Posted by Xeno on May 16, 2013
A flawless diamond has set a world auction record, selling for $26.7m (£17.5m).The rare Botswana-mined 101-carat diamond was sold at a Christie’s auction in Geneva.
It was bought by the Harry Winston firm and beat the previous record set by the 76-carat Archduke Joseph diamond, which sold for £21m (£13.8m) in November 2012.
via BBC News – Flawless diamond sells for record $26.7m at auction.
How does the buyer really know that it wasn’t a Gemesis creation?
Posted in Money | 1 Comment »
Posted by Xeno on May 16, 2013
A 1968 oil painting by German artist Gerhard Richter has set a new record in New York for the highest auction price achieved by a work by a living artist.
Richter’s photo-painting Domplatz, Mailand (Cathedral Square, Milan) sold for $37.1 million (£24.4 million) at Tuesday’s sale.
Tobias Meyer of Sotheby’s called the price “a major accomplishment”.
Richter, 81, also held the previous record for the top price fetched at auction by a living artist.
His abstract painting, Abstraktes Bild, sold for £21.3m in 2012. Sotheby’s described Domplatz, Mailand, which depicts a cityscape painted in a style that suggests a blurred photograph, as a “masterpiece of 20th Century art” and the “epitome” of the artist’s 1960s photo-painting canon.
The price achieved was more than 10 times as much as the then-record $3.5m (£2.3m) it commanded at Sotheby’s in London 15 years ago. Don Bryant, founder of Napa Valley’s Bryant Family Vineyard and the painting’s new owner, said the work “just knocks me over”.
Onement VI, a 1953 work by abstract expressionist painter Barnett Newman’s Onement VI, set a new record for the US artist after selling for $43.8m (£28.7m).
A Francis Bacon work that had been estimated to sell for as much as $40m (£26.2m) failed to attract a buyer.
via BBC News – Richter painting breaks record for living artist.
Posted in Art, Money | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Xeno on May 16, 2013
In her keynote speech at last year’s annual Netroots Nation gathering, Darcy Burner pitched a seemingly simple idea to the thousands of bloggers and web developers in the audience. The former Microsoft MSFT +0.94% programmer and congressional candidate proposed a smartphone app allowing shoppers to swipe barcodes to check whether conservative billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch were behind a product on the shelves.
Burner figured the average supermarket shopper had no idea that buying Brawny paper towels, Angel Soft toilet paper or Dixie cups meant contributing cash to Koch Industries through its subsidiary Georgia-Pacific. Similarly, purchasing a pair of yoga pants containing Lycra or a Stainmaster carpet meant indirectly handing the Kochs your money (Koch Industries bought Invista, one of the world’s largest fiber and textiles companies, in 2004 from DuPont).
At the time, Burner created a mock interface for her app, but that’s as far as she got. She was waiting to find the right team to build out the back end, which could be complicated given often murky corporate ownership structures.
She wasn’t aware that as she delivered her Netroots speech, a group of developers was hard at work on Buycott, an even more sophisticated version of the app she proposed.
“I remember reading Forbes’ story on the proposed app to help boycott Koch Industries and wishing that we were ready to launch our product,” said Buycott’s marketing director Maceo Martinez.
The app itself is the work of one Los Angeles-based 26-year-old freelance programmer, Ivan Pardo, who has devoted the last 16 months to Buycott. “It’s been completely bootstrapped up to this point,” he said. Martinez and another friend have pitched in to promote the app.Pardo’s handiwork is available for download on iPhone or Android, making its debut in iTunes and Google GOOG +3.26% Play in early May. You can scan the barcode on any product and the free app will trace its ownership all the way to its top corporate parent company, including conglomerates like Koch Industries.
Once you’ve scanned an item, Buycott will show you its corporate family tree on your phone screen. Scan a box of Splenda sweetener, for instance, and you’ll see its parent, McNeil Nutritionals, is a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson JNJ +0.77%.
Even more impressively, you can join user-created campaigns to boycott business practices that violate your principles rather than single companies. One of these campaigns, Demand GMO Labeling, will scan your box of cereal and tell you if it was made by one of the 36 corporations that donated more than $150,000 to oppose the mandatory labeling of genetically modified food.
Deciding to add that campaign to your Buycott app might make buying your breakfast nearly impossible, as that list includes not just headline grabbers like agricultural giant Monsanto but just about every big consumer company with a presence in the supermarket aisle: Coca-Cola, Nestle, Kraft, Heinz, Kellogg’s, Unilever and more.
Buycott is still working on adding new data to its back end and fine-tuning its information on corporate ownership structures. Most companies in the current database actually own more brands than Buycott has on record. The developers are asking shoppers to help improve their technology by inputting names of products they scan that the app doesn’t already recognize. …
via New App Lets You Boycott Koch Brothers, Monsanto And More By Scanning Your Shopping Cart – Forbes.
Cool, I got the app and looked at the campaigns. With a click I’m now one of the 20,641 people who demand GMO labeling.
It has only 2 stars in the Apple App Store, seemingly due to it not working for barcode scans seemingly due to server problems. Could it be bad planning for the amount of interest, or are they under a denial of service attack from one of those super rich companies they want to financially impact?
Posted in Biology, Education, Health, Money, Politics, Technology | 1 Comment »
Posted by Xeno on May 10, 2013
YouTube has launched a trial scheme for paid channels on its website.
Under the pilot programme, a small number of content makers will offer the channels for subscriptions starting at $0.99 (£0.64) a month.
Each channel will offer a free 14-day trial and many will have discounted annual rates.
Although the initial 53-channel line-up is fairly niche, one expert suggested the move might ultimately squeeze some smaller rivals out of the market.
YouTube, which is owned by Google, said the launch was part of an effort to enable “content creators to earn revenue for their creativity”.
For example, the children’s television favourite, Sesame Street will offer full episodes on its pay channel when it launches.
Subscribers can pay using either their credit cards or through Google’s own Wallet service.
The paid channels involved in the pilot are diverse.
They include National Geographic Kids, Acorn – which provides episodes from several British TV series -and Fix My Hog Premium, which is aimed at Harley Davidson motorcycle enthusiasts.
“This is just the beginning”, YouTube said on its blog.
“We’ll be rolling paid channels out more broadly in the coming weeks as a self-service feature for qualifying partners.
“And as new channels appear, we’ll be making sure you can discover them.” …
via BBC News – YouTube launches pay-to-watch subscription channels.
I stopped watching YouTube when they started putting ads up. This is a great opportunity for someone to start up a new free alternative to YouTube. Below are 25 YouTube alternatives, one of which has a video of a really cool green bicycle:
If you’d like to set up your own video sharing site, here are my criteria for a good one:
#1: Your site must show thumbnails of your shared videos FIRST THING –no sign up or upload required first– otherwise you lose, I’m GONE. (There are a huge number of these loser sites.)
#2: If your video sharing site says anything about fees, you lose, I’m gone.
#3: If the first video I click on won’t load or worse, is a fake leading to an ad, you lose, I’m never coming back and now you aren’t in my list below visible seen by up to 5,000 visitors to this blog per day. 
(Note: Sites come and go. I found many in my search tonight that are now defunct. If you are viewing this after May 2013, a few of these may be broken links or may have been sold to someone unsavory. Browse at your own risk.)
If you have any good addition not in the list below, leave it in a comment. No porn sites please. These are YouTube alternatives where you can post your own (generally Safe For Work) videos and see videos from other people like you.
- http://blip.tv/
- http://www.vimeo.com
- http://www.dailymotion.com
- http://www.ustream.tv/new
- http://www.blinkx.com/
- http://www.hulu.com/
- http://www.metacafe.com/
- http://www.flickr.com/
- http://www.veoh.com/
- http://www.viddler.com/
- http://www.videojug.com/
- http://teachertube.com/
- http://www.academicearth.org/
- http://www.howstuffworks.com/
- http://www.liveleak.com/
- http://www.clickplay.tv/
- http://www.ebaumsworld.com/
- http://www.myspace.com/video
- http://www.myvideo.co.za/
- http://www.rottentomatoes.com/
- http://www.tubewatcher.tv
- http://www.clipmoon.com/
- http://www.viddy.com/
- http://share.wpxi.com/
- http://video.tagged.com/
Posted in Money, Technology | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Xeno on May 9, 2013
A quarterly publication by the Internal Revenue Service lists those citizens who voluntarily expatriate, or abandon their American citizenship — a growing number of whom are doing so to avoid taxes, according to several published reports.
The latest list of those who have chosen to expatriate, published on May 8, 2013, included 679 citizens. The IRS publishes the list to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) of 1996.
Lists issued in other quarters have included well-known personalities, such as Denise Rich, songwriter, socialite and the former wife of a pardoned billionaire who has given up her U.S. citizenship, and, in doing so, will reportedly save millions in U.S. taxes. Rich appeared under her maiden name, Denise Eisenberg. And Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, who made billions off the world’s most popular social network, has also chosen to renounce his U.S. citizenship in favor or residence in Singapore, where there is no capital gains tax.
Posted in Money | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Xeno on May 7, 2013
The United States Senate overwhelmingly supported a tax on Internet sales today, voting 70-24 in favor of the Marketplace Fairness Act. The outcome was expected after a similar non-biding show of approval passed the Senate with roughly the same number of votes, despite extraordinary opposition from eBay and other major Internet organizations.
As we’ve written about before, supporters argue that tax-free Internet retailers have an unfair advantage over their physical counterparts and it robs states of billions in revenue. Opponents counter that the current bill would create an unwieldy tax code labyrinth, which would be forced on startups and Internet retailers before software technology could manage the new tax.
The bill now heads to the House of Representatives for possible revision. TechCrunch’s sources on Capitol Hill say that broad support in the Senate makes it difficult for House members to oppose the legislation, but it may be modified to increase the threshold for businesses who have to collect online taxes, from $1M in revenue to $10M
This is one of those laws that affects almost everyone directly. I’m kinda surprised there’s not more of an uproar.
http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/06/senate-passes-internet-sales-tax/
… the pain smaller businesses stand to suffer will come in the form of lost time and attorneys’ fees from having to deal with the bureaucracies of the 46 states that collect sales tax – pain that the biggest retailers have the human and financial resources to withstand.
“The complexity is not first of all in the calculating of the tax,” Bieron says. “The reason this is the challenge to small businesses in particular is the number of state tax authorities who can come after you with their tax laws. … That’s a dramatic and negative change. And there’s no software for that.”
How about we all just give the Senate the finger and veto this? How about we take back our power and our country right now and add a People’s Veto to the way our country works? Senators, if you want more money for the States, stop the wars, don’t increase taxes.
Posted in Money, Politics | 2 Comments »
Posted by Xeno on April 25, 2013
A Dog is dead after eating a penny and it’s not just any penny that killed the dog, the dog’s veterinarian said.
That’s because pennies minted after 1982 contain zinc, which is a toxic substance to pets such as dogs and cats, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.
… Dr. Rebecca Jackson, a staff veterinarian at Petplan pet insurance, told CBSNews.com in an email that these newer pennies are so toxic because gastric acid from the pet’s stomach can reach the zinc center of the penny quickly, causing it to be absorbed in the body rapidly.
She said zinc interferes with red blood cell production, and the longer the exposure, the greater likelihood red blood cells will be destroyed. Symptoms of zinc toxicity include vomiting, diarrhea, lack of appetite, lethargy, red-colored urine or looking jaundiced.
“I just couldn’t believe it, and this time she wasn’t so lucky,” said Goldstein.
Goldstein wears her dog’s ashes in a heart-shaped container on a necklace, and shares Sierra’s story to warn others that a penny could be so costly.
via Dog Dies After Eating Penny, Pennies Minted Before 1982 Contain Zinc | digtriad.com.
According to Wikipedia, pennies made from 1982 to the present are copper-plated zinc with 97.5% zinc and, 2.5% copper. And still, it costs 2 cents to make one dog killing penny in the year 2012.
As of 2012, it costs the U.S. Mint 2.00 cents to make a cent because of the cost of materials and production.[4] This figure includes the Mint’s fixed components for distribution and fabrication, estimated at $13 million in FY 2011. It also includes Mint overhead allocated to the penny, which was $17.7 million for 2011. Fixed costs and overhead would have to be absorbed by other circulating coins without the penny.[5] The loss in profitability due to producing the one cent coin in the United States for the year of 2012 was $58,000,000. This was a slight decrease from 2011, the year before, which had a production loss of $60,200,000.
Posted in Money, Strange | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Xeno on April 23, 2013
A fake tweet from the account of the Associated Press sent stocks tumbling more than 140 points within minutes, erasing all of the day’s gains and then some, before bouncing back just as rapidly.
The erroneous tweet, which was posted around 1:07 p.m. ET, said “BREAKING: Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured.” The tweet was up for a few minutes before AP’s account was suspended, and presumably seen by many of AP’s nearly 2 million followers. The tweet was also retweeted by almost 1,500 other Twitter users.
By 1:10 p.m. ET, the Dow was down almost 13 points, or 0.1% on the day. Just prior to the tweet, the blue-chip index had been up about 0.9% for the day. Stocks fully recovered from the plunge a few minutes after hitting the low of the day, as investors realized the tweet had been made by a hacker and was not true.
From its corporate communications account, AP clarified within minutes that the tweet was “bogus” and later elaborate that its account had been hacked and the tweet was fake.
http://buzz.money.cnn.com/2013/04/23/ap-tweet-fake-white-house
Can someone explain exactly why the Dow falls on news like this?
Posted in Crime, Money, Politics | 6 Comments »
Posted by Xeno on April 5, 2013
One Ton of Gold Seized in Small Car: On the Scene – YouTube.
Come on. Obviously in some places people can’t trust the banks with their money, so some are keeping their riches elsewhere. It is not impossible to save up over many years and legitimately obtain $50,000 in gold. Especially if you bought gold when it was less expensive.
Reader comment on Youtube:
Another reason not to trust Bloomberg: THEY CAN’T DO MATH!
1 TON = 32,150 ounces of gold
32,150 ounces x $1,556/ounce is $50,025,400
ABOUT FIFTY MILLION US DOLLARS! —NOT $6M!!!!
Posted in Money, Strange | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Xeno on April 5, 2013
The commanding officer and three crewmembers aboard a U.S. Navy minesweeper have been relieved of their duties amid an investigation into how the $300 million ship got stuck on a reef near the Philippines and had to be scuttled.
The USS Guardian became stuck on a reef in the Tubbataha National Marine Park, a World Heritage Site in the Sulu Sea some 400 miles southeast of Manila in January.
The Navy said in a statement that the officer and crewmembers were relieved because the ship’s grounding did not comply with its navigation procedures and accountability standards.
Last week, the Navy chopped the ship up into sections and removed it, turning a valuable ship into scrap metal.
“We’re paid to make sure that both the crew and that ship comes through harm’s way alright,” said Joe Sestak, a former Democrat Congressman from Pennsylvania and retired three-star admiral. “A mistake was made here.”
On Sunday, workers removed the last major part of the ship, and experts there are now assessing possible damage to the reef. Meanwhile, Navy investigators want to know what went wrong on Jan. 17. Initially the ship sustained minor damage, but before it could be towed off the reef, waves pushed the hull further onto the coral.
The guardian is one of only eight sweepers in the U.S. fleet. So far, the Navy blames faulty navigational maps for causing the ship to run aground. Its captain, Mark Rice, took command of the ship just three months before the accident. …
via How did $300M minesweeper become scrap metal? Navy wants answers | Fox News.
Posted in Money, War | Leave a Comment »
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