The BBC notes that MySpace sold to Specific Media by Murdoch’s News Corp

News Corporation has sold its ailing social networking site MySpace to online advertising firm Specific Media.

News Corp paid $580m (£361m) for MySpace in 2005, but users and advertisers left the site for rival social sites like Facebook and Twitter.

The sale terms were not disclosed, but there were unconfirmed reports that price paid was as low as $35m.

Over a half-billion dollars flushed on one deal sort of explains why the cracks are appearing the Murdock empire. He’s trying to charge for all of his media sites because he doesn’t have anyone who knows how to make money on-line, and he’s paying out piles of cash for tapping people’s phones. The world is not being kind to Australopithecus rupertus™.

From FIFA’s official site: it’s Canada 0-4 France and Germany 1-0 Nigeria in the second round of play in Group A. It looks like Germany and France are through to the next level.

ESPN has the replay on the ‘Net.

Another jump in the size of the fire, but some of that is attributed to backfires to stop the spread of wildfire, and to protect assets like the Los Alamos National Laboratory. There has been a large increase in the assets assigned to the fire.

The number one ‘guess’ as to the cause of the fire is a downed power line near Las Conchas. More fires may start today caused by lightning from storms in the area. The rain, if there is any, doesn’t prevent fires when the forests are as dry as they are. We have lost structures to fires during hurricanes with the rain coming down in buckets.

Information from the current Las Conchas Wildfire InciWeb Page

• Date Started: 6/26/2011
• Location: Jemez Ranger District, Santa Fe National Forest; approximately 12 miles southwest of Los Alamos off NM 4 at mile marker 35, New Mexico
• Cause: Unknown – under investigation
• Size: 92,735 acres [145 miles² 375 km²] based on infrared data
• Percent Contained: 3%
• Injuries to Date: 0
• Residences: 13 destroyed; 3 damaged
• Commercial Property: 3 damaged
• Outbuildings: 2 destroyed
• Number of Personnel: Approximately 752 including 7 hotshot crews and 14 hand crews
• Equipment: 4 dozers, 28 engines
• Aircraft: 5 helicopters
• Incident Commander: Dan Oltrogge, Area Command Team 1

[Read more →]

Position: 21.5N 98.1W [ 1PM CDT 1800 UTC].
Movement: West [270°] near 7 mph [11 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 50 mph [ 85 kph].
Wind Gusts: 65 mph [100 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 140 miles [220 km].
Minimum central pressure: 997 mb ↑.

Currently about 60 miles [ 95 km] North-Northwest of Tuxpan, Mexico.

Arlene is bringing rain to Texas from Corpus Christi to the South. It isn’t a lot, but it will add some water to the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo and take the edge off the heat.

Update: At 7PM CDT, Arlene has been downgraded to a tropical depression and will become a remnant low in the mountains of Central Mexico.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the coast of Mexico from La Pesca southward to Palma Sola.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]