Blog

On the desk of Jim O’Neill, chief economist for Goldman Sachs, stand four flimsy flags. They look out of place among the expensive computer terminals of the investment bank’s plush London office, like leftovers of a child’s geography homework or cheap mementos from backpacking trips to exotic parts of the world.

But these flags hint at a more interesting story – of the latest way in which money and ideas are reshaping the world. The small scraps of fabric are pennants for big countries: Brazil, Russia, India and China. And almost a decade ago, O’Neill decided to start thinking of them as a group – which he gave the acronym Bric.

It was a simple mental prop. The bolder move was to predict – publicly, and in Goldman’s name – that by 2041 (later revised to 2039, then 2032) the Brics would overtake the six largest western economies in terms of economic might. The four flags would come to represent the pillars of the 21st-century economy.

Read more at the Financial Times –>

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Commodities Spell Major Potential For The MAVINS
• The Next BRICs: Six Surging Countries You Must Pay Attention To This Decade

For some people the camera quality of their smartphones are quite important. CareAce.net have pitted the Samsung Omnia 2 vs the new HTC Nexus One and compared the camera software and picture and video quality.

Nexus One          vs          Omnia 2

They note that they feel the Omnia 2’s colours are more vibrant, while the Nexus One’s pictures appear sharper.

See more comparison pictures and video at CareAce here.

For Spring/Summer 2010, Norse Projects looks to life around the fishing towns as inspiration for their collection. As a reflection of the styles that exist in these areas, the range takes on a relaxed and leisurely mood. The outerwear takes cues from the rainy weather with styles ideal for anyone inspired by dock workers and fishermen.

Continue reading for more images.

Source: The 189

We have almost $25 billion safely in the bank and zero debt. This provides us tremendous stability and the ability to invest our way through this downturn. This is what we did during the last downturn–we increased R&D investments and created some of our best new products and businesses, like the Apple retail stores, for one. This downturn may also present some extraordinary opportunities for companies that have the cash to take advantage of them, like Apple does.”

— Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Oct. 21, 2008

Apple made its first acquisition on March 2, 1988 with the purchase of Network Innovations. Since that time it’s made just 23 more, including its recent $275 million purchase of Quattro Wireless. Which isn’t all that many for a company with $23 billion in the bank (as a point of comparison, Google has acquired 11 companies in the last 18 months, alone).

But that may soon change, because Cupertino finally has a dedicated acquisitions specialist, Adrian Perica. According to BusinessWeek, the former Goldman Sachs banker — who was brought in after Apple reportedly lost AdMob to Google — is believed to have quarterbacked the company’s purchase of music site Lala in December and its subsequent purchase of Quattro Wireless earlier this month. Both were executed uncharateristically quickly for Apple, which suggests that company’s lackadaisical, ad hoc approach to M&A has been recast to make it, necessarily, more nimble. Said one Silicon Valley banker, “[Apple’s] always gone slow on M&A, but that’s changing.”

Perhaps it’s time for that long-rumored merger with Adobe (ADBE). Incidentally, Adobe’s market cap is $18.66 billion. …    

Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

Read Original Article

Filed under: Truck, Chevrolet, GMC, Holden, Australia, Rumormill, Specialty

As if General Motors hasn’t endured enough turmoil in the last year, Pickuptrucks.com is reporting that GM North America president Mark Reuss is championing the idea of a stateside Holden VE Ute. Pardon us for thinking this issue was dead and buried in 2009, interred in the graveyard of stillborn ideas. Reuss, who ran Holden for GM during the VE’s development, has a soft spot for the admittedly excellent platform that we only shortly knew as the Pontiac G8. While that dalliance was only marginally longer lived than Jay Leno’s move to prime time (the promised G8 Sport Truck was announced and then canceled before birth), Reuss thinks that GMC or Chevrolet could proudly park the Ute in U.S. showrooms.

Rather than let all the hard work done to bring the G8 to fruition go to waste, Reuss is also reportedly looking for a slot for that car, as well. If GM can get the Ute classed as a truck in North America, it might play a significant role in Corporate Average Fuel Economy ratings, and that may be enough reason alone to offer a neo-El Camino. A revised G8 popping up under another GM moniker would be welcomed by the auto punditry, though may still fail to move enough units to make an impact. There’s no denying that niche vehicles such as the Ute and G8 have a following, but we wonder how much focus these efforts are stealing from the pivotal vehicles that must launch and continue to sell without a hitch. As exciting as a Ute might be, a flawless and successfully marketed launch of the new Chevrolet Aveo is likely far more important to GM’s financial health at this point than some hoon sled.

[Source: Pickuptrucks.com]

Report: GM’s Mark Reuss ponders return of VE Commodore to U.S. originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

Read Original Article

Unfortunately for you, Apple worshippers, this is not available for sale. Which kind of surprises me, considering that the original has been around forever:

Oh Steve, you mischievous handsome devil you. [Flickr via iPhone Savior]

It’s Mila Kunis like you’ve never seen her before. The petite former star of That ’70s Show is stripped down and refreshingly real in a chat with the February issue of Esquire. Clad in lacy lingerie and decked out in a killer pair of pumps, Mila speaks frankly about her role in The Book of Eli, her love for The Huffington Post, and her thoughts on fellow sex symbol Megan Fox.

Actually, Mila’s not quite sure what to make of Meg and stopped short of suggesting public speaking classes and a better publicist: “She has a tendency to say absurd shit and then see what happens. I hope she’s fully consciously aware of what she’s doing, because if she is, she’s brilliant.”

Esquire Videos of Megan and Mila After the Jump…..

Megan Fox by Greg Williams for Esquire HD from Greg Williams on Vimeo.

Intel announced forth quarter earnings, and, to put it mildly, they killed it. Intel posted a net income of $2.3 billion dollars, which is up $2 billion from last year, or, for those PR junkies that like shocking statics, up 875% YOY. Intel’s earnings per share growth was also impressive, the chip giant posted an EPS of $0.40, up $0.36 from the previous year. Now, last year at this time our economy was in a shame spiral recession period of stagnant growth, however the vitals coming out of Intel are still very, very impressive:

•    Revenue $10.6 Billion, up $2.3 Billion and 28% Year-over-Year
•    Record Gross Margin of 65%, up 12 Points Year-over-Year
•    Operating Income $2.5 Billion, up $958 Million and 62% Year-over-Year
•    Net Income $2.3 Billion, up $2.0 Billion and 875% Year-over-Year
•    EPS $0.40, up $0.36 Year-over-Year

Read

Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

Read Original Article

The University of Chicago’s Edward Kolb and Michael Turner share the 2010 Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics, which the American Institute of Physics and the American Astronomical Society jointly award.

Kolb and Turner are cited “for their joint fundamental contributions to cosmology and their development of the field of particle astrophysics, which have resulted in a vibrant community effort to understand the early universe.”

Kolb, the Arthur Holly Compton Distinguished Service Professor and Chairman of Astronomy & Astrophysics, focuses his research on understanding the physical processes that occurred in the very earliest moments of the big bang.

In these very early moments, the density, energy and pressure of the universe resembled the conditions obtained in the collisions of particles at high–energy accelerators.

Turner, the Bruce V. and Diana M. Rauner Distinguished Service Professor in Astronomy & Astrophysics, applies modern ideas in elementary particle theory to cosmology and astrophysics.

His work on inflation showed how quantum fluctuations seeded galaxies and other structures in the Universe and he predicted the existence of the mysterious dark energy that is causing the Universe to accelerate.

The National Academy report he led, Connecting Quarks with the Cosmos, laid out the vision for the field of particle astrophysics and cosmology.

Kolb and Turner wrote the handbook for the field, their monograph entitled The Early Universe, and initiated the Fermilab astrophysics group which has grown to a vibrant set of activities that link the University and Fermilab, including the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the Dark Energy Survey, and the Pierre Auger Observatory.

Kolb and Turner, along with the late David Schramm, the Louis Block Professor in Astronomy & Astrophysics, helped to pioneer this field and make Chicago one of the world centers of cosmology.

When Palm’s Pre was announced at the last CES alongside their webOS platform, the world was abuzz at what could possibly be an iPhone killer. Unfortunately as time has proven, while the idea was great, the execution wasn’t done properly, which was why the Palm Pre (and its follow up, the Pixi) failed to make that much of an impact around the world despite it being a really great handset to use. Well, CES 2010 sees Palm coming back with a vengeance with the announcement of two more Palm handsets that are based on the webOS platform – the Palm Pre Plus and the Palm Pixi Plus, where they will be made exclusives over Verizon Wireless’ network this coming January 25th for a yet undisclosed price. At first glance, the Palm Pre Plus looks the same like the original Palm Pre, where you are greeted with a large, vivid touchscreen display, a high-performance processor and a slide-out keyboard. While the keyboard is still easy to use and makes for quick typing, the navigation button has been removed, making that the most glaring difference. You will get double the memory with 16GB of storage space, while it already comes with the Palm Touchstone Back Cover that makes it Touchstone Charging Doc-ready right from the get go. As for the Palm Pixi Plus, Palm addresses the Pixi’s greatest weakness by throwing in Wi-Fi support. Yes, at long last you are able to go online from various hotspots without suffering from such indignation amidst a slew of other smartphones that have long supported such a feature. Apart from that improvement, there is also word on the all-new Palm mobile hotspot. This webOS app allows you to create a personal Wi-Fi cloud that can support up to 5 other Wi-Fi devices, which means there no longer is any need to purchase software like Joiku and the ilk. Would all the improvements stated above make you want to open up your wallet and go all out to bring home either Palm device, or are you much more of an iPhone or Android fan?

© 2007 Freakitude dot Com.

Share This

Do makers of low-cost, energy saving windows with high-tech smarts have well, a window of opportunity? A growing number of startups and investors seem to think so. Switch Materials, a developer of energy saving windows based in Burnaby, British Columbia, has just raised $7.5 million in second-round financing. Led by BDC Venture Capital, the round comes […]

A lot of readers sent in tips today about PS3 firmware update 3.15’s release. Now I found this weird since that update was released more than a month ago. According to the US PlayStation blog, however, Sony

Comcast’s remote DVR scheduling is up and running, allowing users to manage DVR recordings online. Quick, you’ve still got time before One Life to Live!

The service seems to be available only to Comcast digital users with a Motorola set-top box, and will roll out across the entire subscription base over the next several months. It’s part of a larger Comcast UI overhaul that also includes filters, folders, and clean-up functions. If you’re eligible (and given the size of the initial roll-out, sad to say that you’re probably not), you should be able to start recording shows from your computer here. [Comcast via ZatzNotFunny]

Officials with the Rita and John Canning Women’s Program at Harper College began to notice something troubling in their daily interactions with displaced homemakers: Many didn’t know how to use a computer.

“The majority of these women have been home raising children for a long time, and for whatever reason, they have to re-enter the work force,” says Kathleen Canfield, Women’s Program director. “We realized they needed basic navigation skills as well as some fundamental business applications.”

Two years ago, they created Computer Skills JumpStart, a free course for Women’s Program participants. Funded through a grant from the Harper College Educational Foundation, the two-week intensive training takes place in the computer lab at Harper’s Professional Center in Hoffman Estates.

The latest session ends this week, when on Friday, students receive a free desktop computer, along with software and the confidence that comes with breaking down the technology barrier.

“I wish you could see their faces,” says Martha Karavitis, computer training coordinator for Harper’s continuing education department. “This is a huge confidence builder for them. They leave here transformed.”

Harper officials say these computers have been donated and refurbished, and they buy them for as little as $150 each through the “Pass on Your PC” program.

Teacher Cindy Miller covers the basics of word processing programs, firming up their keyboarding skills and navigating the Internet. On Monday, class members started out by learning to formulate business materials, such as a meeting agenda.

“We try to create a small, comfortable learning environment for these women,” Canfield adds. “It is a stress-free way to obtain these needed skills.”

Women in Monday’s class concurred, adding that in the safe setting of the Harper classroom, among women from the same background, including several who are domestic violence victims, they were not embarrassed to ask questions.

Arlene Villers, of Schaumburg, is a returning student at Harper and she found she needed computer skills just to actively participate in classes.

“I need to learn how to create papers,” Villers said. “The professors will not accept anything unless it’s in the right format.”

Yamini Notaria, of Palatine, completed the course last summer, and currently is studying at Harper with hopes of finding a job in the medical records field.

“Everywhere I went, they asked if I knew how to use a computer,” Notaria said. “Especially in my field, I needed to learn as much about the computer as I could.”

Janet Sears of Mount Prospect said simply that she loves coming to class. Surrounded by her classmates, she felt a camaraderie and kinship in learning to overcome their fears.

“Instead of asking my kids, now I’m the one answering their questions,” Sears said. “It’s the knowledge that I’m gaining. It’s something that will always be with me.”

One woman, who asked not to be identified, said she was coming off a 30-year marriage and that she did not even know how to turn on a computer. Now, she says, she not only can turn it on, but she can create documents, surf the Internet and e-mail with ease.

Currently, the free computer course is available to those who meet Women’s Program requirements, though Harper officials are hoping to offer a similar course for the wider community.

For more information on the class or the Women’s Program, call (847) 925-6558 or visit harpercollege.edu.

According to Internet security company McAfee, a security vulnerability in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer allowed hackers in China to attack Google, Adobe and a large number of other companies, including Yahoo and Northrop Grumman. Microsoft has acknowledged this vulnerability and is currently working on a patch. Every machine running Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8 on virtually every modern Windows operating system is affected by this vulnerability. In an unprecedented move, the German government has now told its citizens to avoid using Internet Explorer for the time being.

Sponsor

McAfee analysis showed that whoever tried to hack Google was using a previously unknown security vulnerability in Internet Explorer. It currently looks like the attackers targeted specific individuals and fooled them into opening a link or downloading a file onto their computers. Earlier reports claimed that a vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat made these attacks possible.

Infect, Conceal Access and Siphon Data

McAffee’s chief technology officer George Kurtz notes that this attack is a good example of the types of attacks that governments and large organizations are currently faced with. This new generation of malware is highly targeted and “designed to infect, conceal access, siphon data or, even worse, modify data without detection.”

According to the German government, users should switch to alternative browsers, as other hackers will surely start to exploit this same vulnerability within days.

Image credit: Flickr user nickrussill / CC BY 2.0