Author: Serkadis

The Better Business Bureau is encouraging  taxpayers to use caution when selecting tax preparation help.

The group gets complaints every year about tax preparers who  made errors, resulting in fines and fees for the taxpayer.

Steve Bernas is president of the Better Business Bureau serving  Chicago and Northern Illinois.

He says taxpayer are ultimately responsible for their return’s accuracy and if it’s filed on time.

Consumers should get referrals from friends and family and check the BBB Reliability Report on tax preparation services online.

A tax preparer should either be a certified public accountant, a tax attorney or an enrolled agent. It’s a good sign if the preparer is affiliated with a professional organization with a code of ethics.

Read the original article from FOX Chicago News.

from occupied london, 5 February 2010: “Today, 5th of February, anarchists, anti-authoritarians and anti-fascists chose to keep the university administration building at Propylea open, as a space of mutual coordination and struggle. Our aim is the molding of ideas and counter-information ahead of tomorrow’s anti-fascist gathering, which has been called for at 11 am at Propylea… more

Walgreen’s is joining efforts to stem the nation’s diabetes epidemic by offering free blood sugar testing.

The Deerfield-based chain’s 24-hour stores and clinics will  offer the tests Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. People aged 18 and  older are eligible.

Also, free diabetes tests will be available at Walgreen’s stores in thousands of communities nationwide through Feb. 18.

The announcement came Thursday on Oprah Winfrey’s show, as part of her pitch to attack the epidemic.

Nearly 24 million Americans have diabetes, and an estimated 6 million or so are undiagnosed.

Prevalence has increased dramatically over the past decade, partly because the most common type of diabetes is linked with obesity.

Read the original article from FOX Chicago News.

The January NFP number came in at -20,000, a mere 5k away from Goldman’s -25,000 estimate. Consensus was for +15,000. December, as all prior months, saw an expected major downward revision to -150,000 from -85,000. The January Birth/Death adjustment was for -427K from +25K in December. Despite a deterioration in every metric, the unemployment rate dropped from 10.% to 9.7%, even with a consensus at 10.0%. A glitch in the excel model is further corroborated when one considers that the civilian labor force participation rate actually rose in January from 64.6 to 64.7.

Read the whole story at Zero Hedge >

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See Also:

• HUGE Improvement In "Marginally Attached" Workers Is A Great Sign For The Labor Market
• Unemployment: 9.7%
• Average Duration Of Unemployment Hits Brand New Record In January

It has recently surfaced in the media that Red Bull Racing veteran driver Mark Webber will have the honor to drive first the newly-developed RB6 single-seater during the upcoming test meeting in Jerez. Although the team did not issue any statements on the matter, a report from the GMM news agency suggested that it will be the Aussie driver to drive the car during the first two days of testing.

That will leave German driver Sebastian Vettel the last 2 days of testing in order to feel the new R… (read more)

To make matters worse for Toyota, the company faces a multimillion-dollar fine from the federal government for failing to issue a recall in a timely manner. As a matter of law, automakers that fail to issue recalls for defective vehicles in a timely manner are subject to fines of up to $16.4 million.

“We have not received any official communication from NHTSA so we are unable to comment at this time,” Toyota spokeswoman Cindy Knight said with regard to the potential fine.

In a statement on Wednesday, Ray LaHood said that the Transportation Department will continue to review possible defects and monitor recalls, and that it took a massive effort on the part of the government to get Toyota to cooperate thus far.

The the $16.4 million fine remains available to the DOT, the biggest one assessed to date is a $1 million fine to GM involving 581,344. Though it has never been imposed, the agency also reserves the ability to fine dealers up to $6,000 per vehicle that they sell despite knowledge that it is defective.

– By: Stephen Calogera

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

Big fan of Nippon Ichi Software? Bad news. The developer behind the Disgaea series, A Witch’s Tale, and the soon-to-be released Last Rebellion has announced their financial earnings, and dood, things aren’t looking pretty.

U-6.

That’s the internal, line-item from the BLS jobs report that’s frequently referred to as the “real unemployment rate” because it captures so-called discouraged workers who have simply stopped looking for a job.

It’s usually way above the headline unemployment report.

For example, last month unemployment was at 10% but U-6 was at 17.3%.

Well this time, it was not a red flag. It, too, fell big time sequentially to 16.5%.

Granted, the whole survey is a little bit confusing, becuase they’ve made some revisions, but for once, this is not a barking dog.

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See Also:

• Unemployment: 9.7%
• Average Duration Of Unemployment Hits Brand New Record In January

Of Europe's basket case financial economies (though we'll point out that the U.S. could soon fall into the basket case category as well), Greece still sticks out like a sore thumb.

Just look at this comparison of each PIIGS nations' twin deficits:

Or CDS spreads:

While it is pretty well known by now that Greece is in definite trouble, Europe's other teetering economies could easily fall like dominoes if a Greek crisis is mishandled according to Goldman.

Goldman: The twin deficits provide some guidance to the relative vulnerabilities (Chart 1), and in terms of comparisons of public-sector debt sustainability, these other countries all require medium-term primary surpluses that are only a fraction of Greece’s to stabilize their debt ratios for the same growth rate and real interest rate. That said, the entire Euro-zone periphery faces large financing needs and, to contain the cost of this financing, governments have started to outline fiscal measures to be implemented this year. Table 1 summarizes the key macro financial indicators for the Euro-zone periphery.

Contagion across Southern Europe will be a function of the policy reaction in Greece, the timing and extent of non-commercial financial support (if it turns out to be necessary), ECB policies and policy actions in the individual countries.

So focus on Greece, and hope the Eurozone gets it right. Because the stakes are huge:

If contagion from Greece engulfs other countries, then up to 20%-30% of Euro-zone GDP could be under severe stress. Were a major financial instability event to develop, we would expect the ECB to pause in its exit strategy, and then, if needed, reverse course and reinstate longer-term financing.

(Via Goldman Sachs, The Euro-zone Challenge: Greece and Contagion, Erik F. Nielsen, 4 February 2010)

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See Also:

• Awesome Timing: Greece's Biggest Union Goes On Strike
• Pimco: Forget Greece, California Bond Spreads Have Soared Back To Crisis Levels
• Spain Is On The Brink Of Financial Collapse Because Nobody Pays Taxes

Boeing [NYSE: BA] connected the F-22 Mission Training Center (MTC) at Langley Air Force Base, Va., to the U.S. Air Force’s Distributed Mission Operations Network (DMON) in November, allowing F-22 pilots at the base to train virtually with pilots in other aircraft platforms for the first time.

The MTC at Langley is the first of four F-22 training centers that Boeing will link to the network over the next three years.

The Air Force’s Distributed Mission Operations (DMO) configuration enables MTC sites to connect with one another via the DMON, increasing the scale and improving the accuracy of training operations.

Connecting the four-seat F-22 MTC flight trainer to the DMON also provides F-22 pilots with more realistic training with other Air Force assets on the network, such as the F-15C MTC.

“Boeing’s F-22 MTC was the first trainer in the industry to achieve ‘first-pass success’ on its initial DMON testing,” said Mark McGraw, Boeing vice president of Training Systems and Services.

This MTC was also the first to use the Agile Software Development process, which is based on industry and Boeing best practices for efficient software development.

This process allowed the functionality of the trainer’s components to be assessed much faster than with traditional software development methods.

Boeing is on contract to deliver three new F-22 MTCs for Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska; Holloman Air Force Base, N.M.; and Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii.

About Boeing Defense, Space & Security

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is one of the world’s largest defense, space and security businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world’s largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft.

Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is a $34 billion business with 68,000 employees worldwide.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Alison Sheridan, 314-232-8187
Boeing Media Relations
[email protected]

The Obama Administration’s confounding unwillingness and/or inability to move the nomination of Dawn Johnsen as head of OLC has manifested itself yet again. The renomination of Johnsen was set to be voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday, but somehow they just “ran out of time” before they could get to it, even though they found time to muse about a couple of far less significant district court judges and other lesser nominees. It is a continuing and puzzling pattern of delay and diversion that has kept Dawn Johnsen’s nomination in limbo for better than a year.

[Update: I have been informed by Judiciary Committee staff that they truly did just run out of time today, that Chairman Leahy is committed to Johnsen’s nomination, and immediately noticed another Committee business meeting for next Thursday, in which Dawn Johnsen is listed as the first order of business.]

I previously wrote about the failure of the Obama Administration to support the Dawn Johnsen nomination, a far less than good faith effort that finally resulted in Johnsen’s nomination being killed by operation of Senate Rule XXXI when they adjourned on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2009. It turns out what I wrote has been borne out and, as lawyers are wont to say, proved up pretty well.

As I will detail below, there is now crystal clear evidence that Barack Obama and Harry Reid had the sixty (60) votes for cloture on the confirmation of Dawn Johnsen all along last year, at least subsequent to July 7, the day Senator Al Franken was sworn in, and despite that fact refused to call a vote and get Johnsen installed in her critical post at OLC. Here is what I wrote immediately following the Christmas Eve death of her nomination:

Moreover, the bleating by Harry Reid and the Obama Administration that it is all the fault of mean old Republican obstructionism simply does not hold water. The Democrats hold a 60 seat caucus block, sufficient to overcome Republican obstruction. Of those, the Main Justice article is quite clear there were only two Democratic problem children, former Republican Arlen Specter and the ever whiny Ben Nelson, who never passes up an opportunity to betray his party. That means there were potentially only 58 Democratic votes for Johnsen’s nomination. But Republican Richard Lugar firmly supported Dawn Johnsen, so that makes 59 votes, only one shy of confirmation.

In addition to Lugar, both Republican Senators from Maine, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, have refused to rule out voting for Johnsen and were being lobbied hard by extremely influential women’s groups and liberal constituents. Both Collins and Snowe have a history of agreeing, when pressured, to allow up or down votes on Presidential nominees, even from Democrats.

Barack Obama and Rahm Emanuel had 59 votes in favor of Dawn Johnsen’s nomination, a distinct possibility of picking up Collins, Snowe or both, and are more than aware Arlen Specter needs big help in his reelection campaign in Pennsylvania and that Ben Nelson can always be bought. And despite all of the above, the Obama White House did not ever request Harry Reid to call a vote. The only rational conclusion from this is the Obama White House did not want Dawn Johnsen, their own nominee, to be confirmed.

My calculations on the 60 votes being available were confirmed upon Obama re-nominating Johnsen when it was immediately announced to much ballyhoo that Arlen Specter would be the 60th vote for cloture on the re-nomination; albeit apparently only after Johnsen has been again dragged through the committee process and other vagaries of prolonged confirmation procedure. The TPM report of Specter’s intention to support Johnsen’s confirmation confirms exactly what I stated, Specter was the 60th vote (there were always 58 Dems plus Richard Lugar) and was there all along; all Obama and Harry Reid had to do was call the vote. From TPM’s Brian Beutler:

Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) says he’s revisited his initial concerns over Obama Justice Department nominee Dawn Johnsen, and has decided to support her confirmation.

“After voting ‘pass’ (which means no position) in the Judiciary Committee, I had a second extensive meeting with Ms. Johnsen and have been prepared to support her nomination when it reaches the Senate floor,” reads a statement Specter sent to TPMDC. …… With Specter now in the ‘yes’ column, there are no obvious impediments to her confirmation. (emphasis added)

If Arlen Specter’s own statement is to be taken at face value, then he has been prepared to, at a minimum, support cloture on Dawn Johnsen since his second meeting with her. I have been personally informed by Senator Specter’s office that Specter’s second meeting with Dawn Johnsen took place on May 12, 2009; further, Specter’s office reaffirmed the accuracy of his reported statement on having been prepared to support her.

Unless Arlen Specter is just being disingenuous to curry votes in his primary battle, and to his credit there is no evidence of that (I have specifically given Specter the opportunity to retract or hedge his statement; he has affirmatively not done so), it means that with Specter’s availability, there were the necessary 60 votes for cloture on Dawn Johnsen’s confirmation as of July 7, 2009, the day Al Franken was sworn in as the junior Senator from Minnesota.

All President Obama had to do to get Dawn Johnsen confirmed was have Harry Reid call the vote. But the Obama White House obviously never requested a vote on their own nominee; if they had, Reid would have obliged, that is simply what Majority Leaders do for Presidents from their own party. By the same token, when such Presidents don’t want such a vote called, it is not; and that refusal by the White House is almost certainly the reason Dawn Johnsen was not confirmed, and is not in office serving the OLC and country right now.

But wait, there is more evidence of the Obama Administration’s disinterest in Johnsen’s confirmation. It was not just Arlen Specter that was wrongly pegged with being the holdup on Dawn Johnsen, it appears the White House has falsely let Ben Nelson be pegged as a culprit, as well. Turns out that is not necessarily true, either, as Nelson has point blankedly stated the White House never even asked him to support Johnsen. From The Indianapolis Star:

Nelson said Wednesday that he doubted Johnsen’s nomination would be brought to a vote.

“We have to let the administration decide what they want to do,” Nelson said. Asked if he has told the administration whether he’d vote for Johnsen, Nelson said he hasn’t been asked.

And, of course, there is the fact that the Maine twin Senators, Collins and Snowe, have steadfastly refused to directly oppose cloture on Johnsen’s confirmation. Despite history that suggests they very well might not deprive Johnsen of an up or down vote, they too have not been put on the spot by the White House.

Which brings us back to why Obama never had Harry Reid call the vote last year. As I previously opined, there are hard policy grounds to explain the Administration’s failure to push Dawn Johnsen’s confirmation:

In the end, it is likely Barack Obama, Rahm Emanuel and the servants of the status quo simply did not really want a true advocate for governmental transparency, a critic who excoriated Bush/Cheney policies on warrantless wiretapping, torture, indefinite detention, ignoring international treaties and conventions, and concentration of power in a unitary executive; all policies the Obama Administration has substantially co-opted as its own.

If one needed any more confirmation of the stunts Obama and his Administration have been pulling without the strong and principled leadership at the OLC (and there really should be no question after the wholesale adoption of Bush policies on surveillance and torture that are at complete odds with Johnsen’s long-stated beliefs), it came like a ton of bricks with the recent revelation that Obama brazenly used the OLC to retroactively immunize serial and repetitive illegal and unconstitutional violation of Federal wiretapping laws by the FBI and telecom companies.

As Marcy previously noted, the stunning report comes from Ryan Singel at Wired/Threat Level:

The FBI and telecom companies collaborated to routinely violate federal wiretapping laws for four years, as agents got access to reporters’ and citizens’ phone records using fake emergency declarations or simply asking for them.
….
The Obama administration retroactively legalized the entire fiasco through a secret ruling from the Office of Legal Counsel nearly two weeks ago.

That’s the same office from which John Yoo blessed President George W. Bush’s torture techniques and warrantless wiretapping of Americans’ communications that crossed the border.

Yes, indeed, that is precisely the type of bastardization of the rule of law and accountability the Bush/Cheney administration would have cravenly used the Office of Legal Counsel for. Bush and Cheney used the OLC (also, notably, without a Senate confirmed leader at the time since Steve Bradbury served only in “acting” capacity) to shamelessly and retroactively give paper cover to illegal and immoral torture after the fact; I guess it is progress and “change” that Obama only does it to cover up illegal surveillance. But it is most certainly not consistent with the lifetime of work, opinions, statements and positions from Dawn Johnsen, who would be expected to have adhered to the law and OLC protocols.

The standard of conduct for OLC in this regard is specified by the OLC guidance for Best Practices for OLC Opinions (promulgated May 16, 2005):

OLC is authorized to provide legal advice only to the Executive Branch; we do not advise Congress, the Judiciary, foreign governments, private parties, or any other person or entity outside the Executive Branch.
…..
As a prudential matter, OLC should avoid opining on questions likely to be at issue in pending or imminent litigation involving the United States as a party (except where there is a need to resolve a dispute within the Executive Branch over a position to be taken in litigation). Finally, the opinions of the Office should address legal questions prospectively; OLC avoids opining on the legality of past conduct (though from time to time we may issue prospective opinions that confirm or memorialize past advice or that necessarily bear on past conduct).

Pretty hard to figure exactly how retroactively giving paper cover to the FBI and telecom co-conspirators for patently illegal surveillance in violation of the Electronic Communications Protection Act and Fourth Amendment is a proper OLC function, especially when doing so is contra to their own stated protocols. It is hard to fathom Dawn Johnsen signing off on this legal perfidy by Obama; pixie dust does not seem her style.

The evidence is clear and convincing that it was not a lack of 60 votes behind Dawn Johnsen’s nomination withering and dying on the vine last year, it was the desire by the Obama Administration to not have a strong confirmed leader like Johnsen guiding the OLC. President Obama owes Dawn Johnsen and the nation an explanation for his disingenuous handling of her nomination, failure to install strong leadership in a rudderless OLC and for continuing the Bush/Cheney-like abuses of the OLC to cover up illegal acts.

Update: * I have been informed by Judiciary Committee staff that they truly did just run out of time today, that Chairman Leahy is committed to Johnsen’s nomination, and immediately noticed another Committee business meeting for next Thursday, in which Dawn Johnsen is listed as the first order of business.

 

Filed under: Japan, Recalls, Toyota

Fifteen days after Toyota announced a recall of 2.3 million vehicles in the U.S. for sticking accelerator pedals, the company’s president and grandson of its founder made a formal apology at an evening news conference in Japan on Friday night (early morning EST). Akio Toyoda has been largely silent during the last two weeks as his company struggles to contain the fallout from recalls affecting over nine million vehicles on multiple continents. The only other time he’s spoken on record was during an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last Friday when he told a Japanese interviewer, “I am deeply sorry.” What’s the reason for today’s remarks? Toyoda told the audience of press, “”I came out here today because I would not want our customers to spend the weekend wondering whether their cars are safe.”

The company president also announced that a committee would be created to look at Toyota’s quality issues and address them going forward, something his predecessor, Katsuake Watanabe, also did back in 2006. Finally, in regards to braking issues with the 2010 Prius revealed yesterday, Toyoda said the company would soon announce how it plans to address them. Despite reports coming out of Japan to the contrary, there has been no official confirmation from Toyota that the new Prius will be recalled. Both the Japanese and U.S. governments have also opened investigations on the Prius and Toyota has pledged its cooperation.

We also learned yesterday of brake issues in the Ford Fusion Hybrid and Mercury Milan Hybrid after Consumer Reports experienced a sudden loss of braking power in a Fusion Hybrid and contacted the automaker. The issue sounds similar to what some owners are experiencing in the 2010 Prius, though we’ve only heard of this one instance and Ford has already responded with a TSB to repair the issue with a software upgrade.

UPDATE: Statement by Toyota President Akio Toyoda added after the jump.

[Source: The New York Times | Image: Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty]

Continue reading Toyota President apologizes… again, calls situation a “crisis” *UPDATE

Toyota President apologizes… again, calls situation a “crisis” *UPDATE originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 08:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Now this is not good news on the unemployment front.

Check out table A-12, which looks at how long the unemployed are remaining unemployed.

The average unemployed worker is now unemployed for 30.2 weeks, compared to 29.1 weeks in December and 28.6 in November.

There are now 6.3 million Americans who have been unemployed over 27 weeks.

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• Unemployment: 9.7%

Following the recent reports that Force India Mercedes might face dissolution as a result of failing to register its accounts with Companies House for 2008, the team’s co-owner Vijay Mallys played down such a prospect and ensured the media that everything is under control at the Silverstone factory.

The Indian billionaire talked to Autosport earlier today and confirmed that the deadline for registering those accounts has already been extended for February 25, and that the team has every inte… (read more)

GMAC has been losing money for some time now, so everybody expected disastrous results for the fourth quarter of 2009. The figures are now official: GMAC Financial Services announced a net loss of $5.0 billion for the fourth quarter of 2009, compared to net income of $7.5 billion for the fourth quarter of 2008. For the 2009 full year, GMAC reported a net loss of $10.3 billion, compared to a net income of $1.9 billion in 2008. The fourth quarter and full year losses were affected by losses relate… (read more)

from mostly water, 3 February 2010: Over the past three years, the Olympic Resistance Network has coordinated anti-Olympics efforts in Vancouver and across the country. Due to a growing and vibrant movement to oppose the Olympic Games, VANOC and government officials are no longer able to host large public Olympic events in Vancouver without being shamed. During the RBC and Coca-Cola sponsored Olympic Torch relay, protesters in over thirty cities, towns, and Indigenous communities brought forward their message of “No Olympics on Stolen Native Land”, “Get your torch off our land, we don’t want your Olympic scam” and “2010 Homes not 2010 Games”…” more

Filed under: Convertible, Coupe, Performance, Ford

The latest Ford Racing email newsletter contains some juicy stuff for Mustang fans. It confirms that the 2011 Shelby GT500 will be revealed this coming Monday, February 8, at 1:30 PM Eastern time via a live webcast, during which FoMoCo VP for global product development, Derrick Kuzak will also run down the SVT product strategy with Jost Capito, Ford’s director of global performance vehicles. The newsletter includes a link to FordMediaLive.com, which is counting down the seconds to the webcast in real time. We recommend you click on the system test button, because doing so gives you a teaser reel of the 2011 Shelby GT500 (shown above), and if you’ve been following the leaked developments so far, it’s pretty revealing.

As you know, the Shelby GT500 order guide found its way onto the web last week. Among the new-for-2011 features mentioned (beyond the aluminum block for the blown 5.4-liter V8), are the glass roof option, which is installed on the car in the video, and the new SVT Performance Package, which is also equipped. Visual giveaways that differentiate the performance pack cars are readily evident: the hood stripes are skinnier than the ones on the standard GT500, and the body-side stripe is solid (it’s bisected on the regular GT500). Even more obvious are the different wheels, 19 x 9.5 inches in front, and 20 X 10 inches in back) that are exclusive to the SVT Performance Package. Finally, in the shot of the car’s rear end, the spoiler with Gurney flap is plainly visible. Regular GT500s don’t get the flap. As specified in the leaked order sheet, the performance pack cars also get upgraded to a 3:73 rear axle ratio over the base GT500’s 3:55s.

There’s more to tell, but unfortunately, we’re sworn to secrecy until 1:30 sharp on Monday. What we will say is this: The Mustang V6 and GT aren’t the only ponys in the stable that get better for 2011. As good – great, even – as the 2010 Shelby GT500 is, the 2011 improves on the formula. Stay tuned for some pretty hot stuff on Monday.

[Source: Ford Media Live via TeamShelby.com]

Sneak Peek: 2011 Ford Shelby GT500 w/ SVT Performance Package originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 07:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Today is the deadline for applications to the upcoming DEMO conference. We’ve got some truly pathbreaking companies launching this Spring, and can’t wait to reveal them on stage at Palm Springs March 22 and 23.

We’ll be finalizing the list of accepted companies shortly. In the meantime, we’re holding several events next week for qualified companies to help them get networked and prepared. Today we’re announcing a cocktail event at Accel Partners. Details follow:

Cocktails hosted by Accel Partners, Tuesday, Feb 9: This event, hosted by Accel Partners, will be held 6:30pm – 8:30pm next Tuesday at Gordon Biersch, 640 Emerson Street in Palo Alto, Calif. Accel Partners is one of Silicon Valley’s leading venture capital firms, having invested in companies like Facebook, Admob, Playfish and BBN. This cocktail evening is for companies that have applied to DEMO for Spring, or are planning to apply in Fall, and which are focused on either (1) cleantech, (2) enterprise or (3) healthcare. Aside from getting a chance to meet with me and the rest of the DEMO team more intimately, you’ll also be able to meet with partners at Accel Partners, and a few other angels, investors and experts in the cleantech, enterprise and healthcare sectors. We’re trying to keep this open to as many candidates as possible, but still must limit the number of attendees. To apply to come, fill out this form.

Other events we’ve already announced:

Kleiner Perkins open house, Feb 3 and 4. This event was completed yesterday.

Breakfast at BlueRun Ventures: Feb 9, 8am-10:30am — This is a breakfast hosted at the offices of BlueRun Ventures in Silicon Valley. BlueRun is specialized in mobile, having originally been backed by Nokia, but it morphed several years ago into an independent firm. The breakfast is for companies that have applied to DEMO for Spring, or are planning to apply in Fall, and which are focused on either (1) mobile, or (2) the cloud. To apply to come, fill out this form.

Breakfast at IDG Ventures: Feb 10, 8-10am — This is another breakfast, hosted at IDG Ventures’ offices in San Francisco. IDG is a firm affiliated with the IDG publishing powerhouse, and is focused on investing in media and other early-stage consumer companies. This breakfast is for companies that have applied to DEMO in Spring, or are planning to apply in Fall, and which are focused on either (1) social and media or (2) consumer technology. To apply to come, fill out this form.

To repeat, all these events are merely optional benefits for DEMO companies, and are not required parts of the formal application process. Also, there’s no exclusive deal we’ve cut with any of these firms in giving them first looks at these companies.

I’m looking forward to seeing some of you at these events!

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from greenleft, 1 February 2010: “On January 25 youth mental health expert Patrick McGorry said refugee detention centres were “factories for producing mental illness”. McGorry is the head of the Orygen Research Centre and Headspace, a youth mental illness network. He worked with refugees for more than 20 years and said many refugees had experienced trauma and torture before fleeing to seek refuge in a safe country. He said many already had mental health problems. “And what we have been doing here until very recently, and even now is actually adding to those mental health problems”, he said. “It’s an absolute disaster that we must not repeat.” more

Nada de publicidad asociada a la localización del usuario en aplicaciones para iPhone, es el mensaje que ha mandado Apple a los desarrolladores de su plataforma, según cuentan en Macnn. El movimiento es muy relevante porque apunta al deseo de mayor control de la explotación, Apple gana dinero con las aplicaciones de pago pero no con aquellas que son gratis con publicidad. Si a eso sumamos que Apple compró la empresa de publicidad móvil Quattro Wireless y que estamos ante el boom de los servicios basados en localización, tenemos como resultado que la entrada de la empresa de la manzana en el negocio del marketing en el móvil se va a hacer por esta vía.

De confirmarse y mantenerse esta política estamos ante un misil directo a quienes hayan basado su estrategia de futuro en la publicidad asociada a la localización y estén intentando configurarse en el interfaz en el internet móvil y la búsqueda por localización para ello, pero sobre todo a Google, candidato número a dominar a este mercado y a ser proveedor publicitario de terceros. Es de esperar que el siguiente paso sea el anuncio de un sistema de publicidad por localización “made in Apple”… o un replanteamiento de estrategias de muchas empresas que van a experimentar en sus carnes el lado oscuro de apostar por una plataforma cerrada.

Relacionado: Descubriendo que el iPhone es cerrado ¿y ahora qué?