Category: News

As reported earlier, shares of chip-maker Rambus (RMBS) were down as much as 20%. The blame? Essentially, an erroneous error caused by fat, sausage fingers hitting a keyboard. Now, according to The Fly On The Wall, NASDAQ will cancel all RMBS trades that were made at or below the $20.73/share mark NASDAQ between 13:28:00 and 13:32:00 ET.

NASDAQ says the decision cannot be appealed and will go forward. Sorry, shorts!

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See Also:

• Mayor Bloomberg Parties At The NASDAQ Marketsite
• NASDAQ Evacuated
• SEC Gives Kiss Of Approval To NASDAQ Co-Location

The graying of the Facebook population seems to have continued according to new stats released today by iStrategyLabs. And while one might expect more of the site’s now nearly 10 million users over the age of 55 to be Neil Young fans, his “Rock N’ Roll Will Never Die” refrain seems to be falling through. The listing of the term “rock and roll” as an interest is down over 60% among Facebook users in the past year.

The statistics released today pertain to the 100 million U.S.-based Facebook users, which comprise nearly one-third of the site’s entire user base. They seem to support a continuing trend for Facebook – the slow growth of young and marketable users joining the site compared with their elders. We took a look at the numbers six months ago and most of the indicators seem to be only growing stronger.

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Now, a big number to look at before anything else is Facebook’s nearly 145% growth in the past year, going from 40 million to over 100 million users since January last year. But where is this growth coming from?

When we last wrote about the graying Facebook population in July, users in the 55-plus demographic had skyrocketed from 1 million to nearly 6 million. This same population has now grown to nearly 10 million, a growth of 922% over the past year. This makes this age group now account for one of every 35 Facebook users. Is the boom in Baby Boomers a problem for Facebook or does it just open up new markets?

It seems that the numbers for users identifying as high school or college students have returned to positive growth, and the overall demographics of the site have remained steady. Despite the explosion of senior netizens on the site, the 55-plus group still make up only 9% of the site’s entire user population, just 1% more than the last time we looked.

While the over-55 group has strong numbers, the other demographic groups are still primarily responsible for the site’s exponential growth, each increasing by nearly 10 million users over the past six months.

Instead of seeing this as a problem for Facebook, maybe it’s just a sign that the site is no longer popular just among teenyboppers and cool college kids. And maybe, just maybe – if we can all figure out the privacy settings – we can all coexist without our parents and grandparents ruining the party.

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When the Palm rep emailed to pry the Pixi out of my hands, I was bummed. I had been taking it with me everywhere — to the local farmer’s market, to the gym, on my quest to find a golf course with an available tee time the day after Thanksgiving (Is there an app for that?), etc. The Pixi had become quite the pal. But alas, I sent it back knowing that we’d meet again (perhaps in the form of the rumored Verizon Pixi Plus).

It has been a while since my initial thoughts on the Pixi appeared.  With the New Year upon us, as well as the one-year anniversary of the webOS hoopla at the Consumer Electronics Show, the time seemed right to do Part 2, where I focus on the Pixi from the perspective of a Centro owner.

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Where in the world is Artie Lange? Acid-tongued radio personality Howard Stern is speaking out about his ailing sidekick, Artie Lange, who was rushed to a New Jersey hospital after falling ill over the weekend. Lange has been absent from Sirius XM’s The Howard Stern Show since early December and cancelled a New Year’s Eve engagement along with several other stand-up performances.

Stern wouldn’t reveal why Lange has been hospitalized or why he’s been mysteriously absent from the show for several weeks, saying only that he is respecting a request for privacy from Artie’s family. Howard did, however, deny reports that Artie is leaving the show and being replaced by Jim Breuer.

“We all have our demons,” said Stern, referring to the comedian’s well-publicized battles with addiction. “Artie has given this show tremendous moments of great comedy. He’s a tremendous contributor. He is a good man. Don’t forget how great he is.”

The term “clean coal” has evolved into a bit of a misnomer, as reducing carbon dioxide emissions associated with the burning of coal looks to be a costly process requiring significant increases in fuel consumption.

Originally, “clean coal” signified a number of techniques to reduce the negative effects of burning coal.  More recently, the term has changed to mean a process that greatly reduces carbon dioxide emissions.

This is where the phrase starts becoming contradictory.

OilPrice.com: It is estimated that 25-40% additional fuel will be required to process the coal in a more environmentally sound way.  Because the technology requires new coal-powered plants specifically designed for carbon capture and sequestration, the cost of energy would be 20-50% higher than traditional coal-fired plants, depending on the sequestration method use

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See Also:

• West Virginia Plans On Firing Up A Clean Coal Plant
• Clean Coal Is Too Expensive For China

Although some might reasonably argue that its bloated proportions cause it to lag significantly behind the competition (literally), the Dodge Challenger nevertheless continues to be a favorite amongst nostalgic muscle car enthusiasts and/or balding guys with a slight paunch. Since the part of that demographic that isn’t blowing their disposable income on alimony would gladly shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars to recapture the glory days of their youth, Mopar has released yet another aftermarket package for the Challenger.

The newest offering is dubbed the “Performance Appearance” Package, which achieves the same thing for the Challenger that a hairpiece does for its driver. Available in two parts, the exterior package includes body-color hood with scoop, body-color rear “Go-Wing” spoiler and strobe stripe performance graphics, while the interior package features a Mopar-branded T-handle shifter, bright pedal kit (automatic only), bright door-sill guards, premium carpet floor mats and a full vehicle cover. Prices begin at $1,995 and $945 (respectively) and do not include the ill-fitting Ed Hardy tee or the Journey’s Greatest Hits CD.

There’s been some chatter about a recovery in large commercial bank lending… but the data says otherwise.

The latest figures out of the St. Louis Fed show that once again, for the week ending December 16, lending fell sequentially from to $664.7 billion in total lending from $665.6 billion in the previous period.

That may not look huge, but in order for a recovery to happen, we’ll presumably need to seem some evidence of an expansion in lending.

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Word on the street is that Apple’s COO Tim Cook is at the top of the list to become General Motors Company’s next Chief Executive Officer. An anonymous reader of The Business Insider’s Silicon Valley Insider told the blog that Cook, who took over when CEO Steve Jobs was on medical leave, is the first choice to replace Ed Whitacre (who is currently interim CEO).

“We have no idea whether this is true or not, but it makes sense,” wrote Senior Editor Nicholas Carlson.

“Tim would be a bold choice for GM and a clean break with the car company’s past,” Carlson says. “Cars are vastly different than gadgets, but the magic Apple has brought to consumer product design could be just what GM needs to turn itself around.

GM had no comment on the rumor.

Cook is also in line for the CEO position when Jobs decides to step down. GM recently named Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell as the Detroit automaker’s CFO.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: AutoObserver

This is what happens when there’s no competition in an industry. Best Buy was the subject of Consumerist/Consumer Reports investigation re: “optimization.” Best Buy tries to sell computers to an unsuspecting public that have been “optimized” by the Geek Squad. And while the motives of the individual Geek Squad guy is probably on the up and up, the big bad corporation behind the guy in skinny black tie? The Almighty Dollar reigns supreme.

So Consumer Reports sent a bunch of folks to various Best Buy stores throughout the country to see what the deal was. You see, Best Buy advertised laptops for, say, $600, but you could only buy the laptop at that price provided you buy “optimization.” And what exactly is “optimization”?

Our Geek Squad Agents enable up to 100 system tweaks that improve PC performance and functionality, including optimized startup and shutdown, improved menu navigation, quick launch and taskbar cleanup and program shortcut creation.

Basically, you know how when you buy a computer from a retail store and it’s loaded with all sorts of trial applications that clutter up the desktop? Best Buy will get rid of all of that. In other words, Best Buy wants $39.99 to uninstall a couple of apps. Neat.

The investigation hots up when the detectives start asking questions like, “Can I buy a non-optimized laptop?” only to hear “Uh, we’re all out of non-optimized models, sorry.”

This is a long way to say that Best Buy loves upselling you on things you patently don’t need. Now, I’d recommend that people skip all of this nonsense by, say, also buying an OEM copy of Windows 7 with the purchase of your shiny new PC so you can install a pristine copy of the operating system. It takes maybe 20 minutes to install Windows 7, and you won’t have any annoying trial applications mucking up your system.

Happy now that Best Buy is the only game in town? Not me: the chain violated my civil rights, and I shan’t be going there ever again. I hold grudges. Plus, I just use Newegg like everyone else on the Internet in 2010.

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Let’s be honest for a moment: an awful lot of the stuff we cover here at CrunchGear isn’t really necessary. All the silly USB gadgets, geek gizmos, and other doodads are fun to own, but don’t make your life demonstrably better. So I was pretty excited when I was given the opportunity to review The Torch from Wicked Lasers. Billed as the world’s brightest flashlight at a whopping 4,100 lumens, this seemed like the kind of thing that might be worth having. I mean, who doesn’t like flashlights? They’re great for when the power goes out, and to take camping, and are a generally practical gadget that does make your life better.

The Torch costs $300. That’s a $300 flashlight, friends. It comes with a custom rechargeable battery, and a custom battery charger. My first indication that the Torch was more than I would ever need in a flashlight came when I realized that the battery charger included a heat sensor, to ensure that the battery didn’t overheat during the charging process.

The Wicked Lasers website has video of the Torch frying an egg, as well as lighting paper and matches on fire. I first thought “Wow!” and then I thought “Why on Earth would I need a flashlight to fry an egg?” I was skeptical that the Torch would actually light fires, so tested it for myself:

Yes, the Torch does, indeed, light fires. You’re probably thinking, like I was, that this would be a great addition to your camping gear: no more matches! Then, like me, you’d sit down and read the product manual and become disappointed. The big, custom battery for the Torch provides approximately fifteen minutes of actual use, suddenly making this a not-quite-as-useful flashlight as you first thought.

Making things even worse, you read that the Torch should only be used for about three minutes at a time, lest the thing become too hot to hold. Indeed, the Torch gets hot during use.

The only legitimate use I can find for the Torch is, surprisingly, home safety. I’m not a gun owner, so I’m at a disadvantage if my home were ever to be invaded. But with the Torch, I think I actually stand a fighting chance against an intruder. This thing is so bloody bright that it will cause severe damage to a person’s eyesight if shone directly at their face.

The Torch, I can safely say, is not going to make your life better. The only people who will want to buy the Torch are those people who insist on being able to say that they own the brightest flashlight in the world. And I’ll wager that these people never actually use the Torch once they buy it.

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What 10-year graph best sums up the aughts: Housing prices, global trade, China’s growth or US household borrowing? Economist Michael Mandel presents his four most important economic graphs of the decade. I offer one more.

1) The boom and bust in housing prices clearly
epitomizes the decade. What’s more, in 2000 nobody in their right mind
would have predicted that the boom lasted as long as it did. Downside:
The gyrations in the housing market may be a symptom of deeper
problems, much like a fever is a symptom rather than a disease in its
own right (The chart below is drawn from the Case-Shiller price
indexes)

2) Globalization has been one of the main themes of this decade-and nothing illustrates globalization more than the rise in exports as a share of global GDP.
In 1999, global exports were about 22.7% of global GDP, as measured by
the International Monetary Fund. By 2008, that number was 32. 3% before
plummeting in 2009. Downside: There may be systematic double-counting,
as companies break up production into smaller and smaller pieces.

3) Chinese economic growth would have been one of
the runner-ups for the Economic Statistics of the Decade for the 1990s.
Chinese economy growth averaged an astounding 10% peryear in that
decade, and looks like it’s going to get to the same level again in
this decade. Downside: No one is really sure whether to trust the
Chinese economic statistics or not.

4) Finally, we come to U.S. household borrowing, which
probably is the clearest reflection of the financial crisis. In this
decade the U.S. household sector amped up its borrowing from $500
billion in 1999 to $1.2 trillion in 2006, before dramatically cutting
debt in 2009. Downside: This number from the Federal Reserve includes
domestic hedge funds and nonprofit organizations, making it a bit tough
to interpret.

As for me, I wish he had included this graph below (also via Mandel) which nicely sums up America’s private sector problem. Our 10-year net growth in jobs is quite positive in health, education and government, but negative in everything else.

Filed under: Deals, iPhone

TUAW reader Conrad N. tipped us off to a nice 3G iPhone deal this morning. Buy.com is offering an 8GB 3G for just $430 with free shipping. While I wouldn’t classify this as a red hot deal (a 3GS would have qualified) it’s not bad for anyone who wants to pick up an inexpensive contract-free unit, for generous interpretations of the word “inexpensive”.

The 3G model works right out of the box with any AT&T SIM, although AT&T encourages you to sign up for an iPhone-specific plan. If you’re only interested in basic phone service without data, you can buy a $10 O2 SIM at Best Buy (it’s a re-branded AT&T SIM) good for 3 months of use, at 5 cents a text message and 17 cents per minute of airtime. That’s great for developers who want to add a telephony-ready unit into their testing arsenal without signing up for a full contract, who don’t want to use the phone except for testing and occasional use.

If you want to use data, however, your best economy bet probably lies in jailbreaking and unlocking (with a tool like blackra1n or pwnage) and using one of T-Mobile’s better-priced data plans. But be aware: because T-Mobile uses a different 3G frequency than AT&T, their data plans can only use EDGE service when accessed on the iPhone 3G. Want to use an existing AT&T data-plan enabled SIM? It should work out of the box but AT&T generally disapproves of that approach, and may (ahem) “encourage” you to upgrade to a (contract-enforced) official iPhone plan.

So is the 3G a good iPhone to buy for four-hundred-plus dollars? Recall that the 3G is just a 1st generation system (model 1,2 — i.e. 1st gen, 2nd iteration) with a few extra bells, whistles, and case design beyond the original model. The 3GS (model 2,1) is a far better system in terms of processor power and features, and we’re half a year out from what will likely be the next (model 3,1) iPhone, let alone any (possibly mythical) tablet. I’d call this a “warm deal” at best.

TUAWContract-free refurb 8GB 3G $430 with free shipping originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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