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Business/Economy (General/Chat)

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  • \Will it bend? Samsung Galaxy S4

    09/26/2014 1:35:24 AM PDT · by RegulatorCountry · 63 replies
    Cnet Analysis ^ | September 23, 2014 | Adam McKeithan
    Reviewed by cnetanalysis on Sep 23, 2014. After seeing the iPhone 6+ bend will the S4 do the same? Yes. Yes it will. After looking very closely it bent around the volume buttons just like the 6+.
  • SquareTrade Breakability Tests: Apple iPhone 6 earns best score ever, iPhone 6 Plus not far behind

    09/26/2014 12:52:10 AM PDT · by Swordmaker · 27 replies
    MacDailyNews ^ | Wednesday, September 24, 2014 · 9:24 am
    SquareTrade, the electronic device insurer, today announced the iPhone 6 and its larger sibling, iPhone 6 Plus, performed impressively in Breakability testing, and each carries the top Breakability Score in their respective category. The SquareTrade Breakability Score ranks today’s top devices based on how prone they are to break due to accidents. Evaluating key elements such as front and back panel design, edge construction and materials, size, weight, friction quotient, water resistance and grip-ability, SquareTrade’s Breakability Score fills in the missing gap left by traditional device reviews: it tests devices in everyday danger situations brought on by our lifestyles and...
  • Is Apple Picking a Fight With the U.S. Government? Not exactly.

    09/25/2014 11:53:40 PM PDT · by Swordmaker · 8 replies
    Slate ^ | September 25, 2014
    Last week Apple released its new iOS 8 operating system for iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touch devices. Most of the coverage of iOS 8 focuses on visible features that users can interact with. But there’s one major change in iOS 8 that most users probably won’t notice unless they find themselves in a great deal of trouble. Specifically, Apple has radically improved the way that data on those devices is encrypted. Once users set a passcode, Apple will no longer be able to unlock your device—even if ordered to do so by a court. While privacy advocates have praised Apple’s...
  • Sarah Palin coming to Louisiana to campaign for Maness

    09/25/2014 7:32:25 PM PDT · by Cringing Negativism Network · 15 replies
    Associated Press / WWLTV ^ | 3:32 p.m. CDT September 25, 2014 | Associated Press
    BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rob Maness is getting campaign help this weekend from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. (bump)
  • South Korea buying 40 F-35A jets from Lockheed for $7 billion

    09/25/2014 7:12:57 PM PDT · by Jet Jaguar · 15 replies
    Stars and Stripes ^ | Sept 25, 2014 | By Ashley Rowland and Yoo Kyong Chang
    SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea is buying 40 F-35A fighter jets from Lockheed Martin to upgrade its aging fleet of aircraft and help counter the threat posed by North Korea, officials said Wednesday. The approximately $7 billion acquisition from the Bethesda, Md.-based company marks South Korea’s single largest weapons purchase, said Paek Youn Hyeong, a spokesman for the South’s Defense Acquisitions Program Administration. “The biggest reason for the purchase is that we need higher-performance aircraft,” he said. South Korea announced its intent to sign a Letter of Offer and Acceptance with Lockheed Martin on Wednesday after several months of...
  • Argentina uses drones to root out wealthy tax evaders

    09/25/2014 4:57:06 PM PDT · by Rusty0604 · 20 replies
    The Telegraph ^ | 09/25/2014 | Nick Allen
    The Argentine government has used drones to catch out wealthy tax evaders who had not declared mansions and swimming pools. Unmanned aircraft were dispatched over an upper class area of Buenos Aires and discovered 200 homes and 100 pools that had not been detailed on returns. Tax officials said the drones took pictures of luxury houses standing on lots registered as empty. The evasions found by the drones amounted to missing tax payments of more than $2 million and owners of the properties have been waned they now face large fines. Use of drones has been expanding in Argentina and...
  • The Shellshock Bug In About Four Minutes (video)

    09/25/2014 12:57:00 PM PDT · by servo1969 · 13 replies
    youtube.com ^ | 9-25-2014 | Tom Scott
    Remember Heartbleed? Well, this is probably worse. Here's a (somewhat simplified) explanation of what Shellshock actually is. Don't worry: I haven't included instructions on how to actually exploit it. The moral of the story is: keep your security patches up to date!
  • Tech trouble sparks wave of selling on Wall Street (DJIA down 246)

    09/25/2014 12:24:18 PM PDT · by Signalman · 6 replies
    CNNMoney ^ | 9/25/2014 | Matt Eagan
    CNNMoney's Fear & Greed Index is now flashing "extreme fear," compared with just "fear" a week ago. Very recently, this gauge was in all-out "greed" territory. Safe haven demand, a key metric in the Fear & Greed Index, switched to "extreme fear" from "neutral" earlier this week. It's important to remember that low trading volumes caused by the Rosh Hashanah holiday could be exacerbating the selloff. Low volume makes it harder for buyers and sellers to pair up. Sour Apple: One stock that's not seeing a shortage of volume is Apple. The tech giant dropped 3% on Thursday in the...
  • Building a home - go passive solar

    09/25/2014 11:16:29 AM PDT · by Prophet2520 · 95 replies
    Living Green Magazine ^ | 11/30/2012 | Tracey Allen
    Besides the obvious advantage of a free heating source (as long as the sun continues to rise and set) we have discovered a few more advantages:
  • Teacher talked of killer robot in class (blatant over-reaction?)

    09/25/2014 5:46:45 AM PDT · by Cringing Negativism Network · 17 replies
    U-T San Diego ^ | September 23 2014 | Ashly McGlone
    According to a district report, “Ms. Vo told her class that if robots were teachers, Ms. Vo would program the robot to shoot the students every time the students didn’t pay attention, talked back, or even talked at all. Ms. Vo told her class she would program the robot to zap the students with a Taser if the students failed to complete homework assignments or arrived late to class... (please see article for full quote, and the rest of the article)
  • This is what it takes to outfit an airplane with WIFI. (video)

    09/25/2014 4:58:53 AM PDT · by servo1969 · 9 replies
    dump.com ^ | 9-24-2014 | United Airways
    http://www.dump.com/airplanewifi/https://hub.united.com/en-us/news/products-services/pages/united-installs-satellite-wi-fi.aspx
  • Roberts' campaign 'thrilled' to have Palin's support

    09/25/2014 4:52:51 AM PDT · by Cringing Negativism Network · 14 replies
    Hutchnews.com ^ | September 24, 2014 1:03 pm | Mary Clarkin
    “Gov. Palin is one of our party’s grassroots leaders, and we are thrilled to have her support in this important race for U.S. Senate. Republicans in Kansas, and across the country, are uniting around our campaign because we cannot win the Senate majority without Pat Roberts,” said Roberts’ campaign manager, Corry Bliss, in a statement. http://www.hutchnews.com/news/local_state_news/roberts-campaign-thrilled-to-have-palin-s-support/article_6b856110-4e6a-5a03-823a-bd538814fdfb.html
  • Obama Admin. Plans $1,000 Fine For Taking Pics on Public Land; Will the Media Report?

    09/25/2014 4:02:38 AM PDT · by servo1969 · 23 replies
    newsbusters.org ^ | 9-24-2014 | Matthew Balan
    The Washington Post on Wednesday revealed a U.S. Forest Service plan that would "fine photographers who shoot on federal wild lands without a permit." Reporter Hunter Schwarz noted how "critics have characterized the rules as too vague and say it infringes on the First Amendment's free speech clause," and quoted from a U.S. senator who raised his concerns about the "troubling questions about inappropriate government limits on activity clearly protected by the First Amendment" (Olympic National Park's Ruby Beach pictured at right; taken by Matthew Balan in September 2011). Schwarz cited a Tuesday report by The Oregonian that outlined the...
  • Norway now second-largest buyer of US commercial real estate

    09/24/2014 7:00:21 PM PDT · by SeekAndFind · 1 replies
    The Real Deal ^ | 09/24/2014
    Norway, surprisingly, now ranks second among foreign U.S. commercial real estate buyers, topped only by Canada. The sovereign fund that manages the country’s substantial oil wealth made a play for Blackstone Group’s 1095 Sixth Avenue just last week, in a deal that is expected to fetch up to $2.25 billion. The move followed the Norges Bank Investment Management’s purchase of a 45 percent interest in 601 Lexington for $1.5 billion. In total, the country has spent over $3.2 billion on U.S. real estate so far this year, according to data from research firm Real Capital Analytics cited by Bloomberg News....
  • One million Filipinos join booming Philippine outsourcing

    09/24/2014 3:23:12 PM PDT · by entropy12 · 25 replies
    Yahoo Finance ^ | 11 hours ago | AFP
    The Philippines' booming outsourcing industry now employs a million people after growing almost tenfold in just over a decade, the industry association said Wednesday. Widely considered as second only to India, Philippine outsourcing is expected to earn $18 billion this year, said the IT and Business Process Association Philippines.
  • Freep a Poll!(Should the U.S. commit to a major effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?)

    09/24/2014 2:22:50 PM PDT · by dynachrome · 25 replies
    http://www.theledger.com/ ^ | 9-24-14 | The Ledger
    Should the U.S. and other nations commit to a major international effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? yes. no.
  • Crash Report: Apple's iOS 8 Is Crashing Apps 65 Percent More Than iOS 7

    09/24/2014 10:12:38 AM PDT · by SeekAndFind · 43 replies
    NBC News ^ | 09/24/2014
    Apple's new iOS 8 is causing apps to crash 65 percent more frequently than iOS 7, according to a report updated Wednesday by mobile analytics company Crittercism. But there's a big catch here: Crittercism is comparing current rates for the week-old iOS 8 to the year-old iOS 7. New operating systems frequently launch with initial bugs and other issues -- particularly for the earliest adopters -- and Apple typically pushes system updates through quickly. Overall, iOS 8 is causing apps to crash 3.29 percent of the time as of midnight Tuesday, Crittercism said. That's compared with the current 2 percent...
  • Google Gags the Global Warming Debate

    09/24/2014 9:28:36 AM PDT · by ThethoughtsofGreg · 13 replies
    US World News ^ | 9-23-14 | Peter Roff
    Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt used an appearance on NPR on Monday to announce his company was cutting ties with the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative organization composed of private companies and state legislators, over the group’s position on “climate change.” “Everyone understands climate change is occurring, and the people who oppose it are really hurting our children and our grandchildren and making the world a much worse place," Schmidt told NPR’s Diane Rehm. "And so we should not be aligned with such people – they're just, they're just literally lying.” As Schmidt might find out to his misfortune,...
  • The 20 Best Places To Live In America

    09/24/2014 8:19:02 AM PDT · by SeekAndFind · 57 replies
    Business Insider ^ | 09/24/2014 | Alyson Penn
    There are plenty of benefits to living in big cities like New York and San Francisco. But do they really offer the highest quality of life? Residential resource company Livability recently released its annual list of the 100 best places to live in the US, looking at factors like access to schools, hospitals, and infrastructure; affordability and income; and how residents take advantage of those opportunities. (You can read the complete methodology here.) Livability looked at more than 2,000 small- to mid-size cities in the US, with populations ranging from 20,000 to 350,000, to compile its ranking. 20. Eugene, Oregon...
  • Revealed: How much more Whole Foods is REALLY costing you

    09/24/2014 6:35:56 AM PDT · by C19fan · 61 replies
    UK Daily Mail ^ | Septeber 24, 2014 | Ashley Collman
    It's no secret that Whole Foods isn't the most cost-friendly of grocery stores, but a new survey shows just how much more customers pay at the natural food retailer compared to other regional supermarkets. New York investment firm Wolfe Research recently did a study, comparing baskets of groceries at the upscale organic market to other stores across the nation and confirmed that tags at Whole Foods are through the roof. In one instance, Wolfe totaled 60-72 items at Whole Foods and then compared them to prices for the same exact products at Houston's HEB, a Mariano's grocery store in Chicago,...