Archive for October, 2013
Outsourcing Chicken Processing to China
October 21st, 2013[???] Via: Bloomberg: Food-safety advocates are raising alarms over a decision by the Obama administration to permit chicken processed in China to be sold in the U.S. even after several high-profile incidents of food contamination. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, in addressing a decade-long trade dispute over farm imports, said it will allow poultry slaughtered […]
China: Smog Emergency Shuts City of 11 Million People
October 20th, 2013Via: Reuters: Choking smog all but shut down one of northeastern China’s largest cities on Monday, forcing schools to suspended classes, snarling traffic and closing the airport, in the country’s first major air pollution crisis of the winter. An index measuring PM2.5, or particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5), reached a reading […]
Japan: Celibacy Syndrome
October 20th, 2013Via: Guardian: 45% of Japanese women aged 16-24 are ‘not interested in or despise sexual contact’. More than a quarter of men feel the same way. … Japan’s under-40s appear to be losing interest in conventional relationships. Millions aren’t even dating, and increasing numbers can’t be bothered with sex. For their government, “celibacy syndrome” is […]
Robot Baristas
October 20th, 2013Via: Quartz: In a common area at the University of Texas at Austin, the Briggo coffee kiosk, covered in fake wood paneling and a touch screen and not much else, takes up about as much space as a pair of phone booths. Its external appearance was designed by award-winning industrial designer Yves Behar, with the […]
Level 3 Outage Disrupts East Coast Internet Traffic
October 19th, 2013Via: Wall Street Journal: Internet users from Brooklyn to Philadelphia suffered slow to nonexistent service Saturday after equipment at a New York-area network hub broke down, disrupting service for several hours. A spokesman for the Internet service provider Level 3 Communications Inc. said technicians were working quickly to fix the outage, which cascaded down to […]
JPMorgan Agrees to Tentative $13 Billion Settlement with U.S. Over Bad Mortgages
October 19th, 2013Woh. It they are agreeing to a $13 billion settlement, one has to wonder about the true magnitude of the damage caused by JPM’s behavior. These settlements typically represent pennies-on-the-dollar wrist slaps which seem to encourage companies to attempt even greater frauds. Via: Washington Post: JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s largest bank, has reached a tentative […]
Mexico Bans GE Corn
October 19th, 2013Via: Care2: Just when you think there’s no winning against the biotech industry, news out of Mexico City shows that all is not lost. After years of deliberation, a Mexico judge has placed an indefinite ban on genetically-engineered corn. Effective immediately, companies like Monsanto and DuPont/Pioneer will no longer be allowed to plant or sell […]
Recovery: “4 in 5 in USA Face Near-Poverty, No Work”
October 19th, 2013Via: AP: Four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream. Survey data exclusive to The Associated Press points to an increasingly globalized U.S. economy, the widening gap between rich and poor, […]
The Navy’s Newest Warship Is Powered by Linux
October 18th, 2013Via: Ars Technica: The USS Zumwalt will be a floating data center—armed with missiles and robot guns. When the USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) puts to sea later this year, it will be different from any other ship in the Navy’s fleet in many ways. The $3.5 billon ship is designed for stealth, survivability, and firepower, […]
A Penny Saved: Psychological Pricing
October 18th, 2013The is very old, but I’m surprised by how few people actually know about it. Via: Gumroad: Across the board, prices ending in .99 have higher conversion rates than prices ending in one cent higher, and in one case, the conversion rate is twice as high.
