Wet April sends UK retailers running for cover
Thursday, June 7, 2012 7:50 PM
Posted by gamefbi
(Reuters) - Shoppers opted for umbrellas instead of summer dresses, and preferred gadgets to gardening tools during Britain's wettest April on record. Last month's soggy weather heaped more misery on a recession-hit high street, which is grappling with rising costs and weak demand as disposable incomes are squeezed by rising prices, muted wage growth and government austerity. Retail sales volumes fell 2.3 percent in April from March, the biggest monthly drop in two years, government data published on Wednesday showed. ...
Apple Running New Celebrity iPhone 4S/Siri TV Ads Featuring John Malkovich
7:01 AM
Posted by gamefbi
Apple has begun running a pair of new television ads for the iPhone 4S and Siri featuring actor John Malkovich. This comes after a pair of celebrity ads started running last month with Samuel L. Jackson and Zooey Deschanel.
Malkovich: Life.The celebrity ads scored very well with viewers, registering higher scores from advertising tracking firm Ace Metrix than any other iPhone 4S ad released so far this year.
Siri: Try and be nice to people. Avoid eating fat. Read a good book every now and then. Get some walking in. And try to live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.
Malkovich: That's pretty spectacular advice, actually. Thank you. I enjoyed this chat immensely. You are very eloquent.
Siri: That's nice of you to say.
John Malkovich is well known for his unique acting style and his iPhone 4S ad reflects his somewhat peculiar persona. The query that Malkovich posits -- "Life"-- elicits a number of different responses from Siri, including:
"42"A second ad is airing as well, showcasing a bit more of Siri's talents:
"I Kant answer that. Ha ha!"
"It's nothing Nietzsche couldn't teach ya."
"Life: the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death."
"I don't know. But I think there's an app for that."
"I can't answer that now, but give me some time to write a very long play in which nothing happens."
"I find it odd that you would ask this of an inanimate object."
"That's easy… it's a philosophical question concerning the purpose and significance of life or existence in general."
"Life: a principle or force that is considered to underlie the distinctive quality of animate beings. I guess that includes me."
"A movie."
"I give up."