Following on from last week’s review of the Sony Xperia Tablet Z, it’s time to look at the Android environment on what is arguably one of the best specced ten inch Android  tablets.

Jefferson County Commison President David Carrington released the following statement today on today's filing of Jefferson Counties exit plan from the nation's largest ever Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

The freelance economy is one of the most powerful, unsung forces that’s changing society in this decade. By providing a new route to employment for many people who either can’t get a foothold in the traditional employment market–or would prefer to work in a different way–it’s giving them more freedom and control over their destiny. That’s why I found the story of a new freelance hub,  Nabbesh, so intriguing.

PINSON,AL (WBRC) – Jefferson County sheriff deputies were called out Saturday around 4 p.m. to the 8700 block of Lakeview Circle in the Woodhaven community to assist Palmerdale Fire and Rescue on a medical

Birmingham Police are investigating the shooting deaths of 17 year old twins Jonathan and Jerry Berry.  Both brothers were found shot to death friday night around 11:30 p.m at 736 Attalla Street in Wylam. The Mother of the brothers was also wounded.

Video on Instagram is now a little over a week old. Some love it, some hate, but all should have the opportunity to pay to opt out of it. By introducing video to Instagram, Facebook made it clear that it would monetize the app via 15 second commercials. While the company is well within its rights to try to maximize profit on a one billion dollar investment, for its sake and for the sake of Instagram users, it should open up an alternate channel to reap that profit: a subscription fee. Instagram pre-video was doing just fine. The app boasted 130 million users and 16 billion photo shares. It was a rare oasis on the Internet, a beautiful and quiet stream that, at times, felt like a curated art exhibit. But that Instagram was also difficult to monetize. With a stream limited to photos, Instagram was itself limited to selling motionless advertisements. Anything that moved would have felt abrupt, out of place, and likely caused Instagram’s user base to revolt. But motionless ads are harder to message with and don’t bring in anywhere close the dollars that moving ads do. So, in the interest of those ad dollars, Facebook added video functionality. The move was a reasonable, and many, in fact, like the changes. I reached out to a number of Instagram’s top users after the video launch and some, like Liz Eswein, proprietor of Instagram’s @newyorkcity account, gave it positive reviews. “I think it’s a great addition to the app,” Eswein said. “We’ve been able to experience other people’s lives through photography and now we’ll be able to experience that through video.” (For more responses see: Instagram’s Top Users React To Its Addition Of Video) But not all felt that way. “From an artist’s point of view, they ruined the app,” said the widely followed Carli Kiene. ”It will never be what it was.” Kiene explained that, in her view, Instagram was one of the few places to escape the over stimulation and noise on the Internet and adding video to it destroyed that. “It’s monetary,” she wrote. “We all know it and their billion dollar app will be paid for at our expense.” Within Instagram’s broad user base, there are plenty who agree with Eswein, plenty who agree with Kiene, and many who have mixed feelings. Facebook can make them all largely happy by creating a model that would let anti-video users pay to opt out of it completely, restoring the serenity of Instagram for a fee. Tech companies have never given away their products for free. There’s always a cost, be it up front, a subscription fee, or advertising. For most companies, it makes sense to pick one of these models and stick with it. But in this case, Facebook overhauled a product in order to plow the way for a lucrative advertising path, so it should open up the subscription option too. This way, it can keep Instagram’s users happy, engaged, and not lose money in the process.

Jefferson County today filed it's exit plan from the nation's largest
ever Chapter 9 bankruptcy.  The 101 page plan still faces several legal hurdles, but could mean
the county would be out of bankruptcy by the end of this year.

It happened again: for a sizable fee, American icon Jennifer Lopez performs for one of the world’s most repressive countries, singing happy birthday to President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov of Turkmenistan. Does anyone on her team vet these events? You know, against JLo’s own espoused values and efforts for social change. Just a few weeks ago at the Chime for Change concert in London, Lopez performed for tens of thousands of fans in an effort to raise awareness and donations to advance women and girls around the world. Prior to that, Lopez headlined an event on global maternal health in New York titled Mom+Social, at which I was in attendance. Upon hearing her, I had an even greater respect for her philanthropic passion.

The next time you are in a restaurant scanning choices—french fries, a slice of pizza, cheesecake or a milkshake– and feel that you are “addicted” to these types of foods—there is now more evidence to validate these types of cravings, but further supported by biochemical evidence and specific findings on MRI brain scans, according to results of a new study.

The Cannes Creativity Festival that just ended last week has morphed over its 60 years from the semi-serious celebration of advertising creative types and their penchant for heavy partying along the Boulevard de la Croisette in Cannes, France, to a broader discussion of marketing.  That brings the serious folks along with it—the global CMOs with the big ad budgets and heads of media organizations.