Saturday, December 29, 2012

Stories I Found Of Interest (weekly)

    • Federal regulators are proposing that new automobiles sold in the United States after September 2014 come equipped with black boxes, so-called “event data recorders” that chronicle everything from how fast a vehicle was traveling, the number of passengers and even a car’s location.
    • Internet entrepreneurs have had the upper hand over venture capitalists in recent years but that balance of power is now showing some signs of shifting, a trend that could accelerate in 2013.
    • In 1900, 1 in 25 Americans was over the age of 65. In 2030, just 18 years from now, 1 in 5 Americans will be over 65. We will be a nation that looks like Florida. Because we have a large array of programs that provide guaranteed benefits to the elderly, this has huge budgetary implications. In 1960 there were about five working Americans for every retiree. By 2025, there will be just over two workers per retiree.
    • he Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s lawmaking body, will decide this week on proposed legislation that would require Web users to register their real names to gain Internet access, the Xinhua news agency reported yesterday. The People’s Daily newspaper, published by the ruling Communist Party, has featured during the past week front-page editorials calling for more regulation of the Web, saying the “chaotic Internet” needs to be controlled

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Stories I Found Of Interest (weekly)

    • Mozilla is averse to proprietary codecs because they're typically buried under patents and require a licensing fee. By using the video support built into the operating system, the open-source browser maker can sidestep these constraints.
    • The organisation had hoped patent-free codecs, such as Google’s VP8, would succeed at the expense of H.264 on the web, but that hasn’t happened. Google bought VP8 in 2009 as WebM from On2 Technologies for $124.6m and released it under a royalty-free licence in May 2010.
    • As Firefox on Android gained support for the codec, Mozilla chief technology officer Brendan Eich wrote at the time: “H.264 is absolutely required right now to compete on mobile. I do not believe that we can reject H.264 content in Firefox on Android or in B2G and survive the shift to mobile.
    • The biggest single trend is urbanization, people moving from rural to urban areas. And if they urbanize the way we did—they can't, the planet can't afford it. Our green investing doesn't depend on government policies. It's about basic supply and demand.
    • Facebook is set to unveil a new video-ad product in the first half of next year in its largest attempt to date to attract big swaths of ad dollars from TV advertisers, according to several industry executives who have been briefed on the company's plans over the past few weeks
    • In what's sure to be a controversial move, the visual component of the Facebook video ads will start playing automatically -- a dynamic known as "autoplay" -- according to two of the executives.
    • Dissolvable tobacco is finely milled tobacco pressed into shapes like tablets that slowly dissolve in a user's mouth. They are gaining the attention of tobacco companies looking to offset a decline in cigarette use as smokers face tax hikes, growing health concerns, smoking bans and social stigma
    • Instagram released an updated version of its privacy policy and terms of service on Monday, and they include lengthy stipulations on how photographs uploaded by users may be used by Instagram and its parent company, Facebook
    • The potentially lucrative move will let advertisers in Facebook’s ad network use data and information that users have shared on Instagram, like details about favorite places, bands, restaurants or hobbies, to better target ads at those users
    • Instagram will also be able to use your photographs and identity in advertisements. “You agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you,” the new terms say. This means that photographs uploaded to Instagram could end up in an advertisement on the service or on Facebook. In addition, someone who doesn’t use Instagram could end up in an advertisement if they have their photograph snapped and shared on the service by a friend.
    • the company says ads will not necessarily be labeled as ads.
    • New analysis from Frost & Sullivan's (http://www.healthcare.frost.com) Global Life Sciences Trends and Opportunities research finds that the industry consists of several billion dollar markets totaling $1.35 trillion in 2012, which is anticipated to reach $5.01 trillion in 2015.  This global life sciences analysis discusses three technologies with "bench to bedside" potential, including next-generation sequencing, microRNA and digital polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
    • Early data shows that the PC market has not experienced a “pop” from Windows 8. Market watchers have been anticipating this pop since every previous version of Windows has led to a surge in shipments. PC vendors have also been hoping for this to lift their volumes. Volumes have been stagnant for a while, as the following chart shows:

       

    • The question is whether Microsoft will be successful in shifting to this new computing model? Microsoft’s problem is not that it has difficulty offering an operating system for tablets. The problem is that the economics of both systems and application software on tablets is destructive to its margins.
    • The problem for Microsoft is that pricing systems software at $50 and a suite of apps at $67 for a tablet that costs $200 to the end-user is prohibitive.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Stories I Found Of Interest (weekly)

    • But the disruptive technology is not LNG. The disruptive technology converts natural gas to gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Yes, it is possible to make gasoline from natural gas.
    • GTL may also work in the United States. Indiana-based Calumet Specialty Products Partners recently announced plans to build a 1,000 barrel per day GTL plant in Karnes City, PA
    • Natural gas has the potential to transform North America. If supplies of natural gas are as plentiful as experts suggest, energy independence is achievable. Not only can the nation become energy independent, it can export surplus natural gas and distillate products to other nations
    • Neah Power Systems, Inc. (OTCBB:NPWZ) announced today that The Boeing Company is exploring areas of collaboration to deploy our patented, award winning PowerChipTM technology to various distributed power sources on Boeing’s current and future airplane and ground systems
    • he current trend in the aircraft industry is the “More Electric Aircraft” (MEA), which focuses on replacing mechanical and hydraulic systems with electrical systems to accommodate ever increasing power requirements. In a letter to our company, a representative of Boeing Commercial Airplanes states “One of the key technologies that Boeing is evaluating for future airplanes are fuel cell systems used for the generation of airplane electrical power
    • We believe that Neah’s technology will help Boeing achieve the objective of greener airplanes in the future. The development of a fuel cell system meeting Boeing’s requirements is a crucial step toward proving the potential for successful deployment of this technology. Boeing would work with Neah on the prototypes for internal validation, developing and engineering the air-worthiness of the system, various certifications needed, and system integration with airplane and ground applications.”
    • Destiny Media Technologies Inc., in response to a lawsuit it faces from Richard Angus Bruce McDonald's Noramco Capital Corp., blames Noramco for an 11-year campaign to aggressively manipulate its stock downward. According to Destiny, Mr. McDonald took a naked short position in 2000 as he was negotiating a private placement with Destiny, and in the ensuing 11 years has continued to exert downward pressure on the stock
    • It then began an "aggressive and secret campaign" to push down the stock through naked shorting and other unspecified methods. It continued to short the company as a means of keeping the price down so it could defer or avoid having to cover its naked short positions at a loss, the response states.
    • While Destiny provides no details of the 11-year campaign (it says that information is well known to Noramco and Mr. McDonald) it claims that the campaign continues "to this day."
    • "In a survey of 3,000 pentamillionaires ($5 million net worth) the Harrison Group
       (HarrisonGroupInc.com) reported that almost all pentamillionaires made their fortunes in a
       big lump sum after a period of years. Worth repeating: a big lump sum, not “by saving 10% of
       his paycheck for 40 years.”
       “A big lump sum” is just another phrase for *“asset value.”* Furthermore, 80% either started their
    • So, to sum it up, asset appreciation and liquidation is the key to massive, rapid wealth creation - not passive income.

    •  It virtually always takes more timeto BUILD vs. BUY.

       
       This is the secret behind why large corporations buy pre-existing companies.....
    • the ability to stream music or movies on demand has made CDs and DVDs less essential.
    • CDs? There's music streaming or digital downloads. DVDs? Netflix, Amazon or a host of other online movie sites. Video games? There's digital distribution like Steam and, increasingly, downloads from the major console and game makers.

       

      "As personal cloud services become ubiquitous and broadband speeds increase, there's very little reason for many consumers to use an optical drive on their computer going forward

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Saturday, December 08, 2012

Stories I Found Of Interest (weekly)

    • One way to find opportunities is to take an item and list all your assumptions about it, then write all the opposites.  This is how Cirque de Soleil was created- expensive tickets, one act, small tent, no animals, etc
      • Always act like you’re in a foreign country.  Be acutely aware of your surroundings.  Meet people everywhere you go, take interest in all people and things.
    • Mass Megawatts plans to leverage their knowledge of the wind power industry in their offering of competitive green power to electrical users across the Northeast. The expansion into the retail electrical market is a logical, strategic progression that diversifies their business model while improving future earnings potential. 
    • Metabolix,   Inc. (MBLX), an innovation-driven bioscience company focused on   delivering sustainable solutions for plastics, chemicals and energy,   today announced that MveraTM B5008, a new   certified-compostable film grade resin, is now available for shipment to   customers. Compounded in Europe for local markets and widely available   for global customers, Mvera B5008 is designed for applications including   compost bags, can liners used for organic waste, as well as shopping and   retail bags that can be reused as compostable organic waste bags.
    • Destiny Media Technologies (TSXV: DSY)  (OTCQX: DSNY) is pleased to announce that it has successfully expanded  the prototype announced August 22nd to include functionality and  features required for full commercialization.  Demo videos at http://www.clipstream.com showcase support for full screen HD on broadband, feature length  movies, instant access to any point chosen from thumbnail scenes  displayed above the seek bar and automatic adjustment of quality to  support a wide variety of environments. 

       

       The solution is much simpler than alternatives which require proprietary  streaming servers and plug-ins.  Once run through Destiny's encoder  software, the video is just dropped into any web page server and it  will play back natively on 100% of HTML 5 compliant browsers

    • The H.265 format, due out in January 2013, won't be  compatible with any existing web browser and is intended to phase out  old videos encoded in H.264. 

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.