Monday Reads

Getting back on schedule with interesting business stories to read at the start of this late summer week:

• The movie business is becoming increasingly global, as actor Will Smith is finding out. An interesting tale of taking Hollywood overseas. (NY Times.)
• Oil prices are on everyone's mind. And there are a lot of doom and gloom scenarios floating around. But here's a contrarian case to be made for lower prices. (Business Week.)
• Approaching the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, a major business magazine dissects the rebuilding of New Orleans. (Fortune.)
• Talk about scale: Dell Computer got 28 million visits to its web site after announcing a battery recall affecting laptop computers. (San Francisco Chronicle.) Note the unfortunate placement of a Hewlett-Packard ad promoting the lifespan of its laptop batteries.
• The controversy over placement of cell phone towers is going to look puny compared to the outcry about this idea, regarding ways to get more broadly available wireless service. (The Oregonian.)