Joel Beckerman spent about 18 months developing a song that boils down to a melody just four notes long. He's one of a handful of composers who specialize in sonic logos, or the audio equivalents of the Nike "swoosh" or John Deere's leaping deer. More concise than a theme song and subtler than a jingle, sonic logos are brief melodies or sound effects designed to cement a brand in the consumer's subconscious mind. Famous examples include the five-note Intel bong, McDonald's "Ba da ba ba ba" signoff and NBC's three-note chime, in use since 1929. Sonic branding is becoming increasingly popular in a highly fragmented media world, and Mr. Beckerman's New York agency Man Made Music has composed dozens of catchy tunes you've probably heard announcing high-profile properties. In addition to embellishing NBC's famous chime for multiple jobs, including works for the network's news division, his studio composed the new theme song for "CBS This Morning" and tweaked the 25-year-old melody used by HBO to introduce its movies and original series. He's currently on deadline to deliver the rock-driven music of next week's Super Bowl broadcast, building off an original composition by John Williams. The company's new sonic logo—its first—is a stair-step of bright tones. The bite-size tune has popped up in the closing seconds of the company's advertisements, including a TV spot in heavy rotation featuring a stolen tiger mascot and football tailgaters boasting about the speed of AT&T's wireless network. In various lengths and forms, the music will eventually be integrated into every product and service AT&T offers, from music at retail stores to navigation sounds on smartphones and digital video recorders.
JOHN JURGENSEN http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203718504577182951405815364.html

Squatting consists of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use. Author Robert Neuwirth suggests that there are one billion squatters globally, that is, about one in every seven people on the planet. Yet, according to Kesia Reeve, "squatting is largely absent from policy and academic debate and is rarely conceptualized, as a problem, as a symptom, or as a social or housing movement. Read an overview and find discussion of squatting by country at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squatting

Luminary endorsements for GOP presidential candidates
Todd Palin on Newt Gingrich: Gingrich isn't one of those Beltway types.
Christine O'Donnell on Mitt Romney: He's been consistent since he's changed his mind.
Barry Manilow on Ron Paul: I agree with just about everything he says.
Michelle Duggar on Rick Santorum: Rick is the man for the job.
Bloomberg Businessweek January 30-February 5, 2102, p. 35

The digital revolution was supposed to do away with a lot of fusty old relics. First compact discs took their toll on the long-playing (and long-played) vinyl record; then iPods and digital downloads began doing the same to CDs. But long after the eulogies had been delivered, the vinyl LP has been revived. The LP still represents just a sliver of music sales. But last year, according to Nielsen SoundScan data, while CD sales fell by more than 5%, vinyl record sales grew more than 36%. The majority of vinyl sells in independent record stores, which have championed the format in their quixotic quest to survive. But now big-box stores such as Best Buy are carrying vinyl. Amazon—loath to let any niche escape its domination—has a "Vinyl Store" and recently introduced shipping boxes designed to coddle LP records in transit. Not just the sales of records are growing, but the equipment to play them, too. As David Bakula, who follows LPs for Nielsen, puts it: "When I walked into Target and found turntables, then I knew we've arrived." United Record Pressing, the Nashville factory where the Beatles' first U.S. singles were stamped nearly 50 years ago, is feeling the boom: "This plant often runs 24 hours," says Jay Millar, its marketing director. Then there is the sound: Those who collect LPs swear by the virtues of analog. For decades a vinyl-dedicated subset of hard-core audiophiles have resisted the digital onslaught. They've rightly derided the brittle compression of CDs and given the cold shoulder to even the more robust digital formats, such as super-audio CDs. (Don't get them started on the hopeless degradation of MP3s.) And yet that narrow niche of audiophiles with their Ferrari-dear sound systems isn't what has kept LPs alive. Even, it would seem, in the rarefied world of classical recordings. When the San Francisco Symphony packaged its acclaimed recordings of Gustav Mahler's orchestral works, the set was first made available on SACD. But now it has been released on vinyl as well. According to the symphony's general manager, John Kieser, the idea to release "The Mahler Project" on LPs started a few years ago with his then-teenage son, who collected vinyl and insisted that music sounds different in the old analog format. ERIC FELTEN http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204573704577184973290800632.html

When attorney Marc Reiner sends an email from his work account at a Manhattan law firm, recipients get a host of admonishments. The email might contain "privileged, confidential and/or proprietary information," they are told. If it landed in their inbox by error, they are strictly prohibited from "any use, distribution, copying or disclosure to another person." And in such case, "you should destroy this message and kindly notify the sender by reply email." Mr. Reiner thinks the disclaimer—144 words in total—is, for the most part, bluster. Email disclaimers, those wordy notices at the end of emails from lawyers, bankers, analysts, consultants, publicists, tax advisers and even government employees, have become ubiquitous—so much so that many recipients, and even senders, are questioning their purpose. "Who reads them?" asks Bruce Nyman, a former county official from Long Island, N. Y., who has grown tired of the many disclaimers attached to messages in his inbox. He says they are like the modern-day mattress tag. "And has anyone ever been arrested for tearing them off?" Emails are becoming bogged down with unwanted information. They often now include automatic digital signatures with a sender's contact information or witty sayings, pleas to save trees and not print them, fancy logos and apologies for grammatical errors spawned by using a touch screen.
DIONNE SEARCEY and MICHAEL ROTHFELD Read much more at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204409004577157213839856718.html

Toronto Jan. 28 Teenaged imaginations dreamed up Lego Man’s sky-high adventure but science — not just whimsy — made the little toy’s voyage a headline-grabbing success. A 1,200-gram weather balloon, the crucial role of gravity, quiver-reducing ropes, Styrofoam’s versatility, burst altitude, a University of Wyoming website and a free software program for shutterbugs were part of the formula Mathew Ho and Asad Muhammad, both 17, used to launch, film and land the patriotic, flag-bearing Lego Man. The duct-taped Styrofoam capsule was released three weeks ago at a Newmarket soccer pitch by the Grade 12 students from Agincourt Collegiate Institute. It soared 24 kilometres into the stratosphere via balloon then landed 97 minutes later in dense bush near Rice Lake, south of Peterborough — a remarkably close return considering January’s winter winds were howling.
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1122894

Newt Gingrich might feel like Rocky Balboa when he takes the stage at campaign events to Survivor’s 1982 hit “Eye of the Tiger,” but it’s the co-writer of the song who is ready for a fight. Chicago-born Frankie Sullivan sued Gingrich in federal court Jan. 30, saying the Republican presidential candidate is using his “Rocky III” anthem in his campaign without permission. Sullivan, who has a home in the northwest suburbs, insisted it’s not about politics. It’s about someone who should know better using his copyright material for free.
http://www.suntimes.com/10332797-418/former-survivor-member-sues-newt-gingrich-for-using-eye-of-tiger.html