Filed under: Company News, Columns, Economy, Investing, Earnings, Media

For those looking for yield this winter, here are the top-yielding electric utility stocks.

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The market is up 62% in the past nine months. When has this happened before?

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My top 10 stock picks for 2010.

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Continue reading Daily Blogwatch: Does the market go up when the sun shines?

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It looks like today has quickly become URL shortener day. Just moments ago, we learned about fb.me, Facebook’s new URL shortener. It’s already in use for mobile and page link sharing and spreading quickly.

One of Facebook’s mortal enemies couldn’t let the social network have all of the fun and attention, though. Google has just launched Goo.gl, the official Google URL shortener of the world’s largest search engine.

In a short announcement, the tech giant revealed that the Google Toolbar and the FeedBurner syndication service now utilize Goo.gl for link sharing.

The company also made sure to preach the strengths of its URL shortener and why it should be chosen above others. Google’s three key talking points are stability, security, and speed. These are no surprise:

Facebook and Google are trusted brands with huge audiences and very good short URL domains. Today may just mark the beginning a new battle for the URL shortening market.

Reviews: Facebook, Google

Tags: facebook, Goo.gl, Google

Read More... [Source: Mashable!]

Mashable is proud to present the Zappos.com Sharing Happiness Giveaway Contest!

We’ve received so many great responses/entries to our big question, �How do you use the web to improve your life and/or make people happy?�

But you can still add more by #SharingHappiness in the comments section of our original post for a chance to win a $3,000 shopping spree at Zappos.com!

Entries are due by Tuesday, December 15th at 11:59 PM PT, and we’ll announce a winner on December 16th. Be sure to read the contest rules before posting and tweeting. Note that comments on this post will not be counted as contest entries. Go here for your chance to enter.

8 Ways to Share Happiness on the Web:

To keep the holiday cheer flowing, we’ve highlighted some of the most inspiring submissions so far. These are some great ideas for sharing happiness on the web:

Jon Strum:

I use the web to publish my blog about caregiving for my disabled wife. Being a caregiver for a loved one can be a very isolating experience. My blog helps other caregivers to remember that they aren’t alone.

Herb Hernandez:

One example: helping dog rescue by acting as their webmaster, managing Twitter account and Facebook page. We’ve saved literally hundreds of dogs over the past few years.

Bonnie Jean Weinman:

My sister lost her job and is in danger of losing her house. I use the web and twitter to research ways for her to network and get another job and save her house.

GeekGirlCamp:

I use the web to promote education and computer literacy by creating a community of gifted online people to help get our message out about donating money to educational scholarships for women in dire need, free computer classes for disadvantaged women, laptop donation programs for young girls and women who have no money, and many more causes to get everyone more education for school and job skills. Blogging, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, Ning, and others have helped us so much gain a loyal community that is always ready to help anything we do. We would never be able to get technology into the hands of the people who need it most without the web! Thank you to everyone who helps us day after day get the message out!

Akilah S. Richards:

I use the Web to link Execumamas to each other at various stages in their journeys toward successfully integrating motherhood and business! What makes me most proud of what I do on the Web is my ability to inspire women who are apprehensive/nervous/afraid about pursuing their career goals for fear of compromising their roles as mothers. I still get emails that make me cry in appreciation of what I’m able to do!

porcheb:

I am a teacher and I use the web to develop videos in sign language so that my deaf kids would be able to have tutorial, language acquisitions, and social development at home or anywhere. Basically, it is not limited to only my deaf kids but to anyone. The web is a amazing tool to spread knowledge.

Laurie:

I use the web to fundraise for breast cancer research. It makes me happy to help others. #SharingHappiness

RENONFL:

I am always searching the web to find schrolarships for my three children to continue college. I want them to have a better life than I. To give them an education so they can become young adults that make a positive difference in the world sounds wonderful to me. I love my kids and want the most life can give them.

How do you use the social web to spread happiness and help others? Share your experience in the comments section of our original post for a chance to win a $3,000 shopping spree at Zappos.com!

To Enter

1. Leave your answer in the comments section on the original post and/or,

2. Tweet out your answer with the hashtag �#SharingHappiness� (Be sure to leave the URL of your Twitter comment in your comment on the original post.)

Contest Rules & Restrictions

You must be 18+ years of age and currently reside in one of the 50 US States. If you would like to participate but are not of valid age/residence, please note �not eligible� in your comment on the original post. By submitting, you are agreeing to the full rules and restrictions. Final entries are due on this post by Tuesday, December 15th at 11:59 PM PT.

A Big Thanks to Zappos!

�Visit Zappos.com and outfit your life with a new head-to-toe wardrobe for men, women, and kids! Step into all the clothes, bags, shoes and more from all your favorite brand names! Plus, enjoy our 365-day return policy, fast & free shipping, free return shipping & 24-hour customer service!�

Reviews: Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn, Twitter

Tags: contest, Contests, sharing happiness, sharinghappiness, Zappos

Read More... [Source: Mashable!]

Whether making your own lens hood to create custom bokeh, breathing like a sniper to get a blur-free photo, or angling your body to look the best in pictures, we shared some great photography hacks this year.

Software and Photoshop tricks are great, but they're a poor substitution for doing things in-camera. Over the last year we shared a variety of hacks for taking better photos, looking better in photos, and ways to get professional results without spending your rent money on camera accessories.

Create Your Own Bokeh for Beautiful Photo Effects

What's a bokeh you say? It's that oh-so-wonderful fuzziness in the background of photographs with a shallow depth of field and accompanying starry highlights. You can create you own bokeh effects with a little craftiness.

Position Your Tongue Properly to Look Good in Photos

We live in a culture of oversharing, so odds are someone, somewhere will be snapping and posting photos taken of you at various events. To help ensure you look your best, heed where you position your tongue.

Take Better Pictures by Treating Your Still Camera Like It's Video

People often lament that they "just missed it!" upon seeing they failed to capture a pivotal moment in the action. You can avoid missing the action by treating your still camera like a video camera.

Avoid Mediocre Portraits with These Tricks

You have a camera and a willing subject, but you're not sure how to break your portraits out of the flat blandness that plagues many snapshots. Avoid boring compositions with these tips.

Set Up a High Speed Photography Studio in Your Garage

Many a photography enthusiast has assumed the equipment necessary is far too expensive for quality high speed photography captures. A high speed capture studio on the cheap can be had with this handy guide.

Create Abstract Light Art by Snapping a Camera-Toss Photo

Making abstract wallpaper and gorgeous slow-exposure shots doesn't require a bunch of design apps or photography lessons. Learn how to literally toss your camera to make abstract light art.

Be A Better Photographer On Vacation

Whether you head 30 or 3000 miles away, you'll want to bring back great photos of your vacation. The New York Times posts questions and answers on how to achieve great vacation photos.

Take Better Self-Portraits

Taking a good self-portrait is both a handy skill and a way to expand your photographic repertoire. Save your next profile picture from the camera-held-at-arms-length cliche with these tips.

DIY Tennis Ball Photography Stabilization Unit

DIY web site Instructables details how to make an image stabilizing unit to supplement your steady hand using a tennis ball and a few nuts and bolts.

Shoot Better Nighttime Pictures

Daytime photo tricks don't always translate when you're trying to capture the perfect night shot. The Photography Bay web site outlines tips for taking a stellar post-sunset shot without relying on a tripod or expensive flash system.

Be More Photogenic by Forgetting About the Camera

When the camera comes out, a lot of people instinctively declare that they look awful in pictures. Learn how to be more photogenic and put your best face forward.

Breathe Like a Sniper to Take Better Photos in Low Light

Steady hands are critical to taking low light photographs. Breath like a sniper to make sure you snap the shot when your hand is least jittery.

Create a Basic Ring Flash

If the DIY Fiber Optic Ring Flash we wrote about required too many specialist parts for your taste, check out this much simpler remix. The construction is easy and done with common household items.

Use Composition Rules to Take Better Photos

Photography is a creative art, no doubt, but creative doesn't mean doing everything willy-nilly however you want. Use these basic rules of composition to give your photos an extra boost of visual appeal.

DIY Beauty Dish Enhances Your Portraits

Beauty dishes are great flash modifiers for portrait photographs, but even a cheap model will set you back at least $100. Skip it—a surprisingly effective DIY beauty dish costs less than $20.

Create Stunning High Dynamic Range (HDR) Photos

Gizmodo's John Mahoney explains how to take high dynamic range (HDR) photos so that the results of your photograph more accurately recreate what you were seeing when you snapped the shutter.

Create Studio Quality Photos Using Natural Light

You don't need a blockbuster budget to get high-quality light for your portraits. By coaxing the sun to help in your photographic endeavors, you can create stunning portraits on a tiny budget.

Make a DIY Photography Light Box with K'Nex

Lightboxes aren't just for the professionals any longer. Using them to illuminate your Craigslist and eBay listings can help make a sale, and amateur photogs can get professional-looking shots with one. Create your own using K'nex and a little know how.

Take Great Panoramic Pictures with Any Camera

Panoramic software has come a long way toward making panoramic images child's work. Great software or not, there's no substitution for good source material. Take better panoramic pictures with these tips

Take Better Pictures by Studying Studio Layouts

Whether you're interested in learning more about lighting to add to your photography skill set or you're just curious how proper studio lighting works, this handy guide will provide some photo-enhancing insight.

DIY Tilt-Shift Photography Lens

Tilt-shift lenses create a great miniature effect on photographs of everyday things. The problem? These specialized lenses are insanely expensive (think $1,000 range). This video from Make demonstrates how to make a DIY tilt-shift lens on the cheap.

Take Awesome Sunset Photographs

Sunsets are one of nature's more spectacular displays, and a good one is worth preserving with a photograph. Take pictures that will capture the perfect dusk moment with these photography tips.

Create a Flash Diffuser Using An Empty Cigarette Packet

The right flash can make or break your shot. Unfortunately, not all built-in flashes are created equal. DIY web site Instructables demonstrates how to create a worthy on-the-spot flash diffuser using an empty cigarette packet.

Make a DIY Macro Lens from Old Binoculars

A high-end macro lens for your camera can easily run upwards of a thousand dollars, but you can make a super-simple macro lens for a few bucks out of old binoculars.

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Have a favorite photography-related hack from 2009 that wasn't featured here? Let's hear about it in the comments.

Read More... [Source: Gizmodo: top]

It's been a while since the Medal of Honor franchise has found its way on to store shelves, but we're interested for what the series will bring to the crowded realm of modern shooters. At tonight's 2009 Video Game Awards, the first footage of the recently revealed Medal of Honor impressed with solid visuals and a metric ton of explosions.

Not enough for you? The gameplay trailer concluded with one NPC kicking a booby trapped prisoner through a high rise window. Now we're not marketing pros, but that should be the first bullet point on the back of the game's box. Check out the trailer -- in all its YouTube quality glory -- after the break.

Update: Hi-res version now available above.

First gameplay footage of Medal of Honor revealed [update] originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 12 Dec 2009 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In this week's mildly paranoid iPhone app roundup: Prices, slashed for the holidays! iPhones, recklessly tilted! Amazing classic games, handily ported! A decent camera app, sold for nothing! Cheap tickets, booked! Dictations, taken! Movies trivia, two ways! And much, much more...

This Week's Apps

If you hate hate hate galleries, click here to view the apps as a single page.

Honorable Mentions

⬢ Google Mobile: This update keeps the app from launching into Safari as much as it used to, and widens its voice capabilities. A minor but useful upgrade.

⬢ My Name and Head Shoulders Knees & Toes: I suspect most of you don't reader these roundups to find ways to entertain your children. But if you do, My Name, which will teach your tot how to spell whatever is on his birth certificate, and Head, Shoulders Knees and Toes, which makes a simple touch game out of the children's song, will distract them long enough for you to gobble up enough Zoloft to keep the gears moving without anyone noticing.

⬢ Wolfram Alpha: Once a comical $50, this mega calculator app is now a slightly less comical $20.

⬢ Monkey Ball 2: Last week, I noted that this app seemed to have a widespread crashing problem, and therefore couldn't recommend it, despite the fact that it's a worthy—if not revolutionary—followup to one of the iPhone's best launch titles. The bug has been identified: If you have a jailbroken phone, avoid this one. If you don't, and you loved Monkey Ball numero uno, give it a shot.

⬢ iClassic: Replaces your music interface with a faux-clickwheel. Jailbreak-only.

⬢ Voltron: A name and a concept worth getting excited about, let down by mediocre execution.

⬢ Aqua Forest 2: Same deal as above: A game with a pedigree and a soild concept, but on which the developers didn't quite follow through well enough.

This Week's iPhone News On Giz

⬢ Mega-iPhone Dorks Who Idolise Rambo, Strap This On For Size

⬢ Apple Countersues Nokia

⬢ Analyst Claims iPhone Users Are Suffering From "Stockholm Syndrome"

⬢ Apple Patent Shows Dock Made From 'Elastic Sponge-Like Substance' That Conforms To Shape of iPod/iPhone

⬢ In Which a Telco Executive Makes Taking Sound Like Giving

This list is in no way definitive. If you've spotted a great app that hit the store this week, give us a heads up or, better yet, your firsthand impressions in the comments. And for even more apps: see our previous weekly roundups here, and check out our Favorite iPhone Apps Directory. Have a great weekend, everybody!

Read More... [Source: Gizmodo: top]

Pink's a live wire Mirror.co.uk And she's game for a laugh - in Don't Let Me Get Me she sang: "Tired being compared to damn BRITNEY SPEARS." She proceeded to tap the microphone and pretend ...

Read More... [Source: Britney Spears - Google News]