“Xatori, a Silicon Valley software start-up, aims to create a network of electric car enthusiasts who make their household power outlets and home chargers available for drivers who need to top off their battery or who find themselves out of range of the few public-charging stations currently available.”
Would you ever pay for a total stranger’s gas? What about letting them charge their phone in your garage?
Are electric car owners just more generous?
“Oil markets have been spooked by fighting that has tended to play out near oil facilities such as the Ras Lanuf oil terminal, in eastern Libya. The complex is currently in the hands of rebels, although Libyan warplanes have launched air strikes near rebel positions on the outskirts of the town, according to witnesses.
The fact that many of Libya’s key oil installations are in the hands of rebels creates a headache for oil companies already hit by the U.S. trade sanctions adopted last month against Libya. The violence is deterring tankers from loading cargoes in Libyan ports, and even when they succeed, it is unclear who they should be paying for the crude—the opposition forces or the Gadhafi regime.”
Is the fall of a violent dictator in the Middle East worth more expensive gas prices in the U.S.?
“(Reuters) – BP Plc (BP.L)(BP.N), whose Macondo well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico caused the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history last year, co-owns the well that received the first deepwater drilling permit since the disaster.
BP is Noble Energy Inc’s (NBL.N) partner in the well, holding a 46.5 percent interest, BP said.”
If BP owns less than 50% of Noble Energy, how much influence do BP executives have over Noble’s business activities? Would an ownership percentage like this affect your decision to invest in a company like Noble?
“In a recent e-mail to employees, company founder and CEO Jason Calacanis and Mahalo President Jason Rapp said the start-up trimmed a tenth of its workforce due to a reduction in traffic caused by Google’s change to its search algorithm, according to the blog CenterNetworks.
The Google changes were meant to push down low-quality sites in search results, but some unexpected websites such as Mahalo lost their ranking as well, the report said. With less traffic visiting Mahalo, revenue took a hit, the e-mail said, according to CenterNetworks.”
How can online businesses protect themselves against rapid changes in the technology industry? Does this news make you think twice about investing in web-based companies?
The United States Budget Proposal for 2012
Click on the image to see the whole thing.
What would YOUR budget look like if it were stuck into a sweet infographic?
The United States Budget Proposal for 2010
Click on the image to see the whole thing.
What would YOUR budget look like if it were stuck into a sweet infographic?
If you ask some politicians, they are. And they’re mucking up the whole political system, dag-nabbit. According to a Washington Post article, some lawmakers have had it up to here with whipper-snappers voting with their feelings.
Average taxpayers in college towns, [Sorg] said, are having their votes “diluted or entirely canceled by those of a huge, largely monolithic demographic group . . . composed of people with a dearth of experience and a plethora of the easy self-confidence that only ignorance and inexperience can produce.”
Their “youthful idealism,” he added, “is focused on remaking the world, with themselves in charge, of course, rather than with the mundane humdrum of local government.”
– New Hampshire State Rep. Gregory Sorg
The solution? Proposals differ from state to state, but basically every voter would be required to show ID or proof of residence in order to vote. That would mean anyone without an appropriate ID would have to get one.
But identification costs money! That’s unconstitutional! It’s akin to the poll tax used to disenfranchise African-American voters in the 19th century!
What does this have to do with me and my money, you say? Well, since state governments can’t legally force people to buy the right (or the ID) to vote, taxpayers would have to absorb the costs.
And according to one estimate, the state of Wisconsin alone would have to pony up $2.7 million just to provide valid identification cards to voters who do not currently have them.
What do you think? Do you want to pay for that? Or are you too foolish to know?
If you ask some politicians, they are. And they’re mucking up the whole political system, dag-nabbit. According to a Washington Post article, some Republican lawmakers have had it up to here with whipper-snappers voting with their feelings.
Average taxpayers in college towns, [Sorg] said, are having their votes “diluted or entirely canceled by those of a huge, largely monolithic demographic group . . . composed of people with a dearth of experience and a plethora of the easy self-confidence that only ignorance and inexperience can produce.”
Their “youthful idealism,” he added, “is focused on remaking the world, with themselves in charge, of course, rather than with the mundane humdrum of local government.”
– New Hampshire State Rep. Gregory Sorg
The solution? Proposals differ from state to state, but basically every voter would be required to show ID or proof of residence in order to vote. That would mean anyone without an appropriate ID would have to get one.
But identification costs money! That’s unconstitutional! It’s akin to the poll tax used to disenfranchise African-American voters in the 19th century!
What does this have to do with me and my money, you say? Well, since state governments can’t legally force people to buy the right (or the ID) to vote, taxpayers would have to absorb the costs.
And according to one estimate, the state of Wisconsin alone would have to pony up $2.7 million just to provide valid identification cards to voters who do not currently have them.
What do you think? Do you want to pay for that? Or are you too foolish to know?
Alexandra Wilkis Wilson took her 5th Avenue fashion sense to the world wide web, and the result – members-only designer discount site Gilt Groupe – is changing the way luxury retail is done. She sat down with TILE to talk about the online sample sale phenomenon, and to share some advice about buying designer.
(photo credit: paulhami)
Sometimes it’s true: the best way to deal with a bully is to ignore him. But everyone’s got to have a back-up plan, and it looks like the U.S. is getting fed up with the Somali pirate industry.
“Of course, I do not know what the U.S. will do in response to this latest atrocity. But Jefferson advocated an armed response and eventually war against Tripoli for far less provocation.” – Frank Lambert, professor at Purdue and an expert on the Barbary pirates
What company could come up with a profitable pirate-control product?
Check out the damage done as of the end of February 2011 in this New York Times infographic. The red numbers show number of vessels currently occupied by Somali pirates, and the white numbers show the number of civilians held hostage on each.
(credit: Bill Marsh and Scott Garapolo/The New York Times)