This article titled “The Queen: from glamorous princess to the country’s oldest ever monarch” was written by Stephen Bates, for guardian.co.uk on Monday 6th February 2012 00.05 UTC

At the precise moment she ascended to the throne, 60 years ago this morning, the Queen was perched in a tree, watching a rhinoceros rooting around in a watering hole in Kenya. The Duke of Edinburgh was beside her.

It was the start of a tour that was supposed to take the royal couple on to Australia and New Zealand after their African safari, but at the same time, 7.30am back in England, James MacDonald, valet to George VI, was taking the king his morning cup of tea at Sandringham and discovering that he had died during the night from a heart attack.

The coded news – “Hyde Park Corner” – flashed to London was broken to the prime minister, Winston Churchill, still in bed in Downing Street, who promptly burst into tears.

Word that her father had died and that she was Queen was gently passed to the 25-year-old princess by her husband.

Nine days later, back at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, three queens said to be veiled “like Muslim women”, attended the king’s burial: the young Queen, her mother, George VI’s widow, and his elderly mother, Queen Mary, widow of George V.

You have to be nearly in your 70s now to remember when the Queen was not head of state here and in 16 other countries, from New Zealand to Jamaica.

Elizabeth II, once a glamorous young woman as iconic as – and just six weeks older than – Marilyn Monroe, was seen as a symbol of a supposedly new Elizabethan age in a Britain emerging from the privations of the second world war and the austerity that followed. Now she is the country’s oldest monarch and the second-longest reigning sovereign in British history.

She has met nearly a quarter of all the American presidents who have ever lived, and a fifth of all Britain’s prime ministers have served during her reign – Churchill, the oldest, born in 1874, Cameron, the latest, not born until the Queen had already been on the throne for 14 years. She has also met most of the world’s leaders of the past six decades and many of its most stellar personalities, and never said anything remotely controversial to any of them.

It is almost impossible now to imagine the Britain of 60 years ago if you weren’t alive then. It was an age when sweets were still rationed, black and white televisions had just one channel and if people wanted to use the telephone they usually had to go out and find a public phone box.

When the BBC broadcast the news of the king’s death on the wireless on the morning of 6 February 1952, many listeners burst into tears and drivers stopped their cars in the streets to get out and stand bare-headed in respect. In 1964 an opinion poll found that 30% of the population still believed that the Queen had been chosen by God.

The reverence has mostly gone, aided by a media alternately creeping and carping and by a royal soap opera that has seen the supposedly fairytale marriages of three of the Queen’s four children end in divorce. The Prince of Wales, heir now as he was as a four-year-old 60 years ago, continues to wait his turn and has produced a personable heir (and a spare) to carry on the family line.

Through it all, the Queen has done what monarchs do: dutifully showing herself to the people, touring the country, visiting her subjects in good times and bad. Unasked, unanswered, is how much longer duty will call.

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Prince William and Kate Middleton have just adopted a cocker spaniel puppy, whose name has not been released. The puppy is barely a few months old and is the son of Kate’s mother’s dog, Ella. US Weekly reports the couple was initially worried they weren’t ready to take care of a pet, but after a short trial period, all fears were dashed.

“William and Catherine fell in love with the pup instantly and it wasn’t long before they decided to keep him,” a Palace aide told the magazine. “He’s now part of the royal fold!”

What should the Royal newlyweds name their puppy? Comment below:

“My sweet friends and family,” the e-mail began. “This sunday will be a really important day in my husband’s life. He and his team worked so hard to get to this point and now they need us more than ever to send them positive energy so they can fulfill their dream of winning this super bowl . . .
“So I kindly ask all of you to join me on this positive chain and pray for him, so he can feel confident, healthy and strong. Envision him happy and fulfilled experiencing with his team a victory this sunday.
“Thank you for your love and support. Love, G :)”

Sappy or not? And, who do you want to win the Super Bowl — the New York Giants or the New England Patriots? Comment below.

“My sweet friends and family,” the e-mail began. “This sunday will be a really important day in my husband’s life. He and his team worked so hard to get to this point and now they need us more than ever to send them positive energy so they can fulfill their dream of winning this super bowl . . .
“So I kindly ask all of you to join me on this positive chain and pray for him, so he can feel confident, healthy and strong. Envision him happy and fulfilled experiencing with his team a victory this sunday.
“Thank you for your love and support. Love, G :)”

Sappy or not? And, who do you want to win the Super Bowl — the New York Giants or the New England Patriots? Comment below.

This article titled “Can Apple become the world’s first trillion-dollar company?” was written by Dan Gillmor, for guardian.co.uk on Friday 27th January 2012 19.58 UTC

Almost certainly, Apple will soon hit $500bn in market capitalization – half a trillion dollars. So, based on its current growth, it’s fair to wonder if it will become the world’s first trillion-dollar company. (I’m far from the first to do so, by the way; see this piece, for example.)

The first question to ask is, who cares? After all, $1,000,000,000,000 is just a number, albeit a very, very, very big number. Yet, if achieved, it would represent more than just a triumph of one company’s plan. It would speak to the way global economics and commerce have shifted – in both useful and worrisome ways.

At the beginning of the millennium, people were asking this about another technology company, the digital networking giant Cisco. Then came the popping of the 1990s bubble, of which Cisco had been a major beneficiary, and the company has never come close to its top valuation.

Apple is different. I can’t think of another company that’s been more innovative and – this is key – efficient and brutal, not just in its visible part of the marketplace, but also in the rear echelons of business that end users rarely notice. It is this combination that has brought Apple to where it is today, and the company’s momentum appears only to be growing. (Incidentally, Apple is not the only possible trillion-dollar outfit; Facebook, which increasingly takes on the hue of an unregulated public utility, is another.)

Let me tell you how Apple could reach the trillion-dollar mark – and why I doubt it will.

No company has been more relentlessly innovative in its field in recent years, period. Apple’s particular genius has been to expand that field, to be first or early in categories it defined, and then, when competitors caught up, pushed further. Its attention to customers borders on fanatical, not always in good ways. Still, Apple’s arrogant paternalism, which has pushed me away, is nonetheless felt by many customers to be preferable to the slapdash and customer-unfriendly ways of most Windows PC makers and the other smartphone sellers. And Apple’s dominance in the tablet market shows few signs of any plausible near-term challenge.

Apple’s quality control is best-of-breed, even if its devices are far from perfect. Coupled with the unquestioned best customer service, buyers pay much more for Apple devices than ones from challengers. Among Apple’s main customers are mobile phone carriers, which resell to consumers, and Apple commands a huge premium in that market.

Growth potential remains extraordinary, in part because the mobile device business – Apple’s real cash cow – is evolving so quickly. Customers are surprisingly willing to buy expensive new devices every year or two, and Apple’s customers are more willing than most to open their wallets. Moreover, the company’s much-rumored move into television, which is becoming just one more kind of video, could be yet another major revenue stream.

The supply side of Apple’s power is known mostly inside the tech industry. Just as Walmart revolutionized the supply chain in its own category – and then brutalized its suppliers to create cheaper and cheaper goods – Apple has made its own supply chain into the most efficient machine of its kind. This means, among other things, that Apple can sell hardware at extremely competitive prices, and given its huge margins, the company is much better-positioned than its competitors to wage price wars. Tim Cook, who formally took over the CEO job just before Steve Jobs’ death last fall, led the team that created this leviathan, and he’s clearly pushing the boundaries.

Apple is also increasingly global, moving away from its former focus on the American market. In years past, I rarely saw its products when traveling overseas; now, I see iPads, iPhones and Macs everywhere.

Finally, consider that Apple has done all this in a difficult economic climate. Imagine what it might do if a robust global recovery occurs.

Those factors, and many others, suggest that Apple has enormous possibilities for growth. For every dollar its share price rises, the company gains about a billion dollars in added market capitalization. Could it double again? Betting against Apple in any respect has become a high-risk undertaking.

Yet, while I have no doubt that Apple will continue to grow and thrive, at least for the next few years, doubling its current value is a much more challenging task than it would seem on the surface.

It’s unwise, first, to assume that Apple’s currently hapless competitors won’t get their act together, at some point. Moreover, while Apple may make best-of-category gear, sometimes, “good enough” is, in fact, good enough – if the price is right.

Second, Apple’s increasingly predatory business practices could eventually attract more serious attention from competition authorities. Perhaps US antitrust officials will hide their eyes, but even Microsoft – the Apple of its day, in terms of market power – eventually found itself under scrutiny. Among other issues, Apple’s scorched-earth patent war against Android hardware makers (though, curiously, not Google itself) and lockdown tactics with the iOS that powers iPhones and iPads are, I believe, blatantly anticompetitive. Microsoft’s jousting with competition authorities created a valuable brake on that company’s historic tactics; the rise of Google and others didn’t occur because of that braking effect, but Microsoft knew it couldn’t even try to repeat its earlier abuses.

Third, speaking of abuses, at some point, Apple will be obliged to face a reality that and almost all other US tech companies try to ignore. As they achieve more efficiency, they are doing so at the cost of jobs in their own country and doing too little about harsh labor conditions imposed by their suppliers. Apple pays lip service to this issue, at least; someday, it may have to pay real money to persuade its customers that they’re doing business with an honorable outfit.

Fourth, it’s difficult by definition to maintain margins once a company gets past a certain level of sales and profitability. Initiatives that moved the needle earlier barely register when you get to the kind of domination Apple is achieving.

Fifth, macroeconomic factors do matter. Ask Cisco, among others.

Finally, and most important in the long run, innovation does emerge to challenge our assumptions. Ultimately, monopolists and the most powerful enterprises find themselves on the outside looking in to new territories and markets, as they try to defend old ones. Apple is more focused and relentless than most, but it, too, will reach a point where it is brought down – or at least challenged – by a new reality it either didn’t see coming or couldn’t master.

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This article titled “Breakfast with Stephen Fry” was written by John Hind, for The Observer on Sunday 22nd January 2012 00.10 UTC

Stephen Fry moved into a Georgian house in a Barnsbury garden square in April 1989 and I was an early visitor (although not ahead of Prince Charles who, Fry said, had arrived unexpectedly at the door, been offered tea and then asked apologetically, “Would you mind if the wife comes in too?”).

It was mid-morning when I joined Fry for breakfast and, at table, he’d already filled in most of that day’s bumper bank-holiday-sized Times cryptic crossword. His new front room had been made homely with a modern painting of Oscar Wilde, a coat-stand holding his motorcycle crash helmet, an electronic piano plus a hefty oak table decorated with a house warming gift from his parents. The gift was a brimming bowl of exotic fruits from Fortnum & Mason, which Fry toyed with as he spoke – a dragon fruit while discussing his kleptomania; a crambola while arguing the creative advantages of celibacy; a durian while expatiating on his theory that not everything is like it is for a reason.

“There’s a particularly powerful smell – is it paw-paw or guava?” he asked. My excuse for not having an answer was that he’d just opened his second packet of cigs that day.

I felt that his fruits were out of bounds, in terms of being eaten rather than aesthetically admired, so – after coffee, cereals and toast – I asked if I could have the final biscuit. “Oh, my dear man – do, do,” said Fry.

“What is the value, in comedy or otherwise, of your bent nose?” I asked.

“Sometimes,” explained Fry, “I tell people I can’t come to some event because I’m booked into a hospital to have my nose fixed.”

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When I get an invitation for an event at The Collection luxury auto dealership, I can always bet that I am in for a treat. The latest invite was for the January 2012 presentation of the new swanky McLaren showroom, as well as their all-new sports car, the MP4-12C. All I Can say is….Wow!

As I arrived into the dealership’s elegant porte-cochere, my senses became almost overwhelmed with the range of breathtaking customer cars, ranging from the latest Aston-Martins, Ferraris, Lamborghinis and of course, the star of the show, the spectacular MP4-12C! As I grab my glass of champagne, I head directly to the new McLaren showroom which would soon be filling up with VIP’s. With just one look, I can say that their newest display area is on par with the amazing vehicle from McLaren. Standing in the middle of the room one can’t help but to notice the modern, sleek design, featuring double height ceilings, glass-walled offices as well as an elegant sitting area that features McLaren accessories available for the MP4-12C aficionado. Enough about the showroom, let’s talk about the star of the event. As I sipped on the bubbly and ate elegant canapé’s, I could not stop staring at the surgically precise design of the newest McLaren super car. There are amazing details, like the perfectly executed carbon fiber accoutrements, that assist in channeling the aerodynamics as well as help with cooling and handling, plus the LED tail lamps and the glass covered engine bay, that looks more like a work of art than a powerplant. Of course, the forward opening, scissor-like doors are a signature piece of the MP4-12C. These alone, created a stir with the guests.

There were several vehicles open and available for personal inspection that gave the guests a chance to sit inside and experience the interior of the vehicle first hand. Once inside this technological marvel, you can’t help but to be amazed by the simple elegance of the cockpit. Make no mistake; this is a serious driver’s car, yet it’s one that offers the perfect balance of performance and luxury. Leather and carbon fiber is placed in all the right places without being over-the-top. Fit and finish is perfection redefined and the technology is, well; McLaren.

The night’s event was full of wonderful entertainment, including a trio of beautiful ladies playing electronic violins featuring “dueling sessions” in addition to a top notch DJ and two full bars. Mid-way through the evening, Mr. Ken Gorin, President and CEO of The Collection as well as Mr. Ron Dennis, Executive Chairman and Mr. Tony Joseph, Regional Director McLaren, spoke about the newest addition to the dealership as well as their latest pride and joy, the MP4-12C. This, the latest road car made by the storied McLaren factory in the UK, went on sale December 2011. The MSRP is: $229,000.00 and global production for 2012 is expected to be 1,500 vehicles. Power comes from a V8, 3.8 liter, twin turbo engine with 592 HP, giving the MP4-12C a 0-60 MPH time of: 3.2 seconds.

Stephen Colbert announced on “The Colbert Report” that he is exploring a presidential run in South Carolina, and made it legal by handing control of his super PAC to Jon Stewart in the opening segment of Thursday night’s show. “I am proud to announce that I am forming an exploratory committee to lay the groundwork for my possible candidacy for president of the United States of America of South Carolina,” Colbert said during the Thursday evening show, several hours before airtime on Comedy Central.

With nearly 600 dealers of coins and currency, the show is the largest in the country, said Cindy Wibker, convention coordinator for the Florida organization of avid coin collectors. More than 100,000 people are expected to attend. Sunday is the show’s last day, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

On display were Buffalo nickels, dozens of silver one-ounce pieces and coins from antiquity, as well as misprinted cash, Confederate notes and foreign currency. Dealers were not only selling, but also appraising and buying coins from attendees.

People could also see demonstrations of a 19th century spider press, once used to print bank notes, by Mike Bean, who retired from a federal career of printing money.

Coin collecting has been a popular hobby and there’s renewed interest from people interested in coins as income or investment, said David Lisot, executive producer of cointelevision.com, a news and video website.

“Everyone has that stash of old coins, Grandma’s stash, that was saved because no one ever throws away money,” Lisot said. “But if you’re interested in the value of what you have, you could go to a coin store, or to a convention like this, with hundreds of dealers available.”

Gold and silver are selling at record prices with bullion sales dominating the industry, said Nick Boyd, who runs Tradernicks Collectibles in Kissimmee and Coins & Currency of Orlando.

“Because of the economic situation, gold, silver and precious metals are a good place for people to put their money for long-term investments,” he said.

Among the top-dollar finds, the 1793 penny fetched a high price because it is rare and was in outstanding shape, showing no wear on its lettering, its Lady Liberty face or the wreath on its back.

On the other end are young collectors, like 11-year-old Zach Minicucci of Orlando, who became interested after seeing a friend’s coin collection.

“It’s cool because it looks different than the money we have today,” he said.

He and his father, John Minicucci, browsed the coins and Zach bought a Buffalo nickel and an old dime, but his dad was particularly interested in selling some of their coins, one of which was appraised at $55.

“We brought some here just to see what kind of booty he has. Maybe we can put him through college,” John Minicucci joked.

This article titled “Facebook Cards takes networking back offline” was written by Mark Sweney, for guardian.co.uk on Thursday 5th January 2012 13.10 UTC

Facebook is to encourage users to take their virtual brand into the real world with the launch of a new service enabling them to create personalised business cards based on images and posts from their profile.

The new service, called Facebook Cards, is being positioned as a “new model of social-business networking” that “bridges the gap between online and offline”.

Facebook Cards, which will become available for the social networking giant’s 800 million-plus users globally from 5pm on Thursday (GMT), has been developed in conjunction with UK-based digital printing business Moo.com.

Moo.com, which is based in the so-called Silicon Roundabout in east London that counts companies such online music service 7Digital as inhabitants, is offering the first 200,000 Facebook users 50 free personalised business cards to promote the service. The standard cost for 50 cards will be £10.

The social networking giant believes that the time is right to launch the service because users will be able to make creative business cards thanks to the launch of the new Facebook Timeline product late last year.

Facebook Timeline – which founder Mark Zuckerberg called “the story of your life” when he unveiled a preview to developers in September – replaces the Wall each user’s profile previously had with the aim of documenting their life from the cradle onwards.

“Timeline helps people tell their story on Facebook and feature the parts of their life that mean the most to them,” said Jillian Stefanki, a spokeswoman for Facebook. “The Moo.com integration makes it possible for people to take the same experience with them offline.”

Moo.com, launched in 2006 by entrepreneur Richard Moross, said that each of the business cards can feature a different photo image on the front and a favourite quote or saying on the back.

The aim, says Moross, is to allow Facebook users to have a unique stock of business cards to pair the “right images for the right business or social occasions”.

“It is clear that consumer habits of sharing business and personal information are evolving,” said Moross. “The lines between online social networking and offline business networking are not just blurring, but vanishing.”

He described the new hybrid offering as an “offline social business card”.

Moo.com has raised more than $5m (£3.2m) in venture capital from companies including the Accelerator Group, Index Ventures and Atlas Venture, investors behind internet ventures such as Skype, Betfair, LoveFilm, Last.fm and MySQL.

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