Google, an underdog in Asia, lays plans for Taiwan data center

Taiwan gets Internet traffic easily from the United States. I sits at the ends of undersea cables that extend directly from North America before branching off to other parts of Asia.

Google dominates Internet search engines by such a wide margin in the United States that it?s a verb as well as the corporate name of its Silicon Valley-based creator.

Skip to next paragraph

But in China, Google vies with the local, government-approved search engine Baidu ? which means 100 degrees ? and lags South Korea?s local brand Naver. It competes head on against fellow American company Yahoo for searches in Taiwan, splitting traffic roughly 50-50. Yahoo has also held a historic grip on Japan.

So this week, the 14-year-old Google announced that by the end of next year, it would open a data center in Taiwan to improve search speeds and reliability around the region.

Google has already started building data centers in Hong Kong and Singapore. But the larger one in Taiwan comes with government incentives and will boast a specific geographic advantage. That is, Taiwan gets Net traffic easily from the United States, home to Google and the source of numerous Internet search results, as it sits at the ends of undersea cables that extend directly here from North America before branching off to other parts of Asia.

Google will spend a combined $700 million on the three centers, which generally house computers and storage systems that help speed connections and keep them secure.

?More new Internet users are coming online everyday here in Asia than anywhere else in the world,? Google?s Asia Pacific President Daniel Alegre said at a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday at the coastal facility in Taiwan. ?That is why we are building data centers in Asia ??to ensure that our users here have the fastest, most reliable access possible to all of our services, so they can continue putting them to work.?

Google?s Taiwan data center will speed up searches particularly in China, which is just 160 kilometers (100 miles) away but has sought to censor Web searches. Baidu now controls about 75 percent of the searches in China.

?That?s a key, to serve China,? says Marvin Ma, software and services analyst with the market research firm IDC in Taipei. ?China will notice a clear improvement. And this way Google can avoid the censorship problem.?

In 2010, Google shut down its locally based Chinese search engine after a dispute with the communist government over censorship and cyber-attacks, a row that prompted harsh words from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Google won?t give market shares for Asia or estimate the overall number of users in the region. In South Korea, Naver still handles about two-thirds of the Internet searches, analysts estimate. But two years ago, Google and Yahoo signed a search-engine technology deal that has muffled the rivalry in Japan.

Google is also catching up in Taiwan as the ever popular Yahoo retrenches, with reports of layoffs in the pipeline, says Jamie Lin, founding partner with Taipei-based tech investor appWorks Ventures. ?If they don?t make any mistakes, Google is going to be the dominant player in a couple of years,? he says.

gael glen rice jr bars lindzi cox redskins bachelor finale courtney robertson

Sen. Lugar appears to be headed for defeat by Teabagger next week (Americablog)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

national championship calipari national archives brock lesnar kentucky jayhawks wwe wrestlemania

Jailbreaking the Degree

Jailbreak verb. 1 To get out of a restricted mode of operation. 2 To enable use of a product not intended by the manufacturer.

Currently, the degree is the only meaningful ?unit? of education to which employers give any credence. Of this dependency, TIME magazine writes, ?The tight connection between college degrees and economic success may be a nearly unquestioned part of our social order. Future generations may look back and shudder at the cruelty of it? It is inefficient, both because it wastes a lot of money and because it locks people who would have done good work out of some jobs.?

target target walmart jcpenney loft old navy cyber monday best deals

Automobile Auction? | Buying Second Hand Car

admin | May 04, 2012 | Comments 5

Question by Bob: Auto Auction?
What type of luxury automobiles would you find at a car auction? Would they be priced excellent? and would you ever locate one that is only a 1 year old? Thank you.

Greatest answer:

Answer by gunhipswollenlip
most likely, i heard there excellent offers on them, but
you have to have the cash up front and bid with folks,
craigs list is a very good place also, verify that out.

Give your answer to this question beneath!

Filed Under: Automatic Cars

Tags: Answer ? Auction ? Auto Auction ? automobile auction ? car ? car auction ? greatest ? gunhipswollenlipmost ? luxury automobiles ? Type

my fair lady conversion disorder the chronicle spinal stenosis the forgotten man mike jones just friends

American Idol Results: Who Made the Final 4?

At this stage, it's difficult to be shocked by any elimination on American Idol.

Only five contestants remained heading into tonight, and all are quite talented, and all enjoyed mostly strong performances on Wednesday. Still, we didn't see this ousting coming, not once Phillip was deemed safe... and Joshua... and Jessica...

It had to be Hollie going home, right?

Nope. Over 60 million votes were cast and the finalist who America sent packing was... Skylar Laine!

Yes, she struggled with "Fortunate Son," but enough to get the boot? You tell us: Did Skylar deserve to go home at this point?

news channel 9 insanity workout mass effect 3 launch trailer yelp huntsville al channel 2 news adrienne bailon

Meet Our TC NYC Meet-Up Volunteers

This is important, so listen up. The people I'm about to describe are the most awesome of all the awesome people as they have volunteered to help out (free of charge) with our massive meet-up here in NYC next week. It'll be amazing. Let me paint you a little word picture:

margarito margarito horton hears a who horton hears a who cotto margarito big daddy big ten championship game

US needs faster job growth, making progress: White House (reuters)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

wake forest wake forest old dominion insync the duchess the duchess spice

Tumblr Finally Wants To Make Some Money, Launches Its First Ads

Tumblr, the immensely popular but profitless blogging platform, just turned on its first set of paid "sponsor products" (Tumblr doesn't like to call them "ads"). Even though the company resisted running ads on its network for a long time, it announced that it would launch this platform about two weeks ago at Ad Age's Digital Conference in New York. For the most part, the new ads don't intrude on Tumblr's users blogs. Instead, the company is using its Radar and Spotlight features to highlight content from its advertisers/sponsors.

masters live johan santana viktor bout ncaa hockey role models ferdinand porsche gregg williams

SpaceX Forced to Delay Launch to Space Station [Space]

SpaceX has once again been forced to delay the launch of its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft. The latest launch date was scheduled for Monday, May 7 from Cape Canaveral in Florida and a new date hasn't been set. Issues with the software responsible for controlling the automated spacecraft have caused several of the past issues and are assumed to be responsible for these latest delays. More »

walmart black friday sales walmart black friday sales michelle obama booed at nascar polio cutler amas music awards 2011

Limitless: The Brain-Doping Movie We All Know Was Inspired by Adderall [Video]

More »

florida panthers tannehill joel ward mock draft dr oz washington redskins north country

Lady Gaga and Taylor Kinney Break Up!

Lady Gaga and Taylor Kinney have reportedly broken up.

The pop superstar and the model-actor, who has appeared on The Vampire Diaries, are officially "on a break," a source tells Us Weekly this afternoon.

"She will be touring nonstop until next year and has found she can't have a relationship at the same time," the insider says of her upcoming mega-tour.

"There's just no room for anything else. Her work is all-consuming."

Still, the couple of 10 months was showing signs of cracking for some time, even before rumors of her possibly getting back together with Luc Carl.

The reason, allegedly? Kinney not doting on The Gaga,

"Taylor was all about himself, a typical actor, and didn't completely get Gaga," says the friend, suggesting that it wasn't meant to be. "She just loved that she got this guy who everyone thought was hot! But it was never going to last."

"Taylor was never that attentive to her."

The two first met on the set of Lady Gaga's "You and I" video. While a reconciliation isn't officially off the table for these two, don't hold your breath.

[Photos: WENN.com]

overboard east of eden weather radio indiana autoimmune disease westboro baptist church news channel 9

Shooting a birthday party can be a real challenge. From the arrival of the guests, to the party games, blowing out the candles on the cake, and opening presents, there?s a lot to do. Here?s professional photographer Nigel Barker of America?s Next Top Model fame to share his tips for getting great birthday party photos.

matt barnes hcm loretta lynn gene kelly zoe saldana zooey deschanel and joseph gordon levitt debra messing

T-Mobile Prism leaked: entry-level Huawei smartphone to launch in May

While the design (and even the briefing slides) scream affordable, we're sure there must be some Big Magenta customers aching for a keenly-priced smartphone fix. So here's the Prism. Huawei's behind that T-Mobile face, cooking up a Android Gingerbread phone with a pretty weedy 600MHz processor and a 3.5-inch (480 x 320) touchscreen. A fixed-focus (yeah) 3.2-megapixel camera pokes out the back, while a microSD slot means you can extend space for those vaguely-almost-in-focus shots -- the Prism arrives with a 2GB card already onboard. The phone looks set for a May 6th release date and TmoNews has several more slides with some extra launch details -- you can check them out at the source below.

T-Mobile Prism leaked: entry-level Huawei smartphone to launch in May originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 May 2012 12:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  TmoNews  | Email this | Comments

fergie one republic michael dyer suspended new years ball drop new years rockin eve new york times square jaws

Brown: I'm not the reason Whitney's gone

By Kurt Schlosser

In his first interview since the death of Whitney Houston, Bobby Brown exclusively tells TODAY's Matt Lauer, "I'm not the reason she's gone."

NBC

In a candid sit-down set to air Wednesday, Brown, who says he?s "very much clean and sober from narcotics," talks to Lauer about the last time he saw Houston, how he found out about her death, and why he gets blamed for her drug use.?He talks about his relationship with their daughter, Bobbi Kristina, and addresses recent rumors and controversy surrounding her personal life. And Thursday, speaking publicly for the first time, three of Brown?s children and his fianc?e tell TODAY how they feel about the media?s portrayal of Brown.?

When asked about the last time he saw Houston, a week or so before she died, Brown says the iconic singer "had this glow about her that was just, you know, incredible.?I'm saying to myself, you know, 'She must be ... she must be doing really well,' because she looked really well."

Brown says Houston, to whom he was married for 15 years, "looked like she was in a good place."

Video: Coroner says Houston took drugs before drowning

Lauer asks Brown how he took the news that cocaine was a likely contributor to the death of Houston, 48, who was found in?a bathtub in a Beverly Hills hotel on Feb. 11.

"I was hurt.?I was hurt ... because, you know, me being off of narcotics for the last seven years, I felt that she was, you know, I didn?t know she was struggling with it still.?But at the same time, you know, listen, it's a hard fight.? It's a hard fight to, you know, maintain sobriety that way."

Based on his own?feelings and how she appeared when he last saw her, Brown theorizes that?that one day of cocaine use -- not the effects of longterm use -- was enough to kill Houston. "It had to be that one, because that's all it takes," Brown said. "One hit, you know ... it could definitely take your life away from you.?And, unfortunately, that was it."

Lauer pressed the 43-year-old R&B star on the talk after Houston's death. "If I heard it once, I heard it a hundred times, and I know you heard it too," Lauer said. "Fans, people who say they were close to Whitney, say her life went downhill when she met Bobby Brown.?How does it make you feel when you hear it?"

"It makes me feel terrible," Brown said. "But you know, I know differently. I think if anyone ever knew us, if anybody ever spent time around us instead of time lookin' through the bubble, they would know how we felt about each other.?They would know how happy we were together."

Video: Houston's?hairstylist opens up about star's death

Brown says the couple got a wakeup call from starring in the reality TV series "Being Bobby Brown." "We looked at the bubble and saw ourselves.?We was able to see what other people were saying about us, you know??We was able to see that our drug use had affected our relationship, had affected the love that we felt for each other."

But when asked by Lauer about the popular perception that?he is the one responsible for getting Houston hooked on drugs, Brown says, "not true."

"I didn't get high [on narcotics] before I met Whitney," Brown said. "I smoked weed, I drank the beer, but no, I wasn't the one that got Whitney on drugs at all." He says drugs were a part of the singer's life "way before" they got together.

"It's just ... it's just unexplainable how one could, you know, [say that I] got her addicted to drugs. I'm not the reason she's gone," Brown said.

NBC

Video: Star-studded sendoff for Whitney Houston

In the second part of Lauer's interview, which will air Thursday, the TODAY host talks with three of Brown's children -- Landon, Bobby Jr., and La?Princia -- and his fianc?e, Alicia Etheridge.

The children all say the public perception of their father is not the right one.

"I honestly feel like my dad's a great person," daughter La'Princia said. "He's been my best friend, like, my whole life.?If I ever have a problem with anything, I know I can always go to him.?Likewise, if he ever needs to talk to somebody, he knows he can always call me and I'll be there for him."

Son Landon says people confuse his father's stage persona with the real man. "I feel like my father's always had the bad boy image. So, you know, they just keep followin' that. Anything that they can take a negative from the situation, they blow it out of proportion and blame him."

Video: Details emerge about Houston's final days

La'Princia says everyone makes mistakes.

"They don't see the good part of him that we see every single day. Everyone goes through their ups and downs.?You can't be judged forever about one event in your life or just the bad decisions you've made, you can't always be judged just by that."

How do you feel about Bobby Brown's view of?Whitney Houston and his take on people's perception of him? Discuss on Facebook.

Related content:

traffic report traffic report opensky dia frampton dia frampton zook eric decker

Groupon replaces 2 directors

CHICAGO (AP) ? Online deals company Groupon Inc. said Monday that it will replace two board members with executives from American Express Co. and accounting firm Deloitte LLP.

The company said Daniel Henry, chief financial officer of American Express and Robert Bass, a vice chairman at financial consulting firm Deloitte, will sit on Groupon's audit committee.

Henry was appointed to the board on April 26, and replaces Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz.

The move comes as Groupon faces growing scrutiny over its accounting practices. In March, the company restated its quarterly financial results, explaining that it lost more than it initially reported because it had to pay out more refunds than expected.

Its auditor, Ernst & Young, flagged a weakness in the company's internal controls. The company is working to hire more financial staff to help address its problems.

Bass will stand for election at the annual shareholders' meeting June 19 after he retires from Deloitte. He replaces entrepreneur and investor Kevin Efrusy.

"With their deep financial, accounting and operational experience, Dan and Bob will provide invaluable expertise to the Board going forward," said Eric Lefkofsky, Groupon's chairman.

Henry, 62, has been CFO of American Express since 2007. Bass, also 62, has been a vice chairman of Deloitte since 2006, and a partner there since 1982. He is retiring from Deloitte on June 2.

Groupon shares fell $1.27, or 10.6 percent, to close at $10.71. In aftermarket trading the stock rose 22 cents, or 2 percent, to $10.93.

Associated Press

kratom broncos broncos lehigh walking dead season finale matt flynn denver news

China, US in talks to allow Chen to leave: activist

Beijing and Washington are working on a deal to allow rights activist Chen Guangcheng to leave China for the United States with his family after he fled house arrest, a fellow activist said Tuesday.

Bob Fu, who runs the US-based group China Aid and has been in close contact with Chen and his supporters, said both sides were keen for a swift agreement ahead of key US-China talks that start on Thursday in Beijing.

Chen had initially been reluctant to leave China, but now accepted that it would be difficult for him to stay, and was prepared to go into exile in the United States as long as his family could accompany him, Fu said.

"The situation has changed on the past few days. He understands that there is no way he could return to Dongshigu now," Fu told AFP by telephone, referring to Chen's hometown.

"But he won't leave without his family -- if he had thought about that he would already have gone.

"The most viable scenario is to negotiate a quick deal to allow China to make a face-saving agreement."

That could involve China allowing the family to leave for medical treatment in the United States, said Fu, a former Tiananmen Square democracy activist who fled China in 1996 and now lives in Texas.

Fu did not reveal who his sources were, but said he had contacts with officials in China and Washington who said both sides were "working very actively to find a solution".

Chen, 40, a self-taught lawyer, escaped from house arrest in the eastern province of Shandong on April 22, and is now said to be under US protection in Beijing. His wife and young daughter are believed still to be in Dongshigu.

The affair threatens to overshadow key talks between US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and their Chinese counterparts scheduled for Thursday and Friday.

Neither the United States nor China has so far commented on Chen's whereabouts, underscoring the sensitivity of the situation.

But Clinton has in the past repeatedly criticised China's treatment of Chen, who won worldwide acclaim for exposing forced sterilisations and late-term abortions under China's policy restricting the size of most families.

He and his family were put under round-the-clock house arrest after he completed a four-year jail sentence in September 2010. He has said he was being punished for defiantly continuing to speak out.

Kenneth Lieberthal, a China expert who was a top aide to president Bill Clinton, said he believed the United States wanted a solution that is "the least embarrassing to China and to do so as expeditiously as possible."

"The question to my mind is whether in China this turns into a political football in a very political season. I think it's more likely to be resolved than to turn into a political football, but you never can predict this stuff," said Lieberthal, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

China is preparing for a once-in-a-decade political handover, with the communist leadership extremely keen to avoid any embarrassments as Vice President Xi Jinping prepares to succeed President Hu Jintao.

The facade of a smooth transition was already shattered when rising star Bo Xilai was dramatically ousted from China's inner circle in a scandal that involved his right-hand man seeking refuge, unsuccessfully, at a US consulate.

With the 2012 campaign well under way in the US, White House hopeful Mitt Romney has criticized Obama's China policy, saying he should challenge the rising Asian power more aggressively over its human rights record, trade practices and military expansion.

He has urged the administration to take "every measure" to protect Chen and his family.

Chen addressed Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in a defiant video released after he somehow escaped from under heavy guard at his home, saying "Dear Premier Wen, I finally escaped."

He went on to detail the harsh conditions of his house arrest, beatings of his wife and mother at the behest of local officials in his hometown, and demanded an investigation.

Fellow dissident Hu Jia, who says he met with Chen following his escape, said Monday that Chen was "not seeking political asylum" but intended to stay in China and fight for protection of legal rights.

roy williams matt lauer divine mercy chaplet albert pujols the shining mariano rivera mariano rivera

Obama, Clintons deepen political and policy ties (The Arizona Republic)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

shame shame the waltons the waltons weta weta rudolph the red nosed reindeer