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  • Birra

    Birra 4:40 pm on May 25, 2013 - 7 hours ago

    For someone like me who never can place face and names this will be awesome. Think of the benefits for Alzheimer sufferers.

    http://www.slashgear.com/google-glass-facial-recognition-service-likely-to-stoke-privacy-fears-25283608/

     
  • 2
    piero

    piero 12:32 am on May 24, 2013 - 2 days ago

    Ok, this is it. Who can explain it better than this?
    “Two farmers bought a truckload of watermelons, paying five dollars apiece for them. Then they drove to the market and sold all their watermelons for four dollars each. After counting their money at the end of the day, they realized that they’d ended up with less money than they’d started with.
    “See!” said the one farmer to the other. “I told you we shoulda got a bigger truck!”

    Android is winning because they got a bigger truck. ;-)

    SOURCE:
    http://techpinions.com/androids-market-share-is-literally-a-joke/16709

     
    • conshmillo

      conshmillo 12:15 pm on May 24, 2013 1 day ago

      Excellent article! Illustrates the point I was making on this board perfectly. They love to use word Android when talking about market share and word Samsung when talking about profits.

      • ken

        ken 4:45 pm on May 24, 2013 1 day ago

        very true- I liked the analogies of market-share (yards) vs profit-share (points) – great job Captain Kirk – and puba consh!

  • 1
    rastard

    rastard 8:36 pm on May 23, 2013 - 2 days ago

    and has decided to target Apple as well.

    http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/05/23/microsoft-hires-siri-to-bash-apple-in-new-commercial/

    That said, the chopsticks line at the end did make me laugh.

     
    • JPWatkins

      JPWatkins 1:18 am on May 24, 2013 2 days ago

      Well, I guess it’s normal for an “also ran” product to compare itself with the best. But it looks like the “same old, same old,” to me. A typical tech centered company’s uninspired attempt to claim relevance in the space.

      Why should I want my tablet to “update like that?” Is that ugly interface supposed to be superior?
      Why should I want to watch a video and read comments at the same time? Is either activity enhanced by doing them at the same time?
      Why would I want to use PowerPoint when I have KeyNote instead? (and if I did, there’s always things like, “Office2 HD”)

      Bottom line there’s a lot of colors and movement and a lot of winking and nudging, but there’s no value proposition — nothing to persuade me that WindowsRT offers me anything better than what I have.

      Then the chopsticks. Are they saying Windows RT isn’t good enough to emulate a piano? Or are they implying that anyone who bought an iPad (the 70+% of tablet users, those who are mostly “very satisfied,” with their tablet and who have money to spend) made a stupid choice? That’s a strategy we’ve already seen fail many times before.

  • 3
    ken

    ken 5:36 pm on May 23, 2013 - 2 days ago

    Some very interesting tidbits in this. Like enough capital now for ModX and combined with cash flow, likely for GenIII without another raise. Reasons for he raise we’re largely timing of the stock creating an opportunity and opening of the convertible debt market. Subscription was high and in demand and they were able to increase the amount and improve terms. The reason for e DOE payoff was largely a moral obligation completed and the resulting removal of associated critism. He mentioned there were some logistics that would be easier but even those were workable with DOE.

    As a side note, I would conclude John Peterson to be clearly in error concerning the lease/DOE rules conflict being the primary driver or even much of a consideration at all, unless he thinks Elon is lying in this interview. He doesn’t sound like it to me. In fact, it sounds like it was the oversubscribed condition that catylized to increase it enough to pay off the entire loan. The terms of the convertible debt sound improved from an acceptable starting point so ‘height of financial anything’ doesn’t seem to be in play. In Johns most recent pub yesterday, he’s putting forward a potentially “disastrous” impact to the income statement by the lease program which will according to him lose $9,128 per car sold this way. And so you’d have to conclude this is all news to those running Tesla as clearly they expect the program to do the opposite even for its early quarter implementation. Without (this time) expending my own energy to evaluate which is right, I’m going to invest in the latter on blind faith due to the reputations of each alone

    http://www.bloomberg.com/video/tesla-s-musk-on-loan-payoff-financing-mission-a2QNfmtwQe64z~oyEXpVEA.html

     
    • Nicu

      Nicu 12:05 pm on May 24, 2013 1 day ago

      As much as I would wish things to be otherwise, I think there is no white and black, only shades of gray (no pun intended). So the truth may be somewhere in between. Elon said that they had some restrictions wrt to exporting cars as that would be too much inventory on the water. While it is not the same thing, guaranteeing half the price of the car is some kind of dead money (in accounting) buried for three years. Elon does not have to enumerate all the reasons (he only denied the restriction of selling his shares / the company), but some of them, as inventory. Only is a SEC filling they have to be super-careful and do full disclosures, but I doubt they will have to talk about the reasons they had to pay the debt in such a document.

      I still believe Tesla is a great company and will do well even in the short term. But the stock is disconnected from reality for the moment, and the chances that there will be a remarkable dip this year are too great for me to put more of my cash on the upside bet. I think there will be several good occasions to load up again for the long haul. As for the short term, I will quote Jim Morrison: “I don’t know what’s gonna happen’ man, but I want to have my kicks before the whole sh!thouse goes up in flames!”
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSlXjrxqDOE

      • conshmillo

        conshmillo 12:23 pm on May 24, 2013 1 day ago

        I was shorting NFLX and LNKD for past two months. I can tell you that TSLA is starting to behave very similarly here. Those two just would not go down. TSLA has the similar feel to it here. Difference this time is that market could be finally ready for pullback due to the Bernanke comments.

    • ken

      ken 4:20 pm on May 24, 2013 1 day ago

      yeah- agree it’s way out of touch at these levels- back up to $95 highs today – right where I sold most of my options – even while the market is down.

      I agree the truth is somewhere in between; That’s exactly where Elon put it. He was clear, there were in fact restrictions, there may even have been some lease accounting restrictions- but just as clearly they were workable with DOE, weren’t the main drivers for repay, and just as clearly the decision was very gray – as you say- not black or white .

      That is in fact my point re: JP, more than anything- his facts are almost never wrong by themselves, but the conclusions he draws from them are almost always wrong; His rhetoric allows for no gray shades (pun intended- I liked yours :) ), but instead communicates looming catastrophic events from moderate-solvable issues or from facts that are only right under the most extreme conditions- which rarely come to pass. His writings are virtually all black- no matter what mitigating facts may be present. That’s what creates the antagonists, and the loss of others that just stop listening- the parsing energy too great for the value preserved. As such, he communicates a mission rather than shades of possible gray on outcomes, and so it feels like (just from his writings), he starts with the mission (of doom), then arranges the facts, amplifying the ones that portend disaster. Oh well… it’s his professional life to lead-

      I agree with you guys on the level here – it feels dangerous to me. Staying with long stock position as always of course, but since selling the options I feel very under exposed (no puns here please)- – As usual for this week- even on down market, largest stock positions are up- TSLA, AAPL, SCTY – but those are all much smaller positions than I want, frustrating under exposure- thanks for the thoughts guys;

  • 2
    conshmillo

    conshmillo 6:59 am on May 23, 2013 - 3 days ago

     
    • ken

      ken 1:44 pm on May 23, 2013 2 days ago

      Hahaha. :)
      Let’s see if it holds or if we’re just really asleep

      • conshmillo

        conshmillo 6:45 pm on May 23, 2013 2 days ago

        I think it will continue down. What originally freaked them out was that fed said they might taper soon if the economic data continue to improve. And economic data that cheered markets today intraday basically confirmed that improvement.

  • 5
    ken

    ken 5:53 am on May 23, 2013 - 3 days ago

    Keep an eye out for the email Trojans

    http://mashable.com/2013/05/22/new-mobile-malware-targets-android-phones/

     
    • Birra

      Birra 1:10 pm on May 23, 2013 2 days ago

      To quote Consh “Where’s the outrage?”

    • rastard

      rastard 8:44 pm on May 23, 2013 2 days ago

      I’ll take a stab at this. There’s no outrage because this isn’t actually a *real* issue (or at least hasn’t been to date).

      While Android malware, OS fragmentation, etc. are hyped up on Apple fansites by people wanting jump on the let’s-bash-Android bandwagon, people who actually use Android devices don’t actually experience them as problems. Hence, no outrage.

      • ken

        ken 10:31 pm on May 23, 2013 2 days ago

        That might be true- certainly the anemic use of Android for web+ would support that supposition;
        Same with the fragmentation – there’s no real outrage about that from Android users. They should let Google know then they are wasting efforts to resolve it, since it’s a non-issue. Likely most Android registered users (not US but worldwide) simply plan to use the phone and throw it away in 2 years for another one- could care less as long as the phone works the same as when they bought it.

        Kinda reminds me of all the Maps outrage- Nobody I know really minds using iMaps and the few I hear about just use something else.

        I think part of the difference is in responsibility- Apple owns iOS, takes responsibility (and accolades) for it- so it has a single point of both love and rage. Android is sort of this ether existence that wanders between Google-Open Source-Samsung-Amazon-Whoever; who’s to rage against? google is the closest, but it’s accepted by most they simply service it and copied most of it anyway; Except rastard- I think he still thinks Google invented it, I’m not sure- maybe just that it’s ok they copied it.

        It sounds to me (but maybe I’m not listening well) that the claim is- Android doesn’t have identifiable issues that users care about sufficiently to rage about. iOS deserves the rage it receives because it’s users care about what it does? or are better at determining what they want it to do? or? hmmm

    • Birra

      Birra 8:52 pm on May 23, 2013 2 days ago

      Gee Rastard that means if 95% of malware was only present on iOS devices not a negative word would be heard.

      • rastard

        rastard 10:07 pm on May 23, 2013 2 days ago

        I don’t know. Why don’t you try to write some malware for iOS and see what happens. :-)

  • 2
    Birra

    Birra 11:47 pm on May 22, 2013 - 3 days ago

    “Nearly a year after Apple introduced its own Maps service in iOS 6 with Flyover 3D satellite views, Google is expanding its own online Maps to support similar 3D satellite imagery, with the same sorts of buckled roads and visual distortions Apple was castigated for last summer.

    So far, there hasn’t been any embittered contempt voiced by the tech media for Google’s attempts to chase Apple’s Flyover coattails with a seriously flawed offering that doesn’t even work on mobile devices; the sloppy release of Google’s own 3D product also calls into question the company’s hubris in fueling smear campaigns against Apple’s own mapping product last fall.”

    http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/05/22/googles-new-3d-maps-destroy-manhattan-in-the-wake-of-apples-flyover

     
    • conshmillo

      conshmillo 10:09 am on May 23, 2013 3 days ago

      Where is the outrage?

      • rastard

        rastard 8:52 pm on May 23, 2013 2 days ago

        My prediction: There won’t be any, except from ignorant partisans on Apple fansites.

        As a reminder, the outrage over Apple Maps wasn’t actually over the imagery issues themselves — it was fueled by Apple substituting an app that had imagery issues AND removing access to the pre-existing Google Maps option that many felt was better. Had Apple allowed both to be accessible in parallel, I’d posit that the outrage over Apple maps would have been limited only to ignorant partisans on Android fansites.

  • 1
    Birra

    Birra 11:06 pm on May 22, 2013 - 3 days ago

    Still believe the iWatch will include life saving monitoring with automatic 911 integration and will be a monster hit. Who wouldn’t want a wearable device that has the ability to notify emergency personnel if the need ever arises.

    “We are positive on the iWatch because its wearable design is helpful for offering more secure user identification and biometrics functionality.”

    http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/05/22/apples-iwatch-to-come-in-late-2014-with-focus-on-biometrics-analyst-says

     
  • conshmillo 6:48 pm on May 22, 2013 - 3 days ago

    4
    conshmillo

    Is the groundhog day over or am I just dreaming?

     
    • ken

      ken 6:58 pm on May 22, 2013 3 days ago

      looks that way- at least today;
      the Bernanke kicked it off and I thought sure it would hold- but never did. Just a 1 day look, but it does look different I agree- maybe ground-hog willie is seeing a shadow-line

      • conshmillo

        conshmillo 7:16 am on May 23, 2013 3 days ago

        Nikkei down -7.3%
        GlobalDow -33
        S&P futures -20 so far
        gold up +10

    • ken

      ken 7:39 pm on May 22, 2013 3 days ago

      been a little outta touch today- guess it was the Fed minutes of considering a June taper on QE that did it. What a shame when the market has to trade on fundamentals again, it won’t like that much I imagine

    • ken

      ken 7:46 pm on May 22, 2013 3 days ago

      personally, even though not short-put on anything at the moment, I would relish a nice pullback in the market. Even after adding a little, sitting at 54% in and 46% cash/equivalent. And that long position is half ETF/Big Blue stuff. I’ve really taken most of my alpha stuff down to min levels. Love to see several days of this stuff myself. Somehow don’t think we’ll get it though- I’ve become a bubble-boy!

  • 6
    greedolives

    greedolives 5:44 pm on May 22, 2013 - 3 days ago

    http://bigthink.com/ideafeed/in-this-great-reset-what-jobs-will-remain

    “While driverless transportation in general would be safer and more efficient, futurologist Thomas Frey warns that many current jobs that depend on cars, including “taxi-, bus- and truck-driving…traffic police, all forms of home delivery and waste disposal, jobs at petrol stations, car washes and parking lots” could potentially disappear.”

    Senate is totally obsessed with Apple’s taxes while Google is potentially about to destroy the working class right under the gov’s nose. Hmm..

     
    • JPWatkins

      JPWatkins 6:52 pm on May 22, 2013 3 days ago

      Futurists rarely produce any accurate or useful information.

    • SB

      SB 8:10 pm on May 22, 2013 3 days ago

      Funny Audi ad which shows a self driving car at the very end. Not relevant to much, but enjoyable for anyone who likes Star Trek:

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WPkByAkAdZs

    • rastard

      rastard 9:54 pm on May 22, 2013 3 days ago

      • greedolives

        greedolives 10:02 pm on May 22, 2013 3 days ago

        Actually, I am a fan of Clay Christensen’s disruption theory..which states that an industry that is disrupted will lose majority of current jobs, but new jobs that replace those will be orders of magnitude higher.

        But, what we have seen is that American industries that get disrupted will get an inpouring of international workers to embrace the disruptive innovation due to nature of globally connected world. App ecosphere is one example, or Hollywood. But wondering how many people are thinking about this with Google at the moment.

        • rastard

          rastard 11:50 pm on May 22, 2013 3 days ago

          I think then that you might be conflating “self-driving car technology destroying the middle class” with “US labor’s lack of competitiveness with international labor destroying the middle class”.

          For pretty much all of my adult lifetime I’ve been reading/hearing about the loss of US jobs. If it’s not “lower wages” (China/Korea/Southeast Asia manufacturing), then it’s better high-tech education (software engineers from India/China), or simply that other countries’ people being willing to do jobs that Americans won’t (Mexico migrant farmworkers). Self-driving car is just the newest potentially disruptive technology in a long history of other shifts.

          Just curious though — if some new industries do emerge from the ashes of the taxi/bus/truck driver, traffic police, etc. industries — what do you see as being the primary factor(s) that would cause international workers to fill that void instead of US workers? Things that come to mind for me include: Lower wages? Better education? Greater adaptability? Lower entitlement? What do you think?

          • greedolives

            greedolives 11:56 pm on May 22, 2013 3 days ago

            I was speaking facetiously about “destroying” middle class. :) You are correct about the semantics.

            Primary factor of international workers filling void is typically a trend to digital automation/social collaboration using technology = destruction of political borders and geography as limitation for employment.

            Example may include ICE car being eliminated means local garage mechanic to fix broken engine is no longer needed when person in China can remotely log into your car’s software to fix bugs. Not a great example, but that sort of idea.

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