Saturday, November 30, 2013

Salesforce case can deliver $100-250 million per year to $dss (about $2-4PPS for few years) $crm $fb $aapl $lnkd

Salesforce case can deliver $100-250 million per year to $dss (about $2-4PPS for few years) $crm $fb $aapl $lnkd

Most of us are experts at solving other people’s problems, but we generally solve them in terms of our own and the advice we give is seldom for other people but for ourselves. - Nan Fairbrother, The House in the Country

Most of us are experts at solving other people’s problems, but we generally solve them in terms of our own and the advice we give is seldom for other people but for ourselves.
- Nan Fairbrother, The House in the Country

Frugal Seattle man leaves $188M secret fortune

Frugal Seattle man leaves $188M secret fortune

The hospital's research center will receive the largest portion of a $188 million charitable trust left by Jack MacDonald, who died at the age of 98 after decades of secret philanthropy, reports the Seattle Times.
Only a select few family and friends knew that the bargain-hunting man who lived simply in a retirement home had spent more than 60 years using his incredible skill for picking stocks to turn the nest egg his parents left him into a huge legacy for charity.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Dss an operating entity $dss $aapl

Dss an operating entity $dss $aapl

CNBC Core Viewership Drops To Fresh Two Decade Low In November, Lowest Since 1993

CNBC Core Viewership Drops To Fresh Two Decade Low In November, Lowest Since 1993

Bitcoin’s skyrocketing value ushers in era of $1 million hacker heists

Bitcoin’s skyrocketing value ushers in era of $1 million hacker heists

RISK ASSESSMENT SECURITY & HACKTIVISM

Bitcoin’s skyrocketing value ushers in era of $1 million hacker heists

At least three Bitcoin exchanges report high-stakes robberies this month.

A company billing itself as one of Europe's biggest Bitcoin exchanges said it suffered a coordinated attack that succeeded in stealing almost $1 million worth of the digital currency, marking the latest in a string of high-stakes heists hitting companies that hold large sums online.
Kris Henriksen, CEO of Denmark-based Bitcoin Internet Payment Services (BIPS), made that claim last week in a Web post that said the attack began as a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. Two days later, Henriksen said, the same attackers targeted the BIPS network again and managed to use the damage they previously inflicted to somehow tamper with the channel that connects BIPS data storage systems to company servers.
"On November 15, BIPS was the target of a massive DDoS attack, which is now believed to have been the initial preparation for a subsequent attack on November 17 that overloaded our managed switches and disconnected the iSCSI connection to the SAN on BIPS servers," the CEO wrote. "Regrettably, despite several layers of protection, the attack caused vulnerability to the system, which has then enabled the attacker/s to gain access and compromise several wallets."
The missing funds totaled 1,295 BTC, or about $1 million, according to a post on Coindesk, which cited this block in the official Bitcoin ledger. BIPS quickly closed its Bitcoin wallet service for consumers after discovering the theft. It advised existing users to transfer their bitcoins to competing wallet services and pledged to notify all users affected by the security breach.
The BIPS attack is at least the third major heist to hit Bitcoin services this month. In early November, the founder of Australia-based inputs.io said the service was robbed of 4,100 bitcoins—valued at about $1.2 million—in two separate attacks. China-based Bitcoin exchange GBL reportedly vanished with $4.1 million worth of customers' digital currency. Another Chinese exchange, BTC China, has also sustained massive DDoS attacks that are costing it dearly, according to an article published Tuesday by Wired.
Bitcoin heists that use malware, social engineering, or hacks to steal huge numbers of bitcoins are by no means new. But given the recent surge in the value of the digital currency, the proceeds of such attacks have mushroomed. Large-scale attacks that previously generated revenue measured in thetens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars are now worth millions.

Apple sued by DSS: PCWorld (Mainstream media coverage)

Apple sued by DSS: PCWorld (Mainstream media coverage)

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Dear "5.4 Star" Tesla, Tone Down Hyperbolic Hype, Love NHTSA

Dear "5.4 Star" Tesla, Tone Down Hyperbolic Hype, Love NHTSA

Encapsulating all that is wrong with the raise-your-stock-price-by-hyperbole-alone strategy of most new 'tech' firms, Tesla's recent claim of a "5.4 Stars - out of 5" safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) perhaps takes the biscuit. But as Jalopnik reports, the NHTSA is not standing for the lies anymore and has issues a statement explaining to car-makers that NHTSA does not award higher than a 5-star rating - advertisers should avoid "double" 5-star rating, numbers greater than 5, and using the terms "perfect," "safest," "flawless" or "best in class" are misleading. What will Elon Musk do now?

Africa startups thrive despite challenges

Africa startups thrive despite challenges

Insight: African tech startups aim to power growing economies

Insight: African tech startups aim to power growing economies

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Tesla is constantly misleading public on ratings of cars: NHTSA

Tesla is constantly misleading public on ratings of cars: NHTSA

Over the summer, Tesla tried to create a new safety ratings system for its Model S sedan. In case you missed it, the automaker issued a press release that said:
NHTSA does not publish a star rating above 5, however safety levels better than 5 stars are captured in the overall Vehicle Safety Score (VSS) provided to manufacturers, where the Model S achieved a new combined record of 5.4 stars.
Now in fairness, the Model S did perform very well -- in fact, it broke some of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's equipment during the testing process.

But NHTSA wasn't down with Tesla's creative math -- not by a long shot. In fact, it did everything but send CEO Elon Musk a cease-and-desist letter taped to a horse's head. In a statement, the agency said that it has plenty of guidelines for advertisers who want to tout their safety scores, and for Tesla to create a completely fictitious "5.4" rating was a direct violation of those rules.
And now, to drive that point home, NHTSA has published a new, stricter set of rules aimed at whippersnappers like Tesla. In a press release, the agency says:
The updated guidelines now explicitly state that ratings are always whole numbers and that NHTSA does not award a rating higher than 5 stars. Manufacturers or advertising agencies, therefore, should not advertise ratings with decimal points or ratings over 5 stars, and advertisers who claim more than 5 stars are misleading the public. The guidelines also clarify that advanced technologies are not part of the star ratings. Advertisements that do not conform to these guidelines may result in "Buyer Alert" warnings, removal from the ratings program or referral to other federal or state authorities for appropriate action.
Which can be paraphrased thusly (read it in your best schoolmarm voice): "Apparently, some of you can't be trusted with a calculator (gives Elon Musk the side-eye), so we're clarifying our penalties for bad math. The next time someone feels the urge to get inventive with mathematics, we'll send the entire class to detention for a month." 

Norway Wealth Fund Joins Axa Unit to Purchase Munich’s SZ Tower

Norway Wealth Fund Joins Axa Unit to Purchase Munich’s SZ Tower

Meet Cara Goldenberg: The Canny Young Hedge Funder Who Dazzled Warren Buffett With One Christmas Note

Meet Cara Goldenberg: The Canny Young Hedge Funder Who Dazzled Warren Buffett With One Christmas Note 

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

African Dawn Capital in talks to acquire Knife Capital

African Dawn Capital in talks to acquire Knife Capital

Funniest TV Game Show Moments Video

Funniest TV Game Show Moments


If Bitcoin Is So Secure, Why Have There Been Dozens of Bitcoin Bank Robberies And Millions In Losses?

If Bitcoin Is So Secure, Why Have There Been Dozens of Bitcoin Bank Robberies And Millions In Losses? 

Are There Cockroaches Under Tesla’s Hood?

Are There Cockroaches Under Tesla’s Hood?

Tesla Motors Inc. shareholders have had much to fret about lately, from a nosebleed valuation and sagging stock price to periodic YouTube videos of exploding Tesla electric cars. Here’s another one for the list: Sometimes Tesla acts like it doesn’t know what it’s doing when it comes to financial reporting.
Consider Tesla’s news release last week disclosing its third-quarter financial results. The headline said Tesla had “Net income (non-GAAP) of $16 million.” Tesla spent parts of the first three pages discussing this and other nonstandard metrics that don’t comply with generally accepted accounting principles.
It wasn’t until the bottom of the third page that Tesla began citing its GAAP quarterly results. Tesla waited until page four to mention that it had a third-quarter net loss of $38 million under GAAP. It didn’t show a table reconciling its GAAP and non-GAAP numbers until several pages later.
That practice of accentuating the positive and downplaying the negative seems to fly in the face of Securities and Exchange Commission rules that say companies must give “equal or greater prominence” to GAAP numbers when they present their financial results. The SEC passed those rules a decade ago in response to widespread abuses of non-GAAP measurements. The regulations apply to companies’ regular SEC filings, as well as earnings releases that companies furnish to the SEC as exhibits.
“We comply fully with all legal obligations regarding each earnings release and 10Q,” Tesla spokeswoman Elizabeth Jarvis-Shean said in an e-mail. When I asked her to explain how the presentation in last week’s release complied with the SEC’s rules, she declined.

Revenue Boost

To make sure I wasn’t missing something, I asked Dan Mahoney, who heads the accounting-research firm CFRA in New York, to review Tesla’s release. He reached the same conclusion I did. “Page three is less prominent than page one,” as he put it. “The number-one thing is that the headlines have the non-GAAP numbers and not the GAAP numbers.”
Most companies that play the non-GAAP game goose their numbers by excluding expenses. Tesla does this, too. It backs out stock-based compensation, for example. But the biggest kick to its non-GAAP earnings comes from an increase in top-line revenue.
The company reported third-quarter non-GAAP revenue of $602.6 million, which was about 40 percent more than its GAAP revenue. It achieved such a boost by transforming $171.2 million of liabilities into sales.

Africa Temasek

Africa Temasek

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Retrial to decide Samsung's damages for Apple

Retrial to decide Samsung's damages for Apple

Apple is set for a replay of a court fight against Samsung Electronics in which the iPhone maker may seek to recoup more than the $411 million in damages a judge cut from a $1.05 billion jury award in 2012 over patents.
Jury selection was under way Tuesday in San Jose, in a retrial over how much Samsung should pay for infringement of Apple's intellectual property. The original verdict in August 2012, which was the year's largest in the U.S. at the time, was found by a judge to be flawed because jurors miscalculated the period that the infringement occurred for some of the 28 Samsung devices on trial.
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh will instruct jurors at the outset of the retrial that the previous nine-member jury found Samsung infringed five valid Apple patents and that their "sole job" is to determine the amount of damages Samsung must pay for the infringement of 13 Samsung products.
While Apple hasn't said how much it will seek, this jury's revision of the damages to properly account for the infringement may result in more than the $410.6 million subtracted from the previous award, according to Carl Howe, an analyst with Yankee Group.
"The argument at this point is simply about how much Samsung must pay Apple," Howe said. "In my view, there is no chance that the penalties assessed will be small; the argument is just over whether they will be big or huge."

As investors pile in, CEOs bail out

As investors pile in, CEOs bail out

George Clooney: Tesla Did Not Work Well

George Clooney: Tesla Did Not Work Well

Boardrooms Rethink Tactics to Defang Activist Investors

Boardrooms Rethink Tactics to Defang Activist Investors

Monday, November 11, 2013

Bridge For Sale: WSJ - Listening To Journalists On Market

Bridge For Sale: WSJ - Listening To Journalists On Market

MARKET SENTIMENT
The front page of Monday’s WSJ was dominated by articles claiming the market is poised for a correction.  If anyone thinks journalists can call market tops, I have a bridge for you.
Sir John Templeton is famously quoted for saying ”Bull-markets are born on pessimism, grow on skepticism, mature on optimism and die on euphoria.”  It feels like this market is somewhere between skepticism and optimism.  No one believed the market could rally this year, but that is exactly what it did.  There was Obama’s reelection, Default part I, Sequester, Europe/Cyprus, Obamacare, Sell in May, Syria, Taper, Rising Interest Rates, Sept/Oct market crashes, Shutdowns, Default part II, and countless other excuses people used to stay away.  This is the rally no one trusts, yet it does nothing but march higher.  That sure sounds like skepticism to me.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Twitter 75% Pop Does Not Come Close To IPO 'Pop List'

Twitter 75% Pop Does Not Come Close To IPO 'Pop List'

Tesla vehicles fires due to safety issue must be investigated

Tesla vehicles fires due to safety issue must be investigated

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration “absolutely has to investigate” the Nov. 6 Tennessee incident, Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, based in Washington, said in a phone interview.
A Model S driver struck a tow hitch in the middle of a lane on Interstate 24 near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, damaging the car’s undercarriage and causing the fire, Dalya Qualls, a Tennessee Highway Patrol spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. The driver pulled the car over and was uninjured, Qualls said.
NHTSA declined to investigate a Model S fire in Washington state in October, the first such reported blaze, in which metal debris was involved.
“It appears there’s inadequate shielding on the bottom of these vehicles,” Ditlow said. “Road debris is a known hazard to the undercarriage of vehicles.”
The U.S. agency “will contact the local authorities who are looking into the incident to determine if there are vehicle safety implications that merit agency action,” Karen Aldana, a spokeswoman for NHTSA, said in an e-mail.

Tesla Team

Liz Jarvis-Shean, a Tesla spokeswoman, declined to comment on Ditlow’s remarks and on whether the company needed to strengthen the aluminum casing that houses the 1,000-pound (454-kilogram) lithium-ion battery that powers the Model S.
“We have been in contact with the driver, who was not injured and believes the car saved his life,” Jarvis-Shean said in an earlier e-mail. “Our team is on its way to Tennessee to learn more about what happened in the accident. We will provide more information when we’re able to do so.”
Tesla, the best-performing automotive stock this year, has been under scrutiny as Chief Executive Officer Musk works to create the world’s biggest and most profitable seller of electric cars. Even with this week’s declines, Tesla shares have surged more than fourfold this year after reporting its first quarterly profits.

‘Rocket Science’

The Washington state Model S fire took place Oct. 1, and another occurred in Mexico in mid-October. NHTSA said Oct. 24 it found no evidence the first fire resulted from defects or violations of U.S. safety standards. The agency has said it doesn’t investigate vehicle accidents outside the U.S.
A possible fix for the Model S, priced from $70,000 to more than $100,000, “is not rocket science,” Ditlow said. “Probably the simplest task Tesla has is putting a strong steel shield on the bottom of the car.”

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

ELON MUSK ON TESLA'S TIGHT SUPPLY: We've Had To Starve America To Feed Europe

ELON MUSK ON TESLA'S TIGHT SUPPLY: We've Had To Starve America To Feed Europe

Gold Bug Schiff Counters Goldman on First Drop Since 2000

Gold Bug Schiff Counters Goldman on First Drop Since 2000

Schiff, 50, isn’t fazed that gold is heading for its first annual price drop in 13 years, or that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has called it a “slam-dunk sell.” He predicts bullion will reverse its 21 percent year-to-date decline and probably surge 52 percent to reach a record $2,000 an ounce within a year. That’s just the beginning: Schiff said he would “be amazed” if the U.S. dollardidn’t collapse and gold failed to skyrocket before PresidentBarack Obama leaves office in 2017.
“I’m waiting for the dollar crash, I’m waiting for the real crisis to hit that I know will benefit gold,” Schiff said Oct. 18 over lunch of spinach-and-beet salad and stewed rabbit in the sun room after the radio show. “The longer it takes, the longer I have to wait for that payday. But the longer it takes, the bigger that payday is going to be.”

Friday, November 1, 2013