Cited: MSNBC
Identity theft and hacking Web sites and pirating digital material all come under the category of digital “CYA,” or watch out for others trying to get into your cyber-stuff. Well in order to make everyone more aware of the problem and simple little things you can do to prevent cyber stealing, today is Change Your Password Day, and it is being celebrated and advocated in many ways around the U.S. and around the world.
The tech blog, Gizmodo, came up with the idea for the holiday that they are calling, the most boring but safest celebration ever. They are trying to make everyone aware of the importance of password protection and what people can do to stay outside of the clutches of would-be identity thieves as well as those simply looking for a free ride at your expense.
It’s one thing to simply change a password, however, as Gizmodo points out, it’s quite another to know what is and what is not a good, safe password, and part of today’s holiday is meant to educate everyone as to the difference. To prove their point Gizmodo wants to alert people to the fact that it is not just some rogue computer villain that you have to fear but much more sophisticated thieves that use sophisticated programs and computers to hack into encrypted passwords.
As an example they discuss the case of Tech Herald, which talks about how members of AntiSec published encrypted passwords to the Internet. It took them less than five hours to crack over 80,000 passwords using little more than some easily accessible software and a few computers.
While everyone knows that it is best to use passwords made up of numbers, upper and lower case letters, and symbols, everyone also knows that memorizing these can be almost as hard as trying to hack into them. Gizmondo recommends using catchy phrases that you will always remember, which they also say can be more secure than the most complex combination of symbols and letters. And size does indeed matter. The longer your password, the harder it is to crack.
And for those of you that can’t manage to remember all of your passwords or can’t manage to keep track of them – such as using an excel spreadsheet – there are applications that can do the work of maintaining and filing your passwords for you. But, watch out for the hackers.
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My take:
I have always kept my passwords in an excel spreadsheet because there is no way I can remember them all. It’s easy enough and only takes a minute to add new ones to the list or to use the list to recall those that I can’t. And if the site that I am using is important enough to me, it’s worth the time and effort to create a password that is difficult to crack and to save it into my password file.
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Other Resources
Application Pays Twice
Some people who were using an application developed by Citibank have apparently been charged twice while using a particular iPad application designed to make paying monthly bills easier and a more automatic process and this has led to a number of people taking issue with the iPad applications developer because of the amount of overcharging that the bank did due to their customers’ use of the application. Interestingly, the overcharges went undetected for quite some time even though people were having more money than was necessary taken out of their bank account each month which is quite surprising.
Lighting Different Gems
One of the intricacies present in how a jewelry store owner must provide illumination for his gems is the fact that not all types of gems and precious metals look the same under the lights and this often means that jewelry store lighting must actually be tailored in each spot in the store to accommodate a particular type of gem and for anyone who is concerned whether a diamond might look different under the same lighting as an emerald, most likely they’d be correct. Different gems show off different hues and must be lighted appropriately for each condition.
Just Like Grown Ups
There are a lot of girls out there who want to look just like their moms and for girls that are just getting into the world of fashion and are starting to form their own style, there are some great options for girl dresses that will show off the particular colors and styles a girl starts to indicate she enjoys when she begins to pick out her own clothes. It’s at this point that a mother can usually steer her daughter into wearing a particular color that looks nice with her skin tone or hair color.
Hardwood Options for Countertops
There are some amazing options that are becoming rather popular for today’s beautiful countertops in very modern kitchens that have nothing to do with granite and are actually Atlanta GA wood countertops. One of the interesting things about wood countertops is that they’re not like a cutting board that would get scratched and dented over time and are much more like the hardwood floors that someone might install in their home that would remain unblemished for years with proper care paid toward the wood as far as wiping up moisture on a regular basis and clearing debris.
Always Repair Drywall
One of the issues that often come about when a wall is going to be painted is the fact that some repairs must be done before the job actually begins and the Long Island interior painting comes along to start. If the wall is one made of drywall, it’s rather important to look into the integrity of the wall and make sure that there’s no need to repair certain elements of the surface because putting a paint job on the top of a wall that has some imperfections in it is a fairly bad idea. Covering up issues in the wall presently can mean trouble down the line.
Fashion Trends in Work Clothes
There is always an interesting fashion trend hitting the streets and it would seem that lately one of the most popular trends has been that of people wearing work clothes such as Carhartt clothing as a fashion statement instead of wearing the clothing to work in some sort of industrial area. For the most part the people who wear such clothing aren’t doing so every day but are still creating quite a fashion hype out of clothing that has thus far usually been part of a clothing line that was meant for industrial workers and not fashionistas.
General Aspects of Colocation
Some general design attributes of colocation facilities include such items as various cabinets and sets of cages which all have locks placed on them to ensure security along with redundant power options which reduce the potential for issues to come about which make important information inaccessible by the company. One interesting thing to note regarding colocation facilities is that they often use a lot of power not only because of the power requirements machines themselves but also due to the amount of cooling systems that are required to keep such active sources of electronics safely cooled for proper operation.
Complex Betting Options
One of the interesting things about betting these days is the fact that it’s not exactly the simple process of figuring out whether someone might be able to guess who might win a major game. These days betting online often offers a bettor the chance to guess exactly how many points a game will end with or even how many points will exist between what the winner obtains and how many the loser gets. Sometimes bets might include whether a particular player on a team might score or a wager on how many hits a baseball team might get from a particular player.
Getting Into Arena
One of the most dynamic parts of World of Warcraft is the ability of players to engage in combat against other players and there is a specific part of the game called arena where people can play with a few of their friends against other small teams. These arena games can be played each week and will eventually allow a player to get great gear. Once a character is fully geared a person will often decide to sell WOW account and pick up another character and start the whole gearing process over again because the challenge is fun.
the
Cited: MSNBC
Most Americans, the 99%, find themselves under various degrees of financial stress. Making the monthly bills, paying for college, car payments, the mortgage, the cable bill, unforeseen expenses like home repair, and every combination thereof is causing consternation and for many, tough choices.
And for some, hypothetical choices that at another point in time might have been laughable would now be welcome, if not improbable. A recent survey of American households finds that over 18% of those surveyed would give up sex for six months in exchange for someone taking care of their bills for just one month.
The survey was conducted by a bill paying company called BillFloat, and while the results make for interesting and amusing conversation, they also under score the degree to which 
many Americans are feeling the financial pinch.
In another part of the survey, 26% of respondents said that they would give up TV for a month if someone else paid their bills for a month. Frankly, the other 74% mustn’t have very big bills or be strapped for cash because that seems like a small price to pay to get rid of your bills for a month.
Taking it a step further, 21% of those surveyed said that they would give up the Internet, cell phones and other digital devices in exchange for having no bills for one month.
Giving up a variety of things to get one month of bills off your back was appealing to a lot of Americans in the survey but at the end of the day, most of those asked, 52% said that they wouldn’t give up anything in order to get bill relief for one month. So, while some would take the Spartan way out, most would rather find any other way to get their heads above water rather than to give up their pleasures.
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My take:
Hmmm, I guess if they asked me I’d have to say no to sex, yes to TV and gadgets, and no way to beer. Then again, if someone was willing to pay my bills for more than a month, say three months, who knows. Perhaps the beer but not…well, you never know.
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Other Resources
Licensing for Movers
One of the reputable agencies with which a moving company might choose to register is the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association, which is a part of the United States Department of Transportation. It’s generally the case that interstate movers will choose to become affiliated with this organization so as to enhance their reputation with the public as being a moving company that is trustworthy enough to be approved by a national association that is affiliated with the most important transportation agency in the United States which should mean that the company has its sights on growth and respectability.
Earth Friendly Awareness
One of the best things about camp is that it’s a great way for people to learn things that they’ve never known before and for people who want their children to know all the proper ways to make sure that they’re treating the planet right, using a Pennsylvania camp referral service to find an eco friendly camp is a good first step to getting the children into a situation where they get to learn about various eco friendly habits and how being good to the planet is essential for the continued healthy survival of the human race.
Plumbing and Pools
Knowing a lot about a pool is not every person’s favorite thing to do and most people who own a pool would likely just be satisfied with having a Plano TX pool cleaning service come around periodically to get the work done of cleaning the pool, but it’s also a good idea to keep an eye on the plumbing of the pool because the health of the pipes can actually impact how clean the pool is and how well everything circulates and whether anything requires a more intense examination because of issues found with the drainage.
Industrial Security Guards
There are a number of different types of security guards in place these days in major industrial centers and it has become good financial sense to hire a California private security firm because it has become a rather cutthroat world out there and security has become vitally important for many industries which wouldn’t necessarily be considered such difficult areas to protect. But everything from the manufacturers of candy to people who make weapons have had to create quite a strong security force to keep things safe and ensure that not only are their products kept safe but workers too.
Mental Health and Physical Beauty
Attending a health spa for the rejuvenation of the body is a popular practice in many countries around the world, but attending a Lebanon health spa is also a significant method for assisting in the recovery or rejuvenation of the mind as well. By enhancing the way the body feels or looks, a person can also focus on reducing the amount of stress that might be going on in their life. It’s difficult for some people to truly concentrate on their own well being when others need their help such as children or a spouse, but it is important nevertheless.
Kids Marking Up the Walls
It’s nice to have a clean home and while sometimes people will get behind in their cleaning or they might not be having frequent enough visits from a Silver Spring MD home cleaning service, one great option for keeping things clean in the times between professional cleaning visits is knowing what interesting substances can easily remove various stains. Whenever someone has an issue with a blood stain which can be quite unsightly, using corn starch can actually remove stains after the stained object is doused in cold water and then rubbed vigorously with the cornstarch.
Keeping Upholstery Unblemished
One of the significant problems that people have with their upholstery is that people always seem to eat and drink on the couches and pets just love sitting on them as well which creates just about as much dirt and traffic as what is generally created on the carpets even though people might be putting their shoes on the carpets and not the couches. This is why Jericho NY upholstery cleaning should be added to a standard carpet cleaning session because doing so will lengthen the life of any piece of furniture that sees a lot of use on a regular basis.
Wearing Multiple Earrings
One of the most beautiful ways to wear earrings is to wear more than one set in the ear and although it might seem daring to have the ears pierced twice, it can look quite beautiful with the right set of diamond earrings paired up with a nice pair of silver or gold hoops, depending on whether the diamonds have been encased in gold settings or platinum. If two pairs of diamond studs are going to be worn, it’s best to use smaller ones to ensure that they don’t rub up against one another as this can look crowded on a person’s earlobes.
Cited: CNN
JC Penny has been around for 110 years. But that doesn’t mean that this old dog can’t learn a few new tricks. In fact, many in the retail industry believe that they can take a few lessons from the retailing giant and its new marketing campaign, “Fair and Square.”
Earlier this week, JC Penny began the program with a series of loud, eye-catching commercials with shoppers seen, and heard, screaming at the top of their lungs out of frustration with various sales advertisements and the complicated timing and small print associated with those sales promos.
JC Penny is trying to get the message across that at JC Penny, shoppers will always find everything in their stores at a deep discount of over 40% off of the prices found everywhere else for the same products. In essence, they have a sale every day. The new marketing approach is the brainchild of new CEO Ron Johnson, and the plan couldn’t have come soon enough.
JC Penny, like other retailers, has been struggling to stay afloat, with Q3 2011 earnings showing a loss of $143 million and the outlook for Q4 2011 not much better. However ambitious the new strategy might seem, the market was not as thrilled with the announcement of every day sales as were the shoppers with the share price of JC Penny stock off some 1% following the press conference to announce the marketing strategy to the public.
On the other hand, digging into the details a bit further than simply a plan to cut prices reveals that the bigger plans put forth by Johnson will also cut costs by $900 million and that revenues by 2013 should be back on the upswing; news that was greeted much more favorably by the market.
The public has had mixed reactions to the JC Penny sales campaign with some patrons indicating that they won’t shop at the retailer if there are no sales while others have said that the new pricing strategy will make JC Penny their “go-to” store. JC Penny spokesmen acknowledge that it will take some time before the public fully grasps the benefits of deep discounts all the time and they are willing to wait for them to come around to understanding that a sale every day beats trying to clip coupons and keep up with the sales schedules at their competitors.
It’s a big gamble for Johnson and JC Penny stock holders but at this point they have nothing much to lose considering the dismal performance of the stores in the recent past.
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My take:
It seems like the entire country is going the way of the old 5 and 10 cent stores. These days the only stores that are crowded are the discount stores and the 99 cent stores. In a way it may tend to cheapen the JC Penny brand. On the other hand, it may be their only way to stay above water. We’ll see.
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Other Resources
Reputable Breeder Tips
One of the most important parts of choosing a breed for a particular dog is doing so in such a way that encourages a sharing of information and a general discussion on the methods used for breeding a particular type of dog and what credentials are owned by a set of Australian Labradoodle breeders. Whether a breeder is helping to raise puppies that are part of an American Kennel Club group or is looking to provide individuals with healthy cross bred dogs, it’s important to make sure those dogs are always raised in a safe and loving environment before they are sent home.
Volleyball Competitions Up
Many sports that have become popular in the last few decades have been played in a professional manner for quite a long time and one such sport is volleyball which has seen a resurgence of popularity in recent years given the amount of attention paid to well known professional volleyball players. This has led to an increase in the amount of volleyball equipment on the sales block and has made creators of such equipment take notice of how they must adapt to a more advanced volleyball playing culture where the sport is very demanding of its participants.
Bike Groups Unify
An interesting movement has come from the world of bike advocacy and that’s the plan for the Alliance for Biking & Walking and the League of American Bicyclists to form one association. They will also be joined by the group Bikes Belong and it’s likely that the various advocacy organizations will create quite a significant front as far as making sure that bicyclists are treated fairly in their cities. There have been a league of new riders using folding bikes and commuter bikes to get to work and they will likely be quite interested in joining such a group.
Timeframe for Cruises
One interesting facet of cruises these days is that they’re not all taken at the same time of year. Many cruises are such that they can be taken during the summer while other New York cruises might be best taken during the winter to a cold locale with beautiful snowy scenes. In addition, sometimes a cruise might be taken in another quadrant of the planet where the seasons are completely opposite and this can mean someone will enjoy a summer cruise in the middle of their own wintertime. Getting into the sunshine when there’s snow at home can be great.
Saving on Ammo
Anyone who would like to become more advanced in how well they can aim a firearm would do well to visit a firing range on a regular basis to practice that art but it can become a rather expensive endeavor to use a ton of Winchester ammo during the early months of learning to aim a weapon and unless someone has an endless supply of money to fund such a venture, it’s best to consider practicing at the start of every visit to the firing range with no ammo in the gun, just to save money.
Skiboarding and the Wake
One of the interesting things about the development of wakeboarding as an actual competitive sport is that it hasn’t been around for more than thirty years and was developed shortly after the creation of skiboarding which was what snowboarding was originally called when it was invented in the 1980s. The amount of enthusiasm for skiboarding eventually led to people looking for other ways to combine sports and this meant creating wakeboarding materials, accessories and having a wakeboard tower on hand even before there were any official rules to the sport while people were still beginning to develop the sport itself.
Different Holidays for Greeting Cards
One of the issues that a company might experience when they are attempting to make sure that they stay in touch with the individuals responsible for offering great cooperative efforts to the company is when to send corporate greeting cards. For the most part companies will stick to the time around December when most companies will send out a generic end-of year card and this will be a yearly occurrence. Occasionally it might be a good idea to send out cards at other times but the worst thing a company can do is send out too many.
Biggest Countries for Cosmetics
The United States is certainly one of the most popular countries as far as makeup sales are concerned but in the last century there has been a lot of work within other countries around the world to crate amazing industries and cutting edge makeup techniques. For anyone getting involved in complex makeup designs or in need of a smokey eyes tutorial, some of the best countries to consider for makeup lines that are very advanced are places like France, Japan and Italy which have all come out in the new century with some amazing types of cutting edge makeup.
Cited: CNN
A 61 year old grammar school teacher from Los Angeles is scheduled to appear in court today facing charges that he took lewd photos of over two dozen students, many of which involved bondage and other depraved scenes.
Mark Berndt was arrested at house this past Monday and is being held on $2.3 million bond pending his arraignment and trial.
Investigators of the case say that they were alerted to the crimes by a local photo developer, who was asked to develop film containing photos of the children in a classroom with their hands and feet tied and their mouths taped over with duct tape. In many of the photos, police say that Mark Berndt posed with his hands over the children’s eyes and mouths and in some cases, the young girls in the photos were said to have plastic spoons in their mouths with an unknown substance on the spoons. In other photos, the children were depicted with live cockroaches on their bodies.
The crimes committed by Berndt are said to have occurred between 2005 and 2010 and involve more than 80 children, all of whom were interviewed by investigators. At the time, the children had no idea what was going on or why their teacher was taking the photos. In essence, they were completely naïve to the whole affair, believing that it was all a game.
Investigators found other photos and videos in the Berndt home after his arrest all depicting similar acts of bondage and lewd behavior with children and other adults. The investigation has been going on for over one year with police confirming that they found plastic spoons in Berndt’s classroom with the remains of semen on them, which it is alleged that he put in the children’s mouths. Berndt was arrested soon after tests on the spoons confirmed the substance was semen.
Berndt was a teacher for 31 years, however, neighbors interviewed after his arrest say that he was a little odd and that they aren’t surprised, though they were shocked, by his crimes.
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My take:
Children need to be made aware that they should tell their parents everything that goes on in school, or cub scouts, Brownies etc. The fact that this could have been going on for five years without anyone catching on is mind-boggling. He should be sentenced to having to spend one hour alone in a room with the victim’s families….all of them.
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Some People Celebrate Divorce
As divorce has become something that is much more acceptable to the average person and the process no longer turns someone into an outcast in their hometown, some people have started to go a step further and have been acting quite odd after fishing the process of divorce with their Kent Washington divorce lawyer. These people have actually started to have parties to celebrate a divorce and although the practice might seem odd, some people are suggesting that it is a good way to move on from a particular moment in life and get on with a new focus.
Contested Divorce versus Mediation
There has been a movement recently to find methods that would be less traumatic when considering divorce and for the most part, the only solid solution which represents an alternative to the standard and traditional process utilized by a Morris County divorce attorney is the idea of mediation or an uncontested divorce. But people in a marriage who will soon see that partnership dissolved should not automatically look into an arbitration style separation unless they are very sure that divorcing in such a way would be beneficial to their own future and nobody should be bullied into an uncontested divorce.
Reducing Risk of Construction
It is the unfortunate case that some construction sites do end up having some problems regarding accidents, but the mistake some companies make is that they wait to call Denver Colorado construction law lawyers until after an incident has occurred and this isn’t a good idea as immediate action is often required for such circumstances. Although it might seem as though having many lawyers around a construction site would be meddlesome, having a plan in place and being well advised by legal counsel during a construction project is highly advisable since issues can come about during accidents that require immediate legal knowledge.
Technical Service Bulletins
Some of the more important aspects of making sure that a car or truck is properly serviced and that problems that might otherwise be fixable don’t become chronic is to always make sure to ask about technical service bulletins for any type of car that a person might own. As any Orange County lemon law expert might suggest, being up to date on what issues that the manufacturers have identified with specific vehicles and making sure that the manufacturer will fix those issues free of charge due to their bulletins is important in preventing a vehicle from becoming dangerous or unworkable.
Cost Effective Divorces
Although most people wouldn’t equate a divorce as being something that could be cost effective, there is actually a decent amount of effort regarding divorce proceedings and their cost that a Nassau County child custody attorney could employ to ensure that the divorce is as little of a financial burden to the parent as possible. Not ever divorce comes with a fight over significant funds but many divorces do come about with the potential for a very difficult custody battle and these fights can become rather expensive, especially to individuals who do not have a lot of money on their own.
Divorcing While Older
Getting a divorce at any stage of life is difficult and whether someone is young and in their twenties and has only been married a few years or is in their sixties and has been married for the majority of their life, it’s important to note that it’s always necessary to speak with a Cedar Park Texas divorce attorney as soon as possible when it becomes apparent a divorce must be investigated as just because a couple is in their retirement years doesn’t mean that the divorce will not be just as contentious or difficult as it might have been decades before.
Court Reporting Digitalized
For decades there have been court reporters installed on the side of a courtroom to record what was being said during a trial by participants during various trials and for the most part it’s been the case that a LA California court reporting service would use a standard machine for such recording but in recent years there has been a significant movement toward the recording of court processes through digital means where a computer is actually right in front of the court reporter while he or she is recording the data being said and presented in the trial.
Personal versus Business Bankruptcy
There are some interesting similarities in the types of bankruptcy that a company would likely endure versus what an individual or small family might undergo and generally speaking, there are different official bankruptcy types that a bankruptcy lawyer Denver would utilize for different types of groups. But there are still some similarities between corporate and individual bankruptcies and one of the most impressive similarities is that there is an available type of bankruptcy for each that would result in a reorganization of assets so as to help a company or individual pay off their debts over time at reduced interest rates.
Interesting Methods for Finding a Lawyer
One of the best ways to locate a lawyer is to do so in such a way that actual legal professionals and people who might be in the legal profession outside of being a lawyer are questioned as to who might be a good local Queens DWI attorney. In the courthouse people like the bailiffs and the other general courtroom personnel will usually be able to offer some insight on who might be an experienced option for legal counsel and there’s nothing wrong at all with asking a variety of individuals in the legal profession these questions.
Trial in Civil Court
The former chief of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, will be placed before a judge in civil court soon in a lawsuit brought by the hotel maid who had accused him last year of assault. The New York City criminal defense attorney representing him in the now-defunct criminal trial is the same that will be at his side in the civil trial and it would seem that things for Strauss-Kahn are only getting worse as he was recently detained and held for questioning for two days by authorities in France who were investigating his potential connection to a prostitution ring.
Cited: MSNBC
Medicinal use of marijuana has been a source of controversy and hyperbole for quite some time. Most advocates for the use of marijuana to aid in pain management or as a way to treat glaucoma say that the supposed drug is a better, cheaper, and in some cases more effective option than conventional treatment options. And in most cases, smoking the dried leaves of the plant, or making a tea from them is the method of choice to get the most benefits from the plant.
Now, a British chemical company has come up with a spray application of marijuana called Sativex, which will soon be available in the United States. The drug is used for the treatment of cancer pain and as long as all goes well with the FDA, the spray could be used in the U.S. as early as 2014.
Of course there is the worry that the drug will fall into the wrong hands and will be used for recreational purposes because Sativex does contain the company THC, which is the source of the marijuana high. However, one deterrent to using Sativex to catch a buzz is that unlike smoking marijuana, the effects of the spray are not felt by a user for at least one hour so those people looking for a quick high will be less likely to choose the spray versus smoking the leaves.
Presently, Sativex is available in the UK, Spain, Canada, and New Zealand and is used to alleviate muscle spasms that can afflict patients suffering from multiple sclerosis.
Researchers also point out that while smoking pot involves a number of different compounds that enter the blood stream, Sativex only relies on two, THC, and another called CBD, which tends to offset the intoxicating effects of THC. They also point out that Sativex users can adjust the dosage so as to get the benefits of the drug with getting the buzz.
Concerns for abuse of the spray will be a big part of the issue in trying to get FDA approval but supporters and advocates for Sativex say that marijuana users will have little reason to choose the spray over smoking pot because of the many cultural and ritualistic aspects of smoking the drug and of course, the easier access to it and the cost.
My take:
If it works why not? It seems like these sorts of drugs, even the simple use of medical marijuana become such demagogic nonsense when at its core, marijuana is probably less harmful than alcohol. If it is a proven pain killer and it passes muster with the feds, get it on the market.
Cited: CNN
The financial markets have been all abuzz over the possibility that Facebook will announce an IPO, with some analysts looking for the social media giant to present documents as early as today. Most market watchers and techie’s are certain that Facebook shares will soon be trading on the open market with the ultimate goal for the company to raise somewhere in the neighborhood of $5 billion. There is little doubt that when Facebook does file its IPO and its shares hit the streets, it will be the biggest IPO ever for an Internet company, dwarfing the previous leader Google, which raised $1.9 billion in its IPO. Shares of Facebook won’t start trading until approximately six months after their IPO, at which time analysts will have a better idea of exactly how much Facebook is really worth. At this point the value of the company is just speculation, though some have put the number somewhere in the range of $70 to $100 billion.
Many other companies that rely on Facebook for their very existence, including the entire realm of the “social media” network, so the company going public and then trading on the open market has big implications for a lot of people besides Facebook. The social media king is also the main outlet for many companies that make various applications and games, to name just a couple of tertiary businesses that will be keeping a keen eye on the Facebook IPO and the subsequent ups and downs of the stock as it trades openly on the market.
Facebook makes an incredible amount of revenue from advertising. Estimates for advertising revenue at Facebook for 2011 are $3.8 billion with some analysts expecting that number to increase to $5.8 billion in 2012, with much of their growth in ad income at the expense of their competitors in that realm, Google and Yahoo. Facebook boasts a market share in this advertising space of 16.3% while Google at 9.3% and Yahoo at 13.1% trail closely behind.
The thing that is most appealing to advertisers about Facebook, other than the fact that it has reached into every corner of the world, is the ideal demographic of Facebook users, the 18-49 year olds that advertisers covet for their messages.
Facebook also generates revenue from various applications and games that it sells on its Web site, Facebook Credits. Facebook keeps 30% of all of the money from these payments for apps and games and passes the remaining 70% onto the company selling the product. Right now most of the figures for Facebook revenue and market value are pure speculation, but that won’t be for long. Once the company goes public, the shower curtain gets pulled back and the numbers will tell the story.
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My take:
An amazing story gets even more amazing. Imagine telling someone in 1975 that in 2012, a company that produces nothing; that simply links people together on their communication platform will be worth almost $100 billion. This will be the most talked about IPO in history.
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Other Resources
Keeping a Desk Tidy
There are a lot of things that can build up on a desk and make things rather messy, but one of the best ways to ensure that a home business is going to function right is to ensure that the work space for such an activity is kept in good order. Deciding to build an online business is a big step in becoming one’s own boss, but it needs to be a step that is calculated and organized not only in its initial execution, but also as far as ensuring that work doesn’t take longer than it needs to.
Cited: Google News
McGraw-Hill textbooks have been in classrooms in the U.S. for about as long as there have been classrooms and textbooks. Now the publishing giant is considering getting out of the education business after private investors have expressed interest in purchasing the education arm of McGraw-Hill following a company decision to spin-off this division from the finance division under the banner of Standard & Poor’s.
Spokesmen for McGraw-Hill say that the potential sale is only talk at the moment and that the private equity concern that has expressed interest in purchasing McGraw-Hill has not submitted any formal offer or documents specifying their interest.
At a recent phone conference to discuss Q4 earnings, McGraw-Hill CEO, Terry McGraw, didn’t comment on the rumors circulating about the sale of the education arm of the business saying only that the company was still committed to spinning-off the education division as per earlier announced plans to do so.
Potential suitors for the McGraw-Hill educational division could encounter still regulatory and tax issues, while also coming face to face with the new digital players on the block such as Apple, with their iPad and its applications designed as teaching tools; new age textbooks.
Analysts say that the education division of McGraw-Hill is valued somewhere in the vicinity of $2.5 billion but insiders say that McGraw-Hill management would want a much higher price in a sale. Shares of McGraw-Hill were off slightly in light of the rumors as well as their earning’s announcement that showed a gain of 17% to 63 cents per share.
My take:
McGraw-Hill knows that the money is in finance not education so why not sell while you can. This makes sense especially if you consider that Apple is on your heels and you have neither the expertise nor the money to wage a battle with that Goliath.
Cited: CNN
Sadam is dead, and all U.S. troops have left Iraqi territory, but that doesn’t mean that the country is any safer or better suited for business than it was before; at least not yet. A recent increase in violence in the country between warring factions in Iraq threatens to slow down Iraq oil production and exports to the world market.
This is bad for the price of oil on the global market, and bad for Iraq, which depends on oil exports for critical revenues and hard currency reserves. Iraq oil exports have been one of the reasons why the price of oil has remained somewhat under wraps, especially considering the huge demand for crude oil from China and India. However, since December 2011, the violence in Iraq has increased dramatically with 63 people killed to close out 2011.
Analysts worry that the increased violence in Iraq could very well ignite a new civil war and that would mean an interruption in oil production and exports. Iraqi oil production has been on the upswing with industry analysts expecting oil production in Iraq to grow by more than 2 million barrels per day over the next five years. However, if that lofty goal is to be reached the infrastructure of the Iraqi oil industry requires massive repairs and overhaul after more than ten years of war and should anything stop that repair and revamping of the Iraqi oil industry, they will never be able to meet those production goals and the price of oil on the world’s markets will move higher still.
One of the major problems facing the companies that have been hired to revive the Iraqi oil industry is that the U.S. armed forces are no longer in the country to provide support and protection for the workers. From logistics to actual emergency medical help, now these companies have much greater risks and much more difficult circumstances under which they are operating without the comfort of the U.S. military.
Many of the oil companies operating in the region are contracting with private firms to provide medical support and transportation into and out of Iraq in case of an increase in violence spilling over into the oil fields. These companies are seasoned veterans of working in hostile areas but Iraq poses some problems that they haven’t had to deal with until the U.S. pullout from the area.
At the end of the day, most oilmen and Iraq officials are confident that after ten years of war the citizens of Iraq will come together to put down the violence that threatens every step of their attempts to move their country forward.
My take:
What a mess. My God it just never ends. This article alone is the best reason for the U.S. to continue on a path toward energy independence and away from any attachments to this chaotic part of the world.