Howard Stern: 5 more years with Sirius

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Howard Stern has signed another five-year contract with SiriusXM Radio, putting to rest speculation that he might leave and sending the stock on a double-digit surge.
The raunchy radio host made the announcement Thursday morning, but he was scant on details, such as pay.
The announcement quelled concerns that Stern might leave the satellite radio company. Sirius (SIRI) stock surged as much as 14% in pre-market trading, and recently backed off its peak for a 9% gain.
The raven-locked shock jock has been with the radio station since December 2005, when he signed a five-year contract for $500 million.
At that time, paid-subscriber radio was viewed as an experiment.
For now, the experiment seems to be working. The stock is up about 120% so far this year, though its relatively low value of less than $2 per share can spur price volatility.
A rebound in the auto industry is a big part of the radio station's boon. The majority of its subscribers are tied to deals with automakers including General Motors (GM), Ford (F, Fortune 500), Honda (HMC) and Toyota (TMC), which pre-install Sirius radios.
The company expects to have more than 20 million subscribers by the end of the year, having added more than 300,000 in the third quarter.
Martin Pyykkonen, an analyst with Wedge Partners in Denver, had estimated that as many as 2 million customers would have canceled their subscriptions if Stern left.

'Facebook Cartoon Profile Pic' For Child Abuse

ampaign stared on Facebook asking people to make Facebook cartoon profile pic, to fight against child abuse. This campaign which started as a game from Greece, on mid of November, took up a more serious turn on December 6th and was famous all across the globe. Mark Zuckerberg, also confirmed the
introduction of the campaign make 'Facebook cartoon profile pic'. The campaign has got nearly 90,000 fans in just one day.

The big question is who started this campaign? No non-profit organisation has taken up the responsibility and thus, the good news is that no money is funneled into legitimate organisation. Some websites have claimed British charity NSPCC to be the one to introduce it but they however deny it. NSPCC has posted on Twitter, ‘Although the NSPCC did not originate the childhood cartoon Facebook campaign, we welcome the attention it has brought to the work we do.’

Another big question is how does make 'Facebook cartoon profile pic' help to fight against child abuse? Blogger Shayne House said: ‘Facebook cartoon profile pic does not really support the NSPCC unless it inspires or encourages you or someone else to volunteer or donate, which hopefully it will. Did it inspire you? It inspired me to write about it and make a donation.’

Insiders have revealed that this campaign seems to have a lot of influence from across the world and their sole aim of 'Facebook cartoon profile pic' was to urge every user of Facebook to remove their profile pic and replace it with a cartoon. How it will help the cause to fight against child abuse still needs to be seen.

What can we expect from Adrian Gonzalez away from PETCO Park?

One of the things people have always marveled about with Adrian Gonzalez is the fact that he has been able to hit 30+ homers in four consecutive seasons with the Padres, despite playing half of his games in one
of the most pitcher-friendly ballparks in baseball. So, what can we expect now that A-Gone is about to be set loose?
Well, let’s start by looking at his career home-away splits:
Home: .263/.360/.440 with 61 home runs, 214 RBI and an 800 OPS (.279/.383/.438 with 11 homers, 42 RBI and an 821 OPS in 2010)
Away: .303/.376/.568 with 107 home runs, 311 RBI and a 943 OPS (.315/.402/.578 with 20 homers, 59 RBI and a 980 OPS in 2010)
This is the primary reason why the rest of the American League should be scared. Keep in mind, those home-away splits include 29 games with the Rangers in 2004 and 2005. Factoring in only PETCO Park, he has a .267/.367/.442 batting line to go along with an 808 OPS.
Fenway Park isn’t exactly a home-run haven, but it will certainly be a more fair environment, as Bill James Park Indices routinely ranks PETCO Park as the worst park for a left-handed hitter. Gonzalez’s natural inside-out swing should play brilliantly in Boston. His numbers should also see a nice boost thanks to playing plenty of road games at Yankee Stadium, Camden Yards and Rogers Centre, which cater to left-handed power.

UPDATE: Padres, Red Sox agree on Adrian Gonzalez trade

UPDATE: According to Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com, Adrian Gonzalez has already completed a physical with the Red Sox. McAdam was told that Gonzalez’s surgically-repaired right shoulder “should be just fine,” but that there are “minor tests” that still need to be completed.
12:00 PM: Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com hears that Adrian Gonzalez wants a “Howard-type contract.”
If so, that would actually be a pretty sweet deal for the Red Sox. Howard signed a five-year, $125 million extension with the Phillies in April, which includes a $23 million option for 2017. It’s a bad deal for the Phillies because Howard will be 32 years old before the extension even begins in 2012. It would be quite a coup to lock up Gonzalez at those terms before he turns 30 years old.
11:30 AM: Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com reports that in addition to right-hander Casey Kelly, first baseman Anthony Rizzo and outfielder Reymond Fuentes, the Padres will also receive a player to be named later from the Red Sox in exchange for Adrian Gonzalez.
One wonders if the PTBNL could be someone from the 2010 First-Year Player Draft, as such players are ineligible to be traded until June of 2011.
11:20 AM: Jon Heyman of SI.com writes that there is still work to be done on a contract extension and that the process may take a day or two. We have seen MLB approve 72-hour windows in the past — the Johan Santana trade, for example — so they have some time to hammer out an agreement.
For what it’s worth, Heyman guesses they will add seven years and roughly $165-170 million to his $5 million option for 2011, which was already exercised by the Padres. If true, it would be a comparable deal to the eight-year, $180 million contract Mark Teixeira signed with the Yankees in December of 2008.
10:17 AM: Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com reports that the Padres will receive right-hander Casey Kelly, first baseman Anthony Rizzo and outfielder Reymond Fuentes from the Red Sox in exchange for Adrian Gonzalez.
Baseball America recently ranked Kelly as Boston’s top prospect, while Rizzo was third and Fuentes (who is cousins with Carlos Beltran) was sixth.
10:09 AM: Jon Heyman of SI.com confirms that Gonzalez is in Boston and that negotiations on a contract extension should begin shortly. He also writes that top pitching prospect Casey Kelly is in the deal, which backs up a report by Dan Hayes of the North County Times last night.
According to Alex Speier of WEEI.com, multiple Red Sox prospects rumored to be involved in the deal say they have yet to hear anything from the team.
9:01 AM: Buster Olney of ESPN.com tweets that Gonzalez has arrived in Boston.
8:20 AM: Oh baby. It looks like the Red Sox have gotten their man.
According to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, Adrian Gonzalez is expected in Boston today for a physical, which should be one of the last hurdles before a trade with the Padres becomes official. Major league baseball has also approved a negotiating window for the Red Sox to work out a contract extension with Gonzalez, according to Buster Olney of ESPN.com. Of course, the physical can’t be completely overlooked, as Gonzalez underwent surgery on his right shoulder last month, although he is expected to be ready for the start of the season.