The skinny on suit by media mogul’s son
Billionaire media mogul Sumner Redstone tells Newsweek that his son Brent’s lawsuit against the family business is painful, though not a threat to his empire.
Brent Redstone, who lives in Clear Creek County, sued National Amusements Inc. in February, seeking to dissolve the $8 billion company and cash out his own one-sixth stake.
“The lawsuit doesn’t bother me. It has absolutely, unequivocally no merit. It has no effect on the new CBS or new Viacom,” said the elder Redstone in an interview in the April 24 edition.
“But it is painful to me. I know it’s painful to my daughter. I’m sure it’s painful to Brent’s mother, who’s heartbroken about it.
“It may even be painful to his children.”
MySpace founders revel in new fame
With the popularity of the social networking website MySpace.com reaching astronomical proportions, co- founders Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson have become like rock stars themselves.
“Chris has become this living persona of MySpace,” said Brett Brewer, former president of Intermix Media, in a New York Times article last month, recalling a trip to Aspen with Anderson and DeWolfe in December.
“Chris is wearing an awesome leather jacket, some sort of designer shirt, with his hair all over the place,” Brewer said. “He has this whole rock-star persona. And you hear people going: ‘Psst, psst. That’s the MySpace guy.”‘
These are the ‘droids you’re looking for …
Hollywood ‘droids and reliable industrial workhorses were celebrated together as Carnegie Mellon University named five inductees to its Robot Hall of Fame.
The latest class of inductees includes Maria, the captivating art-deco robot of Fritz Lang’s classic 1927 film “Metropolis”; Gort, the metallic behemoth from the 1951 sci-fi thriller “The Day the Earth Stood Still”; and David, the android played by Haley Joel Osment in Steven Spielberg’s 2001 movie “Artificial Intelligence: AI.”
Joining the big-screen inductees were AIBO, the robotic dog mass marketed in 1999 and now widely used in artificial intelligence research, and Scara, an industrial robot developed in the 1970s and commonly used in making circuit boards.
The five robots will be formally inducted June 21.
“We decided to give awards to both real and fictional robots because the fictional ones provide inspiration to the real ones,” said James Morris, former dean of the university’s computer science school and the founder of the hall of fame.
Lockheed space unit taps first female chief
On July 1, Joanne M. Maguire will create a couple of firsts for aerospace and defense giant Lockheed Martin.
In succeeding G. Thomas Marsh as executive vice president of Lockheed’s Space Systems, Maguire will become the first woman to head up the Jefferson County-based business unit. She also will become the first woman to hold the top post at any of the company’s five main business divisions and will be Lockheed’s highest-ranking female official.
Maguire, 52, will oversee 18,000 employees worldwide and about 5,000 in Jefferson County. She will report directly to chief executive Robert Stevens.
The $7 billion Space Systems unit designs and manufactures launch vehicles, spacecraft and missile systems.
Since 2003, Maguire has served as deputy for Marsh, 62, who is retiring July 1.
Apple now accepting fruits of its own labor
Apple Computer Inc. will soon adopt an environmentally friendly twist for buyers of new Macintosh computers by offering to recycle their old computers for free.
The Cupertino, Calif.-based company said its expanded take- back offer will begin in June.
U.S. customers who buy a new Mac through the Apple store online or any Apple retail store will receive free shipping and recycling of their old machines.
Currently, Apple retail stores accept old iPod music players for free recycling.
In addition, Cupertino residents may drop off old Macs at company headquarters.
Post reporter lauded for transplant story
Denver Post staff writer Greg Griffin has won a “Best in Business” award for enterprise reporting from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers for “A Denver power broker’s life-or-death drama.”
The story, published July 31, told the story of Denver lawyer Steve Farber’s battle with kidney disease and his lifesaving transplant with a kidney donated by his son, Gregg.
The story also delved into the issue of fairness and favoritism in organ-transplant waiting lists and the international black market for organs.
The award will be given Sunday night at an awards ceremony in St. Paul, Minn., as part of SABEW’s annual conference.
Griffin and Post staff writer Michael Riley last year won a SABEW enterprise award for their coverage of environmental problems at mines operated by Denver’s Newmont Mining Corp.
