RIM Ordered to Pay Up

Can RIM recover from this?

A federal jury in San Francisco has found Blackberry maker Research in Motion Ltd. (RIM) liable for $147.2 million in damages for infringing on patents held by Mformation Technologies Inc.

Mformation, of Edison, N.J., sued Research in Motion in October 2008, alleging that Canada-based RIM infringed on its 1999 invention for remotely managing wireless devices. Mformation’s software allows companies to remotely access employee cell phones to do software upgrades, change passwords or to wipe data from phones that have been stolen.

Officials at RIM, which has been struggling with plummeting sales, a declining stock and other problems, did not provide a comment Saturday.

Thakur said the jury ruled that Research in Motion should pay his client $8 for each of the 18.4 million Blackberrys that were connected to the Blackberry Enterprise Server, from the day the lawsuit was filed until the time of the trial. That’s a total of $147.2 million.

This is a huge hit for RIM.

How Much Referees Make During the NCAA Tournament

Right around 98 officials are selected from conferences all over the country to work the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

Year after year, a lot of the same refs advance to work in the opening rounds of the tournament and then on to later rounds.

They make take in a nice amout of pocket change for working these games.

$1000 is paid for first-/second-/third-round games, $1,400 fee per regional game, $2,000 per national semifinal or championship game.

All travel expenses and per diem are covered as well for as long as the officials are working games.

A nice amount of bonus money for these guys that work 70-95 games per season.

Fast Food Restaurants Charging for "Happy Meal" Toys

Burger King is now the second national fast-food chain to announce that it will comply with San Francisco's ban on toy giveaways with kids' meals that are high in fat, sugar and salt by not offering the trinkets for free any more.

Instead, just like McDonald's decided, customers who want the toys in San Francisco will have to pay.

"Toys will be available for purchase for 10 cents more," Kristen Hauser, a spokeswoman for Burger King, said Wednesday.

McDonald's said that money from the toy sales will be used to help build a Ronald McDonald House for families of young patients being treated at the new UCSF hospital at Mission Bay.
Burger King has not said what they will do with the proceeds.

San Francisco's new law goes into effect today. It bars chain restaurants from giving out free toys in Happy Meals and other menu items intended for children that don't meet strict nutritional standards. The law also requires servings of fruits and vegetables with meals.