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Category: News

  • Why Aren’t Banks Lending? Because They’re Being Rational

    obamageithnerFrom The Big Picture:

    President Obama met with a dozen small banks yesterday, urging them to keep lending.

    He did not have to tell that to this group — about 6500 mostly AAA rated, regional and community banks — who have been happily lending away. Its how they earn their money.

    The larger banks, on the other hand, are the ones who have cut back lending dramatically. This is especially true of the 10 biggest banks.

    Why?

    It’s the rational thing to do.

    These banks STILL have too much debt, too little capital. They books are festooned with bad loans, which, thanks to our corrupt Congress, they no longer have to disclose appropriately. Thanks to Mark-to-Make-Believe, they can pretend these assets are worth near what they paid for them. In reality, they cannot sell them even at 50% off.

    Lending money is a risky business; there is the possibility of loss. Under-capitalized banks cannot take that chance. By not lending, their capital base goes up. IT is the rational thing to do from their perspective.

    Rather than engage in traditional money lending, these banks have decided to simply borrow from the Fed at 0%, and make risk free loans to the Treasury at 3%.

    And, these banks are not lending because the way the Fed/Treasury bailouts were structured, they are encouraged NOT TO LEND.

    Why? They need to rebuild their capital levels after 30 years of declining safeguards and capital ratios.

    This is yet another unintended consequence of bailing reckless bankers from their folly. Their place in the economy is so distorted, as to become nearly economically meaningless . . .



     

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  • Crashing Fast?

    Around 10:00 last night my son came rushing out of his room heading for the kitchen saying that he felt like he was crashing-he’s only did this one other time since his Oct 09 diagnosis his BS then was 54 and already showed signs of a mild hypo. He is still honeymooning which has been very difficult because we dont know how much insulin he’s actually gonna push out on his own.. he has had no insulin for weeks now-He tests about 7-8 times a day averages 110 in the am typically goes to the 60-70’s mid morning and then peaks at around 150 after lunch and dinner. He was 157 before 6:00 dinner with no insulin as he was only having a 10 carb chicken/veggie burrito- as we are early in his diagnosis we were told to use a 120 average at a 40-1 carb ratio.. he usually has a snack after dinner but didnt last night; not snacking is what brought this on I’m sure.. He knows that he is supposed to treat, test and then eat- but.. he tested 1st @ 72…he was in a bit of a panic and immediately drank a bottled water.. hmm.. However, he really seemed ok; Obviously I told him that water would not help a low and gave him a bit of OJ and he ate a light wheat sugar free PBJ sandwich (a part of his daily life now), he has been at 60 before with no symptoms so I was not overly concerned at this point with a 72 but after the ate he immediately started to show classic signs of a low-confused, totally spaced out, feeling extremely heavy to the point he could’nt move, his pupils were huge and he was very pale but no sweating: I retested and he was 96.. I even set up a different meter and tested he was 116 and still just totally whacked out of it.. Then as quickly as it came on it was like magic his color came back and he was back to normal.. he did have a few small red bumps pop up on his palms… hmmm.. they are gone this morning. Any ideas as to what the heck happened here??? Now I’m totally paranoid to leave him alone.. what if he gets confused again and drinks water???:dontknow: We have a endo apt early Jan. Not sure if a pump would help at this point.. Mom would sincerely appreciate any input from you guys…

  • Look What Commodity Has Trounced Gold This Decade

    Sugar! This complete list of the top-performing commodities of the decade comes via The Oil Trader’s blog.

    commodities

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  • Holiday Travel Nightmare: Amtrak Trains In And Out Of New York City Halted

    amtrak tbi

    Your Christmas travel plans just got screwed.

    The AP reports:

    Amtrak says power problems have halted trains coming in and out of New York City.

    Amtrak spokesman Clifford Cole says a low voltage problem near North Bergen, N.J., forced the railroad to halt trains into and out of New York’s Penn Station at around 8:45 a.m. Wednesday.

    He says he doesn’t know what caused the problem.

    New Jersey Transit spokesman Dan Stessel says trains on the Northeast Corridor, North Jersey Coast Line and Midtown Direct are affected.

    Some trains are stranded just outside Penn Station. Others are stuck between Newark and New York City.

    Stessel says the trains have enough electricity to power the lights and heat but not the engines.

    Trains and buses run by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey are honoring New Jersey Transit rail passes.

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  • Hoodialyte Review

    HoodialyteHoodialyte is “the silver bullet that gives you the edge to make it through the whole day of dieting” (website). This Hoodialyte review will explore the ingredients contained in Hoodialyte as well as discuss the cost in order to help you decide if this is the right product for you.

    Hoodialyte Ingredients

    Vitamin C (1 mg) is important to good health, but it does not cause weight loss.
    Sodium (2mg) does not cause weight loss.
    Energy Blend 1750 mg
    L-Carnitine has not proven to significantly contribute to weight loss.
    L-Tyrosine has been proven to contribute to weight loss when included in doses of 500 to 1500 mg per day. Since Hoodialyte fails to list how much Tyrosine it contains, this Hoodialyte review is unable to determine if the amount of Tyrosine contained in Hoodialyte is enough to contribute to weight loss.
    Malic Acid has not been proven an effective diet pill ingredient.
    Hoodia Pure Extract (400 mg) is merely hype. There is NO scientific evidence to prove that hoodia actually contributes to weight loss.
    Green Tea (150 mg) is a proven diet pill ingredient. When taken in doses of 300 mg per day, green tea does cause weight loss.
    Pomegranate Fruit (80 mg) is an excellent antioxidant; it does not cause weight loss.
    Acai Fruit (75 mg) is another hyped-up diet pill ingredient. Although acai does contain antioxidants, it does not cause weight loss.
    Oolong Tea (75 mg) contains caffeine, which has been proven to contribute to weight loss.
    Yohimbine Bark (15 mg) .

    Hoodialyte Cost

    Hoodialyte costs $11.99 for 6 bottles (there is a discount for buying in bulk). If you follow the recommended dosage of 3 bottles per day (one before each meal), Hoodialyte will cost you nearly $200 per month. This Hoodialyte review finds this is far too expensive for this product. While Hoodialyte does contain some effective ingredients, you can get a diet pill with the same ingredients for much less money.

    Hoodialyte Website

    The Hoodialyte website contains some interesting (and amusing) statements. They claim, “Extreme weight loss may occur. Remember to eat every day” (website).

    If you are looking for some cash and prizes, enter the Hoodialyte Challenge. Just send your Before and After photos from using Hoodialyte. One male and one female will win a tropical vacation plus $1000 cash. It seems a little strange. How can they verify it is really you in the photos and that you haven’t just doctored the photos (or that you actually took Hoodialyte in the first place).

    Hoodialyte Conclusion

    The real question is whether or not Hoodialyte will cause weight loss. The answer: it probably will. However, this Hoodialyte review finds Hoodialyte is way too expensive. You can get the same weight loss results from several other diet pills that cost far less.

  • Engadget: Nexus One Will Be “Invitation Only” At First

    Engadget just scooped everyone with an exclusive look at the Nexus One specs and a few preliminary details.  First, the “bad” news.  The Nexus One (N1) be available only by “invitation” at first. Their source didn’t have any specifics on how the invitesbe be determined other than it will be Google doing the inviting.  The good news is that, down the road, T-Mobile will offer the phone directly.

    • 3.7-inch WVGA AMOLED screen
    • Memory: 512MB ROM, 512MB RAM
    • 4 GB MicroSD card (expandable to 32GB)
    • 5-megapixel camera with autofocus, 2X digital zoom, LED flash
    • UMTS 1/4/8 (2100/AWS/900)
    • HSDPA 7.5Mbps, HSUPA 2Mbps up to 5.76Mbps
    • GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
    • WiFi (802.11 a,b,g,n), Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, A2DP stereo Bluetooth
    • AGPS, compass, accelerometer
    • Weight: 130g with battery
    • Dimensions: 119mmx59.8mmx11.5mm
    • Teflon-coated back cover
    • 3.5mm headset jack
    • Second microphone for active noise cancellation
    • Proximity sensor, light sensor
    • 1400 mAH battery



    We know you have something to say about this thing… Let’s hear it!

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  • Happy Festivus!

    For the rest of us.

    And now, the airing of the grievances.

  • Bugatti Trademarks 16C Galibier Sedan

    Volkswagen Group has submitted a trademark application for the design Bugatti 16C Galibier concept, as reported by carscoop.com.

    The application was submitted to the World Intelectual Property Organization (WIPO), which offers acces to patent and trademark design in 184 countries among which China is included.

    The trademark was applied for the concept, so there is no new info available about the car. However, the simple fact that the application has been submitted m… (read more)

  • Expedit shelving unit as an open kitchen bar

    Solangie transformed an Expedit shelving unit into a bar counter for an open kitchen. Nice one.

    “I bought the Expedit shelving unit and placed it horizontally. Then went to Home Depot and bought two peace of lumber 2×4 and made a base to bring it up by 7″. Also I got a plywood, cut it to fit the shelving unit (I wanted to hide it and not leave open on both sides) and spray painted the plywood black. I used the Lagan countertop which only cost $40 dollars for 8′. And here is my result.”


  • unable to access my yahoo e-mail

    In the last couple of days, i’ve been unable to get into my personal e-mail account at work. I get a "program not responding" message and then a "hung-app" message. I have run the antivirus check and my computer has no viruses detected. I have another yahoo account I use and it’s okay.

    What can I do to get into my account? It lets me put in the login and password, actually pulls up the e-mail screen showing "X" number of messages, but it never shows me the actual messages.

    BTW, I can get into this account on my laptop at home.

  • Two New Technologies May Bring Down Costs for Hydrogen Cars

    Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Princeton University have teamed up to improve both the cost and durability of platinum based fuel cells. And faculty and students at the University of Idaho will be using high tech X-rays to study the chemical reaction properties of rhodium and ruthenium for storing hydrogen at the nano-scale.

    In regard to the fuel cell, the wear and tear on the hydrogen passing over the platinum causes the platinum to either break off or clump. PNNL and Princeton are developing a carbon support to slow down this process and lower the cost of fuel cells.

    Sliced graphite or functionalized graphene sheets (FGS) were used and treated with a platinum catalyst. This arrangement showed more durability and surface area than previous methods.

    And in regard to the University of Idaho (and PNNL) studying new storage methods for hydrogen may reduce the size of the tanks needed for cars. They will be using a $500,000,000 X-ray machine from the Argonne National Laboratory to study the reactions of rhodium and ruthenium with hydrogen.

    According to University of Idaho professor Tom Bitterwolf, “One of the cool parts of this project is that it requires about a half-a-billion dollar light bulb. So the physics will be done with the Advanced Proton Source at Argonne. But the preparations and analytics will be done in Moscow and at PNNL.”

  • Waving Goodbye to 2009

  • “Green” Yearbooks? We’re Getting There!

    In my daughter’s backpack this morning, I discovered a note about school pictures, soon to be delivered. That brings to mind the topic of yearbooks. Here’s a product that has everything wrong with it from an environmental standpoint — coated paper (making the paper difficult to recycle), tons of ink, lots of unnecessary pages, and never recycled.

    As schools and other educational institutions plan for next year’s yearbook process, is there a way to make it more environmentally friendly?

    Read more of this story »

  • Morgan Stanley: These 10 Trades Will Make You Rich In 2010

    morgan stanleyMorgan Stanley has released its top 10 trades for 2010.

    Among the themes: Keep buying stocks, keep buying large caps, but hold off on investing in banks.

    Click here to see their strategy ->

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  • Chimps Don’t Run From Fire—They Dance With It | 80beats

    wildfireflamesWhen it comes to understanding fire, chimpanzees might have a leg up not only on the rest of the animal kingdom, but also on those of us in the human species who would sprint in the other direction at the sight of a blaze. A study published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology argues that these primates don’t panic when the flames start, and could even understand the basics about how fire behaves.

    Primatologist Jill Pruetz has been observing chimps in Senegal since 2001, but it was in 2006 that she first noticed how the animals reacted to wildfire. When people in the area set fires to clear the land, the chimps refused to tuck tail and run. “It was the end of the dry season, so the fires burn so hot and burn up trees really fast, and they were so calm about it,” Pruetz said of the chimps. “They were a lot better than I was, that’s for sure” [LiveScience].

    For her study, Pruetz divided up the mastery that humans have over fire in three cognitive steps: understanding how it behaves, learning to contain and control it, and figuring out how to start one. Most animals fail the first step, reacting by instinct. West African reed frogs flee at the sound of fire, brush-tailed bettongs in Australia become dazed and confused, and stress hormones jump in African elephants [ScienceNOW].

    As the flames neared her chimps, however, they didn’t flee. If they had, it would have required long travel in the open sun in 110-degree temperatures with scarce water supply. Instead, she said the chimps reacted calmly. They monitored the fire, moved to keep out of its way, and in doing so, minimized the amount of energy they expended to stay safe [Des Moines Register]. Pruetz even documented the males doing a series of exaggerated motions she dubbed the “fire dance,” a nod to the so-called “rain dance” Jane Goodall documented in chimps. And, she said, the chimps uttered a distinct sound in response to approaching fire.

    Pruetz’s paper probably kick up a few arguments over what this really means—whether chimps really “learn” how fire behaves, and whether that shows how early humans might have learned to control fire, which scientists like Richard Wrangham argue was a critical step in our evolution. In any case, if you find yourself stuck in a Senegal wildfire, follow the chimps.

    Related Content:
    80beats: Boom Boom Krak-oo! Have Monkeys Demonstrated Syntax?
    80beats: Chimps Catch Contagious Yawns from Cartoons
    80beats: Chimp Gathers Stones for “Premeditated” Attacks on Zoo Visitors
    Discoblog: Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires—But Maybe You Shouldn’t
    DISCOVER: Aping Culture—what’s left to separate chimps from us?

    Image: flickr / cnynfreelancer


  • After Copenhagen, Is It Time for Geo-Engineering?

    The debacle in Copenhagen already spawned one cottage industry—the blame game. The fiasco might have another, longer-lasting effect: Giving fresh momentum to geo-engineering.

    The idea of tinkering with the earth’s climate to keep temperatures down—whether that means seeding clouds, spraying particles into the atmosphere, or building huge sunshades—already had appeal in certain circles. Bjorn Lomborg’s Copenhagen Consensus—no relation to the star-crossed climate conference—recently gave a hearty thumbs-up to the idea of making clouds whiter to reflect more sunshine, for instance.

    For some folks leery of the whole idea of curbing greenhouse-gas emissions, geo-engineering offers a seemingly attractive techno-fix—and a cheaper one, too boot. You might recall a recent dustup involving geo-engineering and a pair of best-selling authors. Lou Grinzo even wonders if Chinese reticence at Copenhagen might not have something to do with the idea of becoming a big player in geo-engineering in a decade or two when the world urgently needs a quick fix.

    The big question is: Will climate engineering get more appealing the less progress is actually made at cutting greenhouse-gas emissions? Copenhagen certainly lowered the bar for global action on emissions; there’s plenty of worry that even the best-case scenario envisioned by the UN won’t prevent a dangerous rise in temperatures. Chris Mooney at Mother Jones anticipated a Copenhagen failure would put the spotlight back on geo-engineering.

    But the big problem with geo-engineering are the “unknown unknowns”—even if such schemes actually work to keep temperatures in check, nobody really knows what else they’ll do. MIT Technology Review has a great takeout on the pros and cons—mostly cons, actually—of climate engineering. That includes the fear that countries might resort to using geo-engineering schemes unilaterally.

    Which suggests that all the buzz around geo-engineering might just have one other side effect: It could drive a lot of the countries around the world back to the negotiating table, in a bid to find some way to govern the geo-engineering genie, if not lock it back in the bottle.

    In that sense, the diplomatic meltdown at Copenhagen might yet have a more productive diplomatic denouement.


  • Call of Duty: World at War map packs bundled for your convenience

    Here’s a gift idea: a copy of Call of Duty: World at War along with all the map packs released for the game so far. Sounds good? Here’s more good news: Activision has made buying the game’s

  • The best software for converting video to BlackBerry format

    The BlackBerry has become a multimedia machine over the past few years, especially now that new models boast a high-res screen. Yet one of the most frequent complaints we get is how difficult (or convoluted) it is to transfer regular video files to the BlackBerry. The video on your computer sometimes isn’t optimized for viewing on your handheld. In order to view files, you’ll have to reduce the resolution to fit your BlackBerry screen. Thankfully, we’ve seen a number of applications over the years which can do just that. In this post we’ll run down a few of our favorites. If we don’t cover what you use, let us know in the comments or send an email (jpawlikowski at bbgeeks) and we’ll add it to the post.

    (more…)

  • Rumour Has It: Tablet Announcement as Early as January

    Source: Piper Jaffray

    Whaddya mean, you’re skeptical about reports regarding an upcoming Tablet announcement? When did you last hear a major publisher report exciting Tablet news from unnamed sources? Oh, wait.

    Earlier in the week the Wall Street Journal reported on the rumors of Apple’s forays into television content subscription. It also made a passing reference to the tablet coming “by the end of March.” And we’d have left it at that, except that yesterday the Financial Times also chimed in with a little more on the same theme:

    Apple is preparing an announcement next month that many anticipate will be the official unveiling of its tablet, but the company has so far declined to confirm the existence of the device. Wall Street analysts expect mass production of an Apple tablet to begin as early as February.


    Of course, when it comes to reporting about Apple’s fabled Tablet device, no one ever properly cites their sources. Instead, we get fleeting, nebulous references to shady characters and nameless insiders: “Sources close to Apple told us…” or “An executive familiar with the matter revealed…” Occasionally, some enterprising analyst stares at a spreadsheet for a while and makes up some bold predictions — and then they get named as sources, their prophecies presented almost as iron-clad statements of previously super-occluded fact.

    Even worse, it’s not hard to imagine that sometimes ( just occasionally) those same analysts become the mysterious, unidentified sources of privileged insider information, referred to almost casually as “sources with intimate knowledge of Apple.” While that’s not technically incorrect, it’s still wildly misleading. And unethical, too.

    Of course, I’m not suggesting venerable publishers such as the Wall Street Journal or the Financial Times get up to these shenanigans. However, it’s at least interesting to note that earlier this month, and reported by AppleInsider, Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner offered much the same predictions for a first-quarter 2010 Tablet launch;

    Reiner…revealed his latest tablet news in a note to investors issued Wednesday morning.

    “Our checks into Apple’s supply chain indicate the manufacturing cogs for the tablet are creaking into action and should begin to hit a mass market stride in February,” the note said.

    Reiner said Apple would likely need at least five or six weeks of inventory built up before it can release the product, positioning a likely launch in March or April.

    Now, I don’t know about you, but when I read that an analyst has revealed his “latest” news about Apple’s super-duper-secret-history-making-miracle-tablet, I gotta assume that doesn’t mean his latest morsels of juicy, hitherto-unknown insider information, but rather, his “latest roundup of most reasonable rumors and assumptions gathered from around the Internet.” I guess it depends on your level of cynicism, how badly you want the Tablet, and how you choose to read between the lines.

    Either way, the WSJ and the FT are in competition with one another. One mustn’t be outdone by the other — even if that means reporting “old” news that isn’t really news at all. It’s conjecture from a man who doesn’t claim to have inside knowledge, but just looked into Apple’s “supply chain” and offered some best guesses. That is, after all, what analysts do. You can do the same thing, by the way, just by gathering together a half dozen industry trade-press magazines.

    Mind you, that line which begins “Apple is preparing an announcement next month…” is pretty specific, isn’t it? Specific without actually telling us anything, but then, that’s what the rumor mill is all about these days, right?

    Frankly, I’m growing tired of all these rumors — Apple can’t release this thing soon enough, as far as I’m concerned, if only so we can finally put all this frothy prognostication behind us!

    UPDATE: Boy Genius Report is now reporting that its own inside source is reporting a 7-inch Apple tablet launch in January is a 100 percent certainty. Looks like we may not have to wait much longer to put the rumors to rest.

  • Giz Editor Plays with Nexus One, Shares Impressions

    Let’s just this right off the top.  If there is anyone in Northeastern Ohio with a Nexus One, email me.  I will drive to meet you.  I can’t take the jealousy that’s boiling up inside of me.

    Jason Chen, an editor for Gizmodo, just gloated to shared with his readers that he was able play with a Nexus One and put it through some paces.  Naturally, he wasn’t able to take any pictures.  We’ve gone through and pulled out the quotes we think you’ll enjoy the most.

    • It’s basically, from my time with it, Google’s Droid killer. It’s thin, it’s fast, it’s better in every way.
    • The phone is slightly thinner than the iPhone 3GS, and slightly lighter.  The back is definitely not cheap and plasticky, like the iPhone’s backing, and feels like some sort of rubbery material. So, not smooth like the iPhone, but not as rubbery as the Droid. It’s halfway in-between.
    • It feels long and silky and natural in your hand—even more so than the iPhone 3GS.
    • Even though the screen is the same size and same resolution as the Droid, it’s noticeably better. The colors are much more vibrant and the blacks are blacker…made the Droid seem washed out. The same feeling carries over when you compare the Nexus with the iPhone 3GS.   This is probably the best screen we’ve seen on a smartphone so far. Probably.
    • Nexus One is astonishingly faster than the Droid.
    • Even though it doesn’t have a hardware keyboard, it basically beats the hell out of the Droid in every single task that we threw at it.

    Chen does speak more in-depth about the internet experience, noting that it bests the iPhone and Droid in almost all tests.  As we’ve heard whispered, the animated backgrounds are interactive and could  make for some fun, interactive apps.  The camera and speakers are good, not great, with both about what most smart phones are offering.   As mentioned by others, the browser does not have multitouch.

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