May 22, 2013 | General, News
Over the past couple of weeks, the IRS has been in hot water over unfairly targeting certain groups. In the past couple of days, the attention shifted to Apple. Apple is accused by the US government of owing a $74 billion dollar tax evasion bill.
The focus is now on Ireland. ?A U.S Senate investigation of Apple exposed Ireland’s many loopholes and blamed the European nation for being the?iPod,?iPad and?iPhone maker’s?tax haven. According to some reports, some companies registered in Ireland have no employees other than executives. Senator Carl Levin (D-Michigan), went so far as to say, “Apple wasn’t satisfied with shifting its profits to a low-tax offshore tax haven… It has created offshore entities holding tens of billions of dollars while claiming to be tax resident nowhere.” Ireland is expected to be grilled by their European neighbors about their tax laws as well.
Keep in mind Ireland, more so than in most European countries, is dependent on foreign companies like Apple, Google and Intel. Apple denies any wrong doing. In fact, they turned the tables, claiming the gov’t needs to do better getting with the changing technology and economy. In their defense, Apple testifies over half their revenue comes internationally, these funds are needed to build internationally.?They accused the US of charging so much in taxes, leaving them no choice but to go overseas.
I think there’s more at play here.?Keep in mind our deficit is $17 trillion dollars. Would the US come down on Apple so hard if we had a $17 trillion dollar surplus??Apple?has had a mixed couple of years. But now their stocks are coming back, now they’re dealt this blow? In the 1990s-early 2000s, Ireland?was the gem of Europe. Now, their economy is so bad even their cherished pubs are closing down. Now their…ahem…?’tax loopholes’ are coming under fire. What do you think is driving this Apple/Ireland scenario?
May 21, 2013 | Entertainment, News
Since 2005, Xbox has been the leader in gaming and has caused gaming revolution after revolution. Remember how amazed you were Xbox 360 came out? Prepared to be amazed again, several times over!
Earlier today, in Redmond, Washington, Microsoft played show-and-tell to the gaming world with it’s latest creation, Xbox One. It will be out later this year. They didn’t give a date, but?my bet is October or November, just in time for the holiday shopping season (what a coincidence!). And they had something to show!
In one console, you can control your games, movies, music, sports, even Skype. You can do this through your voice. While the outside looked sleek, and the controller looked the same, I was more impressed with what could be delivered. My favorite part of the demo was when he changed the channel using his voice; there will be no more struggling to find a remote. Then there were the new games. What jumped at me were the four?EA games: FIFA 14, Madden NFL 25, NBA Live 14 and Sports UFC. They’re using players every move and their human intelligence to create these masterpieces. We don’t know when these games will be out. But I’m just guessing Santa and company will have lots of overtime this year, if you know what I mean.
There are aspects that concern me. The smart match is supposed to eliminate lobby time, but I’m not so sure, especially if you have different people coming in the lobby. And while I do like DVR and other aspects you can use for bragging rights and improvements, I’m not sold on Smart Glass. I’ll see it when these devices do connect for my amusement.
So, for Microsoft and Xbox’s?sake, I hope?they can deliver on their promises. I’ve been disappointed by Xbox?before. And there are some aspects I’m not sold on. There have been times when the advertisements have been good,?but the product was another story. And what about pricing? I?do hope they can make?Xbox one affordable and the plans that come with it. So when the release date?comes, will you be in the long overnight lines, pushing people down, and fighting for the last Xbox One?
May 20, 2013 | networking, News
Well, what I reported on Saturday has happened. It’s so big even mainstream media has covered it. Yahoo has purchased Tumblr for 1.1 billion dollars.
Yahoo has already integrated their blog into the Tumblr blog. Tumblr CEO David Carp is obviously excited, but due to the F-bombs in his statement, I won’t detail how excited. Because of this deal, Yahoo is expected to grow 20 percent in traffic and Yahoo’s audience is expected to grow by 50%. Tumblr is one of the fastest growing social media sites today, and that’s especially true on a mobile scale. More than half of Tumblr’s users get their fix on a device, not a PC or Mac. Plus, remember what a young audience this social media has.
On the surface, this looks like a great transition. Yahoo wants to reach a young audience. Tumblr wants to reach a big audience. They agreed to help each other sale ads, which I’m sure will do well. Needless to say, both sides are excited. But all of this is best case scenario. What’s the worst? You know censorship issues are going to come to play; look at Carp’s response to this deal. How are Meyer and Carp going to get along? If this deal fails in the long term, hundreds of employees and millions of users will be affected. So do you think this is a good merger?
May 18, 2013 | networking, News
Yahoo might do it again. In a year that has seen great growth and comeback for them, there is a plan for Yahoo to purchase Tumblr. Tomorrow, there’s a meeting to debate buying Tumblr for over a billion dollars in cash.
This hip youth-oriented blog site has been under Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer’s eye for weeks. At first, the talk started with just investing. Now, it’s turning into outright takeover. This is an attempt for Yahoo to reach the youth audience. As of April 2013, Tumblr has over 107 million blogs, more than 50 million blog posts, and about 37 million members. Tumblr claims it made $13 million dollars in revenue last year. So yes, I can see why Yahoo is salivating. But this is by far the biggest purchase Yahoo has ever attempted. What is the deal goes downhill? What if they buy Tumblr than it fails? They’re out of a billion dollars and have nothing to show for it.
This is one of the reasons I’m against this purchase. Yes, I’ve been singing the praises of Yahoo lately, but not this time. Tumblr is doing fairly well by itself. Obviously, so is Yahoo. Why do this? Call me a sucker for small business, but I don’t like it when companies merge like this, unless it’s an absolute necessity. I see no necessity here. In America, there’s free market enterprise. When you have large companies swallowing up successful smaller ones, that kills the free in free market. Then there is the censorship issue. If Yahoo buys Tumblr, whose to stop them from restricting?what bloggers say? The freedom of self-expression is what makes Tumblr successful. ??Is this potential buyout a good thing or the worst mistake Yahoo has ever made?
May 16, 2013 | internet, networking, News
Here are some historic company rivalries for you: Coke vs. Pepsi, McDonalds vs. Burger King, All State vs. State Farm, Exxon Mobile vs. BP. Can we add Google vs. Microsoft to this list?
This isn’t the first time Google and Microsoft have butted heads, and it probably won’t be the last. One time, Google sued the US gov’t for not recognizing it’s bid for a cloud email system. Google probably wouldn’t have sued if a contract hadn’t had gone to Microsoft first. Now they found something else to fight about. Google is now asking…no…make that demanding Microsoft take You Tube off their Windows phone app list.
This time the root is advertising. Google claims the You Tube app’s lack of ads is in violation of the You Tube API. They also claim Microsoft created the app without Google’s consent or knowledge, and did so to deliberately cut into their profits. The lack of ads also hurts the advertisers. This is going to cut off a great source, thus increase competition and prices elsewhere, causing harm to the system itself. Google CEO Larry Page hardly?held back about his feelings for Microsoft : “…we struggle with people like Microsoft.”
Will this rivalry ever end? I doubt it. There’s been some collaboration, like Google’s talk support and Microsoft’s webmail service coming together.?Hey, sometimes we have to work with people we don’t?like. But I have a?feeling this dispute is?going to trump this attempt. So I close by asking, can they both get along?
May 7, 2013 | News, Security
China is the world’s fastest growing world powerhouse. Some say it will even surpass the US one day. In 2013, China is expected to have 600 million citizens online. So they’re already a force to be reckoned with. Let’s see how that’s going.
Their largest Internet firm Alibaba is going public. This move would easily make Alibaba the most prosperous and powerful online company in the world, if it isn’t already. Tencent, a Hong Kong based online company, is worth almost as much as Facebook, and has vowed not the make the same mistakes Facebook has. Mobile Internet use is growing too, thanks to cheap smartphones. I saw one chart saying by Christmas 2015, China’s e-commerce sales will be 50% greater than US e-commerce sales.Then there’s the Chinese government and military. There are accusations of targeting the Pentagon in a cyber espionage plot.
Why do I even talk about China? Whether we like it or not, what China does will impact us. Many of our daily goods are made there. Back in 2008, when their markets crashed, so did ours. If something happens and they have to stop their goods and services, ours are going to stop. And now they’re studying our military, to put it diplomatically. Our relationship is that intertwined.?So when Alibaba and Tencent are doing this well, we’re going to feel it. Will the feeling be positive or negative?
