Make It Easy To Buy From Your Site
Convincing your prospects to purchase from you is a hard job, but have you ever thought that you're making the process twice as difficult for both parties if your prospects are convinced but don't kno...
The Prime Expert Analytic System
In a dynamic, fast-changing market environment, it's a tough tradeoff where to take your business next. There are so many ways that your company's resources and products can be used to build and shore...
Maximizing Survival Time Inside the Event Horizon of a Black Hole
Here’s a scenario that will face many of us in the far future. You’re hurtling through the cosmos at nearly the speed of light in your spaceship when you take a wrong turn and pass into the event horizon of a black hole. Uh oh, you’re dead - not yet, but it’s inevitable. Since nothing, [...] (Read on Source)
Poll: Bloomberg could have Perot-like effect
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg -- who left the Republican Party last week -- could have a serious impact on the 2008 presidential race, rivaling Ross Perot's influence in 1992, a new CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll suggests. (Read on Source)
How to Destroy an African-American City in 33 Step...
Refuse to talk about or look seriously at race. Condemn anyone who dares to challenge the racism of what is going on ? accuse them of "playing the race card" or say they are paranoid. (Read on Source)
Scoble meets the blue monster
Heh. Robert Scoble has a Blue Monster sticker on his laptop. This pic was taken while he was waiting in line to get his new iPhone, so I'm told. The sticker was given to him by Steve Clayton. Shel Israel got one, too. Steve tells me they were quite a hot commodity when he got them made, and his supply ran out very soon. (Read on Source)
Red Hat to MS: Let's Talk Interoperability
Red Hat wants talks with Microsoft to be about interoperability, and not intellectual property issues.
Lamon Brewster speaks on Wladimir Klitschko Fight
By Knockout Publicity - "Relentless" ... (Read on Source)
NJ town planning beach of the future
At the beach of the future, visitors will wear wristbands that automatically debit their bank accounts or credit cards to pay for beach access, food and parking. Garbage cans will e-mail cleanup crews when they?re ready to be emptied. (Read on Source)
Another View of the Problem
Another view of the problem with the US regulation of research can be found in this review of futurist literature: "What really jumped out at me from both of these books is that much is possible, if we as a society (or the world) could just get past the 'monkeys with car keys' stage - we could achieve some truly great things. Maybe not absolute ... (Read on Source)
Analyst: iPhone to Change Consumer Electronics
The iPhone will launch a new consumer electronics "revolution," the analyst said.
The Ultimate Diagnostic Device (By the Way, You've Got Drug-Resistant TB!)
"Browser attempts to start a dial up connection"
... A good way to find out about that is to make a new Windows XP account, and run Firefox there. It starts without any add-on (they are user-dependent). Then ...
Nato plans smaller bombs for Afghanistan
Nato plans to use smaller bombs in Afghanistan as part of a change in tactics aimed at stemming a rise in civilian casualties that threatens to undermine support in the fight against the Taliban. (Read on Source)
Man, 72, refused alcohol over age
Supermarket staff refused to sell alcohol to a white-haired 72-year-old man - because he would not confirm he was over 21. Check-out staff at Morrisons in West Kirby, Wirral, demanded Tony Ralls prove he was old enough to buy his two bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon. (Read on Source)
Stock futures jump higher after payrolls data
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock market futures jumped higher Friday after nonfarm payrolls data for September broadly matched expectations and previous months' numbers were revised higher.
Protect Your Computer From Hackers.
What is a Hacker?
A Hacker is a computer expert who spends their time trying to find ways to break into oth...
Pump-and-dump spam goes Top 40
In the latest pump-and-dump stock-spam scam, spammers are attaching MP3 files to otherwise empty e-mail messages. The MP3 files are named after a well-known recording artist, such as Fergie, Carrie Underwood, even Elvis.
Six in 10 Wealthy Consumers Online Use Social Networks
The participation of wealthy online consumers in social networks dramatically increased to 60 percent in 2008, from 27 percent in 2007, according to The Luxury Institute's latest WealthSurvey, "The Wealthy and Web 2.0," MarketingCharts writes. (Read on Source)
With Wireless Carriers, Breaking Up Is Still Hard to Do
Breaking up with your wireless provider just got a bit easier -- but as with the termination of any bad relationship, timing is everything.
Following a spate of announcements from Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile earlier this year, AT&T officially began pro-rating its early termination fees on Sunday. According to the company, instead of paying one single flat fee of $175 to jump ship, you'll now be able to shave off $5 from that amount for every month completed of your one- or two-year contract.
"We have not yet provided specifics on our new approach," an AT&T spokesperson said on Tuesday, "but we remain committed to the idea that wireless customers who leave their contract early should not pay a flat early-termination fee."
Unfortunately, this new policy does not extend to those who signed up for a contract prior to May 25, 2008.
So why the sudden change of heart? According to most wireless analysts, this newfound flexibility on the part of AT&T and the rest of the industry is largely the result of a number of pending class action lawsuits, in several states, by customers who claim they were either misled or charged excessive penalty fees.
"If you take a look at what AT&T did, they basically matched Verizon's current policy," says Current Analysis analyst William Ho. "You can argue that this is carriers being proactive against pending legislative penalties and the coming open access environment, but to me, this is really about staying competitive. With everyone else agreeing to pro-rate their termination fees, AT&T didn't want to be seen as the bad guy."
Verizon, which currently faces a $1 billion suit related to its early termination fee policy, is actually in the midst of proposing two separate remedies to the FCC, Congress and various other consumer groups.
The first is similar to what all major U.S. carriers are already planning on doing: pro-rating their ETFs over the course of a given contract. The alternate option would have carriers agreeing not to charge any termination fee during the first month of a contract; after that, all bets would be off.
Theoretically, these half-measures would give carriers some degree of wiggle room when it comes to any pending and future ETF-related lawsuits.
For years, U.S. carriers didn't seem to mind the "bad guy" label and justified early cancellation fees based on the fact that the majority of customers still purchased subsidized handsets.
Many customers rightly assume the cheap phone they get in the deal is a part of entering into a one- or two-year contract with a given carrier, but subsequently forget that breaking that contract can mean parting with a significant chunk of change.
"In essence, it's the carrot-and-stick approach," says Ho, "where the carrot is the subsidy and the stick is the early termination fee."
Things are starting to change, albeit very slowly. Currently, the ongoing ETF legal battles are being waged at the state level, but the FCC announced last week it will be holding its own hearing in mid-June to decide whether the government should in fact take over jurisdiction of the fees -- the theory being that one national policy applicable to all wireless carriers would eliminate much of the confusion and lawsuits.
In the foreseeable future, you can bet on one thing: If there's a contract or a subsidy involved when you sign up with a new carrier, expect to get whacked with some manner of ETF should you decide to walk away early. The only difference is it might not hurt as much as it used to.
VP Cheney assures Azerbaijan of U.S 'interest'
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney assured Azerbaijan on Wednesday of America's "abiding interest" in the region's stability. It ...
When sex and technology don't mix
If you?re given the choice between an awesome gadget and a weekend getaway with a hot girl ... sometimes it?s just best to change the channel. Such is the case with Playboy TV's new reality dating show, "Gadget or the Girl." (Read on Source)
Nasa selects Mars climate mission
The US space agency (Nasa) approves its next orbiter mission to Mars - the Maven mission that will study climate evolution.
American Kids Most Medicated
American children are approximately three times more likely to be prescribed psychotropic medication than children in Europe. A new study published in the journal Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health claims that the differences may be accounted for by regulatory practices and cultural beliefs about the role of medication in emotional and behavioral problems.
Researchers Build Logic Gates With RNA
Ars Technica reports on research out of Cal Tech where scientists were able to create logic gates out of RNA molecules. Thus far, they've demonstrated AND gates and OR gates, with work proceeding on more complicated systems. The work shows promise for ability to easily detect the presence of particular chemicals. The abstract from the scientists' ... (Read on Source)
Endeavour space shuttle lifts off
The US space shuttle Endeavour is set to launch on the final orbiter mission of 2008, carrying cargo bound for the International Space Station (ISS). Endeavour will take equipment to refit the ISS for six crew members, instead of the current three, and will also drop off astronaut Sandra Magnus. (Read on Source)
CYBEROAM ENHANCES IDENTITY-BASED SECURITY, GOES FOR GLOBAL-LOCAL REACH
... The need for remote network access or VPN solution is rapidly increasing in enterprises as ... independent division of Verizon Business, and the Virtual Private Network Consortium. Cyberoam has also received the 2008 ...
Square Enix LA Studio Making Downloadable Games
The new Los Angeles studio of Japanese publisher Square Enix will start by focusing its efforts on downloadable games, according to Square Enix US president John Yamamoto.
"We started the in-house development team a couple of months ago and we're starting with downloadable content because the team is still small," Yamamoto told GamesIndustry. "All formats--Xbox Live, WiiWare, PlayStation Network--are all viable formats for us," he added.
The Los Angeles development team is very small, with "a skeleton crew of only three members." The publisher reportedly wants to boost that team up to 30 inside the next year.
Square Enix's newest studio will also be charged with researching middleware following the commercial and critical success of The La...
Apple drops anti-copying measures in iTunes
Apple said it would begin selling song downloads without anticopying measures and change its pricing structure.
name: MAGPIE