Xephyer

First - for those of you wondering where I've been - i was traveling for work and had various appointments and other running around to do - so sorry for leaving everyone hanging for a bit.

Apparently Verizon and Apple are now in high-level discussions to bring two apple products to Verizon.

Now, we all know that AT&T has an exclusive agreement with Apple for the iPhone - but BusinessWeek reports that Apple and Verizon are in talks about selling two new wireless devices.

According to BusinessWeek, the devices are a less-expensive "iPhone lite" and a bigger "media pad" that "would let users listen to music, view photos, and watch high-definition videos" as well as offering wi-fi calling. This sounds a lot like the tablet that Apple is supposedly developing. (see my post on Apple Web Tablet from early March ).

This seems like a solid strategy. First, you don't want to cut your share of the AT&T crowd, but by opening up new devices to verizon, you have just also brought on board another huge market. One question is what an "iPhone lite" would be? It would have to be less expensive than the $199 price point, and would really need to be able to work with the iPhone App Store, as well as have GPS features. Apple has repeatedly said it has no interest in selling cheap phones, so it seems likely it won't be too lame.

The bigger news, at least to me, is the "media pad". Now BusinessWeek describes it as "smaller than an Amazon Kindle electronic reader, but its touchscreen is bigger than the Kindle's," citing someone who's seen it. Maybe Apple is planning more than one media pad - as rumors were previously that it was going with a 10" screen.

The other question is Apple making these devices to work with Verizon's 3G network - or wait for another year or so for the roll-out of the Verizon 4G network - which is reportedly going to be the standard. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

First, let me say I know I promised a more detailed look at the pirates and a historical perspective on the issue - but what started out as a short post, ended up being nearly six pages long. I decided not to post it at this time - but will at some point polish it up a bit and post it as a PDF for anyone who is interested.

So - yesterday, the US Navy rescued Maersk Captain Phillips from his four Somali pirate-captors. It seems it went something like this:

Phillips was being held captive in a lifeboat from the Maersk vessel. The lifeboat had long since run out of fuel. At some point on Sunday, the sea conditions were worsening and the lifeboat was "floundering". The pirates acknowledged that by establishing a tow, it would be a smoother ride.Tthe pirates and the Navy agreed to tow the lifeboat while negotiations were underway for Phillips' release. The USS Bainbridge hooked up a tow line to the life boat. Three captors were onboard the lifeboat with Phillips, all armed with AK-47s and small arms, while the fourth pirate went aboard the USS Bainbridge to conduct negotiations.

The White House had issued a standing order for the military to move in an rescue Phillips if his life was in imminent danger.

Shortly after the USS Bainbridge began towing the lifeboat, the situation escalated. It became increasingly clear to the pirates that they were not going to get the cash ransom they were looking for - as the officers of the USS Bainnridge made it very clear they were not in a position to provide any cash ransom. Shots were fired from the lifeboat and the pirates were seen holding a gun to Captain Phillips back. Acting on the standing order from the White House, the snipers, positioned on the fantail of the USS Bainbridge, were ordered to fire.

They established clear head shots on all three pirates. One of the pirates was visible through the front window, and the heads of the other two were visible above the hatch. Shots were fired, and all three pirates were hit. Navy Seals traversed the tow line attached to the lifeboat, and were the first to get to Phillips. They surveyed the scene and found three dead pirates. Phillips was alive, although tied up. The fourth pirate was taken into custody on the USS Bainbrdge.

Moments after the Seals reached Phillips, a Navy RIB (Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat) approached the life boat and safely escorted Phillips back to the Bainbridge. He has since undergone a medical exam and had the chance to take a shower.

According to Admiral Gortney, commander of the US Navy's 5th Fleet, Phillips is healthy and unharmed.

According to Iranian Student's News Agency (INSA) Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is scheduled to visit the Natanz uranium enrichment facilities to see the progress of the centrifuges and technological developments and then to inaugurate the Fuel Manufacturing Plant (FMP) during his 55th provincial tour in Isfahan today (which is the 4th anniversary of its national day of nuclear technology).

Below is an overhead photo of the Natanz plant site:

Apparently, the FMP is to produce nuclear fuel plates, rods and assemblies for Iran's Arak 40-megawatt research reactor which is to be launched within the next few years.

Below is an overhead photo of the Isfahan complex:

Isfahan's FMP apparently has different production lines for different reactors thus it also has the capacity to shift activities to produce nuclear fuel assemblies for Bushehr (1000 MW Capacity) and Darkhovin (360 MW Capacity).

Back in early March, I had a posting about Harper's Island - a short-run TV series which premiers on CBS tonight at 10pm (Eastern). It is a short-run series, so it will only air a total of 13 episodes - so essentially what you have is a 13-hour murder mystery (with lots of murders).

From what I understand, the show begins almost immediately with a rather gruesome death. Unbeknownst to the happy passengers on the yacht ferrying the wedding party to the island, one of the wedding guests has been strapped underwater to the yacht's propeller. As the yacht gets underway, we have the first death of the series.

Harper's Island has been called Scream meets 10 Little Indians or Agatha Christie vs Jason. What we have is an elaborate horror movie with 13 weeks worth of twists and turns.

The premise of Harper's Island, set in the Puget Sound area, is simple. Patricia "Trish" Wellington (Played by Katie Cassidy), daughter of Thomas Wellington (played by Richard Burgi) a real estate tycoon, is marrying Henry Dunn (Played by Christopher Gorham), a likeable blue-collar kid.

The Wellingtons and their friends make up most of the wedding party. Henry's Uncle Marty (Played by Harry Hamlin) and Henery's best friend, Abby Mills (played by Elaine Cassidy) are also along. Adding to the mystery, Abby grew up on the island, but hasn't returned since the gruesome time seven years ago when her mother and five others were murdered on that very island. Abby's father, the local sheriff, shot the killer, but he and Abby are now estranged.

We also have the mandatory rich guy, Hunter Jennings (Played by Victor Webster) who believes that Trish should really be marrying him and not the blue-collar Henry.

Harper's Island has the requisite dark woods, spooky waters, and chilling atmosphere. Since it has a finite life-span (13 episodes) it offers a number of possibilities (every character is fair game as victim or killer). I'm very intrigued about the viability of short-run series - and this looks like it will be a very good test of this format.

I'll have my thoughts after tonight's episode.

Plus - a special blog post over the weekend with a summary of the recent pirate attacks and some background on the last pirate attacks against US flagged vessels.

Okay - I just found this funny:

Cruises