Tuesday, March 29, 2011

personal finance


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Source: Detroit Red Wings' Todd Bertuzzi won't face further league discipline for hit on Ryan Johnson of Chicago Blackhawks


Red Wings forward Todd Bertuzzi won't face any further league discipline after his elbowing penalty and game misconduct against Chicago Blackhawks forward Ryan Johnson, a source told ESPN.com Tuesday morning.


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This Week in Credit Cards <b>News</b>: New Rules, More ATM Fees, End of <b>...</b>

Provided by LowCards.com New Rules Promote Smarter Use of Credit Cards The new consumer watchdog agency wants to help consumers understand the credit card offer they will receive before they apply for a credit card.


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This Week in Credit Cards <b>News</b>: New Rules, More ATM Fees, End of <b>...</b>

Provided by LowCards.com New Rules Promote Smarter Use of Credit Cards The new consumer watchdog agency wants to help consumers understand the credit card offer they will receive before they apply for a credit card.


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I read an interesting article this morning that suggested Apple would change its mind and put Adobe’s Flash technology on its iOS devices within a year. I don’t think that’s going to happen.


In an open letter to users, Apple CEO Steve Jobs gave several reasons why he didn’t want Flash on the iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. They are: Flash isn’t open; the full web; reliability, security and performance; battery life; and touch.


Adobe began shipping Flash Player 10.1 for Mobile last June, but even Laptop magazine admitted that “Steve Jobs was right,” and that “Adobe’s offering seems like it’s too little, too late.” Granted, that report was from six months ago, but it still doesn’t bode well for the technology.


There is no doubt that Adobe is making advances with Flash on mobile devices, but I don’t believe future changes will be enough to get Apple to adopt the technology.


Jobs has been very clear that Apple supports HTML5, an open technology that is controlled by a standards committee, not one company. By building support for that technology into Webkit, Apple is ensuring that mobile Web browsers will be able to access what we’ve come to know as the “full web.”


Webkit is used by Google, Palm, Nokia and RIM, so it has a pretty solid base.


One of the arguments often bantered about when the discussion of the “full Web” comes up is video. There is no doubt that Flash made huge strides over the years in having sites like YouTube encode their videos in Flash. But that’s for the desktop.


As Jobs points out, almost all of this video is also available in H.264 format (a format Flash also supports), so it’s viewable on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.


“Add to this video from Vimeo, Netflix, Facebook, ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, ESPN, NPR, Time, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, People, National Geographic, and many, many others. iPhone, iPod and iPad users aren’t missing much video,” wrote Jobs.


You may ask why other companies adopted Flash for their mobile devices when Apple won’t. That’s easy, they are looking for something they have that Apple doesn’t. Considering how hard it is for tablet makers to compete with Apple, any perceived advantage will work.


I’m not an Adobe hater—I know quite a few people that work at Adobe and I think they’ve done some amazing things over the years. Flash for mobile devices isn’t one of them.


Chris Dawson said he gives “Apple a year until they cave [and adopt Flash]. Android tablets will just be too cool and too useful for both entertainment and enterprise applications if they don’t.”


I have been using my iPhone for years and my iPad for one year. I honestly can’t remember the last time I went to a Web site that wouldn’t load because I didn’t have Flash installed. I can load videos from YouTube and a host of other sites too, no problem.


Apple has sold more than 160 million iOS devices and there are no screaming, angry hordes of users breaking down the doors at 1 Infinite Loop demanding Flash on their devices.


In order for Apple to change its mind and adopt Flash, the technology has to be proven to be indispensable and that it will benefit its users. Apple has proven just the opposite is true.


Editor’s Note: Jim Dalrymple has been writing about Apple for more than 15 years. You can follow him on Twitter @jdalrymple and on his Web site at The Loop.





With the company’s future already clouded by Steve Jobs’ latest medical leave, the possibility of the iPad’s chief designer, Jonathan Ive, cashing out ups the uncertainty, Dan Lyons writes.


Is Apple losing its design guru?


When Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced in January that he would take a third medical leave, the biggest concern was the cloud of uncertainty that hovered over the company. Now that uncertainty has become an issue again, as rumors have started swirling that Apple might lose its chief designer, Jonathan Ive. 





Apple's head designer Jonathan Ive poses for a portrait on January 27, 2010 in Cupertino, California. (Photo by Paul Harris / Newscom)


Reports in Ive’s native England suggest that the man who oversaw the design of the iPhone and iPad wants to spend more time in the U.K., putting him at odds with Apple’s board enough that he would consider leaving the company. Although Ive and Apple won’t comment, the scenario is plausible for two reasons: First, Ive is about to cash in options valued at $30 million that he was granted in 2008; and second, Ive has an especially close relationship with Jobs. 


Whether Ive stays or goes, the brouhaha shows the challenges that Apple is increasingly likely to face given the questions about Jobs’ role in the coming months. One scenario being bandied about by Apple-watchers suggests Ive is making a power play to succeed Jobs; it seems just as likely, however, that he simply may not want to work at Apple if Jobs isn’t there. 


Still others think the entire notion that Ive might leave is completely unfounded. But either way, the whole incident shows how the Jobs health situation is bringing more drama to a company that, until now, has been a model of tight-lipped discipline.


Apple’s products are famous for their sleek designs, and conventional wisdom holds that losing Ive would be a terrible blow to Apple—“Apple’s worst nightmare,” Britain’s Guardian called it. But the truth is, losing Ive may not be as big a deal as some Apple watchers think.


For one thing, Apple has loads of bench strength in every department, and because of its success it can attract just about anyone it wants.


“How much of this is Steve, how much is Jon, how much someone else? Steve always had an eye for design. The designer is only as good as the client,” says Jean-Louis Gassée.


For another, the real genius behind Apple’s designs might not be Ive—but rather Jobs.


That’s the educated guess of Jean-Louis Gassée, a former top executive at Apple and a longtime close watcher of the company who still has many connections there.


Gassée points out that Ive was already working at Apple when Jobs returned to the company in 1996. Ive joined the company in 1992, when Jobs was gone from the company, having been ousted by the board in 1985.


And before Jobs returned to Apple, Ive wasn’t exactly setting the world on fire. The first products that Ive designed under Jobs were the “Bondi Blue” iMac and the somewhat ugly iBook. Ive’s next products, the "desk lamp" Mac and the early metal laptops, were better looking, Gassée says.









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The major legislative item on the agenda in the Senate this week will be The Small Business Reauthorization Act (S. 493).  Republicans plan to use this bill as a platform to promote critical pieces of legislation through the process of non-germane amendments to the bill.  Here are some vital amendments that will be debated and voted on throughout the week:



  • Senator Mitch McConnell is offering an amendment (S. AMDT 183) to prohibit the EPA from promulgating any regulations on greenhouse gas emissions.  There is perhaps no force that is more destructive to our prosperity, consumer freedom of choice, and job creation than onerous cap and trade schemes.  There are many red state Democrats who are up for reelection in 2012 and will be hard pressed to go on record as supporting policies that are an imprecation to the interests of their states.  Make sure to call Senators Claire McCaskill, Joe Manchin, Ben Nelson, Bill Nelson, and Jon Tester in particular.



  • Senator David Vitter is offering an amendment (S.AMDT. 178) forcing the federal government to sell off unused and underused property.  This is a serious issue.  The federal government owns over half of the land in some western states and has been using it to stifle energy development.  Selling unused federal lands would also serve as a prudent means of generating revenue without raising taxes.



  • Senator Rand Paul is using the SBA bill as a platform to offer his signature budget bill (S.AMDT 199) which would slash $200 billion in spending for fiscal 2011.  Paul’s plan slashes funding by 50% to the Departments of Energy, Education, and HUD.  This amendment represents real limited government and budget austerity and will separate the men among the boys in the ranks of the Republican Conference.



  • Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is forcing a vote (S. AMDT 197) to delay the implementation of ObamaCare until a final resolution is reached in pending lawsuits.  Unlike other bills that are designed to merely ameliorate ObamaCare, this amendment would completely halt it during the ensuing legal battles.



  • Senator Tom Coburn has filed an amendment (S.AMDT.184) to force federal agencies to compile comprehensive lists of all of their programs


Make sure that all of your Republican senators are on record supporting these amendments, especially Rand Paul’s budget proposal.  Also, let’s see which faux moderate Democrats will commit to supporting anyone of these commonsense initiatives.  Needless to say, I didn’t waste time calling my senators; Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin!



The major legislative item on the agenda in the Senate this week will be The Small Business Reauthorization Act (S. 493).  Republicans plan to use this bill as a platform to promote critical pieces of legislation through the process of non-germane amendments to the bill.  Here are some vital amendments that will be debated and voted on throughout the week:



  • Senator Mitch McConnell is offering an amendment (S. AMDT 183) to prohibit the EPA from promulgating any regulations on greenhouse gas emissions.  There is perhaps no force that is more destructive to our prosperity, consumer freedom of choice, and job creation than onerous cap and trade schemes.  There are many red state Democrats who are up for reelection in 2012 and will be hard pressed to go on record as supporting policies that are an imprecation to the interests of their states.  Make sure to call Senators Claire McCaskill, Joe Manchin, Ben Nelson, Bill Nelson, and Jon Tester in particular.



  • Senator David Vitter is offering an amendment (S.AMDT. 178) forcing the federal government to sell off unused and underused property.  This is a serious issue.  The federal government owns over half of the land in some western states and has been using it to stifle energy development.  Selling unused federal lands would also serve as a prudent means of generating revenue without raising taxes.



  • Senator Rand Paul is using the SBA bill as a platform to offer his signature budget bill (S.AMDT 199) which would slash $200 billion in spending for fiscal 2011.  Paul’s plan slashes funding by 50% to the Departments of Energy, Education, and HUD.  This amendment represents real limited government and budget austerity and will separate the men among the boys in the ranks of the Republican Conference.



  • Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is forcing a vote (S. AMDT 197) to delay the implementation of ObamaCare until a final resolution is reached in pending lawsuits.  Unlike other bills that are designed to merely ameliorate ObamaCare, this amendment would completely halt it during the ensuing legal battles.



  • Senator Tom Coburn has filed an amendment (S.AMDT.184) to force federal agencies to compile comprehensive lists of all of their programs


Make sure that all of your Republican senators are on record supporting these amendments, especially Rand Paul’s budget proposal.  Also, let’s see which faux moderate Democrats will commit to supporting anyone of these commonsense initiatives.  Needless to say, I didn’t waste time calling my senators; Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin!



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Small Business <b>News</b>: Social Media Brand

What is your social media brand? Do you have one? Sure, many small business owners and entreprene...


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No confirmation of radioactive water overflowing into sea: agency <b>...</b>

2's tendency to spew highly radioactive water,'' said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for the agency, at a news conference. Given that serious damage to fuel rods from overheating could lead to the release of enormous amounts of ...


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