Besides a clear disagreement with West Coast rapper Kreayshawn, Harry Winston looks to have decided to ditch the glam-world of high-end jewelry retail and switch to the down-and-dirty realm of the diamond mine.

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By the end of the March quarter, the impact of the accounting switch on Accelrys' recognized revenue and deferred revenue will have run its course.

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This past summer Better Place launched Israeli and Danish networks that allow electric car drivers to traverse from one end of their respective countries to the other, swapping depleted batteries for fresh ones at a series of automated switch stations.

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Oldbury was originally planned to operate until the end of 2012, but its managers have taken the decision to switch off early - and Mr Illingworth said he was sceptical about that decision.

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Mr Perret said France Telecom had partnered with Baidu because the search firm had helped mobile networks in in its home market of China cope with a similar switch from basic mobiles to low-end smartphones.

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