Mubarakism Without Mubarak, Mubarak, Karzai, and America, The West’s Middle East Pillars of Sand
Jonathan Schwartz on patents, Google’s Android Is ‘the Next Windows,’ Volpi Says, Eugene Kaspersky, Co-Founder of Kaspersky Labs, says Android will own 80% of the smartphone market
WSJ: Former Sun CEO Worries About Region's Prospects , It’s Not a Bubble, People; It’s a Pyramid Scheme
the cloud computing spot market!
787 Dreamliner teaches Boeing costly lesson on outsourcing
Self-Induced Panic And The Financial Crisis
The decline of the public stock market
How Anonymous hacked HBGary vs. how HBGary wrote backdoors for the government
"A United Nations team in Tunisia says at least 219 people were killed in the January revolt that led to the ouster of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali."
ReplyDeletehttp://www.voanews.com/english/news/UN-Reports-Higher-Death-Toll-from-Tunisia-Unrest--115013154.html
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"Human Rights Watch has confirmed about 300 deaths, said Hossam Bahgat of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.
http://articles.cnn.com/2011-02-10/world/egypt.dead_1_death-toll-activists-human-rights-watch?_s=PM:WORLD
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"Security forces in Libya have killed scores of pro-democracy protesters in demonstrations demanding the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi, the country's long time ruler.
Human Rights Watch said on Saturday that 84 people had died over the past three days."
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/02/2011219811665897.html
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Shame on you, bastards!
And thks Emmy, as usual. Will check when time allows.
ReplyDelete@WS
ReplyDeleteI've been told this was a good read, but my French is poor.
Révolution post-islamiste
Emmie - Awesome link fest! Wolfie, read the Android article, I think I would agree with Volpi that Android is indeed the next Windows. Ubiquitous, and poorly written! :-P
ReplyDeleteEmmie - TRULY awesome link fest! You always manage to touch on topics we've talked about during the week. SO glad you're back! :-)
ReplyDeleteDitto emmy. Question, is THIS "inflationary"?
ReplyDeletehttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703959604576152792748707356.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsTop
Whent this thing goes again, it's going to go hard and fast. The question is, as always, when?
ReplyDeleteSo many things starting to really percolate again though. I got a feeling it could catch many of us by surprise (again) when it happens.
Pretty bullish assertions there on the Android platform on smartphones. If they do become 80% of the OS on smartphones, what does that mean for Apple in the longer run?
ReplyDelete-AT.
@AT: Good point. There's also this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.zerohedge.com/article/q4-hedge-fund-hotel-update-apple-now-held-record-195-hedge-funds
What happens if/when Apple suddenly falls out of favor in the hedge fund world? Combine that with the uncertainty surrounding Steve Jobs' health, and I'm not going near that stock right now.
It would mean the same for Apple that Microsoft's dominance in the desktop marketplace. It wouldn't take away from Apple's existing sales, it would possibly cannibalize from future sales growth, as more of that would go to Google. Google also doesn't make a great deal of money off the Android operating system compared to the margin Apple has with the iPhones. Remember, Google charges almost nothing or the Android OS - that's why it's becoming ubiquitous, because it costs phone manufacturers almost nothing, NOT because it's in any way a superior OS to Android - it is not even in the same ballpark. Apple owns the whole enchilada. They own the phone itself, the operating system that runs on that phone, the store all the billions of apps are being downloaded from.
ReplyDeleteLook - Google will eventually have 80% of the market, that's a given. They don't really give a shit about making a ton of money in that arena, and they're going to give that OS away indefinitely because they want to be able to feed advertising to all of these devices - THAT'S Google's bread and butter.
"Hugh Hendry: The Entire World is Expecting A Boom And We're Doing The Opposite".
ReplyDeletehttp://www.businessinsider.com/hedge-fund-manager-hugh-hendry-we-are-preparing-for-a-global-boom-2011-2
"while even I have to contend the global economy is growing robustly once more, I struggle to believe it is possible to recreate the intensity of the boom experienced three to five years ago".
ICan
It's a funny argument too - when you really understand the technology at it's root level.
ReplyDeleteHere so many people are anti Apple, more specifically anti iPhone. They hate it because Jobs controls the whole thing, it's like they think it's fascist or something. So they embrace Google, because it's "open source". What people don't realize, is that Google is EVERY bit as fascist as APPLE, they just do it in a different way. Fine, you don't want to have the iPhone because it's a closed system and Jobs is a tyrant. But you have no problem being advertised to on your phone 24/7. And if you think for a second that Google is keeping any of that information on your phone private and out of the hands of advertisers, you might want to think again. And yes, I'm positive Apple does exactly the same thing.
I always wonder how much of this anti Apple stuff is a desire on the part of people to not want to appear like they are slaves to fashion. Like they're above all this trendy Apple shit. Apple makes an awesome product though so that must be it, it certainly can't be based on the products themselves.
ReplyDeleteIsn't being purposefully non trendy just as bad as being trendy? Only in this case, it would seem that people are denying themselves the benefit of using a good product.
Iran trying to divert attention away from 'democracy' toward muslim world's common enemy Isreal?
ReplyDelete"Egypt to let Iran warships transit Suez Canal on way to Syria". www.bloomberg.com
ICan
"Myanmar: Where Generals Play, and People Pay".
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theglobeandmail.com
ICan
"They" being an amorphous "they". Not meaning anyone specifically. (Wolfie this means you :-P hee hee
ReplyDeleteMake no mistake though - Google is a modern version of an old style Advertising Agency. That is their bread and butter, the search engines, the email, the phone OS, Google Apps, ALL of that is to get as MANY eyes opened to the new world of Digital Advertising. Look at their sales numbers and see where that's coming from - it's certainly not the products themselves - they made over a billion last year in advertising sales on the Android OS.
ReplyDeleteGoogle is engaging in the oldest sales trick in the book - it's like the fast food companies when they give away free toys, it gets people into the store so they can sell them other stuff. Google is brilliant at it and they should be admired for it - just keep in mind that when most of your revenue is coming from advertising, your other products are always going to be secondary to it.
Personally, I don't want to be advertised to, I hate advertising, probably from working in advertising for 10 years :-)
Apple's bread and butter, their core business, are their products. Not just the products themselves, but more importantly the reputation of those products. Apple is seen as the Mercedes of the technology world - they sell a high quality, easy to use, durable, dependable piece of equipment. They are going to (i think) focus on that core reputation as it has served them so well. Again, just look at the sales numbers - Apple computers and phones are two and three times more expensive than their nearest competitors, yet people keep buying their products and their sales numbers keep going through the roof.
It's almost as if, the more people use their products, the more people know how good their products are. Or should we believe that all of Apple's success over the last decade has been more because they are "trendy". As if any trend in this ADD Age of ours could last an entire decade.
ICan - I've been watching that Iranian warship story closely. I hope they don't try to make their way to the area just outside Israel's waters, or I think Israel might sink them.
ReplyDeleteSo many different flash points around the world and in the economy right now. It's nerve wracking.
@Thor,
ReplyDeleteControl, Control, Control. Humans use every mean to keep control, enslave fellow humans.
"Egypt Women Clash Over Sharia Law After Tahrir Shows Equality".
I wonder how seculars will be treated in new Arab democracies?
www.bloomberg.com/egypt-women -clash-over-sharia-law-after-tahrir-shows-equality-in-uprising.html
"God has allowed polygamy...May be many people don't prefer it, but it's not religiously forbidden"....The Islamic Sharia does not conflict with freedom and democracy", says Asma El- Erian, 21 the daughter of a Muslim Brotherhood leader Essam El- Erian
"We cannot deviate from the basics of religion when there are clear religious texts about certain topics, then you cannot open the door for negotions" said Jehan El-Halafauy, 59 year-old Muslim Brotherhood member who has ran unsuccessfully for Parliament. (She) dismissed calls for secular family laws a part of "an external agenda".
Lesser of the two evils?. Mubarak vs. the Brotherhood
ICan
Charts:
ReplyDeletehttp://99ercharts.blogspot.com/
Posts at Cobras blog
ICan
@Mann
ReplyDelete"What happens if/when Apple suddenly falls out of favor in the hedge fund world? Combine that with the uncertainty surrounding Steve Jobs' health, and I'm not going near that stock right now."
Indeed. AAPL is one of the biggest "story" stocks out there. Hedgies MUST be involved/long that stock. It's "working" because it's "working."
I like AAPL products, but at some point they will become so ubiquitous that it will no longer be "cool." In other words, it's easy to envision a moment in the next few years when someone "new" will create some "new" kick butt tablet/smartphone/"WhizBang" device that some "celebrity" starts sporting around....
Then, that becomes the "cool" new niche product that everyone "must have."
AAPL is sporting one of the biggest market caps in history--that sort of wealth creation attracts lots of competition...
For now, the trend remains intact on AAPL...it has continued to hold decent support levels at ever small correction, but I'll continue to monitor this one. It's a stock where "everyone" is long. Those are the ones that create the biggest "whooshes" when things give way.
-AT.
@Thor...perhaps this answers your 4:55 post
ReplyDelete"Society often forgives the criminal; it never forgives the dreamer."
— Oscar Wilde
Greg - Spot on.
ReplyDeleteA few of tonight's headlines.
ReplyDelete'Many killed' in Libya's Benghazi
Protesters retake Bahrain centre
Algerian police break up protest
Yemen rivals exchange gunfire
Moroccans riot ahead of protests
@Thor:keep hope brother, I'm here to help you towards salvation. Many a poor soul, once deemed condemned to roam the arid Apple lands forever, eventually found their way home to the heavenly kingdom of our great Open Source Saviour (OSS).
ReplyDeletere Thor:in a less caricaturist tone though, I believe you make some valid points. Which I'll try to counter of course, when time allows.
ReplyDeleteOne appetizer to get started, when you're stating:
Personally, I don't want to be advertised to, I hate advertising, probably from working in advertising for 10 years :-)
I believe you've fallen for the greatest advertiser of all already. Steve Jobs and crew are definitely great at marketing, which plays a big part in the iPhone success.
Don't know how iPhone presence compares to Android phones in the US. In France, the iPhone enjoys good publicity with their "iPhone does it all" TV ads and on stores fronts, while Android phones go by unnoticed.
That's not to mention Steve's god-given gift at selling his stuff to investors and professionals through his shows.
See you tomorrow probably. Have fun guys.
ReplyDelete@Emmy:I'll give you feedback on "Le Monde" article.
Great quote, greg. I kind of lump myself in the latter. However, society does forgive (and even celebrate, often over-celebrate) the dreamer only when he/she becomes "successful" in the eyes of said society.
ReplyDeleteOur fearless "leaders" in DC, Wall Street and Corporate America must really enjoy seeing the Sheeple going at each other like this instead of focusing their/our ire at them, the real culprits. Quite a sad, sorry spectacle. I'm sure Lou Mish is loving this though.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/19/madison-protests_n_825616.html
@Jeff(1:00pm)
ReplyDeleteAgree with you. Following that story, here, in Canada. I can see a smug smile on Chinese leaders' faces.
ICan
Quite a snowstorm outside today. After last week's warm spell, back to reality here in MN. Mother Nature can be so cruel sometimes.
ReplyDeleteAll of these looming cuts at the state level will likely have a negative effect on the economy, and yes, even the markets, at least in the short term. I see a storm brewing here and might have to revise my original prediction that the market would likely stay levitated the whole year, with next year being the problem year. I now think it may happen a bit sooner, maybe VERY soon.
ReplyDelete@Manny...your 12:50pm...Perhaps this quote would also be appropriate.
ReplyDelete"Anybody can sympathise with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathise with a friend's success."
— Oscar Wilde
Manny - I've been thinking the same thing. States are going to have to lay off hundreds of thousands of employees no matter what. That loss of not only purchasing power, but income tax, is going to be felt.
ReplyDeleteGreg - I like that, and agree with it very much!
ReplyDeleteExactly Thor. Fewer people with money in their pockets to buy things that allow the multiplier effect to take hold. Bennny may need to move onto QE3, 4, and 5 sooner than he had anticipated. ;-)
ReplyDeleteManny - and don't forget that all of those employees about to be laid off are taxed. Their loss of income is going to affect the states and feds doubly. Less income tax will make the deficits even worse. Which could cause even more lay-offs.
ReplyDeleteThere's no money left, and there are going to have to be layoffs, this isn't an argument to not cut some fat, just that I think it's going to hurt us about as much as it helps us in the short run.
Yep Thor. A multiple whammy, which is why I now think this is coming down sooner than I had been expecting.
ReplyDelete"G20 compromises on global imbalances". http://www.ft.com
ReplyDelete"China succesfully blocked greater scrutiny of its massive foreign exchange reserves and the use of exchange rate as an indicator".
What other indicators will they use to measure ttade imbalances? China wins every time because China buys U.S. debt?
ICan
^"these"
ReplyDelete"China detains activists after online call for protests".
ReplyDeletehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/20/chinese-officials-detain-activists-protests
"It comes as Chinese President Hu Jintao urged top officials to 'improve social management capabilities', sustain order and handle online information better 'guide' public opinion".
Guide public opinion? Big Brother!
ICan
Make a special note on the graphs on public employee pay vs. private sector. Why do many of us continue to believe otherwise?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/02/wisconsin-union-battle-a-convenient-distraction-from-the-real-culprit-in-state-budge-woes.html
Manny - just got back from running errands - The mountains around us are blinding white, weekend storm was cold!
ReplyDeleteGreg - I've manages to replicate your issue . . .on my iPhone.
ReplyDeleteWill troubleshoot in a bit.
PS: don't tell Wolfie!
Thor, I'll await your results.
ReplyDeleteMorocco getting in on the protests. Who's next? Saudi Arabia would be the big cajuna.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/20/morocco-protests-new-constitution_n_825713.html
Libya clashes spreads to Tripoli
ReplyDelete"Anti-government protesters in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi have reportedly seized army vehicles and weapons amid worsening turmoil in the African nation.
A local witness said that a section of the troops had joined the protesters on Sunday as chaos swept the streets of the city, worst hit by the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year old rule.
Mohamed, a doctor from Al Jalaa hospital in Benghazi, confirmed to Al Jazeera that members of the military had sided with the protesters.
"We are still receiving serious injuries, I can confirm 13 deaths in our hospital. However, the good news is that people are cheering and celebrating outside after receiving news that the army is siding with the people," he said.
"But there is still a brigade that is against the demonstrators. For the past three days demonstrators have been shot at by this brigade, called Al-Sibyl brigade.""
From the Globe and Mail:
ReplyDelete"Nearly 50 arrested in Zimbabwe during meeting on North Africa uprisings".
"Tunisia asks Saudi Arabia if exiled ex-president is dead".
And demanded his extradition if he is still alive.
ICan
Gaddafi's son promises reforms
ReplyDeleteAppearing on Libyan state television, Seif al-Islam Gaddafi said his father is in the country and backed by the army.
Appearing on Libyan state television early on Monday morning, Seif al-Islam Gaddafi said his father is in the country and backed by the army. "We will fight to the last minute, until the last bullet."
Seif al-Islam said his father was leading the fight, although he added that some military bases, tanks and weapons had been seized.
"We are not Tunisia and Egypt," the younger Gaddafi said, referring to the successful uprisings that toppled longtime regimes in Libya's neighbours
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/02/2011220232725966251.html
Libya OPEC member, Brent and WTI up more than a $, futures market.
ReplyDeleteICan
Damn, TSX is closed Monday. Holiday in Ontario.
ReplyDeleteICan
Holiday here too - Presidents day. I'm sure most of them are turning in their graves.
ReplyDeleteFrom the guardian blog:
ReplyDeleteSeif al-Islam Gaddafi,
£1.5 donation to London School of Economic's Centre for Global Governance.
LSE PhD.
Also, Libyan ambassadors to China and India resigned in protest over killings.
Seif al-Islam Gaddafi:
ReplyDeleteWhile talking down to the people of Libya ,"The British foreign minister has given me a call, BE READY because that mean foreign occupation is coming back to Libya".
WOW, this guy has a PhD from LSE?
www.guardian.co.uk/
ICan
Intense gunfire reported in Tripoli
ReplyDeleteFebruary 21, 2011 - 10:39AM
AFP
Intense gunfire has been heard in the heart of the Libyan capital Tripoli and several quarters of the city, witnesses say.
"We are hearing bursts of gunfire everywhere and they are approaching the city centre," a resident of the Al-Andalous quarter told AFP by telephone about the unrest in the early hours of Monday, local time.
Appearing on Libyan state television early on Monday morning, Seif al-Islam said his father is in the country and backed by the army. "We will fight to the last minute, until the last bullet."
ReplyDeleteHe said his father was leading the fight, although he added that some military bases, tanks and weapons had been seized.
Wow
Damn, this is really getting serious.
ReplyDeleteBenghazi, the country's second city, appears to be largely under the control of protesters after four days of unrest. Unconfirmed reports say an army general there has defected to the opposition.
n another blow to Col Gaddafi's rule, representatives of the Warfla tribe, Libya's biggest, have endorsed the protests.
Libya's envoy to the Arab League, Abdel Moneim al-Honi, also announced he was "joining the revolution" in "protest against the acts of repression and violence against demonstrators".
Can the Libyan people really overthrow Gaddafi?