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In Brazil, they prefer putting information where the rubber meets the road, so to speak.

In underwear.

Brazilians pride themselves on their sex appeal, and underwear is big business.

AdAge reports there were 2.8 billion pieces of lingerie made in Brazil last year, bringing in $3.36 billion in revenues. For years, Brazilians waxed philosophical about the best way to reach out about cancer screenings, and they decided that underwear might be the perfect medium.

At first, members of the Brazilian Congress tried to pass a law that would force manufacturers to put teeny weeny warnings in teeny weeny thong bikini underwear — specifically, labels in bras highlighting breast cancer screenings, labels in panties promoting cervical cancer screenings, and labels in boxers or briefs supporting prostate cancer screenings (ok, probably just briefs — do they wear boxers in Brazil?).

The bill failed to pass, as manufacturers rebelled against the cost and difficulty. Plus, you wouldn't be able to read anything that small. So a new version of the law — which just passed — requires the cancer screening information to be placed on underwear packaging.

When's the last time you read underwear packaging? A better suggestion might have been to hire Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen to do public service announcements. All she'd have to say is, "Turn left and cough," and Brazil would soon be cancer free.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff must sign the law before it can take affect. Proponents hope one last amendment will tip support in their favor. AdAge reports they threw in a requirement "that underwear for adult women should also suggest use of condoms."

The suggestion to use condoms will come in underwear for women, but not men? That's truly outrageous.

( Source: CNBC )

Disney sought the trademark rights on May 3, two days after U.S. operatives raided a luxury compound in Pakistan and killed the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

Disney's ABC subsidiary wanted to develop a TV show along the lines "NCIS" and "JAG," which are also real-life Navy units, and would have focused on the drama and heroism of the special forces members.

But it drew flak for not only its rapid filing, but also for a trademark application that included items like Christmas stockings and snow globes.

Comedy show host Jon Stewart needled the company on his "Daily Show": "I can't wait for the Happy Meal."

Navy spokeswoman Amanda Greenberg said the Navy already had rights to the SEAL trademark but recently submitted two new applications for trademarks of "Navy SEALs" and "SEAL Team."

"The Navy is fully committed to protecting its trademark rights as it pertains to this matter and is currently examining all legal options," she said.

Disney/ABC spokesman Kevin Brockman said the company pulled the plug on its bid "in deference to the Navy's application."

Disney is still interested in producing a show based on the unit's operatives although it would likely be produced by a third-party studio.

( Source: AP )

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

He calls the technique "cookiejacking."

"Any website. Any cookie. Limit is just your imagination," said Rosario Valotta, an independent Internet security researcher based in Italy.

Hackers can exploit the flaw to access a data file stored inside the browser known as a "cookie," which holds the login name and password to a web account, Valotta said via email

Once a hacker has that cookie, he or she can use it to access the same site, said Valotta, who calls the technique "cookiejacking."

The vulnerability affects all versions of Internet Explorer, including IE 9, on every version of the Windows operating system.

To exploit the flaw, the hacker must persuade the victim to drag and drop an object across the PC's screen before the cookie can be hijacked.

That sounds like a difficult task, but Valotta said he was able to do it fairly easily. He built a puzzle that he put up on Facebook in which users are challenged to "undress" a photo of an attractive woman.

"I published this game online on FaceBook and in less than three days, more than 80 cookies were sent to my server," he said. "And I've only got 150 friends."

Microsoft said there is little risk a hacker could succeed in a real-world cookiejacking scam.

"Given the level of required user interaction, this issue is not one we consider high risk," said Microsoft spokesman Jerry Bryant.

"In order to possibly be impacted a user must visit a malicious website, be convinced to click and drag items around the page and the attacker would need to target a cookie from the website that the user was already logged into," Bryant said.

( Source: Reuters )

1. Google's open NFC credit card secret is now confirmed: Launch partners The Container Store and Vivotech accidentally confirmed that the system is on its way in September, will be dubbed Google Wallet, and that it'll all be revealed at the special Google event later today. The biggest give-away is Vivotech, which is, according to its own website, a firm that makes "NFC software and systems" for "rich mobile commerce solutions." Watch this space later.

2. A surprisingly bold statement by prominent hedge fund manager David Einhorn has caught the public's attention: Einhorn is asking Steve Ballmer to step down as CEO of Microsoft. Ballmer is stuck in the past, according to Einhorn, and is holding back his company from what it could become--he's the "biggest overhand on Microsoft's stock." Einhorn's Greenlight Capital has recently been investing into MS stock and now holds over 0.1% so has a vested interest in MS prosperity.

3. According to insiders, Apple U.K. is making a big effort to approach British tech journalists and entice them to attend the upcoming WWDC event. It's unusual because a push like this really implies Apple has something big to reveal--and we're not expecting anything particularly big. Is this a hint that the new cloud-based MobileMe is due? Cloud iTunes? A surprise early reveal of the iPhone 4S? Is the new OS X Lion actually ready for a public release?

4. Online gamers will be familiar with the idea of "gold farming," where (for real money) you can buy digital assets (like virtual money) inside a multiplayer game like World of Warcraft that someone else has built up. Many farmers are Chinese, and now it's emerged that Chinese prisoners had been forced to work as gold farmers to make an income for the prison authorities--with beatings as punishment if not enough gold was made. The practice was regulated against in 2009, but may still be occurring.

5. Net tech darling Ashton Kutcher has invested "significant" amounts of cash in Airbnb, a firm that's like a clearing house for traveling and vacation activities. Kutcher will also join Airbnb as an official advisor, possibly leveraging his expertise in unusual marketing. Kutcher's investment history includes big stakes in Skype (recently bought by Microsoft) and UberMedia--the firm that lost out on a deal to buy app maker TweetDeck which was just bought by Twitter itself.

( Source: Fast Company )

Daily Digest Stockinvestips

Upgrades for May 26 2011 Thursday:

1) Aeropostale ( NYSE: ARO) upgraded from underperform to Mkt perform by FBR Capital.

2) American Eagle ( NYSE: AEO ) upgraded from perform to outperform by FBR Capital.




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Downgrades for May 26 2011 Thursday:

1) Knight Transportation ( NYSE: KNX ) downgraded from buy to neutral by Longbow.

2) lululemon athletica ( NASDAQ : LULU ) downgraded from Mkt Perform to Underperform by FBR Capital.



Coverage Initiated for May 26 2011 Thursday:

1) Amer States Water ( NYSE: AWR ) coverage initiated with buy by Ladenburg Thalmann.

2) American Water ( NYSE: AWK ) coverage initiated with neutral by Ladenburg Thalmann.

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(Marketwire - May 26, 2011) - Yippy, Inc. (PINK:YIPI) (www.yippy.com) ("Yippy" or the "Company"), providers of the world's fastest, family friendly educational search engine and web portal, reports that it recently entered into a formal long-term partnership agreement with InfoSpace, Inc. ("InfoSpace"), a leader in the Internet search market.

Pursuant to the terms of the newly formed partnership, Yippy will display InfoSpace's sponsored results CPC (cost per click) advertising feed exclusively for both consumer search and educational research markets. The partnership agreement also provides for search results from major search engines consolidated using InfoSpace's proprietary technologies for Yippy's educational research engine. InfoSpace's search feed will allow the Company to significantly reduce the operational costs of the search business and provide a more robust search product for the Company's upcoming educational research engine release.

"Yippy.com is an exciting web property with a bright future," said Richard Granville, Yippy's Chief Executive Officer. He continued, "Yippy presents the advertising community with a fundamentally ideal example of what a web portal should look like through its unique blend of conservative filtered content. The family and educational search markets are underserved and through our partnership with InfoSpace, we believe Yippy will begin to assert itself as an industry leader. InfoSpace has a very select partner base of approximately 120 total organizations worldwide and we are extremely honored to have been one of those chosen this year. During the test period with InfoSpace, we saw substantial growth in the revenue per click earned and in total number of clicks; we expect that this will translate into increased revenues for the Company going forward."

Marc Bigelow, Managing Partner of VAST Resource Group and the Company's chief consultant commented, saying, "This partnership for revenue sharing and feeds has the potential to bring tremendous value to both organizations." Bigelow continued, "InfoSpace has everything a growing internet information services business such as Yippy would want to tap into, including one of the most robust advertising engines in the search business, delivering paid advertising from major players such as Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft. We are looking forward to working with InfoSpace and taking them with us into a new vertical enterprise which is the convergence of online education and media that is easy to use, private and secure for students. We hope it will be a long and prosperous relationship."

Based in Fort Myers, Florida, Yippy, Inc. (www.yippy.com) is a new economy technology company that develops technologies and application services environments for both consumer and commercial market segments.

Statements in this press release that relate to the Company's expectations with regard to the future impact on the Company's results from new products in development are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties. Words such as "expects," "intends," "plans," "may," "could," "should," "anticipates," "likely," "believes" and words of similar import also identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on current facts and analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determined and assumptions of management. Readers are urged not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond our control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. We assume no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements in order to reflect any event or circumstance that may arise after the date of this release, even if new information becomes available in the future. Additional information on risks and other factors that may affect the business and financial results of Yippy, Inc. can be found in the filings of Yippy, Inc. on OTC Markets (www.otcmarkets.com).

By a 5-3 vote, the court said Thursday that federal immigration law gives states the authority to impose sanctions on employers who hire unauthorized workers.

The decision upholding the validity of the 2007 law comes as the state is appealing a ruling that blocked key components of a second, more controversial Arizona immigration enforcement law. Thursday's decision applies only to business licenses and does not signal how the high court might rule if the other law comes before it.

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for a majority made up of Republican-appointed justices, said the Arizona's employer sanctions law "falls well within the confines of the authority Congress chose to leave to the states."

Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor, all Democratic appointees, dissented. The fourth Democratic appointee, Justice Elena Kagan, did not participate in the case because she worked on it while serving as President Barack Obama's solicitor general

Breyer said the Arizona law upsets a balance in federal law between dissuading employers from hiring illegal workers and ensuring that people are not discriminated against because they may speak with an accent or look like they might be immigrants.

Employers "will hesitate to hire those they fear will turn out to lack the right to work in the United States," he said.

The measure was signed into law in 2007 by Democrat Janet Napolitano, then the governor of Arizona and now the administration's Homeland Security secretary.

The employer sanctions law has been only infrequently used. It was intended to diminish Arizona's role as the nation's hub for immigrant smuggling by requiring employers to verify the eligibility of new workers through a federal database. Employers found to have violated the law can have their business licenses suspended or revoked.

Lower courts, including the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, previously upheld the law.

The case is Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting, 09-115.

( Source: AP )

© 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

(PRNewswire) Syms Corp (NASDAQ: SYMS) announced today that its Board of Directors has initiated a process to explore and evaluate various potential strategic alternatives, which may include a possible sale of the Company. The Company has retained Rothschild Inc. as its exclusive financial advisor to assist the Company in connection with the strategic review process.

There is no defined timeline for this strategic review and there can be no assurance that the review of strategic alternatives will result in any specific action or transaction. Syms does not intend to comment further regarding the evaluation of strategic alternatives, unless a specific transaction is approved or review process is concluded, or it otherwise deems further disclosure is appropriate or required by law.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information in this press release includes forward-looking statements (as such term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) and information relating to Syms Corp and its subsidiaries that are based on the beliefs of Syms' management, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to Syms' management. When used in this press release, the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "plan" and similar expressions as they relate to Syms Corp and its subsidiaries, identify forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the current views of Syms Corp with respect to future events, the outcome of which is subject to certain risks, including, among others, general economic and market conditions, decreased consumer demand for Syms' and Filene's Basement's products, possible disruptions in Syms' computer or telephone systems, possible work stoppages or increase in labor costs, effects of competition, the impact of integrating Filene's Basement's business and Syms Corp's existing business, possible disruptions or delays in the opening of new stores or inability to obtain suitable sites for new stores, higher than anticipated store closings or relocation costs, higher interest rates and borrowing costs, unanticipated increases in merchandise or occupancy costs, and other factors which may be outside the control of Syms Corp. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results or outcomes may vary materially from those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated, expected, intended or planned. Subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to Syms Corp or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements in this paragraph.

Contact: Davia Temin, Temin and Company, 212-588-8788

SOURCE Syms Corp