August, pulling Italy’s yield down from more than 6% to less than 5%. But yields have crept back up in recent weeks.

 Italy’s downgrade highlights worries about Europe’s banking sector, particularly French banks.

 Fears over the potential impact of a Greek default on highly-exposed French banks and the rest of the region’s banking sector prompted the European Central Bank and other major central banks last week to pledge to provide increased dollar liquidity amid signs banks are becoming increasingly reluctant to lend to each other. ||||| LONDON — The Italian government reacted angrily Tuesday to the decision by the credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s to downgrade its debt, describing the move as out of touch with reality.

 Late Monday, S.&P.; cut the rating by one notch to A from A+, citing the country’s weakening economic growth prospects and higher-than-expected levels of government debt.

 The agency said Italy’s fragile governing coalition and policy differences in Parliament would continue to limit the government’s ability to respond decisively to economic head winds. It also cast doubt on whether the government’s projected €60 billion, or $82 billion, in fiscal savings would be realized because growth prospects are weakening, the budgetary savings rely on revenue increases, and market interest rates are anticipated to rise.

 Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s office issued a statement early Tuesday noting that his government had a solid majority in Parliament. It said the government was preparing steps to lift growth and recently passed measures to control public finances through tax increases and spending cuts.

 “The evaluations of Standard & Poor's seem dictated more by behind the scenes reports in newspapers than reality and seems influenced by political considerations,” the statement said.

 The yield on Italian 10-year bonds was up slightly by midday Tuesday, but at more than 5.6 percent Italy’s borrowing costs are more than three times what Germany, the euro-zone anchor, pays. Stock markets in Europe also brushed off the downgrade, as investors reacted to positive signals on discussions about aiding Greece, and Spain sold another offering of Treasury bills.

 Analysts said the mood was also helped by speculation that the United States Federal Reserve would approve a new program for monetary easing Wednesday to try to stimulate economic growth.

 The Euro Stoxx 50 index of euro zone blue chips was up almost 2 percent at midday. The FTSE 100 in London up about 1.5 percent, as was the main index in Milan. Futures contracts on the Standard & Poor’s 500 index suggested a firmer opening on Wall Street.

 S.&P.;’s A rating for Italy is still five steps above junk status, but it is three below that given by another agency Moody’s Investors Service, which is currently assessing Italy.

 “Moody’s announcement to extend its review of Italy’s rating by another month last Friday probably gave the market a false sense of relief, especially after persistent speculation of a Moody’s downgrade last week,” said Colin Tan, an analyst at Deutsche Bank.

 He added that although Italy had covered 77 percent of its 2011 debt funding needs, but there was still another €100 billion more to be raised before the end of the year.

 Italy is the euro zone’s third-largest economy behind Germany and France and is considered to be too big to save should it run into the same kind of trouble that beset Greece, Portugal and Ireland. Although its budget deficit is relatively low, the big concern among investors is that Italy, whose debts stand at 120 percent of its gross domestic product, will find it increasingly costly to borrow.

 As a result, the European Central Bank has been helping, buying around €5 billion to €10 billion in the riskier euro-area bonds over the last five weeks. But even that has failed to stop Italian bond yields from rising.

 “The E.C.B. will probably need to do more from here,” Mr. Tan said, referring to its bond buying program.

 Commerzbank said in a research note that the lengthy process of ratifying changes to the European Union’s main bailout vehicle was starting to impair the effectiveness of the central bank’s bond buying program.

 In Athens, meanwhile, talks between Greece and international lenders that began on Monday were due to resume Tuesday night, according to the Greek Finance Ministry.

 Greek officials described talks so far with the so-called troika — the International Monetary Fund, the E.C.B. and the European Commission — as productive, and they said that a deal may be close.

 If there is an accord, the troika would then release the latest tranche of loans — which the country needs by mid-October to avoid running out of cash to pay its bills.

 The Greek press published a list of 15 austerity measures that the troika was said to be demanding of the Socialist government. They included laying off another 20,000 state workers, cutting or freezing state salaries and pensions, increasing heating oil tax, shutting down loss-making state organizations, cutting health spending and speeding up privatizations.

 Governments across Spain also are struggling to rein in spending. Teachers in Madrid began a three-day strike Tuesday to protest against staff cuts and longer classroom hours, news agencies reported.

 Reflecting the country’s strained finances, Spain sold just under €4.5 billion in Treasury bills on Tuesday, but at a higher cost. The average yield on the 12-month bill rose to 3.591 percent, compared with 3.335 percent the last time, the securities were sold on Aug. 16, while the 18-month debt yielded 3.807 percent, compared with 3.592 percent last month.

 Amid the wreckage of a collapsed housing bubble and weak economy, the latest data from the Bank of Spain showed that the ratio of non-performing loans continued to rise in July, reaching 6.9 percent of all loans. Analysts noted that the level was comparable to that of the previous banking crisis in the early to mid-1990s.

 In an interview published Tuesday in the Spanish newspaper Expansion, the E.C.B. president Jean-Claude Trichet said that while Spain’s financial situation has improved considerably, policymakers must remain alert, Reuters reported.

 He also said the outlook for the economy had deteriorated and that there were downside risks to growth.

 “We conclude from these comments that Mr. Trichet is still envisaging that there could be a rate cut in the future, but for now he is keeping his powder dry,” said Julian Callow, chief European economist at Barclays Capital.

 Elisabetta Povoledo contributed reporting from Rome. |||||

– Silvio Berlusconi’s office reacted angrily to Standard & Poor’s downgrade of Italy’s credit rating today, insisting that it had a solid majority in parliament and was taking the necessary steps to solve Italy’s debt crisis, the New York Times reports. “The evaluations of Standard & Poor's seem dictated more by behind the scenes reports in newspapers than reality,” the government said in a statement, “and seems influenced by political considerations.” The move actually didn’t much rattle stocks; the Euro Stoxx 50 index was actually up almost 2% by midday. But the yield on Italian bonds shot up to 5.59%, increasing the beleaguered country’s borrowing costs. “Just when everyone was waiting for Moody’s to downgrade Italy, S&P gets in first with what is a much more damaging downgrade,” one securities analyst tells MarketWatch. Moody’s has extended its review period for the country.


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 The fight over tragic Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain’s most priceless guitar is heading for a bitter, multimillion-dollar court battle.

 Cobain’s daughter with Courtney Love, Frances Bean Cobain, has been trying to get the instrument — which her father played in Nirvana’s seminal 1993 “MTV Unplugged” concert — back from her estranged husband, Isaiah Silva, ever since they split in March 2016.

 Silva, a musician in the band the Eeries, claims that in happier times, Frances Bean gave him the guitar — a Martin D-18E with the bridge flipped so that Kurt could play it left-handed — as a wedding present when they secretly married in 2014. It was once insured for $1 million, but experts say it is now likely worth several times that amount.

 Frances Bean, who was not yet 2 years old when her father committed suicide in 1994, denies that she gifted it to Silva.

 Love has said of the guitar — believed to be the last Kurt played before his death — “It’s not [Silva’s]. It’s a treasured heirloom of the family. It’s not his to take.”

 The guitar is so valuable that Love’s manager has even allegedly sent a string of threatening messages to Silva’s ex-girlfriend in an attempt to get him to hand the historic instrument over. We’re told that after months of negotiation, Silva is still holding out and — according to Frances Bean’s side — is taking “extreme and unsupportable positions” on the disagreement.

 “He is forcing the matter to litigation,” we’re told. Meanwhile, sources close to the struggle say it ended in a deadlock, and Frances Bean is ready to take the matter in front of a judge.

 An insider tells us, “In September, a judge ordered Frances Bean to pay Silva $15,000 a month in spousal support as part of an interim settlement while they worked out the guitar issue through mediation.”

 Reps for an attorney for Silva didn’t get back to us. ||||| Frances Bean Cobain Hubby Wants FAT Allowance You Left Me Broke!

 Frances Bean Cobain's Hubby Wants FAT Allowance

 EXCLUSIVE

 Frances Bean Cobain's estranged husband says he won't have a penny to his name without her ... so he's asking a judge to make her pay up.

 Isaiah Silva is requesting spousal support, and according to the docs he wants a ton of it -- nothing less than $25k a month.

 Isaiah says he left a steady job when they got married and Frances promised to cover a bunch of his monthly expenses, including paying private school and housing bills for his child from a previous relationship.

 Now, he says Frances wants to renege on those commitments. Isaiah claims Frances has upwards of $100 mil in her dad's estate, and says he deserves half of the money she earned off business deals made during the 2 year marriage. He says there's no prenup.

 Frances made it clear in her divorce docs ... the Kurt Cobain money is hers alone and not Isaiah's -- but she is open to paying some spousal support. |||||

Write a summary.

– A guitar that once belonged to Kurt Cobain, which is likely worth millions, is now in the hands of Eeries frontman Isaiah Silva, and Cobain's daughter is fighting to get it back in the family. Frances Bean Cobain was married to Silva for 21 months, and she's been trying to get the Martin D-18E (which had the bridge flipped so Cobain, a leftie, could play it comfortably) back ever since they split in March. Silva claims she gave it to him as a wedding gift and it's rightfully his. Now, the battle is headed to court, Page Six reports. "It’s not [Silva’s]. It’s a treasured heirloom of the family. It’s not his to take," Frances Cobain has said. But sources tell Page Six that Silva isn't giving in, and "is forcing the matter to litigation." The guitar, the one Cobain played during Nirvana's 1993 MTV Unplugged show and also thought to be the last one he played before taking his life, was once insured for $1 million but, per experts, is probably worth several times that now. Back in August, Silva requested $25,000 a month in spousal support and half of any money Frances made during the marriage, and said the couple had no prenup, TMZ reported. A judge has since ordered Frances Cobain to pay Silva $15,000 a month as part of an interim settlement.


News article:

A man has accused British Transport police of being “overzealous” and “ridiculous” after he was arrested for charging his iPhone using a socket on a London Overground train.

 Robin Lee, a 45-year-old artist based in Islington, was handcuffed and taken to a British Transport Police station on Caledonian Road after his arrest for “abstracting electricity”.

 Lee was then arrested on a second offence of “unacceptable behaviour” after “becoming aggressive” when objecting to his prior arrest.

 A police spokesman said a “decision on further action would be made in due course”.

 Speaking to the Evening Standard, Lee said he had been confronted by a police community support officer on the overground train from Hackney Wick to Camden Road on 10 July. The Overground is part of Transport For London’s wider network that also includes London Underground and the buses.

 “She said I’m abstracting electricity. She kept saying it’s a crime. We were just coming into the station and there happened to be about four police officers on the platform.

 “She called to them and said: ‘This guy’s been abstracting electricity, he needs to be arrested’.”

 Abstracting electricity is an offence under section 13 of the Theft Act 1968. It carries a maximum custodial sentence of five years.

 Lee, who tweeted about the incident and posted a picture of his arrest sheet which has since been deleted, went on to tell the Standard: “I was just incredulous. It was an overzealous community support officer. They should never have arrested me, they knew it was ridiculous. The whole thing was just ridiculous.”

 The artist was later “de-arrested” for the offence.

 British Transport police said in a statement: “We were called to Camden Road London Overground station on Friday 10 July to a report of a man becoming aggressive when challenged by a PCSO about his use of a plug socket onboard an Overground train.

 “Shortly after 3.30pm, a 45-year-old man from Islington was arrested on suspicion of abstracting electricity, for which he was de-arrested shortly after. He was further arrested for unacceptable behaviour and has been reported for this offence.”

 Electricity sockets on Overground trains are clearly marked with the words: “cleaners use only and not for public use”.

 On a forum dedicated to the London Underground, members have pointed out that plug sockets on the trains are for cleaning equipment deployed when trains are in depots. They recommend not charging electronic equipment as there is a risk of power surge: “If something was directly plugged into it (for example a standard computer, or a laptop without a battery in) the equipment would probably be damaged at any section gaps where the power supply changes from one substation to another!”

 Last week, 19-year-old Nick Silvestri hit the headlines in New York after jumping on stage before a Broadway play in an attempt to charge his phone – at a fake socket which was part of the set. He said his phone had 5% left as “girls were calling all day”. ||||| Shutterstock

 A 45-year old man from Camden has been arrested for charging his iPhone on a London Overground train.

 The incident, which took place on 10 July, saw Robin Lee arrested and then promptly "de-arrested" for the offence, which officers described as "abstracting electricity". He was then "further arrested" for unacceptable behaviour after he reportedly became aggressive towards a police community support officer (PCSO).

 Sockets on London Overground trains are marked clearly as for use by cleaners only. Lee posted an image of his custody record on Twitter, with the reason for arrest stating "abstracting electricity phone charger on phone. Unacceptable behaviour".

 Lee used Twitter to contact several London-based news organisations about his plight, but promptly deleted the posts earlier this afternoon. Photos Lee posted of his custody record have also now been deleted.

 The amount of electricity Lee abstracted is likely to be small -- the cost of keeping an iPhone fully-charged for a year is less than £1.

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 A British Transport Police spokesperson told the Evening Standard that officers were called to Camden Road station after Lee became "aggressive" towards a PCSO when challenged about his use of a plug socket on an Overground train.

 Police will review Lee's behaviour before sending details to the Crown Prosecution Service, which will decide if charges should be brought. ||||| dw54

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 Member Back to Top Post by dw54 on rincew1nd said:

 AIUI they are provided for cleaners to use when cleaning trains in depots; it does surprise me a little that these sockets are energised all the time. I would expect them only to become live when the train is in a depot mode.

 I have seen on a variety of stock, stickers above 13amp sockets saying "Not for public use".AIUI they are provided for cleaners to use when cleaning trains in depots; it does surprise me a little that these sockets are energised all the time. I would expect them only to become live when the train is in a depot mode.

 I am surprised that 16A sockets are not used. I noticed these at stations (incl Farringdon) and assumed they were for the cleaners - not that they needed the higher power rating, but to restrict the use of the socket. I am surprised that 16A sockets are not used. I noticed these at stations (incl Farringdon) and assumed they were for the cleaners - not that they needed the higher power rating, but to restrict the use of the socket.

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 Member Back to Top Post by Fahad on bassmike said: Is it correct that LUL have standarc 13 amp sockets on stations but modified with the L&N pins vertical instead of horizontal to prevent public use (unless you can get hold of a suitable plug!) I wonder why they are not used in this case. Also there are 13 amp sockets and plugs that have a T shaped earth pin for the same reason.

 I've never seen this on LUL property (that's not to say that it doesn't exist), but I have at Harrow Bus Station - must get a photo next time I'm passing through

 I have seen BS546 plugs on tube platforms, typically (might be always, I can't remember) at 110V. It's of course not at all implausible that someone could obtain a suitable phone charger

 EDIT: I'm told that this is called

 rincew1nd said:

 AIUI they are provided for cleaners to use when cleaning trains in depots; it does surprise me a little that these sockets are energised all the time. I would expect them only to become live when the train is in a depot mode.

 I have seen on a variety of stock, stickers above 13amp sockets saying "Not for public use".AIUI they are provided for cleaners to use when cleaning trains in depots; it does surprise me a little that these sockets are energised all the time. I would expect them only to become live when the train is in a depot mode.

 I believe that this is the case on some (most? all?) stock I've never seen this on LUL property (that's not to say that it doesn't exist), but I have at Harrow Bus Station - must get a photo next time I'm passing throughI have seen BS546 plugs on tube platforms, typically (might be always, I can't remember) at 110V. It's of course not at all implausible that someone could obtain a suitable phone chargerEDIT: I'm told that this is called Walsall gauge I believe that this is the case on some (most? all?) stock |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– A 45-year-old UK artist was arrested Friday on a London train for the dastardly crime of "abstracting electricity"—and according to arrestee Robin Lee, the crime is just as "ridiculous" as it sounds, the Evening Standard reports. Even though the outlets on the London Overground are clearly marked as being for cleaners only—a London Underground forum pointed out by the Guardian notes others using the outlets could cause a power surge—Lee decided to charge his iPhone while commuting and ended up getting nailed for it by an "overzealous community support officer," as Lee describes it. In a British Transport Police statement, Lee was "de-arrested shortly after" for the electricity transgression, but then "was further arrested for unacceptable behaviour" for getting "aggressive" with police. "They should never have arrested me, they knew it was ridiculous," he tells the Standard. "The whole thing was just ridiculous." The amount of electricity Lee ostensibly swiped? It's not clear, but Wired estimates the cost of keeping an iPhone charged for a full year runs less than $1.50. (At least he didn't plug it into an outlet on a Broadway stage.)


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– US-based researchers may have gotten a tad carried away when they announced the discovery of a new, potentially life-sustaining planet a couple weeks back. Yesterday, a team of Switzerland-based astronomers said their own observations of star Gliese 581g didn’t back up the American team at all. “We do not see any evidence for a fifth planet,” astronomer Francesco Pepe told ScienceNow. The team also said that, if they were forced to draw a conclusion from their data, they would get a negative signal, which implies that the planet isn’t there, not that they just haven’t been able to find it, notes Steinn Sigurðsson on his blog. Meanwhile, a member of the US team admits that more data is necessary to confirm Gliese 581g’s existence. “I would expect that on the time scale of a year or two, this should be settled.”

There are reports from Torino about HARPS observations of Gliese 581(g)

 Vogt et al reported on additional possible planets in the multi-planet low mass Gliese 581(g) system.

 In particular they showed a ~ 3 sigma detection of a possible 3+ earth mass planet in a circular orbit with an orbital period consistent with a temperate surface.

 The paper used a combination of historic Keck data, published HARPS data up through 2008 and new high cadence Keck data.

 There was some concern when the paper came out that the False Alarm Probability was underestimated (see Cumming et al for discussion of False Alarm Probability estimates and general considerations ).

 The two new planets reported by Vogt et al, were both coming in close to the detection threshold and there have been problems disentangllng closely packed multi-planet systems, due to aliasing and harmonic contamination. Gliese 581, in particular, has had a couple of claims about its planets backed out before.

 What everyone in the community was waiting for is what the HARPS group could say, since they ought to have a couple of years more data, presumably with high cadence also, and very high velocity precision.

 IAU 276 The Astrophysics of Planetary Systems: Formation, Structure, and Dynamical Evolution just got underway in Torino, Italy (good week to be in Italy - meeting in Sardinia also, Wish I Was There).

 Ray Jay reports on social networks:

 " "We cannot confirm it [Gliese 581g] in our HARPS data" - Francesco Pepe (Geneva team) at IAU 276 in Torino."

 This is interesting, but not totally surprising.

 It will be very interesting to see the HARPS paper, and how this shakes out.

 Gliese 581g could still be there, it could be in the orbit reported, but this needs some more work.

 PS: additional oral reports from the meeting.

 HARPS statement is stronger than "we don't see it" - they find that if they force a solution they get a negative signal appearing, implying the planet is not there, not just that they are not sensitive to it.

 50% more data since 2008 published series.

 This could get interesting.

  ||||| Two weeks ago, U.S.-based astronomers announced the discovery of the first Goldilocks planet circling another star: just the right size and just the right temperature to harbor alien life. But yesterday at an exoplanet meeting in Turin, Italy, Switzerland-based astronomers announced that they could find no trace of the prized planet in their observations of the same planetary system.

 All the excitement has been over the subtlest of wiggles in the motion of the star Gliese 581 that lies just 20 light-years from the sun in the direction of the constellation Libra. A consortium of institutions led by the Observatory of Geneva in Switzerland had already discovered four planets circling Gliese 581 by sorting out the subtle motions of the star that are induced by the gravitational tugs of any orbiting planets.

 On 29 September, a U.S.-based team led by astronomer Steven Vogt of the University of California, Santa Cruz, announced that it had discovered a fifth planet. The American team used a combined set of observations: One 11-year-long set consisted of 122 measurements made by the team, while the other set was 4.3 years long and consisted of 119 measurements published by the consortium.

 Designated Gliese 581g, the new planet has at least three times the mass of Earth—large enough to hold on to a watery atmosphere—and orbits at a distance from its star that would allow any water to remain liquid. That would make 581g a happy home for life as we know it.

 But at this week's Astrophysics of Planetary Systems meeting, astronomer Francesco Pepe of the Geneva Observatory and the Swiss group reported that he and his colleagues could find no reliable sign of a fifth planet in Gliese 581's habitable zone. They used only their own observations, but they expanded their published data set from what the U.S. group included in its analysis to a length of 6.5 years and 180 measurements. "We do not see any evidence for a fifth planet ... as announced by Vogt et al.," Pepe wrote Science in an e-mail from the meeting. On the other hand, "we can't prove there is no fifth planet." No one yet has the required precision in their observations to prove the absence of such a small exoplanet, he notes.

 Astronomer Paul Butler, a member of the U.S. team who is at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C., says he can't comment on the Swiss work because he wasn't at the meeting and the data are unpublished. He notes, however, that more observations will likely be needed to solidify the existence of Gliese 581g. "I would expect that on the time scale of a year or two this should be settled." |||||


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This undated photo provided by Sherri Lyn Miller shows Melvin Johnson, who was shot and killed Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2016, on the east side of the San Francisco Bay Area city. Johnson, who urged an end to... (Associated Press)

 This undated photo provided by Sherri Lyn Miller shows Melvin Johnson, who was shot and killed Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2016, on the east side of the San Francisco Bay Area city. Johnson, who urged an end to violence in Oakland after gunfire killed his son and grandson as they slept three years ago became... (Associated Press)

 This undated photo provided by Sherri Lyn Miller shows Melvin Johnson, who was shot and killed Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2016, on the east side of the San Francisco Bay Area city. Johnson, who urged an end to violence in Oakland after gunfire killed his son and grandson as they slept three years ago became... (Associated Press) This undated photo provided by Sherri Lyn Miller shows Melvin Johnson, who was shot and killed Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2016, on the east side of the San Francisco Bay Area city. Johnson, who urged an end to... (Associated Press)

 OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A man who urged an end to violence in Oakland after gunfire killed his son and grandson as they slept three years ago became a victim himself this week as he drove near a street memorial for his slain family.

 Melvin Johnson, 39, was shot and killed Tuesday on the east side of the San Francisco Bay Area city, not far from the shrine for his 16-month-old grandson and 20-year-old son, who were fatally shot in August 2013, The East Bay Times reported Thursday (http://bayareane.ws/2ihI1Us ).

 Police have made no arrests and released no motive for Johnson's killing. They have not said if the shooting was random or if Johnson was targeted. He died at a hospital.

 "In three years and four months, three generations of one family has been lost to gun violence in the streets of Oakland," community activist Sherri-Lyn Miller, a friend of Johnson's, told The Associated Press. "Melvin Johnson was a giant teddy bear, and the loss has not only devastated the Johnson family, but all that knew him."

 Johnson had moved his son, Andrew "Drew" Thomas, and grandson, Drew Leon Deon Jackson, to the central California city of Fresno to get them away from Oakland's street violence, but they were slain while in town for a birthday party.

 A shooter fired into a relative's home in the middle of the night, killing the sleeping pair. The slayings are still unsolved.

 Johnson's mother, Carolyn Smith, spoke of her late son Wednesday as a good person who was committed to his family following a series of tragedies.

 Another of his sons, 8-year-old Jahmel Johnson, died last month after a battle with lymphoma.

 "(Melvin) helped everybody, he loved everybody," Smith told the newspaper. "He didn't mess with nobody; he was like a big teddy bear. I'm not saying that because I was his mother, but because I know."

 Smith said his business, Drewski Designs, which made T-shirts and clothing for picnics, anniversaries, funerals and special events, helped people in the community.

 "A lot of people called him, wanting him to make them this and that," Smith said. "He was changing his life, helping others."

 Authorities are offering up to $10,000 for tips on who killed Johnson. A reward of up to $30,000 for information leading to an arrest in his son and grandson's killings is still being offered.

 In past years, Oakland has seen triple-digit annual homicide rates and been on the FBI's list of the 10 most dangerous cities in the country. Poverty is rampant in some areas, with gangs and drugs linked to as much as 90 percent of the killings.

 This year, the mayor said Oakland has seen a double-digit drop in overall shootings. Violent crime also has dipped. But the blue-collar city of about 410,000 that has yet to see the economic boom underway in neighboring San Francisco.

 ___

 Information from: Contra Costa Times, http://www.contracostatimes.com ||||| OAKLAND — After his son and 16-month old grandson were fatally shot in August 2013 as they slept at an East Oakland home, Melvin C. Johnson Jr. pleaded for the community to “stop the violence” and “put the guns down.”

 On Tuesday, Johnson, 39, also became a victim of deadly violence and gunfire.

 Johnson was fatally shot about 1:11 p.m. Tuesday as he drove on 89th Avenue in East Oakland, not far from where a street shrine to his son and grandson had been erected after their deaths at 90th Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard.

 Despite his wounds he was able to drive to the 8500 block of MacArthur, where he crashed into some parked cars near Castlemont High School.

 Oakland police alerted by ShotSpotter gave him CPR at the scene, but he later died at a hospital. No motive has been released by police for the killing and no arrests made.

 Johnson’s son, Andrew “Drew” Thomas, 20, and Thomas’ young son, Drew Leon Deon Jackson, were fatally shot August 7, 2013, by someone who fired into the rear of a Brookfield Village home on Ghormley Avenue at 2:46 a.m.

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 Johnson had previously moved his son to Fresno to get him away from Oakland’s street violence, but Thomas and his son were in Oakland at the time for a birthday party and were staying with his aunt when they were killed.

 The killings of Thomas and his son have not been solved, and up to $30,000 in reward money remains for information leading to the arrest of their killer.

 Johnson’s mother, Carolyn Smith, spoke of her son Wednesday as a good person who redoubled his commitment to family in the face of a series of tragedies.

 Smith said the family was still mourning Johnson’s 8-year-old son, Jahmel T. Johnson, who died Nov. 1 at Children’s Hospital Oakland after a battle with lymphoma.

 And the memories of what happened to Johnson’s other son and grandson have never faded.

 The family, Smith said, is handling the latest tragedy “very hard.”

 “He helped everybody, he loved everybody,” Smith said. “He didn’t mess with nobody, he was like a big teddy bear. I’m not saying that because I was his mother, but because I know.”

 Smith spoke with pride of Johnson’s Drewski Designs business, which made T-shirts and clothing for picnics, anniversaries, funerals and special events: “A lot of people called him, wanting him to make them this and that. He was changing his life, helping others.”

 Smith said she was home in East Oakland on Tuesday when she learned of the shooting.

 “Someone called my daughter. She was here, and I saw the expression in her face like something was happening,” Smith said. “Then she said, ‘Mama, let’s go. Melvin’s been shot,’ and we went to the scene, but he wasn’t there. They had taken him to Highland.”

 Up to $10,000 in reward money is being offered for information leading to the arrest of Johnson’s killer. Anyone with information about the cases may call police at 510-238-3821 or Crime Stoppers at 510-777-8572. |||||

– A man who urged an end to violence in Oakland after gunfire killed his son and grandson as they slept three years ago became a victim himself this week as he drove near a street memorial for his slain family. Melvin Johnson, 39, was shot and killed Tuesday on the east side of the city, not far from the shrine for his 16-month-old grandson and 20-year-old son, who were fatally shot in August 2013, the East Bay Times reports. Police have made no arrests and released no motive for Johnson's killing. They have not said if the shooting was random or if Johnson was targeted. "In three years and four months, three generations of one family [have] been lost to gun violence in the streets of Oakland," community activist Sherri-Lyn Miller tells the AP. She was a friend of Johnson's. "Melvin Johnson was a giant teddy bear, and the loss has not only devastated the Johnson family, but all that knew him," Miller says. Johnson had moved his son, Andrew "Drew" Thomas, and grandson, Drew Leon Deon Jackson, to the central California city of Fresno to get them away from Oakland's street violence, but they were slain while in town for a birthday party. A shooter fired into a relative's home in the middle of the night, killing the sleeping pair. The slayings are still unsolved. Johnson's mother, Carolyn Smith, spoke of her late son Wednesday as a good person who was committed to his family following a series of tragedies. Another of his sons, 8-year-old Jahmel Johnson, died last month after a battle with lymphoma. Melvin "helped everybody, he loved everybody," his mother said.


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– The dozen Republican members of Congress who gave John Boehner a public rebuke this week don't have to worry about payback, he says. "I'm not a retribution kind of guy," he told a closed-door conference meeting yesterday, reports the Hill. "I don't hold grudges." Boehner got re-elected to a second term as speaker, but the vote was unusually close thanks to the largely conservative gang of 12 who either voted for someone else or abstained. Boehner will need all the unity he can get for his next task—getting a bill passed that raises the debt ceiling. He told Republicans that he will insist any such action be paired with spending cuts, a move he says the public supports. But President Obama reiterated today in his weekly address that Congress must raise the ceiling without negotiations, reports AP. It's a "dangerous game," he said. "If Congress refuses to give the United States the ability to pay its bills on time, the consequences for the entire global economy could be catastrophic."

Boehner absolves GOP defectors, seeks to reassert his command

 By Russell Berman -

 Battered by division and defections, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is setting out to re-unify his conference and prove to Democrats in the White House and the Senate that he can command a governing majority of the House.

 Boehner, who lost 12 of his members in a surprisingly hairy reelection vote, took the first steps in a closed-door conference meeting Friday morning. Boehner told lawmakers he would not seek to punish the Republicans who deserted him on the House floor Thursday.

 "I'm not a retribution kind of guy. I don't hold grudges," Boehner said in the meeting, according to several people in the room. "My door is always open, whether you voted for me, or didn’t vote for me.”

 Lawmakers say the next two to three months of fiscal battles will be a crucial period for Boehner, who begins the 113th Congress with a smaller majority that includes a cadre of conservatives who have gone public in their opposition to his leadership.

 The Speaker's immediate goal, members say, is to craft legislation that raises the debt ceiling and cuts spending while winning 218 Republican votes in the House.

 “One, we have to craft the right legislation. Two, we have to have a spirit of teamwork within our caucus,” second-term Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) said. “It’s important for us to be passing bills that can get to 218 out of here.”

 For Boehner, getting Republicans on the same page has been harder than ever in the two months since the November election. He could not rally his conference around a fallback "fiscal-cliff" bill in December, and nearly two-thirds of House Republicans voted against the final Senate compromise on New Year's Day.

 Beyond fiscal issues, however, Republicans pushed back and ultimately scrapped plans to vote on a five-year farm bill and major postal reform, in large measure because the leadership could not secure enough GOP votes to pass them.

 The defections against Boehner in the vote for Speaker made clear that his struggle to unify the House GOP will continue in the 113th Congress. They serve as a warning to Boehner of the risks in repeatedly bringing bills to the floor that do not have majority Republican support.

 “Clearly, this is not a group of trained poodles on the House floor,” Huizenga said. “You’ve got some very independent-thinking, strong-willed people, and that’s healthy for a democracy.”

 The House is on recess next week, and lawmakers expect the debt-ceiling bill to be a central topic of discussion at the party's annual retreat in Williamsburg on Jan. 17-18.

 At the conference meeting Friday, Boehner told House Republicans he would insist that an increase in the debt limit be accompanied by spending cuts and that the public was on the GOP’s side.

 “With the [fiscal] cliff behind us, the focus turns to spending,” Boehner said, according to a person in the room. “The president says he isn't going to have a debate with us over the debt ceiling. He also says he's not going to cut spending along with the debt limit hike.”

 The Speaker cited a new poll conducted just before the new year by the Winston Group, a Republican firm, which found that 72 percent of respondents “agree any increase in the nation's debt limit must be accompanied by spending cuts and reforms of a greater amount.”

 Boehner first laid out that principle in a 2011 speech in New York, and has said he will stick to it as Congress debates the debt ceiling in the next two months. The Treasury Department said the nation hit its $16.4-trillion borrowing limit in late December and estimates the next increase must occur before March.

 President Obama has vowed not to negotiate over the debt ceiling again, setting up another confrontation in the weeks ahead. Republicans will also be looking at the same time to enact spending cuts to replace automatic reductions to defense and domestic spending set now to take effect in March. And Congress faces another deadline one month later to extend government funding and prevent a shutdown.

 Rep. James Lankford (R-Okla.), the new chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, said the party has found more success unifying around policies it opposes than coalescing around positions it supports.

 “There has to be a lot of communication as to where we’re going to try to go,” he said. “If we can’t get to a focus on what we are going to do, then it is a little more challenging.”

 Lankford said the House GOP is determined to act affirmatively on the debt ceiling, in the hopes it will put pressure on the Senate and not be forced to accept a last-minute compromise, as it has in year-end tax battles in both 2011 and 2012.

 “We’re going to get ahead of it, I can tell you that,” Lankford said. “We’re not going to wait until the last second.”

 While many lawmakers bemoaned the defections from Boehner as an embarrassment that weakens his leadership, Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) said it could help him in one respect.

 “In a bizarre way, I think it strengthens Boehner’s hand,” said Griffith, a former majority leader of the Virginia House of Delegates. “It makes it clear to the president that he’s got a bunch of folks who want to do something about spending, and they’re serious.”

 As a former legislative leader, Griffith said he empathized with Boehner, even if he didn’t always agree with him.

 “It’s also easier to sit on the outside of a leadership position and throw stones,” he said. “It’s much harder to be in his shoes.” ||||| President Barack Obama is hailing a last-minute deal that avoids the so-called fiscal cliff but says it's just one step in a broader effort to boost the economy and shrink federal deficits.

 FILE - In this Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013, file photo, the dome of the Capitol is reflected in a skylight of the Capitol Visitor's Center in Washington. By delaying hard choices on spending, the fiscal cliff... (Associated Press)

 Obama said in his radio and Internet address Saturday that the new law _ approved by Congress on New Year's Day and signed Thursday _ raises taxes on the wealthiest Americans while preventing a middle-class tax hike that could have thrown the economy back into recession.

 With the "fiscal cliff" crisis barely over, Obama faces new battles in Congress over raising the country's $16.4 trillion borrowing limit, as well as more than $100 billion in automatic spending cuts for the military and domestic programs which were delayed by two months under the compromise.

 Lawmakers promise to replace those across-the-board cuts with more targeted steps that could take longer to implement.

 Obama _ speaking from Hawaii, where he is on vacation with his family _ said he is willing to consider more spending cuts and tax increases to reduce the deficit.

 But he said he "will not compromise" over his insistence that Congress lift the federal debt ceiling without negotiations. The nation's credit rating was downgraded the last time lawmakers threatened inaction on the debt ceiling, in 2011.

 "Our families and our businesses cannot afford that dangerous game again," Obama said.

 If elected officials from both parties "focus on the interests of our country above the interests of party, I'm convinced we can cut spending and raise revenue in a manner that reduces our deficit and protects the middle class," Obama said.

 In the Republican address, Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan said that as attention again turns to the debt limit, "we must identify responsible ways to tackle Washington's wasteful spending."

 Americans know that "when you have no more money in your account and your credit cards are maxed out, then the spending must stop," Camp said. |||||


– Acting Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie is President Trump's pick to permanently lead the beleaguered department. Wilkie is a former Pentagon undersecretary for personnel and readiness, and a former adviser to GOP Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina. He's led the agency for two months, ever since Trump fired David Shulkin amid an internal revolt and questions about his compliance with ethics rules, reports the AP. Wilkie appeared in the White House press briefing room Thursday to accept a check for the amount of Trump's first-quarter salary, which he donated to the agency. Trump revealed his decision during a prison reform event at the White House. Trump previously nominated White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson for the job, but Jackson withdrew last month. Politico sees Wilkie's path to confirmation as much smoother than Jackson's, though it points out one potential wrinkle: Wilkie was one of three congressional aides present when Trump's campaign supported ditching a provision in the GOP's 2016 platform that called for tough action against Russia. Robert Mueller's team is reportedly looking into that campaign decision.

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 This will NOT appear anywhere on Newser ||||| President Donald Trump on Friday announced he would tap current acting Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie to be the department’s next permanent leader. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Trump taps Wilkie as next Veterans Affairs secretary The selection comes after workplace conduct issues sank the nomination of Ronny Jackson.

 President Donald Trump on Friday tapped Robert Wilkie, a veteran GOP aide and acting veterans affairs secretary, as his choice to become the permanent leader of the scandal-plagued agency.

 Trump announced Wilkie’s selection ahead of scheduled remarks at a White House prison reform summit, telling the crowd that the nominee-in-waiting didn’t know about the news and quipping that he had “ruined the surprise.”

 Story Continued Below

 “I’ll be informing him in a little while, he doesn’t know this yet, that we’re going to be putting his name up for nomination to be secretary of the veterans administration,” the president said at the event, attended by numerous top Trump administration officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, senior adviser Jared Kushner and Wilkie.

 Wilkie, who has led the Department of Veterans Affairs in an acting capacity since March and was confirmed by the Senate for a Pentagon post last year, rose up and shook hands with the president after the unexpected announcement. In his remarks, the president praised Wilkie for an "incredible job" steering the VA in recent months. The White House formally announced the president's intent to nominate Wilkie as VA secretary in a statement later on Friday.

 As a former adviser to Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and longtime Republican hand, Wilkie’s path to taking the VA’s permanent helm will likely be smoother than the turbulent bid of Ronny Jackson, the president’s former personal physician. Jackson withdrew from consideration to lead the VA last month amid scandal over his workplace behavior.

 Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) responded to news of the president's announcement by congratulating the acting agency leader and saying he looked forward to the confirmation process in the chamber.

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 “As acting secretary of the VA, I’ve enjoyed my time getting to know Robert Wilkie and working alongside him to advance community care legislation through Congress,” Isakson said. “I congratulate Undersecretary Wilkie on his nomination and look forward to learning more about his long-term views for the VA, including how he plans to implement the VA MISSION Act when it becomes law, as we work through the confirmation process."

 Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), chairman of the House panel on veterans' affairs, told POLITICO in a statement he found Wilkie "to be accessible and knowledgeable since he stepped in after former VA Secretary Shulkin's departure."

 "While the Senate is responsible for the confirmation process, I commend President Trump for this selection and believe Acting Secretary Wilkie would be an effective permanent secretary," he said.

 Wilkie's announced appointment is the latest leadership development for an agency rocked by high-profile departures and ethics scandals.

 Jackson, who served as White House physician under former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, as well as Trump, withdrew his bid to lead the VA in April amid a series of allegations that he created a toxic work environment, drunkenly wrecked a car and maintained poor prescription records while serving in the federal government. White House officials later confirmed he would not return to his role at the president's physician.

 In March, Trump unveiled on Twitter he was ousting Jackson's predecessor, David Shulkin, amid growing tensions with the White House over a taxpayer-financed trip to Europe last year and after he openly sparred with conservatives in his agency.

 John Hoellwarth, communications director for the American Veterans non-partisan advocacy group, nodded to the recent upheaval at the agency in his reaction to Trump's announcement.

 "Wilkie is already leading the VA, and the last thing the VA needs is more turnover," he told POLITICO in an email. The organization in its statement said Wilkie would provide "needed stability" for the VA.

 The latest staffing shake-up arrives as congressional lawmakers continue to feud over the future of the agency, with Democrats pushing back against what they say are efforts to nudge the VA closer to privatization.

 Wilkie's nomination could hit a snag due to his tie to the ongoing probe of Trump’s ties to Russia: He was one of three congressional aides present when the Trump campaign supported the rejection of a tough-on-Russia provision proposed for the GOP’s 2016 platform.

 Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team is reportedly examining the platform debate, but Wilkie had not been contacted by Mueller as of last fall.

 Arthur Allen contributed to this report. |||||


News article:

Keith Olbermann, the former MSNBC anchor, will host a prime time program for Current TV, the low-rated cable channel co-founded by Al Gore. The one-hour program will begin sometime in the spring.

 Mr. Olbermann will also become the chief news officer for Current, the company said in a news release Tuesday.

 “We are delighted to provide Keith with the independent platform and freedom that Current can, and does uniquely offer,” Mr. Gore said in a statement.

 Original story | Keith Olbermann, the former top-rated host on the news channel MSNBC, will announce his next television home on Tuesday, and people on Monday familiar with his plans pointed to a deal with the public affairs channel Current TV.

 Mr. Olbermann, his representatives and executives from Current TV declined to comment on the move, but they did not deny that the channel, which counts former Vice President Al Gore as one of its founders, will become at least one partner in Mr. Olbermann’s future media plans.

 One of the people with knowledge of the plans said Mr. Olbermann would have an equity stake in Current TV. The people insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized by their employers to comment in advance of the official announcement.

 On Monday a public relations agency hired by Mr. Olbermann scheduled a Tuesday morning conference call for an announcement about his next job. “He and his new partners will make an exciting announcement regarding the next chapter in his remarkable career,” the agency wrote in an e-mail.

 Current TV has set up a presentation with advertisers for Wednesday afternoon in Manhattan to announce its future plans. The channel may be betting on Mr. Olbermann to put it on the cable map. The low-rated five-year-old channel needs the help. Targeting young people, it originally subsisted on YouTube-style submissions and video journalists. More recently it started producing and acquiring traditional television series, like repeats of “This American Life.”

 Mr. Olbermann departed MSNBC in January after some stormy interactions with management, including a suspension for contributing to political candidates. The settlement of his contract precluded his joining another television outlet for an undetermined period of time, but an announcement of a future assignment on Current TV would presumably not violate the terms of that deal as long as he did not start until after the agreed-upon waiting period.

 A move to Current TV would challenge Mr. Olbermann’s fans of his MSNBC show — where he drew about a million viewers a night — to follow him to a channel that is considerably less accessible. Current TV is available in only about 60 million homes, and is usually provided only on the digital tier of cable television systems, which requires a separate receiver. MSNBC, which is owned by NBC Universal, is available in 85 million homes and is almost always available as a basic cable entry.

 But the addition of Mr. Olbermann, the former sports anchor who made himself a progressive star at MSNBC, would surely elevate the channel, bringing it attention it has never before received.

 With Current TV, Mr. Olbermann would also gain a measure of independence. Unlike most cable channels, including MSNBC, which are owned by large media companies, Current is privately and independently owned by Mr. Gore and other backers.

 It is also possible that Mr. Olbermann will separately pursue other ventures, like an Internet destination.

 Speculation has surrounded Mr. Olbermann since he abruptly left his job at MSNBC. He has been savoring the speculation, even posting a link on Twitter on Monday afternoon to a countdown clock for his announcement.

 The abruptness of Mr. Olbermann’s departure last month suggested that he already had lined up another media job. The Internet domain name TheOlbermannShow.com was registered two days before his televised goodbye. A few days afterward, he set up a new Twitter account, called “FOKNewsChannel,” short for “Friends of Keith.”

 The departure came just days before Comcast took control of NBC, leading some to suspect that he was forced out by Comcast — an assertion that the companies vigorously denied. Comcast owns a 10 percent stake in Current TV. ||||| In the Words of Keith Olbermann

 Also on Current TV

 Keith Olbermann, the acclaimed broadcaster and writer whose verbal pyrotechnics and moral passion have outraged, informed, and dazzled viewers of "Countdown With Keith Olbermann" for the past eight years, is bringing his slashing wit, analytical eye, and distinctive commentary to Current Media, the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning TV and digital media company that was founded in 2005 by Al Gore and Joel Hyatt and is now distributed in more than 75 million households around the world.The new show will air weeknights in primetime beginning later in 2011.Nothing is more vital to free America than a free media. And nothing is more vital to my concept of a free media than news that is produced independently of corporate interference. And thus I'm pleased to announce that I'll be returning to television on Current TV.In Current media, Al Gore and Joel Hyatt have created what is, in my opinion, the model truth-seeking entity, and the opportunity to partner with Al and Joel and Mark Rosenthal makes this truly the most exciting venture in my career, which, as you know, has had a lot of exciting ventures, some of them intentional and some of them not so intentional.As you probably may not be aware, Current is, in fact, one of the fastest-growing television networks in history, and its position right now is as favorable as any cable network that I have been associated with at the time of my joining....At this point, Current is not merely the leading independent news and information network in television in the United States, but it really is the only one. And to underscore and to support that is my great privilege and, to some degree, I hope, with the people with whom I'll be working, our great duty.So I know it can be interpreted in the way, perhaps, that you did, but my argument would be that we're talking about, without getting too highfalutin here, we're talking about a larger purpose and a – and a corner, at least, of the news industry – journalism, television news, all the rest – that needs to be, again, highfalutin word, sacrosanct....Again, not to criticize what's being done elsewhere, but here is a unique opportunity for me to be involved in an organization that is both prosperous and influential and yet has, as its primary focus, as much as any you know – we're all in business here, but has as much of a focus towards editorial content and spreading, to use my favorite English teacher's phrase, "beauty and light" as any other priority in its – in its structure.I'm always trying to do more or a better version of what I've done previously. And I wanted this – my career and my involvement in news to continue to move forward. I think the shark analogy is probably on the tip of my tongue, so there it is. If you don't – if you don't keep moving, you're newscast falls off.So it's more in that sense of what would be coming in the years ahead in terms of did I want to stay sort of stationary in that mainstream kind of news environment, or did I want to go out into a – into a different one with a different set of values and priorities? And the choice was pretty clear, and the people with whom I could go with on that adventure would be the finest ones I could find. And these are those people.Keith Olbermann joins an outstanding lineup of programming that shines a light where others won't dare and boldly explores important subjects -- opening minds, sparking conversations and forming deep connections with its viewers. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– It's official: Keith Olbermann is headed to Current TV. The announcement on the Current TV website calls the former MSNBC host a "great provocateur" and says he'll bring his "slashing wit, analytical eye, and distinctive commentary" to a nightly primetime news and commentary show. Olbermann will also be Chief News Officer for the company. His new show starts at an undisclosed date later this year. Insiders had previously told the New York Times that Olbermann, who abruptly left MSNBC last month, would make the move. He'll also have an equity stake in the channel founded by Al Gore and other independent backers. The five-year-old channel, which is only available in some 60 million homes, consists largely of YouTube-style submissions and would receive a major boost from the presence of Olbermann, whose exit deal from MSNBC requires him to stay off TV for an agreed-upon length of time, believed to be close to six months. In a statement, Olbermann calls Current TV "the model truth-seeking entity" and calls this opportunity "the most exciting venture in my career."