Planet 無
January 27, 2012 07:45 PM
January 27, 2012
Holiday Traveling with Personal Internet-Enabled Devices
January 27, 2012 07:45 PM
Understanding Hidden Threats: Rootkits and Botnets
January 27, 2012 07:45 PM
Dealing with Cyberbullies
January 27, 2012 07:45 PM
Keeping Children Safe Online
January 27, 2012 07:45 PM
Using Caution with USB Drives
January 27, 2012 07:45 PM
Avoiding the Pitfalls of Online Trading
January 27, 2012 07:45 PM
Understanding Hidden Threats: Corrupted Software Files
January 27, 2012 07:45 PM
Debunking Some Common Myths
January 27, 2012 07:45 PM
Staying Safe on Social Network Sites
January 27, 2012 07:45 PM
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The U.S. Department of Defense's trimming of its base budget to $525 billion from $531 billion might seem like troubling news for defense companies, but much of the cuts were already telegraphed to the market and some companies will benefit from these budget changes.
The DoD is charged with saving $487 billion over the next 10 years, with $259 billion, or 53%, over the first five years. The fact that the budget has more cuts in the front half than the back was a surprise to some, according to Lazard Capital Markets analyst Michael Lewis, adding, however, the budget was in line with what he expected.
The military focus will now be on areas such as intelligence surveillance reconnaissance and data collection, according to the Defense Department. A larger spending focus also will be placed on the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions.
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January 27, 2012 07:42 PM
La compañía no ha confirmado la noticia a la espera de que acabe el Consejo de Administración. Los vuelos operan con normalidad. Leer
January 27, 2012 07:39 PM
La página de la aerolínea ha dejado de funcionar y la empresa remite al teléfono 900 13 14 15 para atender a sus clientes. Leer
January 27, 2012 07:39 PM
This company has a dividend you can count on.
January 27, 2012 07:37 PM
In his State of the Union address, President Obama announced he would push forward with new offshore drilling — which includes the pristine waters of the Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, and Cook Inlet off Alaska’s coast. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) wrote a report in June 2011 that described dozens of areas that required further scientific research before taking the risks of disrupting the unique ecosystems on behalf of the oil industry. Now, nearly 600 scientists from around the world have signed an open letter urging President Obama and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to base Arctic drilling decisions on science, not politics:
We, the undersigned 573 research scientists, call upon the Administration to follow through on its commitment to science by acting on the USGS recommendations. Doing so prior to authorizing new oil and gas activity in the Arctic Ocean will respect the national significance of the environment and cultures of U.S. Arctic waters and demonstrate the value that your Administration places on having a sound scientific basis for managing industrial development of the Outer Continental Shelf.
“Already stressed by rapidly melting summer ice, the whales, walrus, ice seals, polar bears, and other wildlife in these waters are especially vulnerable to oil spills and industrial activity,” the Pew Environment Group and the Ocean Conservancy explain in a full-page ad they will run in the New York Times and Politico highlighting the letter.
Drilling for fossil fuels in a melting Arctic would accelerate the potentially catastrophic destabilization of the planet’s thermostat. As National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief Jane Lubchenco told ThinkProgress Green, “We don’t fully understand what the consequences of that are going to be.”
by Brad Johnson at January 27, 2012 07:37 PM
The following commentary comes from an independent investor or market observer as part of TheStreet's guest contributor program, which is separate from the company's news coverage.
By David Gillie
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January 27, 2012 07:37 PM
Results are getting better for Noble, but 2012 is when the company will really show what it can do.
January 27, 2012 07:35 PM
Our guest blogger is Isabel Owen, an education policy analyst at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.
The Virginia state senate belives a student's time is better spent riding this rollercoaster than being in a classroom.
Yesterday, the Virginia Senate Education and Health Committee put the interests
of the tourism industry ahead of the needs of students by voting
to kill three bills that would allow school boards to set their own calendar. The bills would have overturned the so called Kings Dominion Law, named for
the amusement park in Doswell, Virginia. The law currently prohibits schools from starting before Labor Day, in an effort to boost late season tourism revenue:
The action by the Senate Education and Health Committee followed testimony from a string of tourism representatives, who said that moving the first day of school before the holiday weekend would hurt the industry at a time when it could ill afford to lose revenue.
Putting the tourism industry ahead of the needs of schools is an obvious blow to students. Proponents of rolling back the law cite research showing that students who have more time in school do better on exams and are more likely to go to college. A long summer vacation is particularly detrimental to low-income children who don’t have access to engaging programming during the summer. Indeed, more than 1,000 schools nationwide have broken free from the traditional confines of the school schedule and lengthened the school year to incorporate more time for academics, enrichment and teacher planning.
Speaking at an event at the Center for American Progress last year, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan made clear that it is time for students to spend more time — not less — in school. “We know that far too many of our nation’s young people get to a certain point by June, thanks to their teachers hard work and commitment, and they come back in September further behind than when they left, and we just have to do something about it,” he said.
The issue is also one of governance. As Delegate Joe Morrissey (D) noted, the persons making the call about when schools should start should not be amusement park owners. “Who is going to make the decisions,” Morrissey asked. “I suggest that it not be Tweety bird or Bugs Bunny or Scooby Doo or Sponge Bob that makes those decisions. They ought not to be making education decisions in the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
Still, many in the state support the Kings Dominion Law. “I’m glad the Senate has done this,” Mayor Will Sessoms of Virginia Beach said of Thursday’s vote to ax the Senate version of the bill. “The main reason is because the economic impact it would have on this city.”
It’s a no brainer that kids will learn more in school than they will riding a rollercoaster. The legislators should focus on helping educators create — and implement — high-quality summer programs rather than caving to Tweety bird and the money hungry tourism industry.
by Guest Blogger at January 27, 2012 07:35 PM
Democratic Governors Martin O’Malley (MD) and Chris Gregoire (WA), who are both pursuing marriage equality bills in their state legislatures this session, appeared on MSNBC this morning to join the growing outcry against Gov. Chris Christie’s (R-NJ) suggestion that voters should decide if gay and people can marry:
– O’MALLEY: “I think the best resolution of these sorts of things… best that it happened legislatively. Sometimes, we have to go to court to get that done as a country. Other times, it’s a combination of several steps — courts, the people deciding, but ultimately, Americans resolve these issues by extending rights more fully and more equally to all individuals.
– GREGOIRE: : “I don’t want [lawmakers] to say instead of taking the tough vote, send it to the voters. They were elected to make these decisions, it’s time for them to do so.”
Watch it:
Opponents of marriage equality have pledged to put the issue on the ballot if it passes in the Washington legislature.
by Igor Volsky at January 27, 2012 07:35 PM
Dentro de la vivienda han encontrado los cadáveres de dos ancianos y una menor de edad, que sería su nieta. Leer
January 27, 2012 07:35 PM
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SAN DIEGO (TheStreet) --
Amylin Pharmaceuticals received U.S. approval Friday for its diabetes drug Bydureon, setting the stage for a commercial battle against an established rival drug from Novo Nordisk.
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January 27, 2012 07:34 PM
WINDERMERE, Fla. (Stockpickr) -- At Stockpickr, we track daily portfolios of stocks that are hitting new 52-week highs and 52-week lows.
When you see a stock that's hitting new 52-week highs, it often means that the uptrend is very strong and the buyers are in full control (and the opposite for stocks setting new 52-week lows). Momentum traders often look at the 52-week high lists to find new trading ideas. Keep in mind, though, that new highs can also mean that the stock is overbought or has run up too far too fast.
>>5 Stocks Under $10 Set to Trigger Big Moves
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REGN.
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January 27, 2012 07:34 PM
NEW YORK (TheStreet) - Morgan Stanley's reported win to usher Facebook into the public market means that allegations of Goldman Sachs' valuation games as an attempt to curry favor with the social media giant may not actually pan out.
In January 2011 Goldman Sachs led a $1.5 billion investment in Facebook at a reported valuation of $50 billion, a move spurred rumors that the valuation was a way for the investment bank to win the lead mandate for its eventual initial public offering.
But the Wall Street Journal reports on Friday that Morgan Stanley will lead Facebook's IPO, which may be filed on Wednesday and at a value in the $75 billion to $100 billion range. That may signal that even with its alleged outsized access and "vampire squid" like grip on the capital markets, Goldman Sachs doesn't always win.
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MS.
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January 27, 2012 07:34 PM
La compañía estaría barajando una valoración inicial de entre 75.000 y 100.000 millones de dólares. Leer. Escuchar
January 27, 2012 07:34 PM
If quality and quantity met in a dark alley and had to fight to the death, who would win?
January 27, 2012 07:33 PM
La agencia de calificación achaca la rebaja a la "vulnerabilidad" del país tras la desviación de sus objetivos de déficit y deuda. Leer. Escuchar
January 27, 2012 07:32 PM
Francis Gaskins, president of IPO Desktop, says next week's expected filing by the social media giant could be mistimed.
January 27, 2012 07:26 PM
Mitt Romney, who was slightly more humanoid in 1994 than he is today, also thought blind trusts, of which he has one, and which he passionately defended during Thursday night’s Jacksonville debate, were terrible, devious things. How exactly did he put it? Oh yes, a blind trust is an “age-old ruse.”
During a debate with Massachusetts Senate incumbent Ted Kennedy during the 1994 campaign, a partially vibrant Romney attacked Kennedy’s blind trusts, saying:
The blind trust is an age-old ruse. You give a blind trust rules. You can say to a blind trust, don’t invest in properties which would be in conflict of interest or where the seller might think they’re going to get an advantage from me.
Kennedy then proceeded to whoop Romney’s ass, saying, “Mr. Romney, the Kennedys are not in public service to make money. We have paid too high a price.” And that was that, pretty much.
Romney’s response on his own blind trusts last night was not nearly as convincing. Following criticism from Gingrich that some of Romney’s investments included Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Romney said:
First of all, my investments are not made by me. My investments, for the last 10 years, have been in a blind trust, managed by a trustee.
The Bot strikes again. Interestingly, Romney must have thought Kennedy’d had kind of a great idea, because he opened his troubling blind trust in 1996, two years after his failed Senate bid. [BuzzFeed/CBS News]
by Liz Colville at January 27, 2012 07:25 PM
El lehendakari pide acercar a los presos etarras a cárceles vascas y navarras y la concesión del tercer grado los enfermos graves. Leer. Escuchar
January 27, 2012 07:23 PM
Is this meaningful? Or just another movement?
January 27, 2012 07:21 PM
ConAgra bolsters its Canadian presence with the acquisition of Del Monte Canada.
January 27, 2012 07:18 PM
Is this meaningful or just another movement?
January 27, 2012 07:17 PM
...and does it affect your stance on these names?
January 27, 2012 07:15 PM
Elder Scam
by digby
What an ass:
“I think it’s unfortunate that they go to these elder statesmen of the parties at their stage in life and solicit things like that,” [Fred Thompson] said. “I have my own opinion, I disagree with Bob Dole even though I respect Bob Dole very much.”
Asked by TPM whether his reference to that “stage in life” suggested Dole was too infirm to render sound judgement, Thompson clarified that he took issue with the Romney campaign’s effort to court the former presidential nominee.
“He’s been in bad health, he’s had bad legs,” Thompson said. “I hate it when people irritate folks like that…you know they shouldn’t be bugged and dragged into all this, but if they want to they’re plenty capable of making their own decisions.”
I guess he's an expert. After all, this is the guy who's out there
conning the elderly into taking out reverse mortgages, something many observers believe is the next sub-prime crisis:
Thompson's new employer, however, has a troubled track record. Regulators in Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Washington State have cracked down on the firm for deceptive marketing and consumer fraud. In February, for instance, the Illinois attorney general, Lisa Madigan, sued AAG and its president for direct-mail solicitations that Madigan described as "extremely misleading." That same month, the state of Massachusetts temporarily banned the company from doing business in the state...
In AAG's case, putting a celebrity face on its mortgage products is at the core of the company’s marketing strategy. Before hiring Thompson, the company used the late veteran actor Peter Graves as its spokesman. And in August 2009, AAG president and CEO Reza Jahangiri explained that a large part of the company's national marketing campaign would revolve around a "celebrity spokesperson" who "adds that credibility and gets borrowers a little more comfortable with the company."
Nice. Kindly old Arthur Branch vouches for it so it must be ok.
Read the whole article for the full dossier on Thompson's employer's deceptive practices (and Thompson's history of shilling for con artists and elder scammers.) He really should be ashamed of himself. He can't need money that badly.
Update: And, by the way, Bob Dole was able to vigorously run for president when he was 73 years old --- and that was after a lifetime of dealing with war injuries suffered when he was mowed down by German machine gun fire in Italy in 1945. When Thompson ran in 2008 (at the age of 66)
he couldn't cross the Iowa County Fairgrounds without using a golf cart. Just saying. He's an asshole.
.
January 27, 2012 07:15 PM
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has successfully staked his claim as the most extreme GOP presidential candidate when it comes to immigration. His immigration plan is to make conditions in the country so horrible for undocumented immigrants that they have no option other than to self-deport. He embraced the support of Kris Kobach, the anti-immigrant Kansas secretary of state with ties to hate groups.
Last night during the CNN GOP debate in Florida, even Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker who has attempted to strike a compassionate tone on immigration during the primaries, agreed that, of the GOP presidential contenders, Romney is anti-immigrant:
BLITZER: I just want to make sure I understand. Is he [Romney] still the most anti-immigrant candidate?
GINGRICH: Among the four of us, yes.
BLITZER: Go ahead, governor.
ROMNEY: That’s simply inexcusable. That’s inexcusable.
Watch here:
Of course Romney disagrees with the characterization since he also has tried to frame himself as a pro-legal immigration candidate and touts out his father’s birth in Mexico (even though his father never had Mexican citizenship). Earlier in the week, his campaign pressured the Gingrich camp to take down a Spanish campaign ad that called Romney “anti-immigrant.” Gingrich’s campaign removed the ad after Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said the language used was “inaccurate, inflammatory and doesn’t belong in the campaign.”
But Gingrich had it right during the debate when he told moderator Wolf Blitzer that yes, Romney was anti-immigrant, no matter how many times Romney may say it’s inexcusable.
by Amanda Peterson Beadle at January 27, 2012 07:15 PM
Logs out for possible political career
The first US government chief technology officer Aneesh Chopra has announced he’s leaving the job.…
January 27, 2012 07:14 PM
Release Engineering uses hg a lot. Every build or test involves code from at least one hg repository.
Last year we started using some internal mirrors at the same time as making use of the hg share extension across the board, both of these had a big impact on the load on hg and time to clone/update local working copies.
I think what we’ve done is pretty useful and resilient to various types of failure, so I hope this blog post is helpful for others trying to automate processes involving hg!
The primary tool we’re using for hg operations is called hgtool (available from our tools repo). Yes, we’re very inventive at naming things.
hgtool’s basic usage is to be given the location of a remote repository, a local directory, and usually a revision. Its job is to make sure that the local directory contains a clean working copy of the repository at the specified revision.
First of all, you don’t need to worry about doing an ‘hg clone’ if the directory doesn’t exist, or ‘hg pull’ if it does exist. This simplifies a lot of build logic!
Next, we’ve build support for mirrors into hgtool. You can pass one or more mirror repositories to the tool with ‘–mirror’, and it will attempt to pull/clone from the mirrors before trying to pull/clone from the primary repository. At Mozilla we have several internal hg mirrors that we use to reduce load on the primary public-facing hg servers.
To improve the case when you need to do a full clone, we’ve added support for importing an hg bundle to initialize the local repository rather than doing a full clone from the mirror or master repositories. You can pass one or more bundle urls with ‘–bundle’. hgtool will download and import the bundle, and then pull in new changesets from the mirrors and master repositories.
Finally, hgtool supports the ‘hg share’ extension. If you specify a base directory for shared repositories, all of the above operations will be run on a locally shared repository first, and then the working copy will be created with ‘hg share’, and updated to the correct revision.
There are all kinds of fallback behaviours specified, like if you fail to import a bundle, try to clone from a mirror; then if you fail to clone from a mirror, try to clone from the master. These fallbacks have resulted in a far more resilient build process.
by chris at January 27, 2012 07:08 PM
DJIA is falling for the second day in a row.
January 27, 2012 07:08 PM
Hewlett Packard is showing off a range of new printers at Macworld|iWorld 2012, largely aimed at the home office and small-to-medium business segments. However, a new feature of its latest printer models is what really caught our eye on the show floor. HP's Wireless Direct makes it possible to print documents and images from an iOS device via AirPrint without even knowing the name or password of the local wireless network.
All of HP's printers now include the company's ePrint feature, which enables options like wireless printing, sending documents to print via e-mail from anywhere in the world, and directly accessing documents in the cloud. These ePrint capabilities also enable support for Apple's AirPrint standard, according to Marketing Manager Annamaria Pardini, which lets iPhones and iPads to print to a networked printer without any setup, configuration, or driver installation.
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January 27, 2012 07:05 PM
Aunque pagará una multa por la condena de intento de fuga, tendrá que cumplir la única pena de la que no ha sido indultado. Leer. Escuchar
January 27, 2012 07:05 PM
Se hablaba de que podría entrar en recesión pero en el cuarto trimestre alcanzó un crecimiento del PIB del 2,8%. Leer
January 27, 2012 07:05 PM
Un padre sorprendió a su hija realizando poses sexuales ante una 'webcam' y presentó una denuncia en Almansa (Albacete). Leer
January 27, 2012 07:02 PM
Oclaro clearly didn't deserve this drastic drop.
January 27, 2012 07:01 PM
This commentary originally appeared at 9:06 a.m. EST on Jan. 27 on Real Money Pro -- for access to all of legendary hedge fund manager Doug Kass's strategies and commentaries, click here.
While I continue to expect some short-term market weakness, two important developments occurred over the past few days that will have a positive intermediate-term impact on the markets and on risk assets:
Mitt Romney has materially regained his lead in the Florida primary and the likelihood of him winning the Republican nod for presidential candidacy has measurably increased as well (based on this week's Intrade probabilities). A political regime change and Republican presidential win in November must be viewed, in the fullness of time, as market-friendly.
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January 27, 2012 07:00 PM
Freshman guy: I'm going to take a massive... shower.
Freshman guy: Sounds like you were going to say massive shit.
Freshman girl: Girls don't shower.
--Columbia University
January 27, 2012 07:00 PM
Check out the cash king margin
January 27, 2012 06:58 PM
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stocks were mixed Friday as good consumer sentiment data failed to distract investors from a disappointing read on gross domestic product.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was slumping 67.4 points, or 0.5%, at 12,667, with Chevron, the second-largest U.S. energy company, weighing on the index following disappointing quarterly earnings. The energy stock was down over 2%.
The S&P 500 was falling 2.6 points, or 0.2%, at 1,316, and the Nasdaq was clinging onto positive territory, up 8.4 points, or 0.3%, at 2,814 with the help of some decent technology earnings.
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^DJI.
January 27, 2012 06:57 PM
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Talk about a revelation. If you want to learn just how easily the media assumes a permanent shift in fortunes, just take a look at coverage of December new homes sales. Sure, the coverage impacts homebuilders like Pulte Group, Lennar, KB Homes and Toll Brothers. But it also has wider implications.
The media always seem surprised, jolted by reality. Why? They are, against reason and history, always too quick to declare change lasting.
Submit this for your disapproval: The New York Times (and plenty of others) described the poor showing of new home sales in December as "unexpected."
Unexpected? By whom? Look: new home sales surpassed Wall Street estimates for three months running, but does three, an insignificant sampling in any field but journalism (where it is apparently the gold standard) add up to a pattern so certain that its break should be "unexpected"?
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January 27, 2012 06:57 PM
What had we gone, a whole week or so without a news story about a public official cracking jokes online about murdering Barack Obama? That’s kind of a long time! Don’t “worry,” however, Mexico still does not want Arizona back, so we will never go too long without one of these kinds of things while a black guy is president: the Secret Service is investigating Sgt. Pat Shearer, a Peoria, Arizona police officer, after he posted a Facebook picture of a group of assault rifle-wielding teenagers holding up a bullet-riddled t-shirt with Barack Obama’s face on it during one of their Future Gas Station Attendants of America meetings. Shearer has taken the photo down, but come on, he just wants to know, what is everyone’s problem? Since when did everyone start taking assassination so seriously?
Shearer wouldn’t talk to the New York Times. He talked to Fox News, though, huh!
“I don’t think that the shooting of that T-shirt is that big of a deal,” he told the station. “It was more of a political statement … It’s not like they were going to go out and shoot the president.”
And now let’s check in with the Fox News commenters at the bottom of the story, just for Phriday Phuntimes, to see the innovative ways that they are testing the boundaries of the English language with surrealist variations on spelling and syntax.
Multiple-personality disorder victim tomgladden is going to defeat Barack Obama by voting against him “often” this fall:
liberal why do you twell the world your ignorant. progressives are a cancer in america, were your liberal badge in shame for what your kind did to this country and dont respond just know i will be at the voting booth november 6 and vote often against your moron in the whitehouse
Oh look, apparently “black” is a swear in Moron!
User bobbyg60:
Ya, we have seen how well electing a bl@ck is working out…….at least Newt is an American.
And our favorite randomly selected murderous idiot, who struggled bravely with the commenter registration form only to somehow turn up the username “decmocratsrcommunits”:
let’s see; the military and tens of millions of armed American men,women and youth allayed against obama and his army of welfare crackheads, entitlement slugs, union thugs and drug -addled feces-encrusted occupiers; wonder where the Las Vegas odds makers are on that one…
YEAH, WATCH OUT, COMMUNITS. [Fox News]
by Kirsten Boyd Johnson at January 27, 2012 06:56 PM
The maker of gadgetry accessories has no shortage of critics.
January 27, 2012 06:52 PM
Marek Fuchs, senior contributing analyst at TheStreet, dusts his most miserable recommendation of the week (BAC) for clues.
January 27, 2012 06:52 PM
The MakerBot Replicator 3D printer can make anything from rooks to custom dollhouse furniture and jewelry.
January 27, 2012 06:48 PM
The rise of purely digital online game sales has changed the industry in a number of ways, but the most important change might be the introduction of games as impulse buys. Anyone with a credit card tied to their Steam account knows how scarily easy it is to, with just a few clicks, dump more money than you intended on a whole passel of games that seem vaguely intriguing. You might not have read any reviews, or even heard anything about the game outside of the Steam description, but when it's so cheap and the purchase process is so seamless, your consumptive id can often act before your conscious brain even has a chance to question whether you really want the game you're buying.
Digital stores on platforms from Sony, Microsoft, Apple, and Google have similar setups to encourage this kind of impulse purchase—enter your credit card once, then buy with a few clicks forevermore. Nintendo is the lone holdout, as it often is with online features, refusing to store credit card information for users with a Wii or 3DS. But that might change in the next console generation, with Nintendo President Satoru Iwata announcing today that the Wii U will use near-field communication technology "as a means of making micropayments."
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January 27, 2012 06:47 PM
Afirma que varios testigos reconocen que se trasladaron desde Albacete en 1999, por lo que su prueba de paternidad sería nula. Leer
January 27, 2012 06:47 PM
Market-trouncing returns could be written in this four-star.
January 27, 2012 06:46 PM
Spanning more devices and hypervisors
Gale Technologies, one of the many companies that wants to manage your private and public clouds, has revved up its GaleForce cloud control freak to 6.0, and is improving its support for XenServer-based clouds and adding KVM to the mix.…
January 27, 2012 06:44 PM
WINDERMERE, Fla. (Stockpickr) -- There isn't a day that goes by on Wall Street when certain stocks trading near or under $10 a share don't experience massive spikes higher. Traders savvy enough to follow the low-priced names and trade them with discipline and sound risk management are banking ridiculous coin on a regular basis.
Just take a look at some of the hot movers today in the under-$10 complex, including Datawatch, ripping higher by over 30%; Emulex, soaring over 15%; Nautilus, surging over 10%; and Towerstream trading up over 10%. You don't even have to catch the entire move in lower-priced stocks such as these to make outsized returns when trading.
>>7 Hot Stocks on Traders' Radars
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January 27, 2012 06:44 PM
La comunidad más castigada ha sido Extremadura, seguida de Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León y Asturias. Leer
January 27, 2012 06:44 PM
All American Entrepreneur
by digby
So which is worse, being a closet racist or exploiting racism for money? It's hard to tell the difference, frankly. I'd guess it's possible that some slave ship owners were nice family men and had no personal beef with Africans --- but they profited handsomely from their misery nonetheless. Is there a moral difference?
I'm talking about this article in the Washington Post quoting the president of the Cato Institute saying that he'd had a conversation with Ron Paul in the late 80s about how to attract more customers for his newsletters:
Ed Crane, the longtime president of the libertarian Cato Institute, said he met Paul for lunch during this period, and the two men discussed direct-mail solicitations, which Paul was sending out to interest people in his newsletters. They agreed that “people who have extreme views” are more likely than others to respond.
Crane said Paul reported getting his best response when he used a mailing list from the now-defunct newspaper Spotlight, which was widely considered anti-Semitic and racist.
Benton, Paul’s spokesman, said that Crane’s account “sounds odd” and that Paul did not recall the conversation.
At the time, Paul’s investment letter was languishing. According to the person involved with his businesses, Paul and others hit upon a solution: to “morph” the content to capitalize on a growing fear among some on the political right about the nation’s changing demographics and threats to economic liberty.
The investment letter became the Ron Paul Survival Report — a name designed to intrigue readers, the company secretary said. It cost subscribers about $100 a year. The tone of that and other Paul publications changed, becoming increasingly controversial. In 1992, for example, the Ron Paul Political Report defended chess champion Bobby Fischer, who became known as an anti-Semitic Holocaust denier, for his stance on “Jewish questions.’’
I have long heard chatter about how
the paleolibertarians consciously set out to build their faction by appealing to paranoid right wing racist elements. But this is the first I've heard that Paul's racist newsletters were actually a personal
financial strategy.
I suppose those two things aren't mutually exclusive, especially considering Paul's libertarian take on civil rights. He truly believes that states' rights and property rights trump human rights in general so there's no hypocrisy in profiting from racist tracts. He
is a man of principle. (Well, except for the lying about his knowledge of the racism in his newsletter, which was never believable and is even less so now.)
Other than that, though, he has stuck to his stated principles. He's a free market guy using racism to make a buck and build up his political career. What's more All American than that?
.
January 27, 2012 06:42 PM
Thousands roil Polish streets – more protests planned for Friday
Over 30 Polish lawmakers held up paper replicas of the Guy Fawkes mask, made famous by both Anoymous hacktivists and the Occupy movement, during a protest in parliament of their country's signing of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), the EU's highly controversial online-piracy legislation.…
January 27, 2012 06:41 PM
NEW YORK (TheStreet) --
In case you missed them, here are the top 10 most popular articles and videos on TheStreet today. Sign up for free email delivery of our daily Top 10.
Which of These 10 Dividend Stocks Is Worth the Risk?
Lindsey Bell
Investors hunting for yield during uncertain times need to look beyond high dividends to individual company fundamentals. (Stocks include: T, MO, VZ )
The Next Big Thing in Biotech: Medivation
Adam Feuerstein
Adam Feuerstein, senior columnist for TheStreet, explains why Medivation is the next big thing in biotech. (Featuring MDVN)
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January 27, 2012 06:41 PM
After a year of discussion about how to depict heinous acts without endorsing them, I was fascinated to see Compliance, Craig Zobel’s powerful, feminist film about the strip searches and sexual assaults committed by employees at more than 70 restaurants who thought they were helping detain a suspect for a police officer who called them on the phone. Based on a real incident where a disgruntled security guard was caught after pulling the same ugly hoax on the workers at a Mt. Washington, Kentucky McDonalds, Compliance raises urgent questions about gender, class, and most importantly, our desire to not just trust, but to please, the police.
The movie follows the real events of the Mt. Washington case closely. Restaurant manager Sandra (a wonderful Ann Dowd) is already stressed out by a freezer that was left open, spoiling thousands of dollars worth of food, when a man who identifies himself as “Officer Daniels” calls and tells her to detain and search a young employee named Becky (Dreama Walker). As Sandra and Becky begin to comply, the man on the phone escalates, ordering Becky strip-searched, locked naked in an office, and eventually manipulates Sandra’s boyfriend Evan into performing an illegal cavity search on Becky, and telling Becky if she does not perform oral sex on the man, she’ll go to prison. It’s only when a maintenance worker brought in to replace a deeply shaken Evan tells the man on the phone, who has told him that strip-searching Becky again “isn’t your choice,” responds “Like hell it isn’t” and refuses to cooperate that the restaurant’s workers begin to question the source of their orders and come to realize what they’ve done.
Pat Healy, in a sublimely uncomfortable performance as the man on the phone, does an expert job of demonstrating how predators—and bad cops—get people to fall in line. “Mr. Gilmore said I could count on you,” he tells Sandra, desperate to atone for the fridge fiasco, of her regional manager. “Can I count on you to assist the authorities?…Doesn’t it make sense that if she was doing something wrong, she wouldn’t want you to know?” He clouds Sandra’s trust in Becky, and Becky’s trust in herself, with assurances that he has Becky on surveillance, that he has a victim, witnesses, a 90 percent conviction rate. Rather than cackling over his conquests, he feigns sympathy with Becky as he explains why he wants her strip-searched. When Kevin, one of Becky’s friends and coworkers, tells the caller “the procedure is fucked,” the caller tells Sandra he’s unprofessional for objecting. “Don’t give her a choice,” he tells Sandra’s boyfriend Evan, all while preserving the illusion than Evan is deciding for himself to participate. And he relies on Becky’s fear of jail to get her to submit to the terrible—and deeply illegal—things that are being done to her.
Zobel said it was important for him to emphasize, particularly in reference to a questioner who said that the fact that the characters were service workers made it easier for him to distance himself from them, that “I think this stuff happens to people in all classes. I don’t think this is poor people behavior…I don’t think that these people are stupid.” Instead, he suggested, the incidents “made me think about the power we give to people in positions of authority.”
And that’s what happens. Sandra is more than eager to take orders—and receive validation—from someone who she thinks is winning her credit her both within her chain of command in the restaurant and in a society where even the delivery man yells at her. Within the hierarchy of the restaurant, Becky’s coworkers, including shift supervisor Marti, Kevin, and a fellow checkout girl are willing to comfort Becky, to refuse to comply with the voice on the phone, but not to buck Sandra’s willingness to obey, especially not with blame for the fridge fiasco left to be assigned. With the exception of Evan, everyone’s reactions are relatively understandable, even sympathetic, even as they’re a terrifying illustration of our own refusal to defend our civil rights.
The movie also pulls off the extremely difficult feat of keeping Walker naked or close to it and brutalized for much of the film in a way that manages to avoid prurience and keep our focus squarely on her suffering. Zobel told me he had extensive conversations with Walker about what she thought would be comfortable and effective, not just as an actress, but as the kind of woman who would watch the movie as well. That care pays off. Compliance is a powerful call to question authority, and an illustration of what we’re willing to do or let be done to the most vulnerable people in our midst in authority’s name. If Sandra will let Becky be raped, or Evan will rape her simply because of the presence of a voice on a phone, it’s awful to imagine what we’re capable of when the gun and badge are there in person.
by Alyssa Rosenberg at January 27, 2012 06:36 PM
David Morgan, founder of Silver-Investor.com, says that silver's recent rally has more juice.
January 27, 2012 06:35 PM
La roca se aproximó a sólo una quinta parte de la distancia que separa nuestro planeta de la Luna. Leer. Escuchar
January 27, 2012 06:31 PM
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney went on the offense at last night’s Republican Presidential Debate, attacking the White House’s treatment of Israel and charging that the Obama administration has “time and time again shown distance from Israel.” That distance, said Romney, has resulted in a “greater sense of aggression” from the Palestinians.
But Romney’s attacks are based on wholesale fabrications of President Barack Obama’s track record as a close ally of Israel for the past three years. Romney charged:
This president went before the United Nations and castigated Israel for building settlements. He said nothing about thousands of rockets being rained in on Israel from the Gaza Strip.
The smear may have garnered applause from the debate audience but a National Jewish Democratic Council fact check found that Obama’s September 21, 2011 U.N. speech had explicitly addressed the issue of rockets fired into Israel. Obama said:
Let us be honest with ourselves: Israel is surrounded by neighbors that have waged repeated wars against it. Israel’s citizens have been killed by rockets fired at their houses and suicide bombs on their buses.
Romney went on to charge the White House with “[throwing] Israel under the bus” by “defining ’67 borders as a starting point for negotiations” — a position also held by the George W. Bush and Clinton administrations — and accused Obama of “[disrespecting] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — Bibi Netanyahu.”
Watch it:
Following Obama’s U.N. speech in September, Netanyahu said to President Obama:
I think that standing your ground, taking this position of principle… I think this is a badge of honor and I want to thank you for wearing that badge of honor.
And last May, Netanyahu praised Obama’s commitment to Israel’s security, telling the audience at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference that Obama had made an “ironclad commitment to Israel’s security” and “[has] backed those words with deeds.”
Israel and discussion of U.S Middle East policy is one of the few foreign policy topics to emerge as a wedge issue for the GOP presidential candidates. Indeed, in the previous GOP debate three days ago, Newt Gingrich also made false claims about Obama’s policy toward Israel. But Obama’s track record of close cooperation with Israel requires critics like Romney and Gingrich to resort to outright fabrications to smear Obama as a weak ally to the Jewish state.
by Eli Clifton at January 27, 2012 06:30 PM
NEW YORK (MainStreet) -- It's been close to three months since Bank Transfer Day, a national movement that encouraged Americans to switch from big banks to credit unions and small financial institutions, and the movement is still inspiring some to transfer their accounts as participants say they're happy they made the move.
"I have an interest bearing checking account and I get ATM rebates," says reader Emil Neu, who recently switched from Chase to Provident Credit Union. "Customer service has been outstanding."
Here's what has happened since Bank Transfer Day three months ago.
Some Americans also say that switching to a smaller establishment with fewer branches and ATMs in their network hasn't posed an inconvenience for them.
...
January 27, 2012 06:30 PM
Paco Mir dijo que el nuevo sería "seguramente" su último espectáculo. Desde el grupo aseguran que lo afirmó en un contexto amistoso y de broma. Leer
January 27, 2012 06:28 PM
Diplomáticos españoles salvaron la vida de miles de judíos aprovechando las oportunidades que les ofrecían sus cargos. Leer. Escuchar
January 27, 2012 06:27 PM
The Pirate Party of Catalonia is organizing the equivalent of a class-action lawsuit against the FBI in a Spanish court, claiming damages to legitimate users of the file-sharing site Megaupload. And the group is trying to enlist the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) to do the same, sending it the contact information of US residents who join the campaign.
"This initiative is a starting point for legitimate Internet users to help defend themselves from the legal abuses promoted by those wishing to aggressively lock away cultural materials for their own financial gain," the group said through its website.
Stating that the FBI has "impeded the access to millions of archives of both private individuals and organizations, potentially causing huge personal, economic and image damages," the Pirate Party also suggests that private data might have been misappropriated by the FBI and other authorities in the course of the investigation, violating privacy rights.
"Regardless of ideology," the group states, "or opinions on the legality or morality of those running Megaupload, actions such as the closure of this service cause huge damage to lawful users of the sites and are unacceptable and disproportionate violations of their rights."
The Pirate Party of Catalonia claims that the FBI may have violated Articles 197 and 198 of the Spanish Penal Code, both of which fall under Spain's Title X, which covers privacy. Article 197 deals with exposing personal data; Article 198 addresses such disclosures by public officials.
The group says it is collaborating with Pirate Parties International, and national Pirate Parties in other countries, to bring the suit, and it is setting up a page to allow individuals affected by the FBI takedown to register as part of the complaint.
An EFF spokesperson was unavailable for comment.
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January 27, 2012 06:20 PM
According to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, union membership increased by about 49,000 workers in 2011, keeping the percentage of the workforce that is unionized steady at just shy of 12 percent. An increase of 110,000 private sector union workers was offset in part by the loss of 61,000 public sector union workers, as governments at all levels cut their budgets. The slight increase in union workers follows several years of large losses, with the number of union members falling by 1.4 million between 2008 and 2010.
by Pat Garofalo at January 27, 2012 06:20 PM
"El objetivo es disminuir el déficit público, y la política energética no es una excepción", afirma el ministro José Manuel Soria. Leer. Escuchar
January 27, 2012 06:19 PM
Apple has begun alerting its Italian customers that they have a right to a two-year warranty on Apple's products as provided by Italian law. The move comes after Apple was issued a $1.2 million fine for allegedly misleading customers—the court decision documenting Apple's violation is now linked directly from the store.apple.it page.
Italy's Consumer Code provides all Italian customers with a two-year warranty that covers products that were defective at the time of sale. In December, Italy's Antitrust Authority accused Apple of obscuring this fact by pushing its own AppleCare Protection Plans, which extend coverage beyond the company-provided one year to three years.
The court decision linked from the Italian Store page details how Apple must change its marketing language for its AppleCare Protection Plans to reflect the existence of the two-year consumer code warranty. Directly linking the document, which also details the fines Apple had to pay, is an oddly transparent move by the company, but may be used to support the company's court appeal to the fine.
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January 27, 2012 06:10 PM
José García Cantera incrementó sus emolumentos con respecto al ejercicio anterior tras asumir más responsabilidades en el banco. Leer. Escuchar
January 27, 2012 06:10 PM
El ministro de Economía, Luis de Guindos, ha adelantado que el Consejo de Ministros aprobará hoy esta medida. Leer
January 27, 2012 06:10 PM
The Southern Poverty Law Center has warned an Alabama school district against infringing on a student’s freedom of speech. Elizabeth Garrett, an openly gay sophomore at Brookwood High School, said a school administrator told her to take off her sweatshirt that read, “Warning, This Individual Infected With ‘The Gay,’ Proceed With Caution,” because the official said it was disruptive. At a different point, the same official instructed Elizabeth that same-sex couples would not be allowed at the school’s prom. The Southern Poverty Law Center is threatening to file a federal lawsuit against the district if officials did not stop censoring speech supporting gay, lesbian, and transgender individuals and to do away with its ban on same-sex couples at prom by February 1. “No student should be singled out for unfair treatment or be denied their basic rights at school,” said Same Wolfe, an SPLC attorney.
by Amanda Peterson Beadle at January 27, 2012 06:07 PM
Si se trata de un caso de violencia machista, sería el sexto en Cataluña en lo que va de año. Los Mossos no descartan ninguna hipótesis. Leer
January 27, 2012 06:07 PM
Marek Fuchs, senior contributing analyst at TheStreet, talks Pulte, housing and change.
January 27, 2012 06:06 PM
Marek Fuchs, tells Starbucks traders to downplay commodity costs. Plus, the week's performance review.
January 27, 2012 06:03 PM
Turning the corner
Revenues for the third quarter of fy2012 were $173m, 2 per cent down on the $176m of a year ago. Net income was $3.94m, down from the $5.8m recorded a year ago. These earnings exceeded the Street's expectations so why did investors decide to sell the shares?…
January 27, 2012 06:02 PM
It happens in schools, cubicles, and boardrooms everywhere: someone working on a project hits a mental block. A boss or teacher might resort to a cliché like "think outside the box" or "put two and two together," encouraging a creative solution to the problem. As it turns out, this isn’t just abstract advice. According to an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, literally working outside of a box or putting two halves of something together just might help those creative juices start flowing again.
Since physical metaphors regarding creativity are so common and appear in several different languages, a group of researchers hypothesized that they may extend beyond mere clichés. But can acting out metaphors really affect how our minds work?
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January 27, 2012 06:00 PM
MIAMI, Florida — Two undocumented students confronted Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) during his speech here this morning at the Hispanic Leadership Network conference over his lack of support for the DREAM Act. Holding signs that read “Rubio: Latino Or Tea-Partino?” (Latin or Tea Partier?), the students were quickly escorted out of the Doral Golf Resort & Spa ballroom, where Rubio was speaking ahead of GOP presidential candidates, by security.
To his credit, Rubio said the two young men were “very brave” for raising “this legitimate issue” and urged them to stay to hear the rest of his speech. Instead, they were met by Doral City Police officers outside the ballroom, who pulled the students — one gave his name as Joe, preferring not to use a last name — away from reporters. Watch it:
by Alex Seitz-Wald at January 27, 2012 06:00 PM
BOSTON (MainStreet) -- The grim prospect for aging New Yorkers: One-third of them won't have enough money to retire comfortably.
That's according to a study released Thursday by New York City Comptroller John C. Liu and the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis at The New School in Greenwich Village.
One-third of New Yorkers won't have enough money to retire comfortably, according to a study released Thursday.
...
January 27, 2012 05:58 PM
At last night’s GOP presidential debate, Rick Santorum challenged Mitt Romney on the similarities between the health care reform he signed into law as governor of Massachusetts and President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. “Your mandate is no different than Barack Obama’s mandate. It is the same mandate,” Santorum charged. “You take over 100 percent, just like he takes over 100 percent, requires the mandate. The same fines that you put in place in Massachusetts are fines that he puts in place in the federal level. Same programs.”
The comparison immediately put Romney on the defense, who claimed, “I didn’t say I’m in favor of top- down government-run health care,” and explained that he expanded access to “private insurance” and allowed people to “choose any plan” within a state-run exchange. “There’s no government plan,” he added. “And if you don’t want to buy insurance, then you have to help pay for the cost of the state picking up your bill, because under federal law if someone doesn’t have insurance, then we have to care for them in the hospitals, give them free care. So we said, no more, no more free riders.”
Romney’s description of his plan sounded so much like Obama’s rational for the federal health care law that ThinkProgress has compiled a video comparing how both politicians describe their reforms. Watch it:
Indeed, Romneycare and Obamacare share more than a dozen common provisions, for a full comparison, click here.
by Igor Volsky at January 27, 2012 05:54 PM
Update with afternoon market action.
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Atlantic Equities analyst Richard Staite on Friday said that Wells Fargo and PNC Financial Services Group were "key picks" for a U.S. banking sector showing a "wide disparity in profitability."
Shares of Wells Fargo were up 1% in afternoon trading to $29.32, while PNC was up slightly, to $58.92.
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January 27, 2012 05:54 PM
Las tropas retomarán las operaciones de formación tras el asesinato de cuatro soldados galos al recibir 'garantías' por parte de Karzai. Leer. Escuchar
January 27, 2012 05:53 PM
MIAMI, Florida — The day after being hammered on his immigration policy in last night’s CNN debate, GOP front-runner Mitt Romney seemed to back off a key piece of his proposal, or at least the rhetoric he uses to describe it. Romney has called for making life so difficult on undocumented immigrants that they “self-deport,” but speaking at the Hispanic Leadership Network conference here today, Romney backed off that language. After summarizing his immigration proposal, Romney said:
ROMNEY: I call that — or other people call that ‘self deportation.’
Watch it:
It was the only time he uttered the words “self-deportation” in his speech today. Romney’s softening may have to do with the fact that Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), who supports Romney, disapproved of the “self-deportation” rhetoric. “It was frankly a bad choice of words,” Diaz-Balart told Yahoo! News’ Liz Goodwin.
Update
After Romney’s speech, ThinkProgress spoke with former GOP senator Norm Coleman, a special adviser to Romney’s campaign, who said the candidate was not backing off his “self-deportation” policy, though may be evolving the messaging on it. “I don’t think it was a backing off,” Coleman said of Romney’s comments, “I don’t think it was a strategic decision.” “I simply think it was — it’s one of the good things about this process, is that you do have the chance to say here’s what I meant. You get challenged on it, you come back and say, no don’t paint me with that broad brush.”
by Alex Seitz-Wald at January 27, 2012 05:50 PM
Welcome to another thrilling installment of your favorite, and only, recurring series on this blog: Better Know a WebDev!
This is a special week, as we’re featuring someone who just moved from web development into a product role with our Add-ons team. Give a big welcome and congratulations to Greg Koberger!
What do you do at Mozilla?
For the past year and a half, I’ve been a web developer working on the Mozilla Add-ons site. I wrote both front- and back-end code, and every once in a while I managed to sneak in a little bit of design work. I recently traded in vim for Google Docs, however, and made the switch to a more product-centric role. I still get to work with the same people on the same projects, however I’ll be writing specs and designing flows rather than writing code.
Any fun side projects you’re working on?
One of most recent (and relevant) mini side projects is a Firefox Quine. It’s not a true quine, since it loads some external assets (like jQuery). However, the concept is the same: if you were to copy and paste the code that makes up the logo, it would output itself. We’re currently getting the design printed on t-shirts.
How did you get started in web development or programming?
I was lucky—my parents always made sure I had a good computer. I started by tinkering with HyperCard, and eventually decided to try making websites. I still remember how asking my parents for my first hosting account went: “Why do you need other people to see it? Can’t you just play with it yourself on your computer?” Luckily they finally agreed, and I started teaching myself PHP and JavaScript.
How did you get involved with Mozilla?
While in college, there was an alumni talk about working at Mozilla. I missed the talk, however I emailed the guy after since I was curious. He encouraged me to apply, and I flew out to California to interview. I fell in love with the company. The people I interviewed with were awesome, and I was amazed by the company culture. Everyone just wanted to make the web a better place.
What’s a funny fail story or mistake you can share?
Back when I first started at Mozilla, I managed to delete all my private keys. So, some of the other webdevs set up a tissue-box-based “Computer School Fund” for me. I made $20 for deleting my private keys, so I like to think I got the last laugh.
What’s something you’re particularly proud of?
Back in November, awareness of SOPA was just starting to pick up. The day before the initial hearing, a bunch of us decided to try to raise awareness. It was incredibly last minute, but we knew we had to do something. We could get the message out via the snippet on about:home, which serves about 300MM requests a day. However, we had nowhere to link to. SOPA was new, and there wasn’t a definitive source with a few easy-to-digest bullet points. Plus, we couldn’t really send millions of hits to a website without giving them fair notice. So, we made our own. I sketched it out on paper and wrote out the copy. Then, as I designed it in Photoshop, my fellow webdev Potch sat next to me and wrote the code. We didn’t even have time to share files; he just watched what I was doing and wrote the code. It took us about an hour—which is all we had, since it still had to be deployed and tested. We couldn’t have gotten it out without help from all the different teams at Mozilla—everyone from legal to QA to IT to webdev worked late to make it happen. It was a huge success. We got the word about SOPA out to millions of Firefox users within 24 hours. We were able to use the same site a few months later for the SOPA blackout.
What’s coming up that you’re excited about?
I’m really excited about my new product management role. I love new challenges. It’s a great time to start this job, since a lot is going on with AMO right now. “Marketplace” (apps and add-ons combined, with the ability to charge) is going to be a huge project in the upcoming months. I can’t wait to see what our team can make in the upcoming months.
What software do you use day-to-day for the work you do?
My main machine is a 13″ Macbook Air running OS X Lion. I use vim for writing code, which all ends up on GitHub. I rely heavily on Firefox and Firebug for testing and debugging. I spend a good amount of time in Photoshop, mocking things up before I start coding. I couldn’t survive without either Rdio or Pandora playing in the background.
by James Socol at January 27, 2012 05:49 PM
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Former Palm CEO and chief architect of the webOS platform Jon Rubenstein has left HP, the company confirmed.
Rubenstein joined HP after Palm's acquisition and is departing after fulfilling a commitment to stay 12 to 24 months. He is leaving the company after HP ditched the webOS platform in August.
While webOS was HP's attempt at breaking into the smartphone and tablet market where it has lagged behind rivals Apple and Google, the platform failed to gain traction with its TouchPad device.
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January 27, 2012 05:48 PM
Over the last month, I’ve been working on some patches to address the relocation issues I’ve blogged about and just general space wastage in libxul. The upshot is that Firefox 13 will have shaved almost 100K of data and relocations for smaller binaries and slightly faster load times:
- Bug 717311 was the big one; we were wasting 70K+ of space in some Unicode tables due to structure padding. Fixing this was just a matter of using the right bitfield datatype so the compiler would pack things correctly.
- Bug 717501 was much the same: use smaller datatypes when the data you have fits in them.
- Bug 711563 was more in line with the invasive relocation changes discussed earlier. The patches there rearranged the storage for the stub names to avoid relocations and generally packed things more efficiently.
Not going in this cycle, but worthy of mention is bug 704848 for rearranging the effective TLD name table to avoid relocations; that bug will save 40-50K of space in data and relocations. Jason Duell and I talked on IRC yesterday and while he’s in favor of the idea, he’d like to see if gperf makes things any better. No sense in constructing a table at runtime if you can construct it at compile time!
Are there more instances of things that could be compressed like this? Yes, but the savings from them are likely to be much smaller on a case-by-case basis:
- Anything that uses nsStaticCaseInsensitiveNameTable could be tweaked to use less space and relocations by providing the entry data in a different format.
- nsElementTable.cpp:gHTMLElements could probably be rearranged for the same sort of savings.
- Initialization of atoms could stand some rearrangement for relocation reduction, at the cost of some ugliness elsewhere.
- YARR, used by the JS engine, has some fabulous bit vectors represented as character arrays; squashing those would shave 100K of data, but would likely be tricky.
- Eliminating null entries from the tables in table-driven QueryInterface methods would help, possibly at the cost of some extra parameter traffic to NS_TableDrivenQI.
- Actually, rewriting IIDs for XPCOM interfaces to fit in 32 bits could save a number of relocations in the tables for the aforementioned methods.
- The tables required by PR_ErrorInstallTable are breeding grounds for relocations; changing them is unlikely to happen anytime soon. (Those tables do account for a significant chunk of the relocations in libnss and libnspr, though.)
- Any number of places where we use pointers in constant data structures; there are quite a few of them, but converting each one saves 30-50 bytes each. Best to save these for when you are really bored.
All of the above might amount to 200K of data+relocation savings.
Really, though, there’s not that much to trim (or perhaps what is left to trim is decidedly non-trivial to trim). If you do something like:
readelf -sW dist/bin/libxul.so | grep OBJECT | awk '$3 > 1000 { print }' | c++filt | less
in your objdir on a Linux-y system, you’ll see that quite a lot of the largest objects come from tables for character conversion or character detection. However, the authors of said code were already conscious of the space required by these tables and they have tended to use the smallest datatypes necessary. vtables make a number of appearances (hard to get rid of at the moment). There are also some tables for media codecs, which presumably are difficult to trim down.
by Nathan Froyd at January 27, 2012 05:46 PM
If you crossed the asynchronous multiplayer component of a game like Words With Friends with a simple but engaging turn-based strategy game, what you'd end up with would look a whole lot like Hero Academy. This free-to-play iOS game, developed by the same team behind Orcs Must Die, is an excellent way to get in some satisfying strategy gaming in quick bursts. Just make sure you have some friends to bring along.
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January 27, 2012 05:45 PM
Syrian activists report that security forces killed 37 people today in one of the worst acts of violence since the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad began ten months ago. The attack came as people in Homs mourned the death of 14 family members they say were killed by militiamen. The U.N. Security Council is meeting later today in advance of a possible vote next week on a draft resolution calling on Bashar al-Assad to transfer power to his deputy and form a national unity government.
Demonstrators protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad after Friday prayers in Deir Balaba near Homs January 27, 2012. REUTERS/Handout
by Eli Clifton at January 27, 2012 05:44 PM
<p>In this transcript of a talk given to the attendees of the Joint Summits on Translational Science, <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2011/03/31/the-human-lake/">Carl Zimmer highlights an important aspect of understanding the human body and how to treat its many maladies</a>: the ecosystem of microbes.</p>
<blockquote><p>The microbes in your body at this moment outnumber your cells by ten to one. And they come in a huge diversity of species -- somewhere in the thousands, although no one has a precise count yet. By some estimates there are twenty million microbial genes in your body: about a thousand times more than the 20,000 protein-coding genes in the human genome. So the Human Genome Project was, at best, a nice start. If we really want to understand all the genes in the human body, we have a long way to go.</p>
<p>Now you could say "Who cares? They're just wee animalcules." Those wee animacules are worth caring about for many reasons. One of the most practical of those reasons is that they have a huge impact on our "own" health. Our collection of microbes-the microbiome-is like an extra organ of the human body. And while an organ like the heart has only one function, the microbiome has many.</p>
<p>When food comes into the gut, for example, microbes break some of them down using enzymes we lack. Sometimes the microbes and our own cells have an intimate volley, in which bacteria break down a molecule part way, our cells break it down some more, the bacteria break it down even more, and then finally we get something to eat.</p>
<p>Another thing that the microbiome does is manage the immune system. Certain species of resident bacteria, like Bacteroides fragilis, produce proteins that tamp down inflammation. When scientists rear mice that don't have any germs at all, they have a very difficult time developing a normal immune system. The microbiome has to tutor the immune system in how to do its job properly. It also acts like an immune system of its own, fighting off invading microbes, and helping to heal wounds.</p>
<p>While the microbiome may be an important organ, it's a peculiar one. It's not one solid hunk of flesh. It's an ecosystem, made up of thousands of interacting species.</p></blockquote> <strong>Tags:</strong> <a href="http://kottke.org/tag/biology">biology</a>&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://kottke.org/tag/Carl Zimmer">Carl Zimmer</a>&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://kottke.org/tag/science">science</a>
</content>
by Jason Kottke at January 27, 2012 05:44 PM
<p>In this transcript of a talk given to the attendees of the Joint Summits on Translational Science, <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2011/03/31/the-human-lake/">Carl Zimmer highlights an important aspect of understanding the human body and how to treat its many maladies</a>: the ecosystem of microbes.</p>
<blockquote><p>The microbes in your body at this moment outnumber your cells by ten to one. And they come in a huge diversity of species -- somewhere in the thousands, although no one has a precise count yet. By some estimates there are twenty million microbial genes in your body: about a thousand times more than the 20,000 protein-coding genes in the human genome. So the Human Genome Project was, at best, a nice start. If we really want to understand all the genes in the human body, we have a long way to go.</p>
<p>Now you could say "Who cares? They're just wee animalcules." Those wee animacules are worth caring about for many reasons. One of the most practical of those reasons is that they have a huge impact on our "own" health. Our collection of microbes-the microbiome-is like an extra organ of the human body. And while an organ like the heart has only one function, the microbiome has many.</p>
<p>When food comes into the gut, for example, microbes break some of them down using enzymes we lack. Sometimes the microbes and our own cells have an intimate volley, in which bacteria break down a molecule part way, our cells break it down some more, the bacteria break it down even more, and then finally we get something to eat.</p>
<p>Another thing that the microbiome does is manage the immune system. Certain species of resident bacteria, like Bacteroides fragilis, produce proteins that tamp down inflammation. When scientists rear mice that don't have any germs at all, they have a very difficult time developing a normal immune system. The microbiome has to tutor the immune system in how to do its job properly. It also acts like an immune system of its own, fighting off invading microbes, and helping to heal wounds.</p>
<p>While the microbiome may be an important organ, it's a peculiar one. It's not one solid hunk of flesh. It's an ecosystem, made up of thousands of interacting species.</p></blockquote> <strong>Tags:</strong> <a href="http://kottke.org/tag/biology">biology</a>&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://kottke.org/tag/Carl Zimmer">Carl Zimmer</a>&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://kottke.org/tag/science">science</a>
</content>
by Jason Kottke at January 27, 2012 05:44 PM
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- New York Attorney General Eric Schniderman on Friday detailed the new financial crimes unit announced by President Obama in his State of the Union Address Tuesday.
The "Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group" will investigate "those responsible for misconduct contributing to the financial crisis through the pooling and sale of residential mortgage-backed securities."
In addition to Attorney General Schniderman, the working group will be co-chaired by leading officials at the U.S. Department of Justice and SEC, including Lanny Breuer, assistant attorney general of the criminal division at the DOJ; Robert Khuzami, director of enforcement at the SEC; John Walsh, U.S. Attorney, District of Colorado; Tony West, assistant AG, Civil Division, DOJ.
...
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January 27, 2012 05:40 PM
The developers behind the KDE project have released version 4.8 of the open source desktop environment. The minor release brings a number of new features and technical improvements to the KDE platform, desktop shell, and application stack.
The Plasma Workspace has been undergoing an overhaul to take advantage of QML, a declarative user interface development framework that is part of Nokia's open source Qt toolkit. Several parts of the Plasma environment, such as the device status notification system and the splash screen, have been updated to use QML.
QML has also been adopted to power some new features in KWin, such as the much-improved keyboard window switcher, which is now configurable and supports several visual styles. The KDE developers are building a specialized Qt Quick Components widget set for Plasma, which was introduced in this release and will make it easier for Plasmoid creators to adopt QML.
A number of programs in the KDE application stack also got noteworthy improvements. KMail got an architectural overhaul and Dolphin has a new display engine that is said to be more efficient.
On the platform side of the KDE software collection, there's a new password management framework called KSecretService that is designed to conform with the Secret Service API, a new cross-desktop password management standard that was drafted through FreeDesktop.org. This means that GNOME and KDE are finally on a path towards having fully interoperable password managers.
Kubuntu 11.10 users who want to get their hands on 4.8 can obtain it from the backports PPA.
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January 27, 2012 05:35 PM
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Stocks were mixed midday Friday better-than-anticipated consumer sentiment report offset disappointing gross domestic product data.
The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index beat expectations by a point to 75 in January, but total U.S. goods and services output increased 2.8% in the fourth quarter, less than the 3.1% that economists were anticipating.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 80.68 points to 12,653.95 midday Friday. Leading the Dow lower were Chevron, Travelers and Cisco.
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January 27, 2012 05:32 PM
El instructor ve motivos para juzgarle por pedir 2,5 millones de dólares a grandes empresas para financiar sus cursos en Nueva York. Leer. Escuchar
January 27, 2012 05:32 PM
by Rebecca Leber
Chevron Corp. announced fourth-quarter earnings today of $5.1 billion, falling from $5.3 billion a year earlier. However, the second-largest U.S. energy company had a record year-end profit of $26.9 billion, a 23.3 percent jump since 2010. Here are a few other useful facts about Chevron:
Earlier this week, ConocoPhillips reported record fourth-quarter profits of $3.4 billion — a 66 percent gain, with a 2011 profit totaling $12.4 billion. Exxon releases its fourth-quarter results this coming Tuesday.
by Climate Guest Blogger at January 27, 2012 05:30 PM
'J. Edgar', 'biopic' sobre el fundador del FBI, resume la filmografía de un cineasta enorme hasta en sus imprecisiones. Leer. Escuchar
January 27, 2012 05:30 PM
Dash to fibre as people abandon twisted copper
ADSL connections to US homes are on the slide as companies and consumers turn to cable and fibre for faster connectivity.…
January 27, 2012 05:27 PM
La ACTA pretende proteger los derechos de autor pero ha levantado protestas que denuncian que recorta la libertad de expresión. Leer
January 27, 2012 05:27 PM
El felino terminó muriendo en una clínica veterinaria por los ataques del can. No es la primera vez que el hombre provocaba a su perrro contra otros gatos. Leer
January 27, 2012 05:24 PM
No, this post is not about certificates :-))
We want to make Mozilla as open a project as possible, which means that ideally there would be no parts of what we do which were closed to input from particular sections of the community. Question: how does Mozilla acquire sufficient trust in a potential community member that we could let them work in sensitive areas? Sensitive areas might include ones where they were working with confidential data belonging to users or employees, or working with partners under NDA, either temporary or permanent. We would not want someone untrustworthy in such a position.
Here is a (probably incomplete) list of ways to establish trust between a truster and a trust-ee:
- A) Recommendation from 3rd party already trusted by truster
- B) Trust-ee putting something at risk (deposit)
- C) Legal contract with penalties
- D) Demonstration of bona fides (e.g. by being faithful in small things)
- E) Gut instinct
- F) Trust-ee revealing verified identity information
- G) Default to trust; remove trust if trust broken
When Mozilla employs someone, we have sufficient trust in them because of B) (their job is the thing at risk if they violate trust), C), F) and perhaps a little of A). How do we go about establishing similar trust with someone we don’t employ?
Here are some comments on each:
- A) doesn’t scale well to a globally-distributed organization, where we regularly get new people who know no Mozillians in real life.
- B) This is a difficult thing to ask of new community members. What options are there? Money? Something else?
- C) IT went for this one, but it might be too heavyweight for some. (Of course, it might be required by law in some cases.)
- D) This is how things work normally; we are looking for a way to speed this process up.
- E) This works right up until it doesn’t…
- F) We could investigate this; obtaining such identity proof might involve a time and/or money cost for the contributor.
- G) Possible in some circumstances, but not the difficult ones. Perhaps involves an overly-rosy view of human nature.
Thoughts and further comments?
Gerv
by gerv at January 27, 2012 05:23 PM
Updated for Altria's earnings.
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- With so much for investors to worry about in 2012, from a potential Greek default to persistently high unemployment, it's no wonder they are thirsty for yield, particularly dividend-paying stocks.
But with the dividend strategy becoming a crowded space more and more each day, investors would be smart to look more closely at individual company fundamentals rather than blindly chase a high-yielding name.
...
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January 27, 2012 05:23 PM
Over the vocal protests of opponents, 22 European nations signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) on Thursday. A statement by the Japanese foreign ministry, which hosted the signing ceremony, indicated that the remaining EU member states were expected to sign the agreement "on the completion of respective domestic procedures." The United States, Canada, Japan, and several other nations signed the agreement in October.
The move sparked protests in Europe. Thousands of Poles took to the streets in protest, and more than a dozen members of the Polish parliament donned Guy Fawkes masks to express their displeasure at the signing.
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January 27, 2012 05:10 PM
Chevron Corp. announced fourth-quarter earnings today of $5.1 billion, falling from $5.3 billion a year earlier. However, the second-largest U.S. energy company had a record year-end profit of $26.9 billion, a 23.3 percent jump since 2010. Here are a few other useful facts about Chevron:
– Chevron’s $26.9 billion profit translates to $3 million every hour or $51,000 every minute of 2011.
– Chevron has spent more than $9 million lobbying Congress in 2011.
– Chevron contributed $467,996 to federal campaigns in 2011, with 91 percent to Republican candidates. This does not include their undisclosed contributions to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Petroleum Institute, or other organizations.
– Chevron is the third-largest campaign contributor in the oil and gas industry.
– Chevron had $13 billion in cash on hand last year. The five oil companies collectively have cash resources of $59 billion.
– The company spent $1.25 billion on stock repurchases for Q4. They spent 16 percent — $4.35 billion — of annual profit to reinvest in their own stock. That enriches their shareholders, but it doesn’t add to oil supplies or investments in alternative fuels or other new technologies.
Earlier this week, ConocoPhillips reported record fourth-quarter profits of $3.4 billion — a 66 percent gain, with a 2011 profit totaling $12.4 billion. Exxon releases its fourth-quarter results this coming Tuesday.
by Rebecca Leber at January 27, 2012 05:07 PM
Tennessee state Rep. Stacey Campfield
Tennessee state Sen. Stacey Campfield (R), the man who sponsored Tennessee’s “don’t say gay” bill and once compared homosexuality to bestiality, now has a theory about the spread of HIV/AIDS. On Thursday, Campfield told the Huffington Post’s Michael Signorile that it’s
virtually impossible to spread HIV/AIDS through heterosexual sex and that AIDS
came from the gay community:
“Most people realize that AIDS came from the homosexual community — it was one guy screwing a monkey, if I recall correctly, and then having sex with men. It was an airline pilot, if I recall.”
“My understanding is that it is virtually — not completely, but virtually — impossible to contract AIDS through heterosexual sex…very rarely [transmitted].”
Campfield went on to add that the lifespan for gays and lesbians is “very short. Google it yourself.” Campfield justified his comments by citing an advice column from 1988 and a Christian apologetics website.
But the facts don’t back up Campfield’s vicious lies. Most women who have been infected with HIV were infected through heterosexual sex, many from their husbands or boyfriends. In 2007, women made up more than 60 percent of adults living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, and the Global Council on Health reports that the male-to-female transmission of HIV is twice as likely as the female-to-male transmission. Not to mention the fact that his claim that gays and lesbians have shorter lifespans has already been thoroughly debunked.
Campfield has a history of degrading the LGBT community. But his lies downplay the HIV risk that women face by trying to incorrectly make it only a gay issue.
by Amanda Peterson Beadle at January 27, 2012 05:05 PM
American homes have lost $7 trillion in value over the last five years and four million homeowners are either behind on their payments or in foreclosure, but thus far, the Republican Party’s leading presidential candidates have offered little in the way of solutions for the housing crisis that is holding back the economic recovery. Few states have been hit harder than Florida, where prices have dropped 45 percent since 2006, half of recently-sold homes are in default, and 23 percent of of homes are delinquent or in foreclosure.
That made last night’s debate, which was held in Jacksonville, the appropriate place to ask the remaining Republican candidates how they would address the crisis. Voters, in fact, were waiting to hear the candidates’ answers.
Unfortunately, the debate’s moderator, CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer, bungled his opportunity, turning to a submitted question that couldn’t have possibly led to substantive answers from the candidates. And then, after Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney gave answers littered with falsehoods and turned the discussion toward each others’ investment portfolios, Blitzer failed to press them for actual plans to deal with housing:
BLITZER: We have a very important subject: housing. Not only here in Florida, foreclosures really, really bad, but all over the country. A lot of people are wondering if the federal government contributed to the housing collapse in recent years. We got a question that came into us. Let me put it up there and I’ll read it to you: How would you phase out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Does the private mortgage industry need additional regulation?
Watch it:
Blitzer’s original question focused on what the candidates would do with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored mortgage firms that have been targets of Republican ire since the crisis began. But it was private industry, not Fannie and Freddie, that sparked the crisis. More than 84 percent of the subprime loans in 2006 were issued by private lenders, including 83 percent of the loans that went to low- and moderate-income borrowers.
Blitzer could have asked Republicans to address the misconception that Fannie and Freddie sparked the housing crisis. He could have pressed Romney on what seemed like a change of position on housing in Florida. He could have asked where the candidates stood on the plan President Obama put forward in his State of the Union address to refinance mortgages, or asked what the candidates would do about the rampant fraud and abuse that private lenders perpetuated during both the housing boom and its subsequent bust. And yes, he could have pressed Romney to find out how much he knew about his investments into funds that profited off of Florida foreclosures.
But he didn’t. The result, as Reuters noted today, were soft outlines of policies that “could prolong the pain for years,” aren’t supported by market data, and showed little understanding of how the crisis happened in the first place. The Republican candidates continue to dodge questions about what, specifically, they plan to do about the housing crisis. Unfortunately for voters, questions like Blitzer’s only make it easier for those dodges to continue.
by Travis Waldron at January 27, 2012 05:05 PM
The following commentary comes from an independent investor or market observer as part of TheStreet's guest contributor program, which is separate from the company's news coverage.
NEW YORK (Trefis) --
American Express posted 12% year-on-year increase in profits for Q4 as consumers continued to spend greater amounts on their AmEx cards even in the midst of economic uncertainty. For the quarter, the company reported net income of $1.2 billion compared to $1.1 billion last year as total revenue rose by 7% to $7.74 billion.
A surge in card spending by customers, higher travel commissions and growth initiatives taken by the company, such as new prepaid cards, new card issuing partnerships worldwide and other collaborations in the digital commerce space, have aided the company's good quarterly performance....
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AXP.
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January 27, 2012 05:05 PM
Little numbers, big software and the data deluge
Open ... and Shut The winning game plan for enterprise software has long been to "play it safe."…
January 27, 2012 05:01 PM
Users who rely on the desktop version of OmniPlan but wish to manage complicated projects and workflows on-the-go will soon be able to pinch and swipe their way to Gantt chart nirvana. According to Omni Group CEO Ken Case, project management app OmniPlan will make its way to the iPad, perhaps as soon as the second quarter of this year. Case was on hand at the Macworld|iWorld 2012 conference in San Francisco to give Ars a sneak peak at an early build of the mobile version, as well as fill us in on the company's plans for the next year or so.
When we spoke to Case at the Macworld Expo last year, he told us about the company's plans to update OmniPlan on Mac OS X to version 2.0. That version included a major overhaul to the backend engine, which improved cloud syncing abilities and offered integration with the GTD-based task manager OmniFocus. OmniPlan for the iPad will use the same engine, making it possible for multiple users to update project plans simultaneously. Those changes can be reviewed, approved, or rejected using the iPad just as on the desktop.
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January 27, 2012 05:00 PM
Guy #1: Yo, brains is sexy.
Guy #2: Word up. All my bitches need GEDs.
--A Train
Overheard by: Anne Paas
January 27, 2012 05:00 PM
NEW YORK (MainStreet) -- What's happening in small business today?
1. How one start-up made it to the Super Bowl. This story shows the power of networking.
...
January 27, 2012 04:55 PM
The following commentary comes from an independent investor or market observer as part of TheStreet's guest contributor program, which is separate from the company's news coverage.
NEW YORK (Trefis) --
Chipotle Mexican Grill, has had a fantastic 2011 which saw the stock rising more than 60%. It was a stellar year for the restaurant industry in general, as McDonald's , Yum! Brands and Starbucks all outperformed the broader indices significantly.
However, we feel Chipotle's past record of delivering better-than-expected results has led the stock to be overvalued before the Q4 earnings, which is scheduled to be announced on Feb. 1. Moreover, we are skeptical about the rising food and labor costs that might eat into its profitability....
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CMG.
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January 27, 2012 04:54 PM
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- These stocks received upgrades to buy from TheStreet Ratings on Friday: Symantec, Life Technologies and Harris.
Symantec
The security software company reported a third-quarter revenue increase of 7% from the previous year to $1.72 billion. Third quarter GAAP profit increased 82% from last year to $132 million, or 32 cents a share.
...
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SYMC.
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January 27, 2012 04:48 PM
Republican Representative Larry Pittman of Cabarrus County, NC thinks, sort of like Newt Gingrich did back in the ’90s, that capital punishment is the only way to scare people like “abortionists, rapists and kidnappers” (what, no murderers?) into being better citizens (and more conservative). But Pittman goes a step further than Newt: he thinks we should bring back public hanging. It’s the only way, etc. Well, about every 36 seconds a Republican calls for the return of some barbaric practice or another, so big deal. But Pittman had a funny way of expressing his views: not boldly or proudly, in front of his fellow lawmakers or at the very least, atop a milk crate in some park, but in an e-mail that he accidentally sent to every member of the General Assembly of North Carolina. Ah, well.
Pittman, like Taco Man before him, is using the excuse that he was just in a bad mood. Apparently Pittman’s lightbulb of an idea was generated by the pompous e-mail that murderer inmate Danny Robbie Hembree Jr. recently sent to North Carolina’s Gaston Gazette bragging about how wonderful life in prison is and how he’ll never be executed thanks to endless appeals.
Pittman apparently thinks that if we could just hang Hembree, everything would be fine. So presumably just get rid of the court system as well. Have angry mobs vote over whether someone committed a crime and then have them gather in the town courtyard to watch the suckers die. Pittman’s e-mail:
We need to make the death penalty a real deterrent again by actually carrying it out. Every appeal that can be made should have to be made at one time, not in a serial manner,” Pittman wrote in the email. “If murderers (and I would include abortionists, rapists, and kidnappers, as well) are actually executed, it will at least have the deterrent effect upon them. For my money, we should go back to public hangings, which would be more of a deterrent to others, as well.
And then, somewhat swiftly, the apology:
I was filled with anger, disgust, and frustration, as well as a profound sense of grief for the family of the young woman he killed. I felt a need to ‘vent’ some of these feelings and intended to do so to him alone. In the process, I got a bit carried away and overstated my case. I am sure I am not the only one who has ever done that.
No, sir, you are not even the only person (Republican) to have done it this week. Get in line! [WRAL]
by Liz Colville at January 27, 2012 04:45 PM
The following commentary comes from an independent investor or market observer as part of TheStreet's guest contributor program, which is separate from the company's news coverage.
NEW YORK (The FRED Report) -- Here at The FRED Report we recently completed a review of the currency ETFs and we noticed some interesting technical patterns we will discuss here (for general markets update video -- click here). These patterns are particularly interesting in the European currencies, because they are actually contrary to what the news would lead investors to expect. But remember - the markets are a "discounting mechanism" -- and it may very well be that European problems may already be factored into the current environment! We show charts below.
First, we look at the weekly chart of the FXE (Euro Trust). Notice the layers of support between 125 and 127 - these have held. Second, look at the stochastic and notice that it is just perking about the 20 area. This is suggesting the possibility of a near-term rally in the euro, and given the risk of Greek default and the key date of March 20 -- an upmove now would certainly be a surprise.
...
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January 27, 2012 04:44 PM
Nacido en A Pastoriza, fue el iniciador de "una de las sagas de artesanos más reconocidas del mundo de la gaita". Leer
January 27, 2012 04:42 PM
CUPERTINO, Calif. (TheStreet) -- Apple, which reported stellar first-quarter results earlier this week, should start paying a dividend again, according to the overwhelming majority of respondents to a poll on the topic.
Some 70% of readers said that Apple should start carving off its vast $96.7 billion cash haul. Almost a third of respondents, however, say that a dividend's not necessary, noting that that the iPhone maker has better uses for its cash.
...
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AAPL.
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January 27, 2012 04:39 PM
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Chevron typically beats, but it's getting beaten up by investors for a change on earnings day.
Higher expenses on lower production always gets the independent exploration and production companies in trouble with investors, as do the surprise reasons for the discrepancy. Chevron seems to be getting a taste of that kind of market slap on the oil explorer wrist on Friday, with its production numbers down across the board in the fourth quarter as its expenses went higher.
Big Oil stocks don't tend to move much on earnings, but Chevron shares were down close to 3% on Friday, significant for a morning on which the energy sector was close to flat and crude oil higher. It's significant also that Chevron is the only major oil company to release an interim earnings report ahead of earnings day, which should limit the impact of the actual announcement on shares.
Higher expenses on lower earnings and production means a big earnings disaapointment for Chevron.
...
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January 27, 2012 04:37 PM
Switch hitting
Juniper Networks warned Wall Street earlier this month that the fourth quarter was going to be rough because key service provider customers are cutting back on spending at the same time that the company is putting the finishing touches on some new switches and routers.…
January 27, 2012 04:34 PM
Los abogados defensores del ex primer ministro se quitan las togas y abandonan la sala indignados, en protesta contra la magistrada. Leer. Escuchar
January 27, 2012 04:34 PM
Last year, a Florida judge struck down Gov. Rick Scott’s (R) plan to privatize much of the state’s prison system because of a flaw in the way it was enacted. Nevertheless, Florida lawmakers are now reviving this ill-conceived plan:
Dozens of correctional officers shouted “Shame! Shame!” as the Senate Budget Committee voted Wednesday to revive a hotly debated budget-cutting plan to privatize state prisons in 18 South Florida counties. . . .
“Come work a shift with us … come do what we do every day,” prison officers called out to Senate Budget Committee Chairman JD Alexander, R-Lake Wales, after his committee voted 14-4 for a bill (SB 2308) that restores the massive privatization plan the Legislature passed in budget language last year. Sgt. Thomas Johnson of Marion Correctional Institution challenged Alexander to show up at a prison unannounced and take a tour with rank-and-file guards to see what they face on the job.
Private prisons have a well-documented record of failing to save taxpayers money. An exhaustive 2007 study conducted by the University of Utah concluded that “the value of moving to a privately managed system is questionable,” while many services are often inferior at private facilities as compared to public ones.
But while the taxpayers may not see much return on their investment, others stand to reap millions of dollars. Last year, a report issued by the Justice Policy Institute found that private prisons spent millions on lobbying to help “make money through harsh policies and longer sentences.” In 2010, the two largest private prison companies had a combined $2.9 billion in revenues, Think Progress reported.
The corporations that own and operate private prisons are not the only ones who benefit financially either. An examination of campaign finance records shows that GEO Group, based in Boca Raton, was one of the 15 largest contributors to the Florida Republican Party in 2010, and gave over $11,000 in contributions directly to the campaigns of 14 of the 20 members of the Budget Committee that approved the bill, by a vote of 14-4. Since 2006, GEO Group has spent a total of $1.3 million in campaign contributions in Florida alone.
The political investments private prison companies are making are not limited to Florida, either. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer accepted at least $60,000 from people directly connected to the Corrections Corporation of America. And in Pennsylvania, a judge was sentenced to 28 years in prison after it was discovered he had been “selling” convictions of young offenders to several private juvenile detention centers, which profit mightily from heightened incarceration rates. One victim was sentenced to three months in one of the centers for mocking an assistant vice principal on MySpace.
by Adam Peck at January 27, 2012 04:30 PM
U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken says she will likely overturn an aspect of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that excludes California state employees who are in same-sex domestic partnerships from receiving federal tax benefits related to long-term health coverage as the law appears to be “motivated by antigay animus”. In a written statement, Wilken charges that Federal officials “have failed to show a plausible, legitimate rationale for excluding registered domestic partners from (the law’s) list of eligible family members (for the tax benefits), and the court can think of none.” Although Judge Wilken has indicated she is inclined to overturn the law, the ruling determined that the potential lawsuit can only proceed on behalf of spouses and registered domestic partners. President Obama has agreed the law is unconstitutional, and said he would no longer defend the law in court — a job that has now been assigned to lawyers hired by House Republican leaders. — Fatima Najiy
by Guest Blogger at January 27, 2012 04:30 PM
El museo bilbaíno celebra su XV aniversario con actividades especiales como visitas VIP, concursos y conciertos. Leer
January 27, 2012 04:27 PM
Yesterday, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said the cuts to past projections for military spending were “tough” and “real,” and said they “obviously will cause some pain.” The cuts, as Center for American Progress analysts Lawrence Korb, Max Hoffman and Alex Rothman wrote today, constitute a “positive first step and a major achievement. It will be the first real reduction in baseline defense spending in more than a decade.” But more needs to be done: “[T]here is a long way to go to reach sustainable levels of defense spending and bring the Pentagon budget back in line with historical norms.”
First the hard numbers: The reductions to projected spending resulted from what Panetta called “mandated savings” in his Pentagon presser, imposed by Congress in the Budget Control Act.
The upcoming year’s Pentagon baseline budget will indeed be smaller than this year’s — by $6 billion, representing about a 1.1 percent reduction from 2012′s $531 budget. But, as the L.A. Times notes:
[O]ver the next four years, the Pentagon budget would rise each year, reaching $567 billion by 2017. In inflated adjusted dollars, spending is essentially flat, Pentagon projections show.
The Pentagon budget will actually be rising in nominal terms. In 2017, the Pentagon will be spending $36 billion more than this year. That’s an average 2 percent increase over five years. However, the New York Times adds that “adjusted for inflation, the increases are small enough that they will amount to a slight cut of 1.6 percent of the Pentagon’s base budget over the next five years.” (The numbers exclude spending on the Afghanistan war, which is appropriated separately and expected to drop from $115 billion this year to $88 billion next year.)
Making good on Panetta’s commitment “not to hollow out the force,” McClatchy notes that the Pentagon’s “planned reduction in ground forces by 2017 would still leave a larger military than before the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
The Center for American Progress analysts also took into account the end of the Iraq war and, coming within three years, the end of the Afghanistan war:
Unfortunately, we have done nothing to roll back more than a decade of continuous growth in military spending, despite the end of the war in Iraq and the beginning of our drawdown in Afghanistan.
They wrote that the cuts to proposed spending “represent a small step toward a more reasonable, sustainable strategic stance,” but merely kick the can down the road on other “hard choices the Pentagon must face over the coming years.”
by Ali Gharib at January 27, 2012 04:20 PM
Incentivising the McJobs
Analysis Stephen Elop got a pretty indulgent reception from analysts, and most of the press yesterday, after delivering some shocking results. Nokia turned a profit of €2bn into a loss of €1bn in the new boss's first full year; volumes are down by 29 per cent; sales of the new Windows phone are unremarkable (to put it generously); and Elop has scrapped guidance for the rest of the year. [Summary] News like this would normally have analysts reaching for the panic button - but not today. Why would this be?…
January 27, 2012 04:19 PM
'Existen indicios de que, por su cargo, Rivas ha podido cometer actuaciones ilícitas', señala en su auto la juez Mercedes Alaya. Leer
January 27, 2012 04:09 PM
Administraba a los menores suero en lugar de la vacunas y alegó después que lo hacía por necesidad económica. Leer
January 27, 2012 04:07 PM
Scammers, speculators warned
Nominet, which runs the .uk domain registry, has proposed a new code of conduct that would ban unprofessional behaviour by its members.…
January 27, 2012 03:58 PM
La decisión de Twitter se critica desde la propia red de 'microblog' con hashtag como #CensuraTwitter y #TwitterBlackout. Leer. Escuchar
January 27, 2012 03:57 PM
El 'Manual Parlamentario' es una guía para los diputados de la Cámara con el objetivo de resolver dudas sobre sus funciones. Leer
January 27, 2012 03:51 PM
Social network teams up with Washington State to hound marketing firm
Facebook and US state of Washington have filed lawsuits against marketing firm Adscend Media over alleged clickjacking and spam practices, as the social networking giant finally gets tough with scammers operating on the site.…
January 27, 2012 03:50 PM
Up to 58 per cent off launch cost
RIM has taken an axe to the prices it charges for its BlackBerry PlayBook tablets in the UK - again.…
January 27, 2012 03:37 PM
Apple CEO Tim Cook has reportedly called recent reports on Apple's attitude toward its supply chain "patently false and offensive" in a new e-mail sent internally to Apple employees. Cook's remarks came the same day The New York Times published a lengthy feature about the "human cost" of our iPads, iPhones, and other gadgets. That report, based on sources and interviews conducted by the Times, made the assertion that many of Apple's executives are willing to look the other way when it comes to unsafe conditions and worker abuse because of the pressure to keep gadget costs down. Apple declined to comment for the Times story.
In Cook's e-mail, which is published in full at 9to5Mac, Cook indirectly referenced the Times report by opening with, "some people are questioning Apple’s values today, and I’d like to address this with you directly." He went on to describe any accident that happens with Apple's suppliers as "deeply troubling," and addressed Apple's employees who work at supplier sites around the world by saying they're "as outraged by this as I am." The remainder of the letter describes Apple's supplier inspection initiatives and its recent relationship with the Fair Labor Association.
"Any suggestion that we don’t care is patently false and offensive to us," Cook wrote. "As you know better than anyone, accusations like these are contrary to our values. It’s not who we are."
The Times report in question is worth reading in full; it's full of quotes sourced from former and current Apple executives about the company's view of supply chain problems in China and elsewhere. The prevailing message appears to be that Apple cares to a certain extent, but can pretend certain reports don't exist until there's a PR disaster to deal with (such as the aluminum dust explosion at a Foxconn plant that killed several workers in 2011).
It's clear that Cook feels strongly about the new story, and he claims that Apple is committed to improving worker conditions overseas. "What we will not do—and never have done—is stand still or turn a blind eye to problems in our supply chain," he wrote. "On this you have my word."
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January 27, 2012 03:35 PM
Takes pop at labels for withholding
Spotify executive Ken Parks says Spotify has 3 million paying customers, and 20 per cent of people who get on to the free, ad-supported part of the service are signing up to become paying punters. Most of those, 15 per cent, sign up to the premium tier, Parks claimed. The premium tier gives you offline and mobile access to the music.…
January 27, 2012 03:34 PM
El paro alcanzó en 2011 las 5,3 millones personas. Las medidas de ajuste de déficit provocarán que alcance las 5,5 millones este año. Leer. Escuchar
January 27, 2012 03:34 PM
Parados son aquellos que buscan un empleo. Muchos no aparecen en el dato del INE porque se han ido del país o han dejado de buscarlo. Leer
January 27, 2012 03:32 PM
Cuts to Cheer About
by David Atkins
I'm sort of surprised that the planned Pentagon budget cuts haven't gotten more attention in progressive circles. There are some things to dislike, but a great deal to like as well.
On the positive side, the cuts are designed to move away from large-scale ground invasion capabilities in the model of Iraq and Afghanistan, and more toward nimbler operations like the one that killed Osama Bin Laden. By cutting those capacities, the Pentagon and the Obama Administration are making it much harder for a future Republican president to attempt an Iraq-style ground war in Iran, which was perhaps the greatest fear progressives like myself had about a potential McCain Administration. The war machine will also have to make do with a few fewer shiny toys, which is a good thing:
Next year’s Pentagon budget is to be $525 billion, down from $531 billion this fiscal year. Even though the Defense Department has been called on to find $259 billion in cuts in the next five years — and $487 billion over the decade — its base budget (not counting the costs of Afghanistan or other wars) will rise to $567 billion by 2017. But when adjusted for inflation, the increases are small enough that they will amount to a slight cut of 1.6 percent of the Pentagon’s base budget over the next five years.
Nonetheless, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said he was working with about $500 billion less than he had anticipated having on hand through 2017, meaning that the Pentagon had to trim personnel and favorite high-profile weapons programs. “This has been tough work,” Mr. Panetta said at an hourlong news conference.
He said that the Army would be reduced over five years to 490,000 troops, down from a peak of 570,000, and that the Marines would be cut to 182,000, down from 202,000. (Ground forces would still be slightly larger than they were before 9/11.) The Pentagon initially will buy fewer F-35 Joint Strike Fighter stealth jets, which are not expected to be in service until at least 2017 and have the distinction of being one of the costliest weapons programs in history. In the Navy, 14 warships will be either retired early or built more slowly.
On the negative side, the cuts come at the expense of troop pay and retiree health benefits:
The Pentagon took the first major step toward shrinking its budget after a decade of war as it announced Thursday that it wanted to limit pay raises for troops, increase health insurance fees for military retirees and close bases in the United States.
Although the pay-raise limits were described as modest, and would not start until 2015, they are certain to ignite a political fight in Congress, which since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has almost always raised military salaries beyond what the Pentagon has recommended.
Increasing health insurance fees for retirees and closing bases are also fraught with political risk, particularly when Republican presidential candidates are charging that President Obama is debilitating the military.
That matters in areas with military bases, which provide a major stimulus boost to local economies. The Ventura County Star is
already freaking out about potential local base closures here, and legislators as far apart as hardcore conservative Elton Gallegly and good progressive Lois Capps are united in attempting to prevent the base closures. Local Republican Buck McKeon, chair of the House Armed Services Committee, is on the drumbeat nationally. Politically, the proposed cuts make the job of electing Democrats in these difficult areas even harder, particularly in an environment where the eventual Republican nominee will be demagoguing the issue as much as he can. That is why Democrats like Carl Levin are opposing the closures of any domestic bases, preferring instead to focus on the no-brainer goal of bringing troops home from bases where hostile activity is less credibly expected:
There were already objections on Thursday morning, hours before Mr. Panetta made his public presentation. Senator Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters that until the United States shut down some of its bases in Europe, “I’m not going to be able to support” closing bases in America.
Mr. Panetta has said that two armored Army brigades — as many as 10,000 troops — would come home from Europe over the next decade, leaving two brigades and some support troops behind.
All of which goes to underscore how important peacetime government stimulus is. The military-industrial complex is a huge source of government jobs. If progressives want to successfully make a dent in it, there will need to be credible "swords to ploughshares" programs to make up for the jobs that are lost.
Overall, however, the cuts are a positive development in shrinking the bloated defense budget, as well as moving away structurally from military operations designed to conduct long-term occupations in foreign lands, in a way that will tie the hands of Administrations to follow. That's something to cheer about.
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January 27, 2012 03:30 PM
Alude por primera vez a la polémica tras los recelos del arzobispo de Valladolid por ser pregonera de la Semana Santa. Leer. Escuchar
January 27, 2012 03:14 PM
Politicos ask if Chocolate Factory's new rules violate an FTC agreement
Google is insisting that its new privacy policy will still give its users control, after criticism in a letter from US members of Congress.…
January 27, 2012 03:02 PM
For a variety of obvious reasons, it's impossible to reproduce the
exact environment in which galaxies form. The lack of direct
experimental tests for a the models astrophysicists use creates a
disconnect between what astronomers observe and theoretical
work. However, that barrier is being broken down by a combination of high-powered lasers and a new understanding of how
lab-scale experiments can be related to vastly larger systems such as
galaxies.
Researchers at the Laboratoire pour l'Utilisation de Lasers Intenses
(LULI), along with colleagues at various universities, have
successfully simulated the magnetic fields that form in early
galaxies. Naively, there seems to be no correspondence between the
experiment and the real astrophysical system. The lab set-up is very
small, works on a very short time frame, and uses carbon rods and
lasers; the real environment for galaxy formation is clouds of gas and
dark matter, and the time-scale is hundreds of millions of
years. Nevertheless, a magnetic field strength (along with other effects) has been observed in the lab that corresponds to that experienced by early protogalaxies.
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January 27, 2012 03:00 PM
Girl #1: The last time we went out she paid for her own drinks.
Girl #2: She pays for her own drinks? Eww, who does that?
Girl #1: I know!
--Crate & Barrel, SoHo
Overheard by: Akiko
January 27, 2012 03:00 PM
Malestar en la Plataforma del Voluntariado por la idea de suplir con ellos servicios públicos. Leer. Escuchar
January 27, 2012 03:00 PM
Andrew Robert L. fue hallado muerto en su celda la madrugada de este jueves. Ingresó en prisión el pasado martes. Leer
January 27, 2012 02:52 PM
Las zonas más afectadas, A Coruña y Asturias. Según Meteorología, existe cierto grado de peligro para las actividades usuales. Leer. Escuchar
January 27, 2012 02:52 PM
El ex director de la Real Academia Española, cargo que ocupó desde 1998 hasta 2010, sustituye a Caffarel después de que Mario Vargas Llosa rechazase el puesto. Leer. Escuchar
January 27, 2012 02:48 PM
Pentagon hacking suspect has been waiting for 10 YEARS...
Senior judges have set a timetable to speed up resolution in the long-running Gary McKinnon extradition case, effectively setting a deadline for the Home Office to respond to evidence that McKinnon is too infirm to withstand the stress of a US trial and likely imprisonment over alleged Pentagon hacking offences.…
January 27, 2012 02:39 PM
Possible SmartScreen dislike of Amazon caused hiccups
Microsoft has so far declined to explain why Internet Explorer this week flagged Dropbox as a phishing threat, in an apparent clash with Amazon’s S3 cloud storage.…
January 27, 2012 02:27 PM
Nostalgic grub gobbling
Most people enjoyed playing Snake on their ancient Nokias, gobbling dots and chasing their tail in zig-zags around the screen, at some time in their lives. Well, gamers can now revisit the past and install the ol' classic on their Lumia handsets, retro stylee.…
January 27, 2012 02:07 PM
NEW YORK—Hey look! It’s that time of year again, and the semi-annual release of some or another study claiming that conservatives are stupid has finally landed on liberal doorsteps across America. Perfect timing, really! Since, you know, the one thing the country needs right now more than just about anything else is yet another excuse to avoid the hard work of looking at those we disagree with as equal partners in a national conversation, people who we must engage with and convince—and, oh, maybe as a result challenge ourselves to check our work and, you know, make better arguments! But hey, now we can all let ourselves off the hook and just deride them as all a bunch of idiots who aren’t even worth talking to in the first place. Thank you, science! Yes, this is quite obviously how we will move forward together as a nation. (It was the dramatic improvement in the quality of the national discourse evidenced after the last two dozen times a study like this was published that gives us so much faith.)
Anyway, check it out: Congress is doing something! Apparently the first order of business following the President’s call for it in Tuesday’s state of the union is to hammer out an agreement on banning insider trading in Congress. Which is good! Or at least in a sense. Since, like, beggars can’t be choosers and all, but we still look forward to seeing Congress move on to maybe more meaningful legislation that miht actually help America be a better nation instead of just, you know, helping public officials not be douchebags (not hating, just saying, etc).
DO NOT MISS THIS: So PolitiFact is the worst (duh), and Rachel Maddow is absolutely the best (also duh). But yesterday not only did she manage to employ the phrase “After the economist Jared Bernstein and half of the English speaking internet L’d oh so O L at PolitiFact for screwing this up”—yes! she said that! live! on the air!!—she then delivered just the loveliest lecture:
PolitiFact, you are fired. You are a mess! You are fired! You are undermining the definition of the word fact in the English language by pretending to it in your name. The English language wants its word back. You are an embarrassment. You sully the reputation of anyone who cites you as an authority on fact-ishness, let alone fact. You are fired.
Robert Reich tried to spoil everyone’s fun yesterday by “being sensible” and “making sense” and doing other stereotypically Robert Reich-y things. He warned Democrats in a column not to root for a Gingrich nomination, arguing that even though the odds are low, the risk is far too high. But we must ask you, Mr. Reich: why else would we still be paying attention to this thing if not for MOON BASES??
Ha, so enjoy this one New Yorkers—turns out the Super PAC formed by Herman Cain after dropping out of the race has been buoyed by a single $50,000 donation coming from one man: Peter Kalikow!
Sadly, we must leave you today on a somber note. Remember the lesson of Terminator 2? “Skynet goes on-line August 4th, 1997. Human decisions are removed from strategic defense. Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th.” Right. Then the computers bomb Russia, Russia bombs back, and before you know it, “3 billion human lives ended on August 29th, 1997. The survivors of the nuclear fire called the war Judgment Day. They lived only to face a new nightmare: the war against the machines.” Well that nightmare may very well be becoming reality, dear friends:
The Navy’s new drone being tested near Chesapeake Bay stretches the boundaries of technology: It’s designed to land on the deck of an aircraft carrier, one of aviation’s most difficult maneuvers.
What’s even more remarkable is that it will do that not only without a pilot in the cockpit, but without a pilot at all.
The X-47B marks a paradigm shift in warfare, one that is likely to have far-reaching consequences. With the drone’s ability to be flown autonomously by onboard computers, it could usher in an era when death and destruction can be dealt by machines operating semi-independently.
So yes, the machines are coming for you. Enjoy your weekend.
[READ MORE AT THE GIFZETTE.]
by Matt Langer at January 27, 2012 02:00 PM
"Mac OS X has an odd definition of gigabyte," writes Kevin Kelly.
"I saw this when on holiday to Barcelona," writes Greig Hamilton, "it was a huge screen on La Rambla, the busiest street in Barcelona"
Drake wonders, "just what would I be saying 'Yes' or 'No' to?"
"Well, apparently it actually is possible to get colder than 0 Kelvin," Dorian H, "and of course I'm right there."
"In the end," Mark wrote, "I just ended up spelling out 'thirteen'."
Bryan Scott writes "at least it doesn't charge me when they give me thanks for choosing Dell."
"I tried to resolve a simple bug submitted to our tracker," writes Michael, "and it clearly didn't appreciate the ease with which this bug was quashed."
January 27, 2012 02:00 PM
Privacy critic: 'It's dead. We just forgot to bury it'
CPDP Privacy advocates have expressed concern about Brussels' Commissioner Viviane Reding's decision to leave in place the Safe Harbour framework used by some companies to transfer data from Europe to the US.…
January 27, 2012 01:56 PM
getfirebug.com has Firebug 1.10a2
Firebug 1.10a2 is compatible with Firefox 12 (nightly).
Firebug 1.10a2 fixes 11 issues.
This release introduces couple of great improvements:
Delayed Firebug Load
Firebug doesn’t slow down Firefox start time anymore since its loaded as soon as the user actually needs it. There are only a few things loaded at the browser start-up time: the main Firebug menu, Firebug start button and inspect menu-item in page context menu.
This also means that Firebug extensions overlaying only the Firebug UI are loaded as soon as Firebug itself is loaded and so, don’t slow down Firefox start-up time too.
Bootstrapped Firebug
It is now possible to install (and uninstall) Firebug without browser restart. We are also working on APIs that will allow developing bootstrapped (restart-less) Firebug extensions. An example extension is coming soon.
Thanks to awesome Harutyun Amirjanyan for his help on these features!
Some other highlights from this release:
- Every option in panel’s mini tab menu has a tooltip with a description. This should help to understand it’s purpose (issue 3183)
- Autocompletion is now working even in the Watch panel (issue 4934)
And more from our roadmap is coming so, stay tuned!
Please post feedback in the newsgroup, thanks.
Jan ‘Honza’ Odvarko
by Honza at January 27, 2012 01:48 PM
We accept that they think we were wrong
UPDATE: Apple Italy has posted details of the ruling against it, as required by the Italian courts, though we don't yet know if Cupertino will be coughing up the €1.2m fine too.…
January 27, 2012 01:46 PM
From the Paid For dept.:
The UK Government has published a report that calls for all publicly funded research to be made freely available. The report says: "Government will work with partners, including the publishing industry, to achieve free access to publicly-funded research as soon as possible and will set an example itself," Research councils will be required to ensure compliance with existing mandates to "deposit published articles or conference proceedings in an open access repository at or around the time of publication" and will investing £2 million (€2.4 million) to develop a 'Gateway to Research' website that could also include non-publicly funded research.
January 27, 2012 01:44 PM
From the Army of Many dept.:
Apple’s iPad reigns supreme from whatever angle you choose to look at the tablet market (profits, apps, quality, market share, mindshare, you name it), but research firm Strategy Analytics this morning said Android did manage to capture a record 39 percent tablet OS market share in the fourth quarter of 2011.
January 27, 2012 01:44 PM
From the Hard Realities dept.:
As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression. Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there. Others are similar but, for historical or cultural reasons, restrict certain types of content, such as France or Germany, which ban pro-Nazi content.
January 27, 2012 01:44 PM
From the ShamNow dept.:
The EU ACTA chief has resigned, saying, 'This agreement might have major consequences on citizens' lives, and still, everything is being done to prevent the European Parliament from having its say in this matter. That is why today, as I release this report for which I was in charge, I want to send a strong signal and alert the public opinion about this unacceptable situation. I will not take part in this masquerade.'
January 27, 2012 01:44 PM
ZitFaceBook to offer 'nuance, richness, meaningfulness'
Google has finally opened the doors of its Google+ social networking service to kids, but was careful to keep their ‘rents onside with new online safety features, as its desperate efforts to catch Facebook continue.…
January 27, 2012 01:32 PM
Here are some high level points from the weekly meeting:
- Firebug 1.10 alpha 2 is coming tomorrow, and it’s restartless! And, almost all of the new Firebug is lazily initialized.
- Firebug 1.9.1 with a crash fix is planned for next week
- Many Tilt improvements have landed, including the ability to remove a node visually using the “x” key (the node is not removed from the DOM, just from the 3D view). The 3D view also now has a cool animation when you leave 3D mode.
- GCLI (Command Line) has been turned off again in Nightly. The plan is for it to reappear in the developer toolbar. Thanks for the feedback!
- The Page Inspector element highlighter now follows the element around if it moves on the page. This improvement will land in Firefox 11
- New mockups of the Web Console UI
- Style Editor’s filtering by stylesheet name has been removed. The plan is to put the search box back in Firefox 13 as a search in the stylesheet bug.
- Firefox 10 is coming out on Tuesday and will raise the profile of the developer tools
- I am working on a blog post about recent input we’ve gotten, and I summarized some of it during the meeting.
That’s it for this week. See you next week!
by kdangoor at January 27, 2012 01:29 PM
Businesses seek state's new 'benefit corporation' status
A dozen companies committed to maximizing social good while turning a profit have filed papers with the state to become California's first "benefit corporations." It was the first business day they could register under a recently approved state law that gives companies a way to legally structure their businesses to consider social and environmental efforts as part of their missions.While that may sound like marketing hype, it's important from a legal standpoint because it helps shield benefit corporations from lawsuits brought by shareholders who say that company do-gooding has diluted the value of their stock.
California becomes the seventh state to adopt this relatively new corporate structure. Until now, California corporate law mandated that shareholders' interests trump those of all other parties. Entrepreneurs who wanted to incorporate green initiatives or social causes into their businesses were often forced to become nonprofits, limiting their ability to raise venture capital.
California's new category allows corporations to officially adopt policies "that create a material positive impact on society and the environment" as an integral part their legal charter. The Huffman legislation also expands the fiduciary duty of executives and board members to include the interests of workers and the community.
The Rise of Benefit CorporationsWhen America began, the states chartered corporations for public purposes, like building bridges. They could earn profits, but their legitimacy flowed from their delegated mission.Today, corporations are chartered without any public purposes at all. They are legally bound to pursue a single private purpose: profit maximization. Thus, far from advancing the common good, many for-profit corporations have come to defy the law, corrupt the officials charged with enforcing it and inflict harm on the public with impunity. The consequences are visible in the wreckage left by BP, Massey Energy, Enron, AIG, Lehman Brothers, Blackwater and Exxon Mobil, to name a few recent wrongdoers. Profits rule; anything goes.
We need a new business model inspired by the old one. Corporations should again come to bolster democratic purposes, not thwart them. To be sure, there will be no return to the legislative short leash, especially now that the Supreme Court has invited corporations to spend treasury funds electing pliant and obsequious lawmakers. But socially minded businesses should at least have the right to operate outside the straitjacket legal requirements of Delaware Code profit maximization. [...]
This is an important shift in law. The fear of shareholder litigation has driven many public-spirited businesses, most famously Ben & Jerry's, to take the high bid rather than the high road in a corporate takeover fight. Becoming a Benefit Corporation declares legal independence from the profits-ber-alles model. [...]
It may take a while to displace the rent-seeking leviathans that get rich off lobbying, power plays, pyramid schemes and defense contracts. Then again, a lot of those companies have relocated their operations abroad in search of cheaper labor, while the Benefit Corporations are taking root and blossoming right here in America, restoring the bonds of community while doing honest commerce. This is what economic recovery looks like.
Previously, previously, previously, previously.
Mirrored from jwz.org.
January 27, 2012 01:22 PM
Tim Cook sends letter after Chinese factory horror exposé
Tim Cook has sent a letter to all Apple employees stressing how much the company cares about industrial accidents in its Chinese factories.…
January 27, 2012 01:14 PM
Working from designs.
The cool stuff first
Cosimo Cecchi presents the updated Wacom settings
Go to
YouTube directly if you can't see the video here.
A new arrivalAs mentioned by Cosimo, we have a new library to help us implement the settings you saw:
libwacom.
libwacom is there to give us metadata about tablets, whether or not they are connected to your system, the list of styli it supports, as well as information about the styli themselves. As you can see from the UI, it's pretty important that we know:
- whether the tablet is builtin (so we know whether you can calibrate it)
- which form factor it has
- the list of styli it supports
- for each stylus, its full name, the number of buttons, what it looks like
In the past, all this information was only available within the drivers (as comments), exported in different ways (sysfs attributes), non-machine readable in public documentation, or, worst of all, hidden in Wacom's internal drivers for OS X or Windows.
So if you have a Wacom tablet, send us a
definition file for your tablet, so you can configure it with the impression that the software actually knows about your device.
Where's that configuration againAfter knowing what each tablet had to offer, we had to have a way to match the definitions to XInput devices, assign settings per-tablet, and importantly, switch stylus configuration when the user switches stylus. This is done using the new GsdWacomDevice and GsdWacomStylus objects, shared between gnome-settings-daemon (which will apply the configuration) and gnome-control-center (which will set the configuration).
This also means we have a few debugging applications, such as list-wacom in gnome-settings-daemon,
to show you the attached GsdWacomDevices, or test-wacom in gnome-control-center, to test display of particular tablets if you don't own them (this is the place where I spend a lot of time).
What's nextPeter Hutterer, my input buddy at Red Hat, who made the original Wacom panel for GNOME 3.2, and the first version of libwacom, is currently spending a lot of time on Multi-Touch, and fixing bugs I report in the Wacom driver.
Jason Gerecke, from Wacom, who did most of the initial work on calibration support, is working on the related display-mapping. This will allow choosing whether a tablet's working area is the whole desktop, or a single monitor when in multiple monitors are used.
For my part, after fixing the layout bugs that so annoy me in the settings panel, I'll be starting work on tablet button mapping. I look forward to
making the LEDs on the tablet match up with the selected keyboard shortcut!
Many thanks to Cosimo and Monty for helping out with presenting the work, and doing the video.
January 27, 2012 01:07 PM
Como parte de su estrategia de expansión internacional, Twitter ha decidido que bloqueará contenido de forma independiente en cada país, según las sensibilidades y límites a la libertad de expresión propios de cada lugar. En una entrada de su blog titulada paradójicamente los tweets todavía deben fluir, han puesto como ejemplo Francia y Alemania, donde la apología del nazismo está prohibida. No aclara, sin embargo, si preservarán contenido prohibido por los tabúes sexuales de cada lugar, o comentarios políticos prohibidos en países no democráticos o poco democráticos. Prometen, sin embargo, ser transparentes a la hora de censurar contenido.
by Mu at January 27, 2012 01:05 PM
Smartphone sales fuel massive multi-billion dollar investments
Samsung's smartphones have helped drive the company to an operating profit of ₩5.3 trillion ($4.7bn) in the fourth quarter of last year.…
January 27, 2012 01:01 PM
Suit #1: I really enjoy a little something in the morning before I leave for work.
Suit #2: Yeah, but for some reason the the hot chicks don't wake up early.
--6th Ave & 40th St
Overheard by: kevin
January 27, 2012 01:00 PM
Bill Would Ban Using Human Fetuses in Food, Just in Case Anybody's Thinking of Doing That
Oklahoma state senator Ralph Shortey is concerned about the possibility that some nefarious person or entity is using aborted human fetuses in food, and has introduced legislation to put a stop to this. Or, to keep it from starting, because he isn't exactly sure that anybody's really doing this, or how or where they'd be doing it if they were. Still, can't be too careful.SB 1418 is, at least for the moment, just this one sentence:
No person or entity shall manufacture or knowingly sell food or any other product intended for human consumption which contains aborted human fetuses in the ingredients or which used aborted human fetuses in the research or development of any of the ingredients.
[...] "People are thinking that this has to do with fetuses being chopped up and put in our burritos," Shortey said, something no one had been thinking until he said it. "That's not the case," he went on. "It's beyond that." That's right -- they are also in our chalupas.
[...] According to Shortey, there are companies out there "using embryonic stem cells to research and basically cause a chemical reaction to determine whether or not something tastes good or not." He said he read last year that a pro-life group was boycotting an unnamed company for this, and I guess if you've read someplace that somebody is upset about something that might be happening somewhere in the world, that's really all you need to know before writing a law banning what you believe that thing to be.
Mirrored from jwz.org.
January 27, 2012 12:55 PM
Some forces share 1 among 100, some have 150 for 100 officers
Brit coppers are not getting enough benefits from their £80m splurge on BlackBerrys and other mobile devices, the National Audit Office has said.…
January 27, 2012 12:43 PM
Interesting article from the New York Times on password sharing as a show of affection.
"It's a sign of trust," Tiffany Carandang, a high school senior in San Francisco, said of the decision she and her boyfriend made several months ago to share passwords for e-mail and Facebook. "I have nothing to hide from him, and he has nothing to hide from me."
"That is so cute," said Cherry Ng, 16, listening in to her friend's comments to a reporter outside school. "They really trust each other."
We do, said Ms. Carandang, 17. "I know he'd never do anything to hurt my reputation," she added.
It doesn't always end so well, of course. Changing a password is simple, but students, counselors and parents say that damage is often done before a password is changed, or that the sharing of online lives can be the reason a relationship falters.
Ethnologist danah boyd discusses what's happening:
For Meixing, sharing her password with her boyfriend is a way of being connected. But it's precisely these kinds of narratives that have prompted all sorts of horror by adults over the last week since that NYTimes article came out. I can't count the number of people who have gasped "How could they!?!" at me. For this reason, I feel the need to pick up on an issue that the NYTimes let out.
The idea of teens sharing passwords didn't come out of thin air. In fact, it was normalized by adults. And not just any adult. This practice is the product of parental online safety norms. In most households, it's quite common for young children to give their parents their passwords. With elementary and middle school youth, this is often a practical matter: children lose their passwords pretty quickly. Furthermore, most parents reasonably believe that young children should be supervised online. As tweens turn into teens, the narrative shifts. Some parents continue to require passwords be forked over, using explanations like "because I'm your mother." But many parents use the language of "trust" to explain why teens should share their passwords with them.
Much more in her post.
Related: a profile of danah boyd.
by schneier at January 27, 2012 12:39 PM
Jub job saved Florida woman's life, doc reckons
A Florida woman who was set upon by her ex-fiance's knife-wielding new squeeze survived the attack thanks to one of her Bulgarian airbags, according to this report.…
January 27, 2012 12:27 PM
Hundred-day ban on blowers
North Korea has banned the use of mobile phones for 100 days while it formally mourns the death of its late "glorious leader" Kim Jong-Il. Those who disobey the dictat will be treated as war criminals and punished accordingly, it has been claimed.…
January 27, 2012 12:22 PM
NFC belt buckle lets you show affection with a friendly hump
Seventies throwbacks who like big belt buckles, and pelvic thrusting in public, can now check into a location, or "Like" a friend, with no more than a flick of the hips.…
January 27, 2012 12:17 PM
Screencap recap
Reg columnist Trevor Pott's recent review of the Microsoft Virtual Academy sparked several comments that largely said the same thing: "where's the pics?"…
January 27, 2012 12:06 PM
'We do not make or sell anything,' says $75m non-profit
ICANN and .xxx manager ICM Registry want a California judge to throw out an antitrust lawsuit, saying plaintiff Manwin Licensing is just miffed that it missed out on the juiciest domain names.…
January 27, 2012 12:02 PM
