Tips for better sleep

Trouble Sleeping? Just Breathe

by LIVESTRONG.COM, on Mon Aug 24, 2009 4:27pm PDT
By Brad Kearns

If your mind is racing and you are having difficulty falling asleep, a few minutes of simple but effective breathing exercises can help calm your nervous system on a chemical level and lead to greater success in hitting the sack. The awareness and control of breath has been a central component of yoga, martial arts and Taoism for thousands of years. There are dozens of different methods and exercises you can explore through a good teacher or book. The practice of breath control in yoga is called pranayama. I'll detail a simple pranayama exercise here that is particularly effective for falling asleep called alternate nostril breathing (that's "nadi shodana" for the Sanskrit posse out there).

Alternate nostril breathing is a great way to clear obstructed nostrils, balance the yin and yang energy of the body and focusing the busy mind on the present for a deliberate and calming exercise. When our nostrils are unobstructed, we involuntarily alternate breathing through one or the other about every two hours. Breathing through your right nostril stimulates the left side of the brain (intellectual, analytical, rational thought) and prepares the body for physical action (yang energy). Breathing through your left nostril stimulates the right side of the brain (creative, emotional thought) and prepares the body for passive mental activity (yin energy). If both nostrils are not clear, breathing will become imbalanced and so will the energy in your body.

When you are feeling restless at bedtime, head outside (weather permitting obviously, but even in wintertime, you can certainly spend a couple minutes on a balcony or porch in brisk air), sit in a comfortable chair and begin the exercise. You will likely have a really hard time focusing your mind on only the breathing exercise. Establish a rule that whenever your mind wanders away from the breathing exercise to other random thoughts, you have to start over. With practice, you'll develop the esteemed ability to relax and center -- not just to calm the mind for bed but any time the stresses of life are closing in.

Alternate nostril breathing is performed as follows: Take one hand up to your face for blocking nostrils. For example, your right thumb will close off your right nostril while your right index or middle finger will close off your left nostril. Block off the right nostril and inhale fully (notice how your inhale and exhale will be slower since you are only using one nostril). Pause at the completion of your inhale and switch nostrils by using your finger to block the left nostril and releasing your thumb from the right nostril. Exhale through the right nostril, inhale through the right nostril, then pause and switch to exhale through the left nostril. Thus, you switch nostrils in the middle of the breath cycle. To complete a cycle of 10 breaths, count each inhale/exhale as one. After your complete your breathing session, you can return to bed with a calm brain and hopefully induce a good night's sleep.

For more information on How to Sleep Better, visit LIVESTRONG.COM.

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Is now the time to buy a Playstation 3?

by Mike Smith

When Sony announced the Playstation 3 in 2006 at the wallet-busting prices of $499 and $599, even serious, dedicated gamers blanched. The new console was expensive enough to put many consumers off entirely, and despite a cut here and there, it’s remained firmly in the "overpriced" camp for many once-eager Sony fans.

But that was then.

Now, the PS3 has been put on a diet, earning a slim, trim new figure and a much healthier price tag of $299. The appropriately-named PS3 Slim launches on September 1, and if you’ve been waiting for the right time to take the Playstation plunge, this could be your big chance. So, is it worth it?

In a word, yes. In more words, read on.

We’re impressed with the PS3 Slim. It's significantly lighter (nearly 4 pounds), thinner (about 33% less hefty), and greener (34% less power consumption) -- not to mention much easier to sneak into your overcrowded entertainment center --than its monolithic forbear. With a solid 120 GB hard drive, it packs ample space for most gamers and retains all the online features, Blu-Ray movie playback, and media center functionality that made the original so tempting.

Did we say all the features? Actually, there’s one major omission: some older PS3 models are 'backwards compatible' and will play PS2 games games, but the Slim won’t. According to Sony brass, that feature is gone for good. Bah.

Still, do you really have Playstation 2 games you actually still want to play? What’s that? You have two hundred of them? Better hold on to your PS2, assuming it still works. Of course, the Slim will play any and all PS3 games on the market.

One of the other major changes is the new matte finish, which gives the unit a less "professional" appearance than the old shiny version but at the benefit of fewer fingerprint and dust marks. Really just a toss-up there.

And what about future price drops? They’re a certainty, but will they happen this year? No, and barring serious shifts in the landscape, we doubt we’ll see major cuts next year, either. Sure, you could wait until it’s under $100, as it probably will be in five years or so, but who knows what technological video game insanity could happen between now and then? Shortly after a significant price cut is as good a time to buy as any.

So, we think the 120 GB Slim’s price will be with us for the time being. But could we see yet another PS3 model hit shelves any time soon? Actually, yes, we very well could: FCC filings indicate a good probability that a 250 GB Slim is in the works. But it’ll likely carry a premium price, and with the 120 GB Slim already packing a decent amount of storage, we doubt a larger one will be a good value for most consumers -- unless Sony can muster a tempting bundle deal.

One last thing to consider, of course, is the competition. Microsoft wasn't going to let Sony have all the fun, so they went ahead and dropped the price of their Elite model to $299 -- exactly the same as the PS3 Slim. That's certainly tempting, but keep in mind that when it comes to features, the PS3 still looks like the better deal. Check it out for yourself.

But really no matter how you slice it, if you’ve been sitting on the fence over a PS3 purchase, now’s a great time to dive in. The combination of competitive pricing and smarter design makes it tough to pass up.

Of course, you're going to need some games...

CHECK OUT THE PS3 GAMES GUIDE FOR A LIST OF POPULAR PS3 GAMES...

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'Shoe thrower' freed early

Iraqi who threw shoes at Bush to be released early

By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer Kim Gamel, Associated Press Writer – Sat Aug 29, 12:09 pm ET

BAGHDAD – An Iraqi journalist imprisoned for hurling his shoes at former President George W. Bush will be released next month after his sentence was reduced for good behavior, his lawyer said Saturday.

Muntadhar al-Zeidi's act of protest during Bush's last visit to Iraq as president turned the 30-year-old reporter into a folk hero across the Arab world, as his case became a rallying point for critics who resented the 2003 U.S. invasion and occupation.

In this Dec. 14, 2008 file photo, Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi throws a shoe at President George W. Bush during a new conference with Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad, Iraq. The Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at former President George W. Bush will be freed Sept. 14 after getting early release for good behavior, his lawyer said Saturday. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

"Al-Zeidi's shoes were a suitable farewell for Bush's deeds in Iraq," Sunni lawmaker Dhafir al-Ani said in welcoming the early release. "Al-Zeidi's act expressed the real will and feelings of the Iraqi people. His anger against Bush was the result of the suffering of his countrymen."

The journalist has been in custody since the Dec. 14 outburst, which occurred as Bush was holding a news conference with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Al-Maliki, who was standing next to Bush at the time, was said to have been deeply offended by the act.

Al-Zeidi was initially sentenced to three years in prison after pleading not guilty to assaulting a foreign leader. The court reduced it to one year because the journalist had no prior criminal history.

Defense attorney Karim al-Shujairi said al-Zeidi will now be released on Sept. 14, three months early.

"We have been informed officially about the court decision," al-Shujairi told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "His release will be a victory for the free and honorable Iraqi media."

Judicial spokesman Abdul-Sattar Bayrkdar said he had no immediate information about the release because it was a weekend.

Followers of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who were among the leaders of many of the demonstrations demanding al-Zeidi's release, welcomed the decision to free him early.

"We believe that al-Zeidi did not commit any crime but only expressed the will of the Iraqi people in rejecting the U.S. occupation," Sadrist lawmaker Falah Shanshal said. "Al-Zeidi's image will always be a heroic one."

The bizarre act of defiance transformed the obscure reporter from a minor TV station into a national hero to many Iraqis fed up with the U.S. presence.

Thousands demonstrated for al-Zeidi's release and hailed his gesture. A sofa-sized sculpture of a shoe was erected in his honor in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, but the Iraqi government later ordered it removed.

Neither leader was injured, but Bush was forced to duck for cover as the journalist shouted in Arabic: "This is your farewell kiss, you dog! This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq."

The case's investigating judge has said the journalist was struck about the face and eyes, apparently by security agents who wrestled him to the ground and dragged him away.

Al-Zeidi's family has said he was also mistreated while in custody, although the government has denied the allegation.

"We thank God that he will be released, although we still fear for his safety since he is still in the prison," his brother Dargham said. "He will be released full of pride and strength from all the love he has received from the Iraqi people and international organizations and figures who advocate freedom."

___

Associated Press Writers Sameer N. Yacoub and Sinan Saleheddin contributed to this report.

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How to keep a perfect credit score

Win at the Credit Scoring Game

by Carla Fried
Thursday, August 27, 2009provided by

To get the best deal on a loan, you need some new strategies to bump up your score - and keep it there.

Borrowing money today requires impressing an increasingly hard-to-please crowd. With creditors of all kinds more cautious than ever, you need an A+ application to land the best terms -- and that means an A+ credit score, the number lenders use to judge your risk of default.

The most commonly used credit scoring system, called FICO, rates people from a very risky 300 to a pristine 850. And right now we're in the middle of a credit score crunch: "You need a 750 or better today to have the same treatment you got with a 700 two years ago," says John Ulzheimer, president of consumer education at Credit.com.

John D'Onofrio, CEO of Autoloandaily.com, seconds that: "Two years ago a 680 was enough to get a great car loan rate. Today it's often the minimum to qualify at all."

Think you're still in the clear? Don't be so sure. Lenders have been making changes that could cause your score to slip from excellent to average. Improve and protect your number with these strategies:

Learn Your Score. You have three FICO scores, based on your credit reports at the three credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. The numbers tend to be in the same ballpark, so pony up $16 to get one representative score at myfico.com. You can get an estimate free at Creditkarma.com. But the FICO score gives you a better sense of what lenders see.

Scout for Mistakes. Your scores are only as good as the information they're based on. And a third of people who've pulled their reports have found errors, according to a Zogby poll. That's good reason to read your report.

When you buy your FICO score, you'll get a copy of the report it was based on. Get gratis histories from the other bureaus via annualcreditreport.com (you're entitled to one free from each bureau every 12 months).

Spot an error? Request a correction, following the instructions on the bureau's website. Let's say the size of a credit line was misstated or an account was mistakenly marked delinquent. Getting the error fixed could raise your score as much as 200 points, says Ulzheimer, who has also worked for Equifax and FICO.

Never, Ever Be Late. As you'll see in the pie chart on the right, the biggest chunk of your credit score comes from your payment history. Just one late payment can shave 100 points off a 750-plus credit score, says Ulzheimer. Lenders can't tattle on you to the bureaus until you're 30 days past due, adds credit expert Gerri Detweiler. But don't risk it. For all your bills, enter recurring due-date reminders on your computer calendar.

Missed a payment? Get back on track within the next 30 days, and you should "get back the lion's share" of points lost, Ulzheimer says. More than 90 days late? The damage can stick for years. If it was a one-off lapse, call your issuer and plea for a good-will adjustment to your credit report. (It's a long shot.)

Remember the Magic 20%. The second-biggest factor in your score is how much you owe vs. how much credit has been extended to you. The part of this that's easiest to finesse is your credit card utilization rate, or your total card balances compared with your total credit limits, as well as each card's balance relative to its limit.

Example: If you've charged $5,000 on cards and have $50,000 in credit, your rate is 10%. For the best score today, 10% is ideal, but you can probably creep up to 20% and keep a high rating.

Unfortunately, with banks lowering credit limits and canceling unused cards, it's harder to maintain such a low percentage. In the previous example, if your available credit is cut to $20,000, your rate shoots to 25%. That could sink your score by as much as 50 points, says Ulzheimer. The lesson: Know your limits, watch for changes, and stay under 20% on each card and in total (0% if you'll be applying for a loan soon).

Already above 20%? Paying down debt is the obvious way to lower your utilization rate, but another strategy is to apply for an additional credit card to increase your overall credit limit. That may cause you to lose a few points in the short term -- so don't do it if you're about to apply for a mortgage -- but it should pay off in the long run.

Keep Oldest Cards in Play. As noted, credit issuers these days are eagerly canceling cards that are not in use. Besides reducing your limit and increasing your utilization ratio, having an account closed can hurt you in another way, especially if it's among your older ones.

See, 15% of your score rides on the length of your credit history. The longer you ably manage revolving debt, the better you look. So don't cancel your oldest cards. And don't let them get canceled on you: Move a recurring charge to each so they stay active.

Already ditched or been ditched? A new card (see previous) can help with your utilization rate, but there's little you can do to help the "history" component of your score, except to keep other old accounts in use.

Accept Fate on the Rest. There are other factors involved in your score, but they're not so easy to manipulate. For example, 10% is based on how well you manage a mix of credit types, such as mortgages, car loans, and credit cards. But you don't want to go out and, say, finance a car just for a score boost; besides, you can easily get 750-plus with just a few well-tended credit cards.

Along the same lines, 10% is based on "new credit," but the effects of a new application can be positive or negative, depending on your history.

In other words, if you want to be among the crème de la credit crème, accept what you can't change, and focus on what you can.

Copyrighted, CNNMoney. All Rights Reserved.

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7 Expenses That Are Keeping You in Debt

by Erin Joyce
Tuesday, August 25, 2009

provided by

In the United States, 43% of families are spending more than they earn each year, according to MSNMoney. At the end of 2008, the average American household that had a credit card was holding nearly $11,000 worth of credit card debt.

With numbers like these, living with debt seems unavoidable and paying it off seems like an uphill battle you are destined to lose. However, if you are interested in living debt-free, here are seven expenses to watch for that may be holding you back from being in the black.

1. Not Knowing Your Limits

The Financial Times recently reported that U.S. banks are set to earn $38.5 billion this year from overdraft fees alone, more than double the number from 1994. If you don't know how much is in your bank account, you could easily withdraw or spend beyond your limit or have a check clear that takes your balance below zero. When that happens, banks charge anywhere from $5-$10 in overdraft fees. And that's not all. If you fail to pay back the amount you've overdrawn, you could be hit with even more fees after a set number of days in the form of a large sum (as high as $35) or a daily tariff (often between $5-$10). According to the National Consumer Law Center, the average overdraft fee is $34.65, and considering a purchase as small as your morning latte could put your account in the red, that's a hefty price tag.

Credit cards fare no better, with late payment fees increasing as well as charges for going over your limit. According to a survey done by the Pew Safe Credit Cards Project in March 2009, 92% of credit cards had a fee for exceeding the credit limit, including 100% of student cards. The over-the-limit fee and the late payment fee were both $39 for most accounts. Also, these infringements can result in your interest rate skyrocketing up to 30% or higher. In fact, that same survey found that 93% of cards allow the issuer to raise any interest rate at any time. And once that rate goes up, it is unlikely to come down.

2. Fees, Fees, Fees

Banking and fees go hand in hand. But there are ways to reduce the charges you pay on a regular basis. First, make sure all of the accounts you have open are absolutely necessary. Consolidating multiple checking or savings account could add up to monthly savings of $20 or more.

Also, make sure you understand what and how you are being charged. Some accounts advertise as being free, but in order to have the monthly charges waived, you may need to fulfill some conditions including but not limited to a minimum balance, not exceeding a set number of transactions per month and/or having a set number of direct deposits or automated bills associated with that account.

Transaction fees can also add up quickly. Remember, if you withdraw money from an ATM instead of your bank, the average $1.50 fee is charged both by the cash machine AND by your bank. Likewise, most banks include a surcharge on email money transfers. Keep an eye on your account and make sure you know how much these conveniences are costing you.

3. Paying the Minimum

Approximately one in six families with credit cards pays only the minimum due each month, according to an Experian national score index study. You've probably read everywhere that this is financial suicide, but let's take a look at what the actual damage would be.

The average interest rate on a credit card in the U.S. is 11.2% according to bankrate.com. However, with this kind of payment history, and one-third of credit card holders paying between 20-41%, let's guess conservatively that this family's interest is around 20%. The minimum payment is usually around 2% of the total balance, so in this case that would be about $220 per month. If only that minimum is paid, the debt would be paid off in nearly 77 years, with a total of more than $52,000 paid in interest. Push that interest rate up to 30% and the minimum payment is insufficient to ever pay down the debt.

4. Credit Card Cash Advances

You know that getting a cash advance from your credit card is a bad idea, but we'll all been in an unforeseen situation where you need cash fast. So what does this convenience end up costing you? According to CardWeb.com, the fees ten years ago were on average 2% of the amount advanced with a $2 minimum and a $10 maximum fee. Unfortunately, today that number has gone up to 3% with a minimum ranging from $5-$15 with no maximum fees. Add these fees to the transactions fees you might be paying and you'll be shocked to see the total amount that disappears from your wallet each month on convenience fees alone.

5. Payday Loans

This expense may be the most dangerous of the all for your pocket book. These highly unregulated lenders do provide a valuable service – if you need cash now, you can get it for a fee and a promise to repay the amount once payday comes around. However, the industry standard in annualized interest is between 200 and 500%.

These lenders are able to avoid usury laws by calling their interest charges “service fees” which are not regulated the same way in many places. In fact, payday services have been outlawed or severely restricted in 13 states according to bankrate.com. (Hold too tightly to this rescue line and you'll soon be drowning in debt.

6. Not Negotiating

This step can be tricky, but it could also save you enormous amounts of money interest. If you are having trouble paying down your debt, call your creditor and ask to have your interest rate reduced. These companies want your business, so often you will be able to negotiate a repayment schedule that can help you pay down your debt faster. Make sure you ask for the lowest fixed rate – an introductory rate that will shoot right back up in a few months will have you back at square one.

Don't be afraid to bring up competitors' rates; your credit card company may be more willing to offer a comparable rate if you can get it somewhere else .If the company will only offer you a lowered rate for a set amount of time (usually six months to a year), that is better than nothing. The best part about this step is that there is no harm in asking, only the potential for big savings. (Reducing the rate charged on your credit card balance is the first step to getting out of debt.

7. Ignorance Is NOT Bliss

The worst culprit for keeping you in debt is not knowing where your money is going. Make it a priority to keep records of where and how you spend your hard-earned cash. Make a repayment plan and have set goal-dates for paying off debts. Without these tools, it's far too easy to stay in debt. You can purchase accounting software, make a simple (and free) spreadsheet on your computer or even work it out with a pen and paper; just make sure you make a long-term plan for regaining control of your finances.

Debt may seem like a life sentence, but it doesn't have to be. The number one tip for maintaining financial health is awareness. Be aware of your money and where it goes each month, and be aware of the options available to you. There are easy ways to help alleviate the stress on your finances and move from red to black, and the rewards are more than just monetary.

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The World's Best-Paid Cities

by Francesca Levy
Thursday, August 27, 2009provided by

Which of the globe's workers fatten their wallets most?

Residents of Swiss financial center Zurich know that their country has more to offer than world-class chocolate and precision watches. They can now brag that, on the whole, they earn more than anyone in the world. Zurich-dwellers rake in $22.60 per hour in average net pay, according to a wage survey released August 19. The runner-up city is less than 200 miles southwest: Geneva, where jobs pay $20.40 per hour.

Though the Swiss cities provide the most cash to workers, they are not the most expensive locales for employers to set up shop. Laborers in glittering Copenhagen command the highest gross pay, at an average of $32.80 per hour.

Employees in Zurich and Geneva not only take home top dollar, they can buy the most with their earnings. When you factor in local prices, they blow away any other international city in terms of what workers can get for their money.

Working life in Mumbai marks the other end of the spectrum. Because of its $1.20 average hourly wage, the impoverished urban center trails the list of 73 cities compiled in the Prices and Earnings report, released by every three years.

Behind The Numbers

UBS arrived at its rankings by studying the wages, taxes and working hours of 14 occupations across 73 world cities. Schoolteachers have a very different lifestyle in Berlin, where they earn an average of $35,800 per year after taxes, than they do in Bucharest, where the same work nets them only $4,100. A female factory worker brings in $18,200 in Chicago, but less than a tenth of that--$1,800--in Cairo.

To accurately measure each city's quality of life, the researchers looked not only at gross salaries, but what workers brought home after taxes, based on the number of hours typically worked in their city.

To determine how far citizens could stretch this amount, they then calculated the cost of a generic shopping basket, comprising 154 commonly consumed products and services in each city. The basket was priciest in Oslo, at $112.

"The prices of goods are higher in Oslo because it's relatively remote, it's expensive for companies to operate there, and because taxes are high," says Robert Helsley, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business.

In Sydney, the same essentials cost a more reasonable $68.50, but the cheapest goods could be found in two Indian Cities: Delhi and Mumbai, where the shopping basket costs $37.60 and $30.90, respectively.

A Parisian can buy 61.3 baskets with their annual net income, but a Peruvian living in Lima can only afford 32.4 with theirs.

To crystallize the meaning of earnings in different countries, the study introduced a contemporary but ubiquitous item to the basked of goods--an iPod Nano. Taking into account pay, taxes and the price of goods, workers in Cairo would have to toil for 105 hours to get their hands on one of the MP3 players, while those in Zurich and New York can pick one up after working for the least amount of time of all the countries surveyed: 9 hours--roughly a day's work.

Europeans Rake In The Most

The list was crowded with European cities: 14 of the 20 wallet-fattening cities were Western European capitals. All four of the American cities that were included in the analysis made the top 20: New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago. But two other cosmopolitan North American cities, Montreal and Mexico City, didn't make the cut--in fact, Mexico City was one of the lowest-earning of all those surveyed, beating only Delhi, Manila, Jakarta and Mumbai in wages earned. The top 20 includes one city each from the Asian and Australian continents--Tokyo and Sidney.

The dominance of European cities in the rankings is partly a function of sample: there are more of them on the overall list. But that's not the only reason. During the earnings periods for which most companies reported--roughly the 2008 calendar year--the dollar depreciated significantly to the Euro.

Switzerland specifically fared well because of its strong financial services sector and small size.

"Industry obviously influences what the overall compensation will be," says Michael Ryan, chief investment strategist for Swiss bank UBS' wealth management unit, which produced the report. "Switzerland tends to have very specialized products, and financial services."

But the tumultuous global economy, whose effect may not be fully reflected in these numbers, may soon knock financial centers like Zurich, Geneva and New York from the top spots. "As we see impact of global financial crisis play out, will that have an emphasis on reordering the list?" says Ryan. "We won't get that from this data. It's too fresh."

Big Pay Packages In Copenhagen, but More Free Cash In Dublin

Even though employers in some cities seemed to offer impressive-looking wages, workers in lower-earning cities often had much more of their checks left over to play with after taxes and other contributions.

Copenhagen had the biggest disparity between gross and net pay; its workforce contributes 46% of salaries to taxes and social security, shrinking the average paycheck from $32.80 per hour to $17.70. Those cashing their paychecks in Munich, Amsterdam, Oslo and Frankfurt give the next-highest chunks of income to the government.

But taxes fund distinct benefits in different parts of the world, so a strict comparison of tax burdens doesn't give the whole picture.

"Tax systems provide very different public services in different cities. In Copenhagen, I'm assuming health care is included in public tax contributions. In Los Angeles it wouldn't be," says Helsley. "Public safety, the quality of the public transportation system, lots of things could be influenced by government spending that would be germane to a person's choice of place to live."

There's no doubt that a sweet compensation package does a great deal to lure workers to any international location. But salary isn't everything. Employers determining where to locate their businesses and workers deciding where to live must consider a lot more. "Looking at just earnings is deceptive," says Helsley. "The same person is not going to locate in Mexico and Helsinki." Just because a city makes the top five, "It doesn't say it's the best place to locate a firm, and it certainly doesn't mean it's the best place to be a worker."

Top 5 World's Best-Paid Cities

AP Photo / Joachim Ladefoged/VII

1. Zurich, Switzerland

Net pay per hour: $22.60

Gross pay per hour: $30.30

Tax and Social Security contributions: 46%

Vacation days: 23

Working time for an iPod Nano: 9 hours

AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus

2. Geneva, Switzerland

Net pay per hour: $20.40

Gross pay per hour: $29.20

Tax and Social Security contributions: 30%

Vacation days: 23

Working time for an iPod Nano: 10 hours

Brasil 2/iStockphoto.com

3. New York

Net pay per hour: $19

Gross pay per hour: $26.10

Tax and Social Security contributions: 28%

Vacation days: 12

Working time for an iPod Nano: 9 hours

Niall Carson/PA Wire via AP Images

4. Dublin

Net pay per hour: $18.70

Gross pay per hour: $22

Tax and Social Security contributions: 15%

Vacation days: 21

Working time for an iPod Nano: 10 hours

AP Photo/ Luxpress/Manuel Dias HA

5. Luxembourg

Gross pay per hour: $22.40

Net pay per hour: $18.20

Tax and Social Security contributions: 18%

Vacation days: 25

Working time for an iPod Nano: 10 hours


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12 Words You Can Never Say in the Office

by Carolyn Duffy Marsan
Tuesday, August 25, 2009

provided by

If you're old enough to understand the reference in this headline -- George Carlin, anyone? -- then you're old enough to need a refresher course when it comes to talking about technology.

We've put together a list of outdated tech terms, phrases that you shouldn't be using at work anymore because they will make you seem old. This is especially true if you're looking for a new job. For example, on an interview, you should be talking about "cloud computing," not "ASPs" even though they are basically the same thing.

This list is useful for 20-somethings, too. Now when the senior person in the office uses one of these terms, you'll know what he's talking about.

1. Intranet

Popular in the mid-90s, the term "intranet" referred to a private network running the Internet Protocol and other Internet standards such as the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). It was also used to describe an internal Web site that was hosted behind a firewall and was accessible only to employees. Today, every private network runs IP. So you can just use the term virtual private network or VPN to describe a private IP-based network.

2. Extranet

An "extranet" referred to private network connections based on Internet standards such as IP and HTTP that extended outside an organization, such as between business partners. Extranets often replaced point-to-point electronic data interchange (EDI) connections that used standards such as X12. Today, companies provide suppliers, resellers and other members of their supply chain with access to their VPNs.

3. Web Surfing

When is the last time you heard someone talk about surfing the Web? You know the term is out of date when your kids don't know what it means. To teens and tweens, the Internet and the World Wide Web are one and the same thing. So it's better to use the term "browsing" the Web if you want to be understood.

4. Push Technology

The debate over the merits of "push" versus "pull" technology came to a head in 1996 with the release of the PointCast Network, a Web service that sent a steady stream of news to subscribers. However, PointCast and other push technology services required too much network bandwidth. Eventually, push technology evolved into RSS feeds, which remain the preferred method for publishing information to subscribers of the Internet. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.

5. Application Service Provider (ASP)

During this decade, the term "Application Service Provider" evolved into "Software-as-a-Service." Both terms refer to a vendor hosting a software application and providing access to it over the Web. Customers buy the software on a subscription basis, rather than having to own and operate it themselves. ASP was a hot term prior to the dot-com bust. Then it was replaced by "SaaS." Now it's cool to talk about "cloud computing."

6. Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)

Coined by former Apple CEO John Sculley back in 1992 when he unveiled the Apple Newton, the term "personal digital assistant" referred to a handheld computer. PDA was still in use in 1996, when the Palm Pilot was the hottest handheld in corporate America. Today, the preferred generic term for a handheld like a Blackberry or an iPhone is a "smartphone".

7. Internet Telephony

You need to purge the term "Internet telephony" from your vocabulary and switch to VoIP, for Voice over IP. Even the term VoIP is getting old-fashioned because pretty soon all telephone calls will be routed over the Internet rather than the Public Switched Telephone Network. It's probably time to stop referring to the PSTN, too, because it is headed for the history books as all voice, data and video traffic is carried on the Internet.

8. Weblog

A blog is a shortened version of "Weblog," a term that emerged in the late 1990s to describe commentary that an individual publishes online. It spawned many words still in use such as "blogger" and "blogosphere." Nowadays, few people have time to blog so they are "microblogging," which is another word that's heading out the door as people turn Twitter into a generic term for blasting out 140-character observations or opinions.

9. Thin Client

You have to give Larry Ellison credit for seeing many of the flaws in the client/server computing architecture and for popularizing the term "thin client" to refer to Oracle's alternative terminal-like approach. In 1993, Ellison was touting thin clients as a way for large organizations to improve network security and manageability. Although thin clients never replaced PCs, the concept is similar to "virtual desktops" that are gaining popularity today as a way of supporting mobile workers.

10. Rboc

In 1984, the U.S. government forced AT&T to split up into seven Regional Bell Operating Companies [RBOCs] also known as Baby Bells. Customers bought local service from RBOCs and long-distance service from carriers such as AT&T. Telecom industry mergers over the last 15 years have formed integrated local- and long-distance carriers such as AT&T, Verizon and Qwest. This makes not only the term RBOC obsolete, but also the terms ILEC for Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier [i.e., GTE] and CLEC for Competitive Local Exchange Carrier [i.e., MFS].

11. Long-Distance Call

Thanks to flat-rate calling plans available from carriers for at least five years, nobody needs to distinguish between local and long-distance calls anymore. Similarly, you don't need to distinguish between terrestrial and wireless calls because so many people use only wireless services. Like pay phones, long-distance calls -- and their premium prices -- are relics of a past without national and unlimited calling plans.

12. World Wide Web

Nobody talks about the "World Wide Web" anymore, or the "Information Superhighway," for that matter. It's just the Internet. It's a distinction that Steve Czaban, the popular Fox Sports Radio talk show host, likes to mock when he refers to the "Worldwide Interweb." Nothing dates you more than pulling out one of those old-fashioned ways of referring to the Internet such as "infobahn" or "electronic highway."

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Attack on Obama riles Beck's advertisers

By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer Mon Aug 24, 7:17 AM PDT

Glenn Beck returns to Fox News Channel on Monday after a vacation with fewer companies willing to advertise on his show than when he left, part of the fallout from calling President Barack Obama a racist.

A total of 33 Fox advertisers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., CVS Caremark, Clorox and Sprint, directed that their commercials not air on Beck's show, according to the companies and ColorofChange.org, a group that promotes political action among blacks and launched a campaign to get advertisers to abandon him. That's more than a dozen more than were identified a week ago.

While it's unclear what effect, if any, this will ultimately have on Fox and Beck, it is already making advertisers skittish about hawking their wares within the most opinionated cable TV shows.

The Clorox Co., a former Beck advertiser, now says that "we do not want to be associated with inflammatory speech used by either liberal or conservative talk show hosts." The maker of bleach and household cleaners said in a statement that it has decided not to advertise on political talk shows.

The shows present a dilemma for advertisers, who usually like a "safe" environment for their messages. The Olbermanns, Hannitys, O'Reillys, Maddows and Becks of the TV world are more likely to say something that will anger a viewer, who might take it out on sponsors.

They also host the most-watched programs on their networks.

"This is a good illustration of that conundrum," said Rich Hallabran, spokesman for UPS Stores, which he said has temporarily halted buying ads on Fox News Channel as a whole.

Beck can bring the eyeballs. With the health care debate raising political temperatures, his show had its biggest week ever right before his vacation, averaging 2.4 million viewers each day, according to Nielsen Media Research.

He was actually on another Fox show July 28 when he referred to Obama as a racist with "a deep-seated hatred for white people." The network immediately distanced itself from Beck's statement, but Beck didn't. He used his radio show the next day to explain why he believed that. He would not comment for this article, spokesman Matthew Hiltzik said.

ColorofChange.org quickly targeted companies whose ads had appeared during Beck's show, telling them what he had said and seeking a commitment to drop him. The goal is to make Beck a liability, said James Rucker, the organization's executive director.

"They have a toxic asset," Rucker said. "They can either clean it up or get rid of it."

It's not immediately clear how many of the companies actually knew they were advertising on Beck's show. Sometimes commercial time is chosen for a specific show, but often it is bought on a rotation basis, meaning the network sprinkles the ads throughout the day on its own schedule. Sometimes ads appear by mistake; Best Buy said it bought commercial time for earlier in the day, and one of its ads unexpectedly appeared in Beck's show.

One company, CVS Caremark, said it advertises on Fox but hadn't said anything about Beck. Now it has told its advertising agency to inform Fox that it wanted no commercials on Beck.

"We support vigorous debate, especially around policy issues that affect millions of Americans, but we expect it to be informed, inclusive and respectful," said spokeswoman Carolyn Castel.

Besides the unpredictability of the opinionated cable hosts, the rapid pace of today's wired world complicates decisions on where to place ads, said Kathleen Dunleavy, a spokeswoman for Sprint. She said she was surprised at how fast the Beck issue spread across social media outlets and how quickly advertiser names were attached to it.

UPS' Hallabran said the decision to pull commercials "should not be interpreted as we are permanently withdrawing our advertising from Fox." He said the company wants to reach viewers with a wide spectrum of opinions.

Except for UPS Stores, there's no evidence that any advertisers who say they don't want to be on Beck's show are leaving Fox. Network spokeswoman Irena Briganti said the companies have simply requested the ads be moved elsewhere and that Fox hasn't lost any revenue.

She wouldn't say whether Fox was benefiting from any anti-anti-Beck backlash, with companies looking to support him. Some Beck supporters have urged fans to express their displeasure at companies for abandoning their man.

Beck supporters have suggested that retaliation might have something to do with ColorofChange.org's campaign. One of the group's founders, Van Jones, now works in the Obama administration and has been criticized by Beck. But Rucker said Jones has nothing to do with ColorofChange.org now and didn't even know about the campaign before it started.

Beck's strong ratings — even at 5 p.m. EDT he often outdraws whatever CNN and MSNBC show in prime-time — make it unlikely Beck is going anywhere even as the list of advertisers avoiding him approaches three dozen.

But it could mean advertising time becomes cheaper on his show than such a large audience would normally command. Some of his show's advertisers last week included a male enhancement pill, a law firm looking to sue on behalf of asbestos victims, a company selling medical supplies to diabetics and a water filter company.

Rucker said ColorofChange.org has contacted about 60 companies regarding Beck, and is heartened by the response.

"It's causing a certain conversation around Beck, which I think is important," he said.

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Exploding iPhones: Panic, or chill?

Tue Aug 25, 2009 3:21PM EDT

Reports are coming in from France, the Netherlands, and the UK of iPhones and iPod Touches—just a few so far, mind you—blowing up in people's faces, and the European Commission has launched an investigation into the matter. So, is your iPhone a ticking time bomb? Before you freak out, read on.

So, what's going on?
There have been a handful of reported incidents of iPhones and iPod Touches exploding, causing minor injuries in some cases (mainly due to flying glass shards from the iPhone display).

You're kidding! How many iPhones have blown up so far?
Like I said, only a few cases have been reported, mostly in Europe. The latest "exploding iPhone" case comes from France, with the AFP reporting that a 26-year-old supermarket watchman from Villevieille suffered an eye injury after his iPhone screen exploded and shattered. Among the other recent reports: a French teenager was "slightly" injured by flying glass shards from an exploding iPhone, an iPod Touch in the UK "overheated and jumped into the air" after being dropped, and an iPhone in the Netherlands caught fire and melted the passenger seat of a car.

OK, so only iPhones and iPod Touches, eh? What about other iPods?
They've been known to explode as well, with a recently uncovered safety report detailing at least 15 cases of fires in the U.S. blamed on overheating or sparking iPods.

What's so dangerous about iPhones and iPods?
According to Ars Technica, the majority of cases are traced to the iPhone's built-in lithium-ion battery, a type of rechargeable battery that powers everything from iPhones to laptops. So, are lithium-ion batteries inherently dangerous? Not necessarily, explains HowStuffWorks, although they can overheat, spark, and burst into flame "under the right circumstances"; just ask anyone who lived though the great laptop battery recall of 2006.

Whoa. What do the authorities say?
As the New York Times reports, the European Commission is investigating the latest cases of exploding iPhones and iPod Touches, as is the French government. Meanwhile, federal safety officials in the U.S. say there's no need for an iPod recall based on the small number of reported incidents.

What does Apple have to say for itself?
Not much, so far, with a spokesperson telling Reuters (via the NYT): "We are aware of these reports and we are waiting to receive the iPhones from the customers. Until we have the full details, we don't have anything further to add."

OK, so ... panic, or chill?
Chill. Batteries in gadgets, including the iPhone and iPod touch, always have the (very small) potential to explode, but look at the numbers: for iPods, only 15 documented cases in the U.S. after hundreds of millions of iPods sold, while just a handful (as in five or so) of iPhones/iPod Touches have reportedly exploded out of an install base of about 40 million.

Of course, that's not to say that government safety officials and Apple shouldn't stop, take notice, and do everything they can to eliminate the danger altogether. However, based on the figures, you've got a much better chance of being struck by lightening—or dying in a plane crash, drowning, or even perishing in burning pajamas, for that matter—than having your iPhone or iPod catch fire.

That's a relief. Still, any safety tips?
Sure: If your iPhone or iPod gets way too hot (more than the usual heat from playing a game or downloading a video file), turn it off immediately and take it to an Apple service center.

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The Late Show with David Letterman / Letterman - Britney Spears Top Ten List

Judge OKs Jackson deal, burial planned

Reuters, Aug 17, 2009 11:54 pm PDT

A judge on Monday approved a deal for the sale of Michael Jackson merchandise, but delayed making a decision on a traveling exhibition dedicated to the King of Pop, amid objections from the singer's mother.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff, who is overseeing matters related to Jackson's estate, approved the deal between the co-executors of Jackson's will and Bravado International Group, a division of Universal Music Group owned by Vivendi SA.

But Beckloff postponed until Friday a decision on whether to approve concert promoter AEG Live's plans for a traveling exhibition of Jackson memorabilia. He did so amid objections from attorneys for Jackson's mother, Katherine, who said the planned exhibition may not bring enough money to the estate.

On August 7, Beckloff approved a deal between Jackson's estate, AEG Live and Columbia Pictures, a division of Sony Corp, for a movie to be released October 30 using footage from the pop star's final rehearsals.

The executors of Jackson's will, longtime attorney John Branca and music executive John McClain, have said the deals will generate millions of dollars for the estate.

Separately, Michael Jackson's father said his son's body will be buried at a Los Angeles cemetery on August 29, which would have been his 51st birthday, the New York Daily News reported on Monday.

Joe Jackson told a Daily News reporter the plan was finalized in recent days.

Media reports last week said Jackson, who died June 25 of cardiac arrest, was buried in a private ceremony in early August. But those reports were based on unnamed sources and never confirmed by Jackson family representatives.

A Jackson family spokesman did not return calls seeking comment Monday, nor did a spokesman at Los Angeles' Forest Lawn cemetery, where Joe Jackson said his son would be buried.

A public memorial for the singer was held in July, but there was never an official confirmation the "Thriller" singer was buried after the event.

The reason behind Jackson's cardiac arrest remains a mystery. The Los Angeles County Coroner's office has completed its autopsy report but its findings remain sealed until police conclude their investigation.

Los Angeles police are looking into the role prescription drugs may have played in Jackson's death and the actions of doctors who were treating him in the weeks before he died.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis: editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Todd Eastham)

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EAT BULAGA VS WOWOWILLIE cory aquino procession

Microsoft's Marketing Stunt Goes Viral: MEGAWOOSH Bruno Kammerl jumps

Posted Aug 13, 2009 03:35pm EDT by Chris Nichols in Computers, Internet, Media, Software and Services, Newsmakers

Related: msft, aapl

Turns out the official recipe for fun and the way to create an Internet sensation are the same: Start with a megacorporation, add in a group of Germans on a hillside, liberally take advantage of slick editing software and let the power of the Web do its thing.

If you spend any time online, have a TV or know anyone who does, you've probably heard about the latest craze blasting its way through cyberspace. In case you haven't, a recap: A guy in a neoprene suit goes barreling down a waterslide, flies off the end and through the air, traveling a great distance, and splashes down in a tiny pool. It's the MegaWoosh. See?

Please understand. This is a hoax. It didn't happen. Ultimately, it's an ad for Microsoft Germany. Still, it is awfully clever. Heck, some commentators out there on the Net are suggesting it could be one of the greatest fakes in the history of the World Wide Web.

One big question is whether this will help to reposition Microsoft as a force to be reckoned with in the collective mind of the world's tech-obsessed masses. For the better part of this decade to date, that's been pretty much dominated by Apple. You know, the iMac, the iPod, the iPhone, etc. What, you think those "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" commercials just happened one day by accident?

How this excellent production came together can be boiled down to something like this -- a stuntman starts down the slide, but a rope keeps him from going too far, the thing that's airborne isn't a person, but is instead animation, and the principal character ended up in the pool by dropping off a small ramp. Piece it seamlessly together, and there you go.

According to NewTeeVee, a marketing firm that deals with viral ads was signed up to get the video on to a few dozen Web sites. The agency claimed it was planning for the spot to stay in Germany, but c'mon, this is the Internet we're talking about here. With social networking having effectively taken over the known universe and serving as our sole means of communication with other humans, there was no chance this thing was seriously going to remain confined to one nation in Western Europe. (Did they really want it to? Really?)

This story is only a few days old, and it's captivated millions of viewers. News outlets are spreading the word. Type the word "megawoosh" into Yahoo's search engine and you will get about 270,000 hits. Believers in the stunt are crying foul at those who would insist it's as phony as the moon landing. Wait, bad example. You know what I mean, though.

Now stop wasting time, and go watch the trick again.

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APCN2 cable cut cripples connections

By Victoria Ho, ZDNet Asia
Wednesday, August 12, 2009 04:50 PM

update A cut in the Asia-Pacific Cable Network 2 (APCN2) undersea submarine cable crippled connection speeds for users in the Asia-Pacific region on Wednesday, particularly in Singapore and the Philippines.

Users were sending updates to local forums and Twitter, complaining of slow connection speeds to sites hosted outside of the region.

According to a notice sent by Malaysian telco, TM Net, the cable fault was traced to segment 7 of the APCN2, which stretches between Shantou, China and Tanshui, Taiwan. TM Net traced the outage to Typhoon Morakot, which hit the region over the weekend.

Additionally, segment 1 of the APCN2 is also currently under repair. Repairs on segment 7 are expected to commence after work on segment 1 is completed.

TM Net said the repairs are expected to be completed by late evening Aug. 13.

Singapore operator, SingTel, confirmed the cable fault in an e-mail to ZDNet Asia, saying the APCN2's consortium members have started restoration works and are diverting Internet traffic to other cable systems. It said the situation is expected to return to "acceptable levels" within the next 24 hours.

A status update posted on InternetTrafficReport.com showed SingTel's Singapore gateway registered a score of only 34 points, compared to the global average "health" of network connections, which was 86 points as at 3pm Singapore time on Wednesday.

The site first started registering slower response times and packet loss in Singapore at 8pm Tuesday evening.

Cable & Wireless sent ZDNet Asia a status update at 6pm, Singapore time, noting multiple cable breaks have been also detected along the EAC (East Asia Crossing) and SMW 3 (South-East-Asia, Middle-East, Western-Europe) subsea cable networks, in addition to the APCN2.

These breaks have been concentrated specifically near Taiwan, with network traffic "adversely affected in and out of the region as a result," said the operator.

Back in 2006, the APCN2 was taken out by a powerful earthquake in Taiwan. Internet access was reportedly badly disrupted and halted in some parts of Asia after the quake.

See also: Twitter, SingTel, Philippines, cable network, Asia-Pacific, Singapore, Cable, network, Taiwan

source: http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/communications/0,39044192,62056838,00.htm

Best Buy $9.99 TV offer was too good to be true

By MAE ANDERSON, AP Retail Writer Mae Anderson, Ap Retail Writer – Wed Aug 12, 4:53 pm ET

NEW YORK – Few if any of the deals retailers have offered online during the recession have been as good as Best Buy Inc.'s sale price of $9.99 on a 52-inch TV Wednesday. But it quickly turned out the offer was too good to be true.

The electronics retailer said it will not honor the $9.99 price posted Wednesday morning on its Web site for a 52-inch Samsung flat-screen TV. By early afternoon, the TV was listed at $1,799.99, almost half off the original $3,399.99 price.

Bloggers and Twitterers lit up the Internet with posts about the offer, some insisting Best Buy must honor it, others making jokes.

Best Buy, based in Richfield, Minn., said it has corrected an online pricing error and will not honor the incorrect price. Orders made Wednesday morning at the incorrect price will be canceled and customers will receive refunds, the company said.

Best Buy did not immediately return a call for additional comment.

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Petition to Oust Willie Revillame

To: ABS CBN Management, MTRCB and PANA

To Whom It May Concern:


I am an avid viewer of ABS CBN and I am very well up-to-date regarding their shows. Without any doubt, I am a Kapamilya. However, last August 03, 2009, an incident happened when Wowowee Host Willie Revillame blurted out comments when a video of Pres. Cory's cortege appeared on the screen.

While a contestant was dancing for the talent portion, a snippet of Pres. Cory Aquino's cortege was shown on the screen. But Willie did not cut short the dancing portion. Instead, he let the contestant finish her routine. After that, he blurted out comments regarding the video of Pre. Cory's cortege. He said:



"Kung ganyan, pakita na lang natin 'yan. Kasi nagsasaya kami dito, tapos... Masakit sa akin 'yan, e. Nagsasalita ako dito... 'yan, please. Sana maintindihan n'yo. Nagsasaya kami dito, papakita n'yo sa amin yun ang... di ba? Hindi tama, e. Okey? Hindi ba?"

"Pangit! Hindi ho maganda sa atin. Nagsasalita, ipinapakita yung kabaong ni Tita Cory, hindi ba? Papano kami makapagsasaya, nahihirapan kami? I'm sorry ho, ha. Pero ako, totoo ako, e. 'Wag n'yo akong pagagalitan, kasi totoo ang gusto kong malaman...

"Pagkatapos ng show, ipakita n'yo ang gusto n'yong palabas. Kasi itong Wowowee, gusto ko... Hindi ba, at alam din ni Tita Cory 'yan dahil napasaya rin siya ng show na ito na laging masaya dito, ok?"




Some may argue that Willie's intention was good, but I rather find these statements rude and arrogant. Wowowee and Revillame is known by millions of Filipino viewers and the show is even watched across several countries through TFC. To react in such way is downright arrogant and disrespectful to the former President Corzaon Aquino. I know that it was a bad taste for ABS-CBN to show a snippet of the funeral on Wowowee, but it was worst for Revillame to react that way.

Willie have chosen to let the contestant dance instead of cutting short her act and give way to the coverage of the cortege. Willie have chosen to blurt out his rude comments ON-AIR instead of Off-cam. In short, Willie have chosen to have fun instead of giving way to the funeral of Pres. Corazon Aquino. So they'd rather have fun instead of pay our respects to our democracy icon? That was not a good example to our youth today.

Was it really hard for him to be humble and human? I believe that this is not the first time that he aired his views and rather arrogant comments On-air. He embarasses his staff, makes fun of the contestants, and arrogantly act on TV almost everyday. Pres. Aquino taught us humility, and Revillame is showing us the exact opposite: arrogance.

This time, Willie's statement should be condemed not only by the public, but by the management of ABS-CBN as well. It also creates a public outrage in the internet forums, chatting boards, and online-newspapers. Majority have negative reactions and have condemned Willie Revillame's brutal statements.

With this, I am calling the attention of the management of ABS-CBN to stop the “arrogant act” of Willie Revillame on National TV program and reprimand him because of his actions. Willie Revillame had been very disrespectful to the Pres. Cory Aquino's cortege, Filipinos icon of democracy. It was also worst for your company that your own employee criticize you on national television instead on off the air conversations.

I am calling the attention of the MTRCB to be more vigilant, so that this lowest form of personal attack by a tv showbiz talk show host, for her/his personal agenda, will not happen again

I am calling the PANA to stop supporting Wowowee until they axe or reprimand Willie Revillame due to his actions. With him as one of the hosts, your product does not project a positive image to the public.

The public and TFC subscribers deserve better programming, and we deserve better than the likes of Willie Revillame.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned
http://www.petitiononline.com/badwilly/petition-sign.html
http://www.petitiononline.com/badwilly/petition.html

Apple Screws Up Again, Censors iPhone Dictionary App

Nick Mediati, PC World Aug 6, 2009 12:45 am

ust when you thought the iPhone App Store approval process couldn't possibly become more of a debacle, it did. John Gruber of Daring Fireball details the story of Ninjawords, an iPhone dictionary that Apple censored.

You read that right: Apple refused to sell Ninjawords unless the developer removed certain words from the dictionary.

John Gruber describes Ninjawords as "a terrific app — pretty much exactly what I’ve always wanted in an iPhone dictionary," but that, "Ninjawords for iPhone suffers one humiliating flaw: it omits all the words deemed “objectionable” by Apple’s App Store reviewers, despite the fact that Ninjawords carries a 17+ rating." Gruber goes into more detail about the Ninjawords saga, like the fact that it took two months for Apple to finally approve the app for sale.

What's wrong with this picture? What isn't? Okay, I can fully understand Apple for wanting to limit porn on the App Store. And I'm not against Apple reviewing apps in general; after all, the iPhone would make an inviting malware target.

But a dictionary?

As Gruber notes, schoolkids everywhere have access to the dictionary. And, of course, Mac OS X includes a dictionary app that you can use to look up any word you want.

I can think of many people who are offended by farts, porn, and baby-shaking. I can't think of a single person—not one—who is even the slightest bit offended by the dictionary.

Last year, Mac developer Wil Shipley said the following on his blog:

"I think Apple needs to have a clearly-documented policy for approving submissions to the iPhone App Store, and it should be:
• Publish all software submitted to Apple, as long as the software isn't actively harmful to users, illegal, and does not violate Apple's agreements with cell phone vendors.
• Period."

I couldn't agree more. Apple's role as gatekeeper should be to keep apps that could keep malicious or illegal software off the app store. Apple's role should not be deciding what's offensive. Leave that up to iPhone owners and parents.

If you've been reading this blog long enough, of course, you already know all about jailbreaking your iPhone, thus getting around Apple's restrictions.

So congratulations, Apple. Your App Store approval process has just gone from inconsistent to inane to absolutely ridiculous. You may think you're doing us all a favor, but all you've managed to do is shoot yourself in the foot.

Follow our geeky musings on Twitter @geektech.

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Apple's Mysterious iProd Gets an Upgrade

Ian Paul Aug 5, 2009 10:12 pm

More Apple gadget wonder has hit the Web with further interest sparked in the mysterious new device called the iProd.

Reference to the new gadget was first discovered in the deep, dark bowels of iPhone OS 3.0 in March. The iProd reference is found in the operating system's USB configuration property list, and in the latest version of iPhone OS 3.1 the iProd version number has been switched from model 0,1 to 1,1. This model change is noteworthy since it suggests the product has undergone a change significant enough to warrant a new model number. It also indicates the iProd is under active development at Apple, observes Ars Technica. The new iProd version also has a new product ID number, 4762.

iPod camera?

So what is 4762? With so many Apple super devices floating out there in the imagination-osphere the choices are endless. Is this the Apple tablet, perhaps an iPod with a camera, or maybe even the iPhone Nano? Whatever it is, Ars Technica suggests the device recently gained high-speed networking capability, since the iProd's ConfigurationDescriptor has changed from "standardMuxPTP" under the 0,1 model to "standardMuxPTPEthernet" with 1,1.

The reference to high-speed Internet capability suggests the iProd could be the Apple tablet, but iPhone models also have the iProd's Ethernet designation so it's p

Apple tablet?

ossible the new device could simply be a more advanced iPod. In 2008, the U.K. Times newspaper ran a story reporting that Apple was working on a digital personal trainer called the iProd -- so named because the device would prod you to finish your exercise routine if you began slacking off before hitting your workout target.

iProd is not the only mystery device, either. The USB property list still contains i something called iFPGA. References to this device were also discovered in March at the same time as the iProd.

iPod camera?

We have even fewer clues what the iFPGA could be. Some speculate that FPGA could mean field-programmable gate array, which typically refers to a computer chip that can be configured by the end user. FPGA capability is not usually associated with everyday consumer devices, so it's hard to know what this device could be used for. It's also not certain that FPGA actually stands for field-programmable gate array in this context.

The biggest hope among tech watchers is that the iProd is connected to the oft-rumored Apple tablet. Current rumors peg the new device as a touch-based device with a 10-inch screen that may have 3G capability and impressive video quality. The latest rumors on that suggest Apple could announce the Apple tablet as early as next month.

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Is Apple's iPod Dying -- And Does Apple Care?

Todd R. Weiss Aug 5, 2009 11:31 pm

The beloved and oft-copied iPod MP3 music player has been a huge part of Apple's bread and butter success since the first edition launched in 2001, but iPod sales revenues are apparently dropping and being eclipsed by revenues for Macs and iPhones.

So does that mean that the iPod is dead? Could it be? Will the iPod go the way of Pontiacs, Edsels, and steam locomotives?

Maybe not, but its importance at Apple could be shifting, according to a blog post by CNNMoney.com about a new market analysis conducted by stock market day trader Andy Zaky.

According to the study, iPod sales revenues have dropped from their longtime Number 1 spot in the company to Number 3, behind Macintosh computers and iPhones. Zaky said that's a good thing for Apple because it shows that it can still be successful even as its core products change their revenue shares and jostle for sales leadership within. The telling evidence, according to the report, is that iPod revenue share at Apple fell to 18 percent in the last quarter, compared to almost 56 percent back in 2006

"Many Apple critics have argued that Apple would essentially fall off the earth because at some point in time the iPod's growth would collapse," Zaky told CNNMoney.com. "The second part is true. The iPod growth rate has in fact fallen off a cliff as Apple posted its first yearly drop in iPod sales ever in Q3. However, Apple is still firing on all cylinders thanks to the explosive growth of the iPhone.

The question is, so what's this all mean for iPod-loving consumers who every few years line up outside stores to buy the latest generation of iPods with all their new features and innovations?

Well, f

Photograph: Marc Simon

or years I have thought that the iPod would always be on the top of the MP3 player heap, and I don't see that changing, even as its revenue rankings within Apple change.

Yes, we've seen improvements in MP3 players from competitors like Microsoft's upcoming Zune HD, which is moving to a new, brighter and thinner OLED display with a 16:9 aspect ratio and is getting a new built-in, high-definition radio receiver -- features that are not yet included in iPods. The playing field for portable music players is definitely changing.

But I wouldn't count the iPod out just yet. Here are my top three reasons why its changing revenue picture inside Apple doesn't mean that iPods will soon face their demise:

1. Let's face it -- iPod lovers are iPod lovers for far deeper reasons than just the devices themselves. It goes to the core of the iPod, its grace, its simplicity, its deep features and its stellar performance. People have been buying them despite their relatively steep price tags, despite their short warranties and despite their often short-lived batteries (that are not easily replaceable by consumers). None of the competition has yet fully matched the inherent beauty and performance of iPods.
2. Consumers have been trained that if you want the best, buy the best. That's how Mercedes-Benz, Cadillac, Jaguar, and others sell their cars. That's how Apple has sold its products. Apple doesn't lower prices to bring in sales -- its quality products and reputation does that for them. OK, there's also the almost insane devotion from buyers, but that's a good thing for any company. Do you think Volkswagen would have ever been an early success in the U.S. market if millions of Americans hadn't fallen head over heels in love with those funny-looking, charming original Beetles? Different is good.
3. Microsoft and other competitors don't have the same easy-to-use and feature-packed online music stores and won't anytime soon be able to garner the incredibly important "cool factor" that envelopes the iPod and its user base. And what's even more important, Apple is usually the leader in introducing the next cool features and innovations found in portable music players. And that's perhaps the biggest part of its iPod success that I don't believe will be soon be eclipsed by its competitors.

(Todd R. Weiss is a freelance technology journalist who formerly wrote for Computerworld.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TechManTalking

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