| Mustangs win as Rasheed scores 25
DANVILLE Niveen Rasheed seemed as if she was everywhere Friday in leading the Monte Vista High girls basketball team to a hard-fought, 49-42 victory over Newark Memorial in the second round of the North Coast Section Division I playoffs. Rasheed was in the middle of the action all night for the Mustangs (25-2), who struggled to get into an offensive rhythm against the 2-3 zone the Cougars (18-11) used throughout the game. She scored a game-high 25 points, and was the defensive catalyst as well. "It was one of those nights where the ball wasn't dropping for us," Rasheed said. "They played us tough in their zone, and we were a little ragged offensively. I wanted to provide some energy on defense to try to get us going." Newark let the Mustangs know that they were going to be in for a battle early.
Fujifilm Launches $1.45 Billion Bid for Toyama Chemical
Digital camera and medical equipment maker Fujifilm Holdings said on Wednesday it will spend up to 155 billion yen ($1.45 billion) to take control of drug maker Toyama Chemical to grow in the pharmaceuticals market. Fujifilm, the world's second-largest maker of endoscopes behind Olympus, is offering 880 yen per Toyama Chemical share in a tender offer from Feb 19 to March 18 -- a 39 percent premium to its latest close. Fujifilm will aim to buy at least 73.19 million shares, but will purchase all shares tendered with the exception of the 43 million shares, or 22 percent stake, held by top Toyama shareholder Taisho Pharmaceutical. That means Fujifilm's total bill for the tender offer could reach 135 billion yen. In addition, Fujifilm will buy about 20 billion yen worth of new shares issued by Toyama Chemical in a private placement at the end of February.
Lumix DMC-FX100 digital camera
A new contender in the bantamweight division of the digicam market, Panasonic's Lumix DMC-FX100 packs a lot of power into a compact package that's easy to carry and use. Its resolution of 12.2 megapixels seemed like overkill at first, yet the camera produced clear, well-exposed images at every setting. Image stabilization was consistently effective, and those who love to shoot landscapes will appreciate that the 3.6x zoom Leica lens starts at a wide-angle 28mm. Serious shutterbugs may be disappointed at the lack of manual exposure controls, but in our Macworld Lab tests, there was little reason to second-guess the camera's calculations. The DMC-FX100 achieved Good scores for image and flash quality, and Very Good marks for color quality. The camera's menus and controls are well thought out, with most important settings just a click or two away.
California flora surpass muster in Fort Bragg
FORT BRAGG, Calif. - By the time you've driven this far north of San Francisco (more than three hours), the ocean's rhythmic thunder against the cliffs lining Highway 1 has hammered your senses into a state of numb awe. Along the way, you perhaps visited the gorgeous, if touristy, seaside village of Mendocino and sated your palate and your shopping habit. Following the highway a little farther north into this more workaday town, it is easy to miss the entrance to the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, although it is right beside the highway. But even those who don't know a dahlia from a calla lily will find it worthwhile to seek out this small but extraordinary public garden. Beyond the fence that screens the site from the parking lot, visitors can pay a modest fee for a map, which outlines a looping trail through more than 20 plant collections on a 47-acre tract.
Sanyo Xacti camcorder
The SANYO Xacti HD1000 camcorder, $1,000, is a high-definition full 1080i video recorder with up to eight megapixel still images in a compact palm-fitting design. The 1920 by 1080 video is as good, if not better, than HD TV programming. It sports a 10 times optical (100 times digital) variable zoom and features effective anti-shake technology in both video and picture mode. A generously sized 2.7-inch-wide view screen rotates so you can view and shoot from any angle, including at yourself. .
|
