Breaking News
Syrian army, Hezbollah attack rebels in border town: opposition
AMMAN (Reuters) – Syrian troops supported by Hezbollah militants launched an offensive to retake a major town near Lebanon from rebels on Sunday, the heaviest fighting yet involving Lebanese armed group, opposition activists said. Read more here…
Technology
Inhabitat’s Week in Green: Sky City One, sub-zero cafe and the world’s longest Lego train track
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week’s most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us — it’s the Week in Green. Eyes in the design world turned to New York City this week as New York Design Week officially launched. We hit the floors of International Contemporary Furniture Fair today to [...]
Arduino Robot launches at Maker Faire, we go hands-on (video)
There’s a new kid on the Arduino block, and it’s called the Arduino Robot. Launched yesterday at Maker Faire Bay Area, it’s the company’s first product that extends beyond single microcontroller boards. The Roomba-like design, which we first saw in November 2011, is the result of a collaboration with Complubot. It consists of two circular [...]
Nintendo partners with Best Buy so you can play unreleased Wii U games in store during E3 (video)
There’s nothing more frustrating than watching a product or service get announced, then having to wait an age to try it out. Nintendo hears that, and has announced via Nintendo Direct, that during E3 week, Best Buy will have playable demos of as-yet released Wii U games in 100 stores across the US and Canada. [...]
Madden 25 Anniversary Edition includes NFL Sunday Ticket, exclusive to Amazon
Virtual football enthusiasts excited for Madden 25 (it’s technically Madden 2014 marking 25 years of the franchise) may want to head over to Amazon if they’re serious about watching actual NFL games. The online retailer has an exclusive Anniversary Edition of the game up for pre-order, which comes bundled with a 17-week pass for both [...]
Visteon’s HABIT is a concept infotainment system that puts road trip copilots out of a job (video)
A good acronym also hints at what it does, and Visteon‘s new intelligent in-car concept, HABIT, is a good example of that. The Human Bayesian Intelligence Technology system — to give it its full name — learns the behaviour of drivers so it can automatically change the temperature, heat the seats and drop that Biohazard [...]
The Last of Us will debut ‘play while it downloads’ feature on the PS3
Even though we don’t yet know what the PlayStation 4 looks like or how much it will cost, one of the many details revealed at Sony’s February event was that games will be playable even as they download. Now it turns out we won’t have to wait for the new hardware to experience that feature [...]
Google-built media player hits the FCC, reveals only a Hitchhiker’s Guide reference
With much of its information obscured it’s hard to say what Google has planned for this new device revealed by its FCC filing, but the model number at least indicates someone has a sense of humor. Called an “H840 device” and rocking the model number H2G2-42 (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – 42, the ultimate [...]
Facebook’s Stock Price Is the Least Important Thing About Facebook
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is fond of telling his cohorts that their journey is only one percent finished. Even if you quibble about the exact percentage, he’s right that his company’s vision is boundless and that the service, in its current incarnation, is nowhere near done exploring its potential. The man is nothing if not [...]
Amtrak boosts WiFi on select trains, more upgrades coming this summer
There are plenty of wonderful things about train travel: the leg room, the scenery, the lack of security pat-downs. The WiFi, on the other hand, has long been the slowest thing about Amtrak. The company announced today that it’s finally doing something about its frustratingly sluggish service, upgrading wireless on select trains, including the Acela [...]
Stitcher adds car mode to iOS app, encourages responsible driving
Stitcher just announced a new car mode for the iPhone version of its radio and podcasting app, bringing a simplified interface that works in both portrait and landscape positions. Accessible by tapping the Stitcher logo at the top of the screen, car mode offers a pared-down version of the app’s standard UI, with bigger buttons [...]
Business
Analysis: Airline emissions deal may not come before EU deadline
(Reuters) – Hope is fading for a global deal to regulate the airline industry’s greenhouse gas emissions ahead of a fall deadline, even though failure could push the industry back to the brink of a trade war over the European Union’s emissions trading system. Read more here…
Analysis: Frontier Markets booming but risks mounting
NEW YORK (Reuters) – With the world’s biggest central banks driving yields on safe assets to near zero, some investors are tossing caution to the wind and rushing to buy illiquid and previously overlooked bonds sold by countries with no capital markets track record. Read more here…
Exclusive: South Africa’s NUM seeks 15-60 percent wage rises from gold, coal producers
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers said it would seek pay rises of up to 60 percent from gold and coal producers, raising the prospect of fresh strikes as firms battle higher costs and falling prices in an already heated labor climate. Read more here…
German minister calls EU move on China solar ‘grave mistake’
BERLIN (Reuters) – German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler said the European Commission made a “grave mistake” by agreeing to impose punitive import duties on solar panels from China and urged the Commission to work to prevent the eruption of a trade conflict. Read more here…
Greece to sell Postbank, Proton in July, stress-test big banks
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece’s bank rescue fund will aim to sell Hellenic Postbank and Proton by mid-July with big banks continuing to absorb small lenders as part of plans to revive the battered sector, the country’s foreign lenders said in an inspection review. Read more here…
Politics
Ghosts of incinerator bond deal haunt Harrisburg election
(Reuters) – In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania’s cash-hungry capital city, local political battles are waged much as they are across the United States: with big personalities and bare-knuckled verbal brawls. Read more here…
President Obama learned about IRS scandal via media, senior adviser tells ‘Fox News Sunday’
Senior White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer told Fox News Sunday that President Obama learned about the Internal Revenue Service targeting tea party groups applying for tax exempt status only after it had come out in the media. Read more here…
IRS flagged small tea party groups, ignored big-budget organizations
There’s an irony in the Internal Revenue Service’s crackdown on conservative groups. Read more here…
FBI searches apartment after ricin letters discovered in Washington state
Authorities in hazardous materials suits searched a downtown Spokane apartment Saturday, investigating the recent discovery of a pair of letters containing the deadly poison ricin. Read more here…
Federal report documents inmate sex abuse at US facilities
Inmates at jails in Indianapolis, Baltimore, St. Louis and Philadelphia face the nation’s highest levels of sexual abuse at the hands of guards, according to a new federal report based on surveys of inmates at U.S. jails and prisons. Read more here…
Economy
Job market gains could lead Fed to taper QE3 early
(Reuters) – The beginning of the end of the Federal Reserve’s massive bond-buying program might come sooner than many investors think if recent gains in the U.S. labor market do not prove fleeting. Read more here…
British Pound & Reversals
QUESTION: I watched the Yearly Bullish Reversal in the pound for years at 201.00 you gave back in 1985. It reached that level in 2007 but never closed above it. Does that remain the number all these years? ANSWER: Yes. … Continue reading → Read more here…
British Questions
Bank of England QUESTIONS: What is behind the forecast concerning the pound? ANSWER: We are still investigating. Much is not public information. Internal governmental sources put Bank of England monetization of new debt at or near 90-100% compared to … Continue reading → Read more here…
The British Pound
QUESTION: I remember your forecast that the pound would fall to par back in 1983. I thought you were mad, whilst something inside me captured my attention. When our beloved pound fell to par, I attended every one of your … Continue reading → Read more here…
The Dow & Week of 05/20
The Dow this week reached 15408.00 with our projected technical resistance standing at 15438.92 followed by 15693.27. Next wee we see 15477.63 and 15731.98 as technical resistance. The Weekly Bearish are in the 14300 zone and a crack of that … Continue reading → Read more here…
Bernanke upbeat on innovation outlook in commencement address
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke painted an upbeat picture on Saturday for the potential of innovation to lift living standards, delivering a sweeping look at the last 100… Read more here…
Global Market Watch
This is just about ready. We are setting up the delivery service this summer in Switzerland. This should be ready shortly. We are also finishing the reports generated by the computer on individual markets. Global Market Watch Test Read more here…
Metals Report
Part I has been Revised with the Spot numbers. That will go out Monday. Part III with Platinum, Palladium & Copper will be out by Wed. next week Read more here…
Why Markets Decline
Well that post has brought tons of emails from those in the engineering world. Glad the light has gone off. We need to turn it on in government. One comment wrote: When you discuss containing velocity of the markets and … Continue reading → Read more here…
World News
Syrian army, Hezbollah attack rebels in border town: opposition
AMMAN (Reuters) – Syrian troops supported by Hezbollah militants launched an offensive to retake a major town near Lebanon from rebels on Sunday, the heaviest fighting yet involving Lebanese armed group, opposition activists said. Read more here…
Syrian army, Hezbollah attack rebels in border town: opposition
By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) – Syrian troops supported by Hezbollah militants launched an offensive to retake a major town near Lebanon from rebels on Sunday, the heaviest fighting yet involving Lebanese armed group, opposition activists said. At least 32 people were killed when rebel fighters clashed with mechanized Syrian army units and Hezbollah [...]
Germans blame euro zone crisis for Eurovision debacle
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germans lamented their unexpectedly poor showing at the Eurovision Song Contest, blaming Chancellor Angela Merkel’s tough stance in the euro zone crisis for their failure to win any points from 34 of the 39 countries voting. Read more here…
EU says worried by Russia’s human rights record
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union criticized Russia’s human rights record on Sunday, saying it was increasingly concerned at a wave of restrictive legislation and prosecutions against activists. Read more here…
After crushing Mali Islamists, France pushes deal with Tuaregs
BAMAKO (Reuters) – After winning adulation across Mali for a five month military offensive that crushed al Qaeda fighters, France is now frustrating some of its allies by pushing for a political settlement with a separate group of Tuareg rebels. Read more here…
