Speaking at a Google Zeitgeist event in Hertfordshire, Brian Johnson, the Mayor of London, has announced bold plans to cover the entire London metropolitan area with a wi-fi mesh. The entire project must be carried out until the 2012 Summer Olympics organized by the British capital.
Devices will be installed in … (read more)
Instead of inflation, April’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) indicates slight deflation. Prices fell by 0.1% compared to March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. April’s change met expectations and was the first decline in prices since March 2009. As long as prices are flat to falling, it’s hard to take short-term inflation concerns seriously.
The following chart emphasizes just how low inflation has been over the past year:
April’s decline was led by energy prices, which were down 1.4% for the month. Food prices rose slightly, by 0.2%. This resulted in ever-important core inflation — the measure that excludes food and energy — remaining unchanged for the month. That was slightly below the 0.1% rise economists predicted. Here’s another chart that smooths core CPI with a trailing 3-month average:
Remember, the vertical axis above only maxes out at 0.3%, which stresses just how low core inflation has been since the recession began. Considering this chart, in conjunction with the earlier one, it looks like full and core CPI are both experiencing a downward price trend since last June.
Combining today’s CPI news and yesterday’s report indicating producer prices were also slightly deflationary, it’s crystal clear that inflation is currently under control. In fact, there may be reason to worry more about deflation, if the trend noted above continues through summer.
Although we will also learn May’s inflation reading before the next Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meeting in late June, April’s price data indicates there’s little chance its economists will feel any new urgency to soak up monetary supply sooner than planned. Unemployment — which rose to 9.9% in April — remains the bigger immediate threat to the U.S. economy.
Note: All data above is seasonally adjusted.
(Nav Image Credit: [sic]/flickr)
Inflation – Consumer Price Index – Bureau of Labor Statistics – Federal Reserve System – Recession
It is an intuitive combination, and most individuals who get into or install clean energy on their home or business probably also pay good attention to energy efficiency in the building. However, you don’t often see a company focused on both issues.
2010 Lexus LS
Toyota has said that it will recall 4,500 Lexus LS models in Japan and another 7,000 units overseas to fix a computerized steering problem. The company said it has received 12 complaints about the problem in Japan, but has no reports of any accidents worldwide, according to spokesman Paul Nolasco.
The recall involves a computerized system that oversees how the steering wheel controls the tires. The steering system is standard on Japanese models but is optional on some units sold overseas.
The system varies the amount that the steering wheel turns the tires on the car, allowing the driver to turn the wheel less at low speeds when attempting to navigate or park in a tight spot. It also provides finer control at high speeds. According Nolasco, the system can take “a few seconds” to return the steering to normal after it has been adjusted.
The recall includes a total of 11,500 units of the Lexus LS, including 3,800 in the United States.
– By: Omar Rana
Source: Detroit News
The seventh season of Entourage — starring Jeremy Piven, Kevin Dillon, and Adrien Grenier — kicks off June 27.
BoingBoing relays an entertaining name-calling tirade from Hurt Locker producer Nicolas Chartier, who responds with a vengeance to a writer who told him he’d boycott his company Voltage Picture’s films because it’s suing people who illegally downloaded the film.
The email:
Hi Nicholas, please feel free to leave your house open every time you go out and please tell your family to do so, please invite people in the streets to come in and take things from you, not to make money out of it by reselling it but just to use it for themselves and help themselves. If you think it’s normal they take my work for free, I’m sure you will give away all your furniture and possessions and your family will do the same. I can also send you my bank account information since apparently you work for free and your family too so since you have so much money you should give it away… I actually like to pay my employees, my family, my bank for their work and like to get paid for my work. I’m glad you’re a moron who believes stealing is right. I hope your family and your kids end up in jail one day for stealing so maybe they can be taught the difference. Until then, keep being stupid, you’re doing that very well. And please do not download, rent, or pay for my movies, I actually like smart and more important HONEST people to watch my films.
Chartier is the producer who was banned from the Oscars ceremony for talking smack about Avatar.
Piracy is wrong, but so is wishing for the arrest of one’s children. At least Chartier didn’t go the Mike Tyson route and express interest in eating them.
Hurt Locker producer: criticizing our lawsuits makes you a moron and a thief [BoingBoing]
The company that kicked off the netbook craze is reported to be working on a netbook that uses a phone plugged into the device for connectivity. ASUS is looking at the modular phone system by Modu to provide connectivity on an as-needed basis by popping the phone into a slot designed for that purpose. This method would allow owners to have mobile connectivity with a single data plan on the phone.
I first broached this concept a year ago, and I think it is a valid opportunity for companies wishing to push the envelope. My method carries the ASUS concept further by using a high-end Android phone for the modular connectivity. The notebook would be a smartbook more than a netbook, with the processor and storage all provided by the Android phone. This would make the smartbook side of the duo cheap to produce, as the phone would have all of the computing power onboard. The owner would have a full Android smartbook when needed, yet be able to pull the phone out and go when it is not. This means the phone is state of the art, and the smartbook is adequately powered as a result.
I hope ASUS brings such a netbook to market; it would be a welcome innovation. I don’t believe that the target buyer would settle for a phone that was not a full-blown smartphone, however, so hopefully this would be addressed. Simple connectivity is not going to be enough to make this product successful. It will need to be a no-compromise duo to have a chance for success.
Related research on GigaOM Pro (sub. req’d): To Win In the Mobile Market, Focus On Consumers
Google-powered Android phones and iPhones are both gobbling up market share. The combined worldwide market share of both operating systems reached 25 percent in the first quarter, up from 12 percent the year before, according to Gartner. The iPhone still has a bigger share, at 15.4 percent (up 5 points), but Android is catching up fast with 9.6 percent (up 8 points). All other smartphones lost relative share during the quarter, even RIM Blackberries, although they still grew in absolute numbers (see table below)
Android is now the fourth largest smartphone operating system, displacing Windows Mobile, which is now No. 5. The iPhone OS is No. 3, RIM is No. 2, and Symbian is still No. 1 on a worldwide basis. If you look at all mobile phone sales, RIM is No. 4 with 3.4 percent share, and the iPhone is No. 7 with 2.7 percent share.
Filed under: Motorsports, Toyota
It might seem redundant to call a racing series that bills itself as the pinnacle of motorsports “elitist” but that’s precisely what Toyota’s Senior Managing Director for motorsports, Tadashi Yamashina, said during this weekend’s 24 Hours of Nurburgring. Toyota withdrew from Formula one at the end of the 2009 season and according to Yamashina the automaker isn’t likely to ever return.
According to Yamashina, Formula One has become so disconnected from mainstream fans over the past two decades that it makes no sense for the company to be involved in the sport. When Akio Toyoda took over as CEO last year he decided that Toyota’s racing activities should be in series where the average fan is more directly involved. That means we’ll see Toyotas running in venues like NASCAR and GT racing. Perhaps we’ll see Toyota in the American Le Mans Series one day. We know the series would certainly welcome more hybrid racers.
[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req.]
Report: Toyota exec calls F1 “elitest,” vows not to return originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 19 May 2010 08:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Finally! A Bravo reality show that doesn’t feature aspiring clothing designers or spoiled suburban housewives. In this new side-splitting sketch from the comedy geniuses at FunnyOrDie.com, an all grown up Fred Savage hosts Prince Rapist — a dating series that features a blue-collar guy, a prince, and a convicted sex offender vying for the affections of one unassuming woman.
by Julian Ku
Interesting article from Reuters on the growth of drone warfare under the Obama administration. One interesting note: drone attacks are being contemplated for Yemen, Somalia, and even against pirates. Also, the key explanation for the Drone Wars appears to be the legal problems created by capturing, interrogating, and detaining individuals.
Some current and former counterterrorism officials say an unintended consequence of these decisions may be that capturing wanted militants has become a less viable option. As one official said: “There is nowhere to put them.”
A former U.S. intelligence official, who was involved in the process until recently, said: “I got the sense: ‘What the hell do we do with this guy if we get him?’ It’s not the primary consideration but it has to be a consideration.”
Do you remember the CEREVO CAM, the social camera that directly uploads pictures to the web (via Wi-Fi or 3G) from last year? Unfortunately, the shoot-and-upload camera is still available only in Japan (where it went on sale in December last year), but its maker, Tokyo-based startup Cerevo [JP] just announced a quite cool new function: The camera now supports Ustream broadcasting.
Cerevo says its new camera, dubbed CEREVO CAM live!, is the first that boasts this feature. Users will be able to directly livestream video from their device over Ustream, without needing a PC or any other kind of hardware (owners of previous models get the function through a firmware update).
Video is streamed in the CIF (352×288 resolution) format. A full charge is enough to livestream for about two hours.
Movies can be shot in HD (1,280×720 resolution), WVGA (800×480), VGA (640×480), and “WEB” (320×240). A full charge is enough to livestream for about two hours. And users can let the camera upload video content automatically to YouTube, too (video format: MPEG-4).
Technically, the device hasn’t changed. It still features a 9MP CMOS sensor, Wi-Fi 802.11n (b/g/n), 3G HSUPA support, a USB port, a MicroSD card slot, and a 2.4-inch LCD.
In Japan, Cerevo is selling the CEREVO CAM live! for $216 (a special Ustream set that includes a wide conversion lens, a 4GB microSD card and a mini tripod costs $20 more). The company is planning to go international with the device this summer (it already offers an interface in English).
Article Tags: Will Alexander
Wednesday 19 May 2010
Email 12/10
CLIMATE CHANGE – RIP
The attached memo 12/10 and its illustrations are an appropriate ending to my series of memos during the past eight years. Feel free to pass this on to anybody who has an interest.
Warning:
The photographs are not suitable for study by sensitive Western viewers. Perhaps they will understand why increasing the welfare of these people should be humanity’s principal objective – not all those millions of dollars and hundreds of hours spent on fruitless research efforts related to climate change.
Regards,
Will
Click PDF file to download latest and maybe the last report from Will Alexander
File attachment: Climate Change May It Rest In Peace.pdf
Credit cards are great to pay for shiny things and get further in debt. But you can also make their concierge services to obey your every desire, from finding an out-of-stock gadget to a bathtub full of cheese. Here’s how. More »
Business – Home – Personal Finance – Money Management – Credit
Miley Cyrus was the guest star of the show “Dancing With The Stars“ which premiered live for the first time her new song, “Can not Be Tamed. ”
The producers warned Miley that her show should be tempered with the movements because it’s a family show. During the period of the song Miley showed that the role of good girl is gone for good and that from now on is a new artist in the picture. Miley Cyrus showed crafted choreography that was devised by Jamal Sims, who has also worked with Madonna on her last tour. The staging was a success and the audience cheered.
Miley Cyrus – Can’t Be Tamed – Live – Dancing With The Stars
Related posts:
Fed governors and market gurus have been warning about the threat of inflation to the United States economy — but there remains no sign of prices rising at worrying rates. Indeed, this morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a slight deflation in the price of consumer goods in April — a decline of 0.1 percent. Over the past year, the Consumer Price Index has increased 2.2 percent.
The single-month downturn does not signal that the United States is in for a troubling period of deflation. It is due to a drop in energy commodity prices, particularly a 2.4 percent decline in the cost of gasoline. Most other prices, for things like food and cars, drifted slightly upward. Core CPI — a better measure of underlying inflation — did not budge in April. Year-over-year, it is 0.9 percent, the lowest rate since 1966.
Were the CPI to show stronger growth, indicating increasing inflation, it would put pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise short-term interest rates.
The Securities and Exchange Commission may be doing its best to enhance up its public image these days, but a new report (.pdf) criticizes its past performance. The Republican wing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, lead by Sen. Darrell Issa (R-CA), released the scathing document this week criticizing the regulator. It provides 10 findings of inadequacy and provides five recommendations for improvement. The report explains that the SEC’s problems are fundamental in nature, so deep reform is necessary.
So where did the SEC go wrong? If you haven’t seen anything screwed up in the financial markets over the past few years, then you really haven’t been paying attention. They missed a few big Ponzi schemes, including those run by Bernard Madoff and R. Allen Stanford. They didn’t do their job to adequately oversee investment banks, which partially led to the collapse of a few and the near-demise of them all. They also missed the opportunity to eliminate gray areas or wrongdoing that existed in the financial markets that helped create the financial crisis.
As you might guess, some of the findings had to do with precisely these failings. Here are all 10 (summarized):
How does the report say these problems should be remedied? It recommends Congress requires the SEC to do the following (also summarized):
Considering the regulator’s massive failures over the past decade, these requirements sound pretty reasonable. The SEC serves a vital function in the financial markets. If it cannot perform its job adequately, then something needs to change. In particular, its staff must possess the understanding, collaboration, culture, and drive to uncover fraud and identify activities that can lead to problems in the market.
The entire 33-page report contains a lot of fascinating detail regarding specific findings. You can find it here (.pdf).
Allen Stanford – Bernard Madoff – U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission – SEC – Business
Cnet has an article on a new smart grid pilot in Japan – Mitsubishi plugs in smart-grid pilot project.
Mitsubishi Electric on Monday said it will invest about $76 million in a smart-grid project, part of a companywide push into equipment for modernizing the electricity grid.
The company will create two installations–a residential-size building and a commercial facility–which will have on-site power generation through photovoltaic panels and local energy storage with rechargeable batteries. The flow of energy will be managed and optimized by power electronics and smart meters to test the performance of the equipment.
Mitsubishi Electric said the projects are part of a corporatewide push to supply smart-grid technologies for the electric power industry and meet global demand for low-carbon energy.
In one experiment, Mitsubishi Electric will set up a mini-power station built around a four-megawatt solar array. It will include equipment, such as switches and smart meters, to manage the flow of energy and a battery.
The residential-scale system will feature a 200-kilowatt photovoltaic array with a home energy-management system, which uses a smart meter and network-connected appliances.
