05/19/2012

Paradigm Shift: Republic Wireless Review

12/02/2011 By

republic wireless reviewIn case you’ve been living under a rock for the past month, you may not have heard about the newest cellphone wireless provider: Republic Wireless.

Republic Wireless is a start-up wireless carrier with an intriguing offer: $19 a month (plus tax) unlimited everything wireless service.

  • Unlimited minutes, data, & text
  • No contracts or early termination fees
  • No overages, ever!

Sound to good to be true? We thought so, so we decided to check it out.

Republic turns out to be a Sprint Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO). What this means to you and me is that as we use our Republic Wireless cellphone as a cellphone, it rides on Sprint’s network for $19 a month, with unlimited usage.

Unlimited Sprint Usage?

Not really. What Republic Wireless does is use existing WiFi networks in a “Hybrid Model” whenever possible to cut down on your use of the Sprint cellular network. Since WiFi is free, there is no cost to Republic Wireless when you are on WiFi for calls or data. That’s how they can offer such a low monthly rate for “unlimited” usage.

The trick is transparency to the user

The way this is supposed to work is once you load the WiFi information for a location into your phone, the phone remembers it and automatically switches between Sprint’s cellphone service and WiFi whenever it detects the signal.

This transparent switching is the key. If I’m talking on the phone in the car and then walk into my home, the phone should switch between the cellular and WiFi networks automatically, seamlessly, and transparently. No dropped calls, missed calls, pops, disconnects, etc.

Think about it

When I’m at home, I have WiFi. When I’m at work, I have WiFi. Library – yes, McDonalds – yes, Starbucks – yes, Panera Bread – yes, most coffee shops or restaurants – yes, some municipalities – yes! It turns out that for most of our day, we are in WiFi range. When you are driving there is no WiFi, but while you may be talking, you’re not supposed to be texting or running data programs (except maps).

This may be a paradigm shift in wireless

We really like this idea. The idea of cutting cellphone bills from $80/month to $20/month saves $720/year. More phones? More savings. Your parents grew up paying $6/month for phone service and got TV reception for free. Now we spend $200 – $300 a month for the same service. That’s $2,400 – $3,600 a year to use the phone and watch TV…

Have you actually listened to the quality of a voice call on a cellphone lately? It stinks. The prices have gone up while the quality has gone down.

Why pay more for the same service? This is the promise of Republic Wireless. This is also the promise that should have ATT, Verizon, and TMobile shaking in their boots. It actually may help Sprint in the long run.

Metro PCS, Boost Mobile, Net10, and the other low cost carriers? They are toast. They will either have to change to the “hybrid” model, or die.

If it works, it is revolutionary. It will change the future of wireless.

Before you jump in, note that there are some requirements on phone usage. Republic Wireless calculates your Cellular Usage Index (CUI) based upon your last 7 days of activity. If it goes too high, they warn you and suggest ways to lower it. If you’re continually high, they ask you to leave.

What this means is that you need to be using WiFi for a good part of your month’s cellphone usage or you will be terminated. How much is too much?

Even assuming 0% wifi usage, for example, you could consume 550 minutes, send 150 texts, and download 300 megabytes of data without crossing the community’s fair use threshold.

Over time, if you don’t bring your CUI back into a reasonable range, we’ll help you find a more suitable, traditional cellular carrier. more…

We still believe the cellular maximum usage combined with the abundance of WiFi networks makes this $19 a month service a winner.

Is it worth a try?

We thought so. Republic only offered one phone at launch, the LG Optimus Android phone with our Hybrid Calling technology and Google’s Android version 2.3. It was $199 but we used a discount code for $100 off. Tough too beat that.

We were one of the lucky ones who actually managed to get through and purchase the phone before they sold out on day one. Right now, they are not accepting new customers. I’m sure they expected sales, I’m just not sure they knew how revolutionary this would be.

Our smartphone is due to ship on December 8th and we are awaiting it with optimistic trepidation. We will report here on the unboxing and setup, and follow it with several usage reviews. It should be fun so stay tuned and bookmark our site or follow us on Twitter for the latest reviews.

 

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: , , , ,

The Unseen Hand: Fed Policy and Inflation

12/01/2011 By

Federal Reserve International PolicyThere was quite a rally this week in the US stock market. On the last day of November, the DJIA rose over 480 points in one of the 7 largest gains in Dow history.

The “reason” for this gain seemed to be an overnight agreement by the European Central banks to ease the strains on European banks by easing credit in unison. Coincidentally, China reduced its reserve rate, freeing up more capital from the East.

Because Europe is in such a funk, money markets in the US and other dollar denominated markets had reduced lending to European banks by 50 to 70 percent recently.

So those “stress tested” European banks were all faltering on the brink and something had to be done.

Enter the unseen hand of Federal Reserve Policy, your tax dollars, inflation, and the destruction of the American dollar’s international value at work. The Feds low key status in this announcement is a ruse, this was an internationally coordinated, US led, emergency bailout of the European banks.

The joint offer of cut-rate currency swap lines by the central banks of the US, Britain, Japan, Canada, Switzerland and the ECB preserves the polite fiction that this was to “ease strains in financial markets and thereby mitigate the effects of such strains on the supply of credit”, but this was a Fed action to provide cheap dollar funding and head off a lethal crunch in Europe.  More

What does it mean to Americans…?

  • Many European Banks are broke
  • Some European Countries are broke
  • The European Central Bank (ECB) is paralyzed because members won’t agree
  • The ECB can’t get the viable (Germany) countries to pay for the sins of the spendthrift (Greece, Italy, Ireland, Spain, and soon France) countries
  • There is no political will for some European countries to continue to bail out other countries
  • All of the politicians want someone else to pay for their spending
  • The US is already broke and things will deteriorate over the next few years (bank failures, rioting, further decrease in the value of the dollar, destruction of our standard of living)

What is the solution?

  • The European Sovereigns are in trouble
  • The European Banks are in trouble
  • The ECB is paralyzed
  • The ECB is hoping the IMF will bail it out
  • The IMF is almost broke and needs the US and China to bail it out
  • Since Europe’s combined economies are as large as the US, there is no one left to bailout Europe except the US and China

Because everyone plays in dollars, the US can only support Europe by more printing causing dollar devaluation and inflation

  • More debt everywhere
  • No increase in lending
  • Worldwide inflation
  • Destruction of the value of the dollar

What’s beyond that?

  • More borrowing, bailouts, stagnation, political turmoil, and pain
  • Bank defaults and finally, Sovereign debt defaults
  • The proposal for a non-dollar dependent “world” currency

All brought to you by the US Federal Reserve.

 

 

Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Occupy Obama’s Bleeding Union Heart

10/20/2011 By

obama union supportWe decided to take a better look at President Obama’s recent support for the “Occupy” movements.

In a strange measure of support (and an even stranger call with major city mayors) our Chief Executive seems to be siding with those that are directing their anger at banks and corporations.

“I think it expresses the frustrations that the American people feel,” the president said of the NYC demonstration, which began in mid-September and spread to cities throughout the nation. “People are frustrated and the protesters are giving voice to a more broad-based frustration about how our financial system works.”

“Americans understand that not everybody has been following the rules,” he said, according to The New York Times. “These days a lot of folks that are doing the right thing aren’t rewarded, and a lot of folks who aren’t doing the right thing are rewarded.”

Could there be something behind Obama’s recent empathy?

First let’s examine some of the “demands” of the “Occupy” movement.

  • Jobs: Yes they want jobs, this is reasonable
  • Stop Foreclosures: Again, with all the recent pain, this seems reasonable
  • Make Banks and Corporations pay for these by spending the trillions of dollars they have in reserve….

What? Of course, this last demand is ridiculous on the face of it. Making Apple pay for infrastructure work nationwide, or making the banks absorb all the mortgages losses (after following Freddie and Fannie’s guidelines) will never fly. Aside from being illegal, morally wrong, and unethical, why is our President supporting this?

To understand the dynamics, we need to look at who sided up with the “Occupy” movements in September and early October.

  • AFL CIO – 12.2 million members
  • SEIU Service Employees International Union – 2.1 Million Members
  • CWA Communications Workers of America – 700,000 members
  • UAW – 390,000 members
  • Transport Workers Union – 40,000 members
  • and on and on and on

It’s All A Union Money Grab

You got it. As union support grew as a method of pressuring the administration on jobs spending, Obama softened his stance. But don’t be fooled by the words, it’s all about the money and all about taking your money.

There is no way that corporations and banks will be made to pay for mortgages and infrastructure redevelopment. It just won’t happen. So why promote instability and social outcry with no way of funding what they want?

It’s Your Money They Are After

The only way to fund the trillions of dollars in infrastructure and mortgage relief is for the federal government to finance it. The “Occupy” movement is a smokescreen for another enormous federal stimulus program, promoted as a “jobs and mortgage relief effort,” with borrowed taxpayer money.

The Obama administration sees the “Occupy” instability and unrest as a way of “pressuring” congressional leaders to support another vaguely disguised stimulus program.

Just In Time For The Election

Of course, such a massive stimulus would temporarily stimulate the economy just in time for the 2012 election. The fact that it adds to our crushing national debt, causes inflation, and vanishes in a year is not considered.

The re-election of President Obama would then represent the largest public transfer of wealth from the American people through our workers and into the pockets of worker’s unions.

A Dangerous Game

The one thing that the administration needs to recognize is that instability, social outcry, and turmoil are difficult things to control and direct once they gain momentum.

Just ask the British.

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Goldman Sachs Rules The World | Economic Crisis Like A Cancer

09/27/2011 By

goldman sachs rules the worldLondon-based independent trader named Alessio Rastani told the BBC on Monday that we need to get ready for a crash in a very frank interview that went viral.

His most startling statement came when he was asked about the latest government efforts to strengthen the Eurozone

“Governments don’t rule the world, Goldman Sachs rules the world.”

His timeframe for a crash?

“In less than 12 months we’ll see a crash.”

His prediction?

“The savings of millions of people will vanish.”

See the interview below:

Rastani’s advice for all of us?

  • Get prepared and act now
  • Protect your assets, don’t fall into wishful thinking
  • Learn how to make money in a falling market
  • The biggest risk people can take right now is not acting

 

 

Filed Under: Business Tagged With: , , ,

Obama Dines With Sheryl Sandberg At $35,800 A Plate | Let Them Eat Spam

09/26/2011 By

Obama Let them eat spamIn a world where Politicians continue to lose touch with reality, President Obama attended a fundraising dinner yesterday at the home of Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg where donors got to dine with the President for $35,800 a plate. Oh yeah, they also got to see Lady Gaga.

I would bet this is not your typical Sunday evening event for most Americans. In fact, I don’t think the unemployed factory worker in Ohio, the unemployed teacher from Florida. or the unemployed computer programmer in California gets invited to attend these type of dinners.

I also don’t believe the dinner conversation had anything to do with helping any of them. They probably didn’t dwell on the fact that the unemployment rate is presently at 9.1% in Ohio, 10.7% in Florida, and 12.1% in California. Too depressing for an upbeat fundraiser.

This whole Sandberg affair reminds me of the famous quotation attributed to Queen Marie Antoinette upon learning that the peasants didn’t have enough to eat. “Let them eat cake,” she replied. The irony of that quote was that she really said “let them eat brioche” not knowing that peasants ate less expensive, plain bread.

At $35,800 a plate, I doubt if President Obama or his friends know what we have to eat everyday.

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: , , , ,

Obamacare Appears Headed For Supreme Court

09/26/2011 By

supreme courtIt looks like it will come down to the Supremes as Obamacare appears headed for the Supreme Court.

The Obama administration chose not to ask the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to re-hear a pivotal health reform case Monday, signaling that it’s going to ask the Supreme Court to decide whether President Barack Obama’s health reform law is constitutional.

The Justice Department is expected to ask the court to overturn an August decision by a panel of three judges in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals that found the law’s requirement to buy insurance is unconstitutional. The suit was brought by 26 states, the National Federation of Independent Business, and several individuals.

It will be interesting to see if the Supreme Court picks up the case (most likely it will). This means the Court would likely hear the case in its 2011-2012 session, or right in the middle of the next Presidential campaign.
This poses significant risk to both parties, but should provide us with lots of soulful entertainment.
Filed Under: Health Tagged With: , ,

Einstein Rules – Don’t Bet On The Neutrino

09/26/2011 By

albert einsteinYou may have heard the news that the latest experiments at the largest particle accelerator in the world, based at CERN, outside Geneva have indicated that Einstein’s General Theory Of Relativity may be wrong.

Scientists at CERN fired a beam of neutrinos from Switzerland to Italy, a distance of 454 miles. Much to their surprise, after studying 15,000 neutrinos, they found that they traveled faster than the speed of light (over 60 nanoseconds faster!), something not allowed by Einstein’s theory.

So what does it mean? If proven correct, this means that Einstein’s theory is wrong and physicists have to go back to the drawing board and modify it to account for the neutrino’s speed. Today, modern physics is based on two theories, relativity and the quantum theory, so half of modern physics would have to be replaced by a new theory.

Its important to point out, however, that challenges to Einstein’s theory occur every few years and have always been proven wrong. The truth is that people measuring unfathomably small particles traveling over 450 miles, and arriving 60 billionths of a second faster than they should, tend to make errors.

Albert Einstein’s work is incomplete (he wanted one theory that explained everything) but I doubt it is incorrect. In the case of the latest CERN discovery, I’d say Einstein rules, don’t bet on the neutrino.

 

 

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: , ,

Is Rick Perry Dead Or Just A Little Left?

09/23/2011 By

Rick Perry LosesWell, we knew there was something that bothered us about Rick Perry. Maybe he was a little too slick, maybe his chest jutted out a bit too much, or maybe he brought back memories of the worse days of George W.

Yesterday’s debate seems to have solidified something in the minds of voters: Perry leans left. We know he switched parties, but his ideas may be mired in between.

Perry has supported providing discounted in-state tuition at Texas public colleges and universities to children of illegal immigrants. And although we are aware of the human side of issue, we got very disturbed as Perry tried to cement his position by saying, “If you say that we should not educate children who have come into our state for no other reason than they’ve been brought there by no fault of their own, I don’t think you have a heart.”

Excuse me?

How about the thousands of LEGAL school children in Texas and around the country who can’t afford a decent education? Has Rick looked at the recent rise in state funded school tuitions? Does he have any clue as to what is happening to our public universities?

The University of California, Berkeley now has over 30% of its school population coming from outside the US and California Governor Jerry Brown has just signed a similar bill to Perry’s, providing for discounted in-state tuition to children of illegal immigrants. Not only that, of course all of the illegal immigrants children are all eligible for need based scholarships and grants.

Everyone in America has gotten the austerity message except these two left leaning politicians. With funds drying up and programs getting canceled, higher education in America is becoming a dream for the average family. This is the same average who pays for those universities through taxes.

Two year colleges in California are limiting enrollment due to finances and the Board of Regents has floated the idea of doubling tuition over the next few years as a way of paying for the universities.

A better idea

The Chief Executive of the University of California made $783,103 last year and was only 29th on the list of highest paid university executives.

Rick Perry’s U of Texas chief made $750,000 and the U of Texas, Austin chief made $746,738 last year.

Both of these pale in comparison to the top man at Ohio State University who pulled in a whopping $1,323,911 last year.

Of course these numbers are not the whole story as these execs have bonuses, deferred compensation, retirement contributions, car allowances, and even residences.

The full list of university’s President and Provost data can be seen here.

Is Rick Perry dead?

Well, he may not be dead, but he is politically wounded. Maybe he, and the other Presidential candidates, should focus on cutting costs at public institutions as a way of making a university education affordable for every American. That is something the public can rally around.

Take the top 30% of public university wage earners and cut their earnings (salary plus benefits) in half and see what it does for tuition costs and student enrollment.

 

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: , , ,

Do You Know Who Your Friends Are?

09/23/2011 By

Pakistan support for terroristsWell, evidently Pakistan does not.

Rumors of Pakistani involvement in terrorist activities have always been widespread, but this week’s activity really brings it to the forefront.

Do not use the lack of American deaths as a measure of seriousness, 16 people died that day  and two days before the attack on the U.S. Embassy, a large truck bomb went off at an American combat outpost, wounding 77 U.S. soldiers. That truck bomb originated in Pakistan.

The insurgents who attacked the U.S. Embassy in Kabul last week were killed but their cell phones left a trail.

The phones had been used to call Pakistani intelligence operatives before and during the assault. This evidence lies behind the charge made by Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that the Haqqani network is a “veritable arm” of Pakistani intelligence, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports.

The attack on the U.S. Embassy and NATO’s Afghan headquarters resulted in a 22-hour firefight – with American troops pinned down on roof tops.

What makes this even more remarkable is the defense (read offense) that Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar used today.

“We are part of the solution,” Khar told CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley. “We are not part of the problem. And if you continue to drive us in the other direction, unfortunately you will not only alienate the government of Pakistan, which is reaching out to you, which has been a worthy ally. I’m more concerned you will [alienate] the 180 million Pakistanis that your government always talks about reaching out to.”

Read more here

Someone ought to explain to Ms. Khar what kind of place Pakistan will be without American support.

At a cost to the American taxpayer of over $2 billion per year in aid to Pakistan, are these really the kind of “friends” we need?

 

 

Filed Under: World News Tagged With: , , ,

Has Facebook Peaked? The Timeline Disaster

09/23/2011 By

mark zuckerberg facebookFacebook introduced Timeline this week because they felt their website wasn’t quite overwhelming enough and that adding more complexity and confusion was in order.

This change represents the difference between having Mark Zuckerberg run a company instead of Steve Jobs. Because you can, doesn’t always mean you do.

Social network giant Facebook has unveiled new changes recently, including your “Timeline,” what CEO Mark Zuckerberg called “the story of your life,” otherwise known as “the return of old photos you thought you had erased of people holding your hair while you puke, which will render you un-hirable for the rest of your life.”

Your new, improved profile will include all your stories and all you apps in a beautifully designed new page. It’s really a sight to behold, especially the part where people are laughing at you on that puking photo.

Needless to say, there are many privacy and logistical questions that people want answered. Seriously, Facebook, how dare you change a free service nobody is forced to use?

Read more here

I think we’re all familiar with Zuckerberg’s vision of Facebook everywhere and everything, but this latest Timeline change makes us a bit nauseous.

What ever happened to the quaint little service that lets me chat with friends and share photos, videos, and more. When did it turn into an FBI investigation.

For those of us concerned with privacy, we see the combination of Facebook and Google as the technological beginnings of a police state.

Did I mentioned I watched the premiere of “Person of Interest” last night?

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With:
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