Archive for March 4th, 2008
s1d writes “A almost-anonymous British psychologist named Gavin Potter has suddenly risen to the top of the Netflix prize charts. With his very first attempt, he got a score which took the BellKor team seven months to reach. Currently at a score of 8.07, he has only five teams ahead of him now in the race for the ultimate Netflix algorithm. ‘Potter states his anonymity is mostly accidental. He started that way and didn’t come out into the open until after Wired found him. “I guess I didn’t think it was worth putting up a link until I had got somewhere,” he says, adding that he’d been seriously posting under the name of his venture capital and consulting firm, Mathematical Capital, for two months before launching “Just a guy.” When he started competing, he posted to his blog: “Decided to take the Netflix Prize seriously. Looks kind of fun. Not sure where I will get to as I am not an academic or a mathematician. However, being an unemployed psychologist I do have a bit of time.”‘”
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Stony Stevenson writes “The security firm Fortify Software has warned against a series of attacks against Facebook and MySpace. Buffer overflows that enabled hackers to exploit the Aurigma ActiveX image uploading software used by social networking sites were at the heart of the assault. ‘Criminal hackers now view social networking sites as their ideal target for attacks … [partially because] such sites are designed to be usable by “unsophisticated” consumers, meaning that the barrier to entry for attacks is potentially lower as users are more apt to click on a link that leads to malware.’”
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Stony Stevenson writes “It used to be that popular PHP applications would run more poorly on Windows Server than on a Linux or Unix servers, for which PHP had been optimized. Specialist in the PHP language Zend Technologies now says that’s no longer the case. The Zend Core commercially supported form of PHP has been certified by Microsoft as ready to run ‘with performance and stability’ on Windows Server 2008, stated Andi Gutmans, co-founder and CTO of Zend. Previously, PHP ‘didn’t run as well as it should on Windows,’ stated Gutmans, despite the fact that 75% to 80% of PHP users were developing on Windows workstations.”
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Filed under: Management, Rants and raves, Competitive strategy, General Electric (GE), Home Depot (HD), Scandals, Caterpillar (CAT), Alcoa Inc (AA), Black and Decker (BDK), Lowe’s Cos (LOW), U.S. Steel (X), Nucor Corp (NUE), Reliance Steel and Aluminum (RS), Johnson Controls (JCI), Deere and Co (DE), Honeywell Intl (HON), United Technologies (UTX), BHP Billiton Ltd ADR (BHP), Rio Tinto plc ADS (RTP), Freep’t McMoRan Copper (FCX), Politics, Commodities
 It is alarming to me that the same people who screw up the economy (or stand by watching) are the ones that are now promoting the remedies. They’ve proven without a shadow of a doubt that this is not their strong suit. The proposed economic stimulus package has bi-partisan support and calls for an estimated $156 billion of tax rebates ranging from $500 to $1,000 (+ $300 for each child) that might show up in Might.
If we are going to add on to our already humungous joke of national debt, than I want to invest this capital in something that’ll bring a higher return on invested capital (ROIC) than the paltry one time mad money. That expenditure should be for national infrastructure projects like roadways, bridges, tunnels, and waterways.
We have all heard about the poor condition of our national infrastructure and the hundreds of billions of dollars of repair work and replacement that is desperately needed.
This alternative would bring visible results that each single person in the country would benefit from and improved linkages always stimulate economic growth. Road improvements even reduce fuel consumption by shortening routes and reducing friction both strategically and physically.
Furthermore, this form of stimulus goes directly to support middle and lower income workers, the ones hurt by the severe downturn in the construction industry. The government, like private enterprise, benefits when it can borrow affordably and invest at higher returns. This has been historically true of infrastructure projects.
Giving people a one time hand out is like giving your children some cash for the week end. They’ll care about it while it lasts and it won’t last long. However, building something usable will have a benefit for several generations.
If you’re interested in a few stocks that would benefit from this type of investment you might add the following to your watch list:
All of these do not present the same value and some of them, being conglomerates will be effected less than more focused companies. For example, I would anticipate CX or NUE to receive more benefit than GE or UTX.
Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. He writes the columns Chasing Value and Serious Money. Disclosure: I don’t own shares of any of these stocks except for CX. RS is one of my 2008 picks.
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Banking and Loans - Online Banking - Credit Unions - Loans - Get …
A resource for advice on getting the best deals and service for your money. Banking tips. On the web Banking and Internet banking help and advice.
About the Basel Committee
BIS Publications and Statistics - Locational banking statistics.
State of Nebraska: Department of Banking and Finance
All licensing and regulation is done through this department for state-chartered financial institutions, such as banks, credit unions, delayed deposit …
Banking Information in the Yahoo! Directory
Find information about central banking, development banks, organizations, government agencies, and more.
On the web Banking Report
Online Banking Report: Since 1994, the independent source for on the internet banking, payments, and lending research, statistics, and strategies.
International Journal of Central Banking - IJCB
International Journal of Central Banking (IJCB) Home Page.
Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (Division of Banking)
Colorado-Department of Regulatory Agencies-Division of Banking.
Electronic Banking
The first report from Mercator Advisory Group' s new launched Retail Banking Practice explores the perilous route retail banks are taking disintermediating …
Pennsylvania Department of Banking
Manage your banking, learn about on the internet banking and get information on bank rates.
Division of Banking & Financial Institutions (DOA)
Part of the Department of Commerce and Regulation.
Banking
With a wide range of financial products and personalized service, we are committed to freeing you from the hassles of banking and worries of managing your …
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Filed under: International markets, Earnings reports, Forecasts, Deals, Consumer experience, Competitive strategy
 Despite a tumbling economy where recession fears gain ground everyday, vehicle demand is rising for at least one auto maker. It looks like even in a recession people continue to need automobiles, and the good times are rolling for carmaker Porsche SE which reported that its first-half profit rose 44%. For this period, the sports automobile maker counted strong sales for its Cayenne sport-utility vehicles.
Porsche’s profit climbed to 1.3 billion euros ($1.97 billion), compared with 897 million euros in the same period last year. A stake increase in Europe’s biggest carmaker Volkswagen over the past two years made Porsche post a strong gain in its earnings numbers during the six months ended January 31.
Taking a look at the company’s first-half revenue, we see a growth of 14% to 3.49 billion euros as Cayenne’s first-half sales doubled to 20,340 SUVs, despite surging gasoline prices. The increase in Cayenne sales resulted in a 19% gain in overall deliveries. Thus, first half deliveries climbed up to 46,600 automobiles. The strong gains in Cayenne sales offset lower demand for the popular Porsche 911, whose sales fell 5.6% to 16,360.
Looking ahead, Porsche anticipates an increase in its car sales, lifted by higher emerging markets demand. Currently, the sports-car maker is spending 1 billion euros to develop a new four-door sports sedan model called the Panamera. Sales of the Panamera are expected to come in at 20,000. The company is also developing a hybrid-powered version of the Cayenne.
Porsche announced yesterday that its holding company, Porsche Automobil Holding SE has approved an increase in its stake in Volkswagen AG from 31% to more than 50%. Porsche was already the largest shareholder in Volkswagen prior to yesterday’s announcement.
Making comments on the news, Martin Winterkorn, Volkswagen CEO, believes that Porsche’s move to hold a majority stake proves confidence in Europe’s biggest carmaker.
Eliza Popescu is a financial writer for the on the web investment advisory service Investor’s Observer.
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yuna49 writes “Adam Liptak of the New York Times reports this day about the plight of a Spanish tour operator whose domain names have been embargoed by his domain name registrar (eNom). They pulled his domains after they discovered the tour operator’s name on a US Treasury blacklist. It turns out he packages tours to Cuba largely for European tourists who can legally travel there, unlike Americans. The article cites ‘a press release issued in December 2004, nearly three years before eNom acted. It said Mr. Marshall’s company had helped Americans evade restrictions on travel to Cuba and was ‘a generator of resources that the Cuban regime uses to oppress its people.’ It added that American companies mustn’t only stop doing business with the company but also freeze its assets, meaning that eNom did exactly what it was legally required to do.’ The only part of the operator’s business in the United Says is his domain name registration; all other aspects of his business lie outside the United Says.”
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NewYorkCountryLawyer writes “A technology battle is raging in UMG v. Lindor, a court case in Brooklyn. The issue at hand is whether the RIAA’s investigator SafeNet now needs to disclose its digital files, validation methodology, testing procedures, failure rates, software manuals, protocols, packet logs, source code, and other materials, so that the validity of its methods can be evaluated by the defense. SafeNet and the RIAA state no, claiming that the information is ‘proprietary and confidential’. Ms. Lindor says yes, if you’re going to testify in federal court the other side has a right to test your evidence. A list of what is being sought (pdf) is available on the internet. MediaSentry has produced ‘none of the above’. ‘Put up or shut up’ says one commentator to SafeNet.”
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An anonymous reader writes “According to a current CNET article, Google Street View ‘is just wrong’. The short piece which makes up part of a more massive feature about ‘technology that’s just wrong’ goes on to explain that Google Street View is like a scene from George Orwell’s terrifying dystopian vision of 1984 and that it could ultimately change our behaviour because we’ll never know when we’re being watched. ‘Google? Aren’t they the friendly folk who help me find Web sites, cheat at pub quizzes, and look at porn? Yes, but since 2006 they’re also photographing the streets of selected world cities and posting the results on the internet for all to see. It was Jeremy Bentham who developed the idea of the Panopticon, a system of prison design whereby everybody could be seen from one central point, with the upshot being that prisoners learnt to modulate their behaviour — because they never knew if they were being watched. And that doesn’t sound like much fun, does it?’”
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daveschroeder writes “‘The Iranian government might block private access to the World wide web for the general legislative election on March 14, two Iranian news outlets reported Monday. In 2006, the authorities banned download speeds on private personal faster than 128 kilobytes per second. The government also uses sophisticated filtering equipment to block hundreds of Web sites and blogs that it considers religiously or politically inappropriate. Many bloggers have been jailed in the past years, and dozens of Web sites have been shut down.’ It would appear that Iran’s own government is more a threat to the nation’s world wide web connectivity than the fragility of the undersea cable network.”
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