Meh! What do you think? 3
Meh! What do you think?
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Neil Young wants BluRay audio players in cars.
Yeah, we'll get right on that Neil!
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Neil Young sings BluRay blues, asks Bill Ford for help
As Ford's chairman, Bill Ford is used to famous people ringing him up to pitch ideas. So when one of his musical heroes came calling, Ford was happy to lend an ear.
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If you haven't already read the two pieces in the NY Times last week about Apple… 1
If you haven't already read the two pieces in the NY Times last week about Apple and its manufacturing operations in China you should.
One of the recurring reasons that Apple executives give for using Chinese manufacturing is speed and flexibility at the Chinese plants. They adamantly deny that it is about low wages and benefits paid to the hundreds of thousands of workers in those Foxconn factories. Unfortunately if you know anything about modern high-volume manufacturing this simply doesn't ring true.
The authors of the articles provide an anecdote about the weeks leading up to the launch of the original iPhone. The late Apple CEO Steve Jobs had made a last minute decision to switch from a plastic to a glass screen. As the first glass panels were arriving at the factory in China, 8,000 employees were roused in the middle of the night from their dormatory, given a biscuit and a cup of tea and put to work. The only way to get the kind of instant flexibility to change direction in a manufacturing operation is to use masses of human labor to do the assembly.
This sort of work could definitely be done in the US and it could also be done by automation. However, in the US labor regulations would make it much more difficult to get people working multiple 12 hour shifts and living in dorms where they could be sent to the assembly line at the drop of a hat. Automation requires more effort to program for such drastic changes. Both are substantially more expensive than "disposable" Chinese laborers.
Apple simply could not get the sort of flexibility they like to tout if Chinese labor were not so cheap. It really does come down to money and nothing more and that's why Apple is sitting on a $100 billion cash horde.
#apple #china #cheaplabor
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Apple, America and a Squeezed Middle Class
Building Apple’s iPhone in the United States would demand much more than hiring Americans — it would require transforming the national and global economies.
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Interesting theory about what is behind Google's latest moves to integrate G+…
Interesting theory about what is behind Google's latest moves to integrate G+ into search results. I'm actually far less concerned about the integration than most pundits seem to be. As long as Google continues to offer the option of seeing results without the personal signals, it remains the same as it was. The addition of G+ information offers the possibility to create even more relevant results if it's executed properly although it remains to be seen if that will be the case.
Reshared post from +Harry McCracken
Is Search, Plus Your World evidence that Google has a "madman strategy?" http://cnet.co/x5flme
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Google's Google+ gambit: The madman theory
Is Search, Plus Your World designed to scare Facebook and Twitter to the negotiating table? Read this blog post by Harry McCracken on Challengers.
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To paraphrase Captain Renault "I'm shocked! Shocked to hear that there is…
To paraphrase Captain Renault "I'm shocked! Shocked to hear that there is a hypocrite running for the Republican nomination for president!"
#indecision2012
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Daily Kos: Rick Santorum wants to limit medical malpractice payments, except for his own family
Isn't the whole idea of "do as I say, not as I do" in the Bible? For a devout Catholic like Rick Santorum, it should be one of the key tenets for life. But he's also a Republican, so…
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Sheldon Adelson and his wife are almost single-handedly financing Newt Gingrich's…
Sheldon Adelson and his wife are almost single-handedly financing Newt Gingrich's run for the Republican nomination. But do you know much about this man that happens to be one of the richest in the world. He had amassed a considerable fortune by 2001, but it really exploded after that when he went into the casino business with the Chinese government despite the latter's official policy against gambling. Adelson's operations in Macao now generate more revenue than all the casinos in Las Vegas combined and this quote comes from an excellent 2008 New Yorker profile:
At a groundbreaking ceremony, in March, 2007, Adelson said that many members of Congress criticize China for its human-rights record, but he added that he liked the way the Chinese run their country. “People seem to be living a good life in China,” he said. “Look at the incredible progress China has made. How can someone say they’re doing the wrong thing?” He added that those who don’t approve of the way China is governed need not go to the country. “I don’t think the U.S. should be the policeman of the whole world,” he said.
Apparently Adelson's opinion about the the US being the world's police force only extends so far though. It seems the only thing more important to Adelson than collecting huge piles of cash from losing gamblers is ensuring that Israel retains all of the land west of the Jordan river. He is adamant that there should be no compromise with the Palestinians and is a big proponent of going to war with Iran.
The actions of Sheldon Adelson and the Koch brothers should be all the rationale that we need for a constitutional amendment that declares that money is not equal to free speech and creates real reform of the campaign finance system in this country.
#sheldonadelson #indecision2012 #newtgingrich
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The World of Business: The Brass Ring
Online version of the weekly magazine, with current articles, cartoons, blogs, audio, video, slide shows, an archive of articles and abstracts back to 1925
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Is this really the guy you want buying your next president for you? Sheldon Adelson's…
Is this really the guy you want buying your next president for you? Sheldon Adelson's financing of Newt Gingrich's campaign makes the Koch brother's efforts in 2010 look tame by comparison and it is the direct result of the supreme court's Citizens United ruling.
#indecision2012
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In Nevada, Sheldon Adelson Gets His Very Own Caucus
The next primary contest after Florida is shaping up to be a confusing mess — and one billionaire is getting a very special accommodation.
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Forget all those bogus chemical treatments, botox injections and operations, this…
Forget all those bogus chemical treatments, botox injections and operations, this is the ultimate secret to perfect skin and shape. Via commndn 251 http://commandn.tv/videos/commandn-251/
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Just came back from our first visit to the Wurst Bar in Ypsilanti, down the block…
Just came back from our first visit to the Wurst Bar in Ypsilanti, down the block from the water tower. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ypsilanti_Water_Tower Now that I think of it, it's highly appropriate to have a joint where the menu specialty is sausages right near the Ypsi dick.
The menu features a variety of different sausages including 2 different veggie types if you are so inclined. I had the rattlesnake chorizo on a pretzel bun with sauteed onions and sweet peppers on top. The sausage is made from blend of rattlesnake, pork, chipotle, oregano, red wine and the usual spices and it was great. There's also a wide range of beers including the numerous micro-brews and craft beers.
It's definitely worth stopping if you're in Ypsi and you're in the mood for a beer and a sausage or just the latter.
#yspilanti #wurstbar
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Home Page
Check out http://wurstbarypsi.com! Home Page
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If sports fans want to see Prince Fielder get paid $214 million to hit a ball with… 1
If sports fans want to see Prince Fielder get paid $214 million to hit a ball with a stick, let them pay $25-30 a month for ESPN.
Take a look at the list of the 25 cable channels listed by the fees they get from the cable companies. In my household we only watch 3 of those 25 with any regularity and 2 others even less frequently. None of the Disney/ESPN or Viacom channels are among those 5. The channels we watch most are not listed here at all.
That's why I want someone to offer me some kind of a la carte package where I can pick the channels I want. I'll gladly pay $30-35 a month for 20 or so channels and pick up the local network stations over the air with an antenna. Or just let me buy channels through my Roku for a couple of bucks. I don't feel any compulsion to subsidize ESPN, MTV, Fox News and any number of other channels just to get BBC America, AMC, Current and IFC.
#alacartetv #cablesucks
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Like Sports on Cable? Pay Up. Don’t Like Sports on Cable? Pay Up, Anyway.
Here's how your monthly cable bill gets split up. Spoiler: Disney and ESPN get a really big chunk.
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