It appears that Social Hour, one of the few ad networks to be completely banned from the Facebook platform, has now relaunched under a new name: Dizzy Networks. According to one source, Social Hour had been looking for a new face for the company and according to the company’s website, they hired Jeremy Olsson, who was previously the Director of Performance Marketing for RockYou. While the company is still focused on trying to convert IQ quizzes, it doesn’t appear as though Dizzy Networks is running as aggressive of advertisements this time around.

It was only a matter of time before…

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Earlier in September, Microsoft revealed that the first batch of smartphones running Windows Mobile 6.5 would start shipping on 6 October. According to Benjamin Tan, senior director, GCR mobile team unit, Microsoft China, there will more than 30 smartphones running on Windows Mobile 6.5 by the end of 2009, as reported by Cnet News. The devices would come from more than 15 handset manufacturers. LG, Samsung, HP, Acer, and Toshiba have voiced their support for Microsoft’s mobile OS as well as carriers worldwide, including AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, Vodafone, and Telus.

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Reliance Natural Resources Ltd has alleged that Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd was charging an illegal and unauthorised marketing margin of 13.5 cents, or Rs 6.6, per million British thermal units on gas from its fields in the Krishna-Godavari basin. RNRL, promoted by Mukesh’s younger brother Anil, said the ministry of petroleum and natural gas was adopting a “biased and partisan’’ approach by denying permission to GAIL (India) Limited to charge such a margin. “It is therefore all the more surprising that the petroleum ministry is taking no steps to immediately prevent RIL from charging this illegal levy. This once…

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Cotton crop in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, which together account for around 24% of the country’s total cotton production, is under threat from low rainfall in the earlier part of the season followed by sudden increase in showers witnessed in the last few weeks. Experts believe that if weather conditions do not improve in the next few days, cotton crop in the region could be around 10% less this year and its quality could also be impacted because uneven rains have made the standing crop prone to pest attack. Already, diseases like Bronze Wilt and boll weevil, which causes loss…

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IBM and the Indian School of Business (ISB) on Monday said they have established a research “collaboratory” at the ISB campus for furthering research in service science. IBM and ISB have been working closely on service science research for last few years. This collaboratory marks the beginning of a new phase of an expanded relationship between the two organisations. An IBM collaboratory is a laboratory where IBM researchers co-locate with a university, the government, or commercial partner to share skills, assets, and resources to achieve a common research goal. The new collaboratory will initially have a team of 10 full-time…

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MUMBAI (Reuters) – Indian state-run lender Rural Electrification Corp (REC) is negotiating with U.S. insurer Aflac Inc for a $200 million loan, a senior company official said on Monday. The loan is part of a $500 million overseas borrowing plan of the company, H.D. Khunteta, REC’s Finance Director told Reuters over telephone. “We are likely to get an offer from Aflac. They are more or less agreeable,” he said. Khunteta said company officials plan to visit the United States to discuss the loan with Aflac, the world’s largest seller of supplemental disability insurance, and would also meet other U.S.…

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s decision to restrict tire imports from China after union workers complained of a surge could lead to copycat cases in areas such as steel, clothing, paper, machinery and consumer goods, trade experts said on Monday “It’s a target-rich environment,” said Lewis Leibowitz, a lawyer who represents the Consuming Industries Trade Action Coalition, which opposed relief in the tires case. “There’s almost anything you can hit. And even within import categories that have gone down, there may be smaller product categories that have gone up,” Leibowitz said. However, the question of which industries could…

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Essel Group has roped in Atul Pande as the chief executive officer (CEO) of its sports business. Pande will oversee Essel Sports Business – Indian Cricket League (ICL), Mumbai Football Club, All Sports Magazine, all new initiatives and the broadcasting business, which comprises Zee Sports and Ten Sports.Pande will report to the group’s chairman, Subhash Chandra for Essel Sports Business and Punit Goenka, CEO, ZEEL for the broadcasting business. Peter Hutton will continue to be the COO of Ten Sports and will report to the board of Ten Sports.Pande was previously the managing director of Cholamandalam DBS, a financial services…

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