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Business/Economy (General/Chat)

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  • Matt Saincome Investigates the Airline Industry's Woeful Record of Protecting Pets in Flight

    05/19/2015 11:04:29 PM PDT · by nickcarraway · 3 replies
    SF Weekly ^ | Matt Saincome
    It's 11:45 a.m. and a dog is falling from the sky. Moments earlier Nala, a rescue animal, was taking care of her five puppies who were on their way by small aircraft from Lexington, Ky., to Canada to be trained as service animals. Now the helpless pooch is in total freefall, quickly spiraling toward the earth. Nala was being transported with her five puppies in a private four-seat plane on Friday, May 1, when the cargo door burst open at about 200 feet, ejecting the canine from the aircraft. Within seconds, the fall — and Nala's life — is over....
  • Benton Family Finds Racial Slurs in Pizza Box

    05/19/2015 10:59:47 PM PDT · by nickcarraway · 45 replies
    THV11 ^ | May 19, 2015
    Benton Family Finds Racial Slurs in Pizza Box (Only link can be posted)
  • Even with free annual upgrades, Apple faces stubborn OS X fragmentation

    05/19/2015 7:50:57 PM PDT · by Swordmaker · 27 replies
    Computerworld ^ | May 19, 2015 | By Gregg Keizer
    Mac laggards signal difficulty of matching PC upgrade results with mobile's homogenization Although Apple has done a better job of moving its Mac users along with each new operating system than has rival Microsoft, the Cupertino, Calif. company has been unable to eradicate fragmentation as it accelerated upgrades to an annual cadence. According to data from analytics firm Net Applications, three OS X editions that were three years or older retained five or more percentage points of user share last month. Those three editions -- 2009's Snow Leopard, 2011's Lion and 2012's Mountain Lion -- powered 20% of all...
  • Planned Parenthood Abortion Activists Hate Ted Cruz and Scott Walker the Most

    05/19/2015 7:47:46 PM PDT · by Morgana · 26 replies
    LIFE NEWS ^ | May 19, 2015 | Steven Ertelt
    The Planned Parenthood abortion business is running a new poll for its abortion activists to determine which of the pro-life Republican presidential candidates and potential candidates they hate the most. Apparently the pro-abortion stalwarts at Planned Parenthood are not fans of Ted Cruz and Scott Walker. The abortion business couches the poll in it’s typical “pro-woman” phraseology, designed to shield itself from abortion and make it appear pro-life candidates hate women, never mind that Planned Parenthood aborts hundreds of thousands of baby girls every year and kills and injures their mothers in abortions. Here’s how it asks the question: IMAGE...
  • Louisiana Abortion Activists Vandalize Billboards Exposing Planned Parenthood’s Abortion Business

    05/19/2015 7:42:52 PM PDT · by Morgana · 3 replies
    life news ^ | May 19, 2015 | Sarah Zagorski
    In Louisiana, abortion activists are doing everything they can to ensure that the citizens of New Orleans don’t find out about Planned Parenthood’s abortion business. In fact, some are resorting to vandalism and recently destroyed a billboard that exposed the organizations number one priority. The Nola Needs Peace Coalition, a group of churches and community organizations committed to building a peaceful New Orleans without abortion, placed one of their billboards directly next to the Planned Parenthood site that is slated to open early next year. The billboard reads: “Planned Parenthood Sells Abortion And They Plan to Sell More Here.” Benjamin...
  • Trojanized, info-stealing PuTTY version lurking online (SSH Secure Shell program for Windows)

    05/19/2015 5:17:01 PM PDT · by dayglored · 15 replies
    Help Net Security ^ | May 19, 2015 | Zeljka Zorz
    A malicious version of the popular open source Secure Shell (SSH) client PuTTY has been spotted and analyzed by Symantec researchers, and found to have information-stealing capabilities. PuTTY, which is written and maintained primarily by Simon Tatham and can be freely downloaded from the project's official site, is a popular software with admins and developers looking to connect to remote servers through encrypted means. Compiled from source, this malicious version is apparently capable of stealing the credentials needed to connect to those servers. "Data that is sent through SSH connections may be sensitive and is often considered a gold mine...
  • Donald Trump: Why wait to announce? Why wait?

    05/19/2015 5:16:51 PM PDT · by Cringing Negativism Network · 38 replies
    Vanity Post ^ | (today) | (basic rant)
    OK this is a rant basically. Why is Donald Trump playing with the "will he, or won't he" crowd? Donald I am very much in favor of you, if you run. But I am very much NOT in favor of playing any games, and this seems like it might be one. What are you waiting for? Why are you waiting? Why not just announce. Right now.
  • EPA accused of improper lobbying for water rule

    05/19/2015 1:46:32 PM PDT · by ThethoughtsofGreg · 6 replies
    American Legislator ^ | 5-19-15 | John Eick
    The New York Times has an article worth reading discussing EPA’s efforts to influence comments submitted to them by the public regarding the agency’s and Army Corps of Engineers’ proposal to redefine “Waters of the United States (WOTUS).” Notably, Gina McCarthy, administrator of EPA, went before a Senate committee earlier this year touting the fact that almost 90 percent of all comments submitted expressed support for the rule as proposed. It turns out that many of these comments were submitted as a result of an unprecedented outreach initiative, which is being led by a former Obama campaign staffer. Thunderclap (a...
  • To fight bee decline, Obama proposes more land to feed bees

    05/19/2015 11:15:08 AM PDT · by Olog-hai · 39 replies
    Associated Press ^ | May 19, 2015 1:29 PM EDT | Seth Borenstein
    The Obama administration hopes to save the bees by feeding them better. A new federal plan aims to reverse America’s declining honeybee and monarch butterfly populations by making millions of acres of federal land more bee-friendly, spending millions of dollars more on research and considering the use of fewer pesticides. While putting different type of landscapes along highways, federal housing projects and elsewhere may not sound like much in terms of action, several bee scientists told The Associated Press that this a huge move. They say it may help pollinators that are starving because so much of the American landscape...
  • The Gathering Bond Storm in Chicago

    05/19/2015 11:00:58 AM PDT · by SeekAndFind · 15 replies
    Economy and Markets ^ | 05/19/2015 | Rodney Johnson
    Recently the bond rating company Moody’s Investor Service cut their ranking of Chicago to junk status. The move ticked off a lot of people in the Windy City who think Moody’s overstated the case. I agree that Moody’s is wrong… not because they went too far, but because they didn’t go far enough. Chicago is not close to bankrupt. It’s completely bankrupt. People are just afraid to say this out loud. The city’s pensions are underfunded by $20 billion. Moody’s gave a rating that reflects how the city is performing. City officials are just angry Moody’s called them out. The...
  • Unions urge Amtrak to put 2nd engineer in every locomotive

    05/19/2015 10:28:05 AM PDT · by Olog-hai · 31 replies
    Associated Press ^ | May 19, 2015 1:23 PM EDT | Michael R. Sisak
    The union for Amtrak’s locomotive engineers on Tuesday urged the railroad to put a second engineer at the controls of trains on the busy Northeast Corridor, where a derailment killed eight people and injured more than 200 others. “The public would never accept an airline operation with a single person in the cockpit,” the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen said in a statement. “There is no reason that rail employees and rail passengers’ lives should be viewed any differently.” Brandon Bostian, 32, was alone in the locomotive of Train 188 when it derailed May 12, about 10 minutes after...
  • Analyst's Prediction: Microsoft Windows 10 To Be On 410 Million PCs Within 18 Months

    05/19/2015 10:17:13 AM PDT · by SeekAndFind · 27 replies
    Bidness ^ | 05/19/2015 | Larry Darrel
    Microsoft Corporation’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows 10, is possibly the last version of Windows the company will ever make. Tech enthusiasts are looking forward to use Windows 10 so much so that analysts expect that 410 million PCs will be running Windows 10 within the first 18 months of its release. Windows 10 is expected to release for PCs “this summer” possibly in late July, with a mobile version of the operating system to come shortly after it. According to Net Applications, an analytics vendor, more than 75% of all PCs currently running Windows 8 or 8.1 will switch to Windows 10...
  • Secret space plane, solar sail and CubeSats launching Wednesday

    05/19/2015 10:08:53 AM PDT · by BenLurkin · 7 replies
    CNN ^ | Amanda Barnett
    How much can you pack on top of one rocket? A United Launch Alliance Atlas V is carrying up the U.S. Air Force's so-called secret space plane, The Planetary Society's solar sail, and several CubeSats, or tiny satellites. The launch window is Wednesday from 10:45 a.m. ET and 2:45 p.m. ET at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. You can watch it on a webcast starting at 10:45 a.m. ET. The Air Force space plane is actually called the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle. This is the fourth mission for the plane. It looks like a small space shuttle, but...
  • Vanity: Intense seatbelt enforcement this month

    05/19/2015 6:18:09 AM PDT · by Attention Surplus Disorder · 96 replies
    5/19/2015 | none
    That’s why one focus of the Click It or Ticket campaign is nighttime enforcement. Participating law enforcement agencies will be taking a no-excuses approach to seat belt law enforcement, writing citations day and night. In California, the minimum penalty for a seat belt violation is $161. Fair warning.
  • Apple gets partial win on appeal in Samsung patent case

    05/18/2015 8:14:07 PM PDT · by Swordmaker · 83 replies
    Yahoo Finance News ^ | May 18, 2015 | By Andrew Chung and Julia Love
    NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO, May 18 (Reuters) - Apple Inc was handed a mixed ruling by a U.S. appeals court in the latest twist in a blockbuster intellectual property battle with Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, as a prior patent infringement verdict was upheld but a trademark finding that the iPhone's appearance could be protected was thrown out. That means up to 40 percent of a $930 million verdict which had been won by Apple must be reconsidered. In the highly anticipated ruling stemming from the global smartphone wars, the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. upheld patent infringement violations including one which...
  • Maurie Berman, founder of Chicago's iconic Superdawg, dies at 89

    05/18/2015 6:54:48 PM PDT · by EveningStar · 10 replies
    Chicago Tribune ^ | May 18, 2015 | Meredith Rodriguez
    Several veterans opened food stands to supplement their student incomes on the GI Bill after World War II, but Maurie Berman wanted something different. "He wanted to open something more noteworthy," said his son, Scott Berman, 64. "A building, a tower, something with some identity." So was born the friendly, family-run Northwest Side vintage drive-in Superdawg, with its order booth that looks like an airport control tower and its two 12-foot-tall papier-mache hot dogs designed in 1948 that stand on its roof. Mr. Berman died Sunday, May 17, of heart problems at 89, his son said.
  • 250 Year-Old Shipwreck Could Hold Thousands of Litres of Rum

    05/18/2015 6:26:51 PM PDT · by DogByte6RER · 49 replies
    The Spirits Business ^ | 18th May, 2015 | Annie Hayes
    Shipwreck Could Hold Thousands of Litres of Rum • Sunken British warship the Lord Clive could hold “treasure worth millions”, including “vast stocks” of 250-year-old rum which will be recovered later this year. The wreck, which sunk off the coast of Uruguay, was discovered in 2004, but the Uruguyan government has only given permission for its recovery this year. Salvage of the ship, which was sunk by Spanish cannons in 1763, will require cranes, excavators and around 80 workers and is expected to begin within two months. The ship, which was constructed in Hull for the Royal Navy and was...
  • Donald Trump Will End Outsourcing If President

    05/18/2015 4:48:20 PM PDT · by Cringing Negativism Network · 66 replies
    Huffington Post ^ | Posted: 05/18/2015 1:15 pm EDT | Lauren Windsor (I think anyway)
    At the South Carolina Freedom Summit, Donald Trump said that he would impose a hefty 35 percent tariff on American multinational corporations like Ford Motor Company, in order to stop outsourcing to China and elsewhere. According to the Economic Policy Institute, between 2001 and 2013 the U.S. trade deficit with China cost 3.2 million jobs, with the majority of the losses coming from the manufacturing sector. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lauren-windsor/donald-trump-will-end-outsourcing-if-president_b_7307426.html
  • How Important Is It To Wash New Clothes Before Wearing Them?

    05/18/2015 4:41:49 PM PDT · by SMGFan · 45 replies
    Consumerist ^ | May 18, 2015
    Though sometimes you just can’t wait to rip the tags off that new shirt and wear it out for the world to see, you also may’ve had that moment of, “I should probably wash this before I wear it… oh well.” So how important is it to to give your new duds a dunk in the washing machine before it comes in contact with your skin? The short answer: Pretty important if you don’t like itchy, scaly, red rashes. Due to varying laws from country to country on the allowable levels of chemicals in fabric, your clothing could be hopping...
  • Microsoft: Free Windows 10 for THIEVES and PIRATES? They can GET STUFFED

    05/18/2015 4:30:47 PM PDT · by dayglored · 57 replies
    The Register ^ | May 15, 2015 | Neil McAlister
    Think you'll be getting a free upgrade to Windows 10 from your pirated copy of Windows 7 or Windows 8.1? Not so fast. For months, rumors have been swirling that suggested Microsoft was so eager to get its entire customer base onto Windows 10 that it will extend its free upgrade offer even to those who obtained their copies of Windows by, um, questionable means. Well, it seems that may not be true after all. Or not entirely true. Or something. Microsoft operating systems exec veep Terry Myerson weighed in on Friday to clarify the software giant's position on "Non-Genuine"...