March 18th, 2011 in
Gaming |
35 Comments
ING Gets $13.4 Billion Injection From the Netherlands
ING Groep NV, the biggest Dutch financial-services firm, will get 10 billion euros ($13.4 billion) from the Netherlands after warning Oct. 17 of its first quarterly loss and falling the most in Amsterdam trading since 1991.
ING will scrap this year’s final dividend and sell the government non-voting preferred securities that won’t dilute existing shareholders and will lift the bank’s core Tier 1 capital to about 8 percent, the Amsterdam-based company said today in a statement. The securities pay 8.5 percent annual interest, Dutch Finance Minister Wouter Bos told reporters today.
ING, which fell a record 27 percent after saying it will post a loss of 500 million euros in the third quarter, is the first to draw on the 20 billion euros that the Dutch government made available to financial firms on Oct. 10. While the government will appointment two representatives to ING’s board, have a say in executive compensation and get a share of company profit, ING hasn’t been nationalized, Chief Executive Officer Michel Tilmant told reporters today.
Apple users rage over missing FireWire
Apple Inc. customers, unhappy that the company dropped FireWire from its newest notebooks, are venting their frustrations on the company’s support forum in several hundred messages.
Within minutes of Apple CEO Steve Jobs wrapping up a launch event in Cupertino, Calif., users started several threads on the company’s support forum blasting the omission of a FireWire port on the new MacBook laptop.
“Apple really screwed up with no FireWire port,” said Russ Tolman, who inaugurated a thread that by Thursday had collected more than 200 messages and been viewed over 5,000 times.
“No MacBook with [FireWire] — no new MacBook for me,” added Simon Meyer in a message posted today.
The two new MacBook configurations, which are priced at $1,299 and $1,599, include a pair of USB 2.0 ports, as did earlier models, but lack the FireWire 400 port their predecessors boasted.
Medical copter crash kills little girl and crew of 3
A medical helicopter carrying a 1-year-old patient crashed and burned in a suburban Chicago forest preserve overnight, killing all four aboard. The aircraft apparently clipped a radio tower, and authorities Thursday were investigating whether the tower’s lights had been on.
It was the sixth fatal crash involving medical helicopters this year, according to federal data, including one just last month in Maryland that also killed four.
The helicopter carrying 1-year-old Kirstian Blockinger of Leland was headed for Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago from Valley West Hospital in Sandwich when it went down minutes before midnight Wednesday, Aurora police spokesman Sgt. Rob Wallers said.
John Brannen with the National Transportation Safety Board said the helicopter apparently clipped the radio tower support wire before the crash. A snapped wire could be seen hanging from the 734-foot tower that stands across a busy road from the crash site.
Oil at $70 still historically high
Crude oil prices remain high, despite a steady decline since the summer, and the oil market is still tight, the International Energy Agency’s executive director told Reuters on Thursday.
“$70 a barrel is still historically high,” Nobuo Tanaka said in an interview. “Price volatility shows the market is still tight,” he said.
World crude prices have dropped more than 50 percent from a July peak above $147 a barrel, as fears of a global recession prompt waves of selling across stock markets and commodities.
Oil fell for a third straight session on Thursday to touch a new 13-month low around $71 a barrel.
Researchers Find Navigating the Web Boots Up Your Brain
Performing Internet searches may be one way to keep the mind limber into middle and old age, new research suggests. Scientists at UCLA measured brain activity in adults as they read books. The ones who were more used to surfing the Web, they said, had a lot more going on in the frontal lobe — the area responsible for decision making, reasoning and putting together the big picture.
Searching the Internet and reading things online are more than just a way to pass the time, according to a new study released by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
A research team headed by Dr. Gary Small, a professor at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, found that when Web-savvy older adults surf the Internet, it can trigger key centers in the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning. In short, the findings indicate that searching the Web may help stimulate and possibly improve brain function.
“The study results are encouraging, that emerging computerized technologies may have physiological effects and potential benefits for middle-aged and older adults. Internet searching engages complicated brain activity, which may help exercise and improve brain function,” Small told TechNewsWorld.
EBay Earnings Rise 5%, but Revenue Forecast Is Lowered
SAN FRANCISCO — The slowdown in consumer spending has begun to flatten the growth at eBay, the online retailer, which said on Wednesday that continued weak spending would reduce revenue for the rest of the year.
For the first time, eBay’s gross merchandise volume, the total sum of all transactions on the eBay Marketplace, declined.
It was the biggest disappointment in eBay’s announcement of its third-quarter financial results. Volume, which analysts consider an important measure of growth for the company, fell 1 percent in its third quarter from the same period last year, to $14.28 billion. Volume had increased 8 percent in the second quarter, which also showed a big decline from the robust double-digit growth of earlier periods.
EBay, once primarily a marketplace for high-end unique merchandise sold in online auctions, has in recent months found itself increasingly vulnerable to consumers’ cutting back on spending. It has started shifting to fixed-price sales, improving service and beefing up its other businesses. The company warned analysts Wednesday that its revenue for the year could be as low as $8.53 billion, well below its earlier forecast of $8.8 billion to $9.05 billion. For the fourth quarter, eBay expects revenue of $2.02 billion to $2.17 billion, compared with Wall Street’s estimate of $2.43 billion.
Want to prevent Alzheimer’s disease? Eat less!
Want to prevent brain diseases like Alzheimer’s disease or simply slow age-related mental decline? Forget about taking B vitamins like B6, B12 and folate, according to one study. Instead reduce your intake of calories, according to another study.
B vitamins have been known to be beneficial to the brain. But if you have already got a brain disease like Alzheimer’s, then taking B vitamin supplements does not seem to help you, according to a study in the Oct. 15 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.
The study found people who had had Alzheimer’s disease and then took high doses of B vitamins simply did not experience beneficial effect on the primary cognitive measure. Paul S. Aisen coauthor of the study at the University of California in San Diego, California warned that people should not count on taking high doses of B vitamins to slow mental decline.
October 15th, 2008 in
Science |
74 Comments
High Blood Pressure Rates Up 5 Percent in the US
High blood pressure rates appear to increase in the United States, according to a report released by the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute this week. It should come as no surprise considering the fact that the condition is common in obese people and according to the latest statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity is in continuous growing in the US, affecting more than one in four adults. While in 2005, 23.9 percent of US adults were obese or had a body mass index greater than 30, in 2007, the percentage had grown to 25.6 percent. This percentage translates in more than 60 million adults. Both poor diet and a lack of exercise are blamed.
High blood pressure is a serious condition that can lead to coronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke, kidney failure and other serious health problems. Besides obesity, there are other factors contributing to the condition including a family history of high blood pressure, smoking, alcohol use, excessive salt in diet and a sedentary lifestyle.
The bad part is that the condition has no visible symptoms and that’s why most people are unaware that they have it, exposing themselves to serious risks.
Harper shy a majority after vote in Canada
Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s gamble that forcing the country into its third election in four years would give him firm control over Parliament failed. While his Conservative Party improved its results over the last election, it still fell short of a majority in the House of Commons, according to unofficial tallies.
The Conservatives picked up 17 additional seats, giving them a total of 143. But that was still 12 shy of the majority Harper needed to pass legislation without the help of opposition parties.
Speaking to supporters early Wednesday morning in his hometown, Calgary, Alberta, even as numbers continued to shift slightly, he said, “The voters have entrusted us with a strengthened mandate to continue to lead the government and take Canada forward.” He continued, “We have shown that minority government can work, and at this time of global economic instability we owe it to all Canadians to show it again.”
October 15th, 2008 in
World & Business |
75 Comments
Is Drinking Shrinking Your Brain?
That after work glass of red wine may be less medicinal than you thought. Researchers have found that drinking even moderate amounts of alcohol shrinks the brain.
Brain volume naturally decreases by nearly 2 percent per decade as people age, but scientists had speculated that moderate alcohol intake could slow this process, by improving heart function and blood flow.
However, U.S. researchers have dealt a blow to that theory, finding a “significant negative linear relationship” between the amount of alcohol someone consumes and the space their brain takes up.
While men were more likely to drink alcohol, the researchers examined magnetic resonance imaging scans of drinkers’ and non-drinkers’ brains, and found the association was stronger in women. They speculated this could be due to women’s smaller stature and greater tendency to feel alcohol’s effects.
October 14th, 2008 in
Lifestyle |
No Comments
Pyongyang to allow nuclear checks
The International Atomic Energy Agency said that North Korea is allowing inspectors to visit its main nuclear facility. The move comes after Pyongyang said that it would resume dismantling nuclear facilities in response to a US decision to remove it from its list of states sponsoring terrorism. It stopped disabling its nuclear programme in mid-August over what it called US delays in removing it from the list. The country then began reassembling its plutonium-producing facility and barred international inspectors. (AP)
Take your vitamins & double up on Vitamin D
Kids should double up on Vitamin D.
That’s the latest word from the American Academy of Pediatrics, which now says children should get twice the daily recommended dose of Vitamin D because it may help reduce the risk of serious diseases, including diabetes and cancer.
In a study to be published next month in the journal Pediatrics, doctors are advising that newborns and teenagers alike get 400 units daily. This means millions of children will need to take daily Vitamin D supplements, including breast-fed infants and many teens who drink little or no milk, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Most commercial milk is fortified with Vitamin D, but many children and teens don’t drink the four cups needed to meet the new requirement, said Dr. Frank Greer, the report’s co-author.
China’s Wahaha interested in buying tainted dairy producer
China’s largest soft drinks maker, Wahaha, said Monday that it is interested in buying the dairy company at the origin of a nationwide scandal over contaminated milk.
A Wahaha spokesman said Wahaha Group Chairman Zong Qinhou had expressed an interest in taking over Sanlu Group, the dairy firm first found to be selling melamine-contaminated products.
It followed comments by Zong reported Monday in the Beijing News.
“Mr Zong did talk to some reporters about Wahaha’s willingness to take over Sanlu,” the spokesman Shan Qining told AFP.
RBS, HBOS, Lloyds Get 37 Billion-Pounds from Government
Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, HBOS Plc, and Lloyds TSB Group will get an unprecedented 37 billion-pound ($64 billion) bailout from the U.K. as governments across Europe act to avert a banking collapse.
“We are going through quite extraordinary circumstances the world over,” Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said on GMTV today. “It’s very, very important to the future not just of British banks, but working our way through with other governments what is a truly international problem.”
The U.S. Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and the Bank of England will offer financial institutions unlimited dollar funds for the first time in an attempt to ease tensions in money markets. European leaders agreed this weekend to guarantee new bank refinancing, and use government money to prevent lenders collapsing. Germany is preparing its own rescue plan that may total as much as 400 billion euros ($540 billion).
Stocks: Bargain Prices or Traps?
When the stock market goes on sale, smart investors are supposed to seize the opportunity.
But Wall Street’s decline of the last three weeks has been so drastic, it has left even veteran money managers too afraid to step up.
Aren’t stocks cheap yet? Nearly everyone agrees that, on paper, they are, with major indexes such as the Dow Jones industrials now at five-year lows and down more than 40% from a year ago.
Yet instead of attracting bargain-hunters, lower prices have had the opposite effect: Stocks have crumbled so quickly recently that many potential buyers have been forced back to the sidelines.
“A lot of things looked cheap a week ago — then they cratered in your face,” said Mark Foster, chief investment officer at money manager Kirr, Marbach & Co. in Columbus, Ind.
McCain considering new economic plan
Republican presidential candidate John McCain is considering rolling out a new comprehensive economic package to tackle the U.S. financial crisis, one of his closest supporters said on Sunday.
“I think it goes along the lines that now is the time to lower tax rates for investors, capital gains tax, dividend tax rates, to make sure that we can get the economy jump-started,” said Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
McCain, 72, who was in the Washington area and off the campaign trail on Sunday, prepared for his debate on Wednesday against Democratic rival Barack Obama.
That debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, will be the last of three face-offs between the two candidates before the November 4 election and will give McCain one more chance to reverse his recent slide in the polls.
Get ready for the next-gen mobile
Apple iPhone, move over. At least, that’s the hope of Google and Research in Motion as they ready the first serious competitors to the iPhone, in the “mobile 2.0″ market that Apple invented.
Later this month, the first Google Android OS-based phone, HTC’s G1, will come on the market through the carrier T-Mobile. And in November, RIM’s first BlackBerry that supports real Web pages is scheduled to debut. While there have been many pathetic iPhone imitations to date, these two devices look to be the real deal, with hardware, software, and OS capabilities able to compete with Apple’s carefully constructed, elegant platform.
[ Take a look at the new mobile 2.0 devices and get InfoWorld's take onthe pros and cons of each. ]
Of course, new devices always look great at product demos, and it’s possible that there’ll be serious imperfections that only some real hands-on use unveils. After all, Apple’s iPhone had its own set of disappointments in both major releases.
October 12th, 2008 in
Technology |
No Comments
Game designer Richard Garriott blasts into space on a private rocket
Richard Garriott is the first game designer in space. The creator of the Ultima series of video games was launched into orbit 17 hours ago with a crew aboard a Soyuz TMA spacecraft.
In a kind of marketing gimmick for his online game, the flight dovetails with the storyline of Garriot’s Tabula Rasa game, which begins when aliens wipe out Earth. He’s taking the DNA of a variety of celebrities in a bid to preserve a “copy of the human race” at the space station. Garriott previously made an appearance on The Colbert Report after he promised to take Colbert’s DNA up into space. That’s pretty good publicity for NCSoft, the publisher of the game, but Garriott is paying for the $30 million trip from his own riches.
Garriott is the sixth space tourist to fly a rocket into space, but his mission is likely draw a lot of attention from around the globe. As the son of NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, he’s the first second generation astronaut. You can track his progress on a web site.
October 12th, 2008 in
Gaming, Science | tags: game designer, Richard Garriott, rocket, space |
1 Comment
Former South African President Mbeki Expected to Unlock Zimbabwe Impasse
Former South African President Thabo Mbeki is expected in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare today (Monday) to mediate and resolve the political impasse between the government and the opposition over ministerial posts. The negotiations are aimed at forming a unity government to resolve the country’s economic and political crisis. But the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) threatened yesterday (Sunday) to pull out of the ongoing negotiations with the ruling ZANU-PF party after President Robert Mugabe awarded top cabinet posts to his party.
Mugabe allocated to his party the ministries of defense and home affairs (in charge of police as well as finance), which are crucial for the resuscitation of the devastated economy. Zimbabwe political analyst George Mkwananzi tells reporter Peter Clottey from South Africa’s capital, Pretoria that Zimbabweans are outraged over the impasse after hoping that the power-sharing agreement would end the economic meltdown.