Friday, February 24, 2012

iphone - android - windows phone challenge


A new campaign from Microsoft repeats what many reviewers have noted about Windows Phone: It's comparable or better than its iPhone and Android-based competitors.
The effort, which rolled out on Thursday morning via Windows Phone's Facebook Page, shows Microsoft evangelist Ben "The PC Guy" Rudolph who bets consumers $100 that Windows Phone is faster than their phone.
The challenge, which is sure to provoke online debate, involves activities like posting pictures to Facebook and finding music. The push, which also includes the Twitter-friendly hashtag #SmokedByWindowsPhone, comes as Windows Phone's market share hovers around 2%, according to Canalys. That's particularly frustrating to Microsoft because, unlike past attempts at mobile operating systems, Windows Phone 7, released last fall, has actually gotten glowing reviews.
Mashable editor-in-chief Lance Ulanoff also raved about Windows 7 last November, calling it a "good -- possibly great -- mobile platform." However, the platform has a lot to overcome, including Microsoft's reputation for so-so, me-too products (like its Zune MP3 player) and, perhaps more cripplingly, the lack of dedicated apps for the OS.
[More from Mashable: 10 Staggering Facts Behind Apple’s Foxconn Factory]
Thus the new campaign, which should be familiar to those of us old enough to remember the Pepsi Challenge ads, which are clearly evoked. Microsoft, however, has tried the comparison technique before without a great deal of success. Most notably, in 2009 with a series of ads called "Laptop Hunters" that demonstrated Windows-based laptops' value over comparable models from Apple. That campaign didn't dent Mac sales in the least.
Similarly, Motorola's attempt to take on Apple's iPad with a 2011 Super Bowl ad was unsuccessful. It remains to be seen whether Samsung will get traction by comparing its Galaxy S II with Apple's iPhone 4S in its 2012 Super Bowl ad.

7 Major Reasons People Struggle Financially

Is smaller better for iPad size?

Despite iPad's success, most vendors going with smaller tablets
By Brad Reed, Network World
February 23, 2012 09:34 AM ET

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Apple's iPad may be the most successful tablet in the world, but few manufacturers seem willing to copy it from a size perspective.
While the iPad and its roomy 9.7-inch display screen are popular with users everywhere, it seems that Apple's rivals are intent on making tablets that range from having cozier five-to-eight-inch displays. Even Apple may be hedging its bets on larger tablets, as the company has been rumored to be testing out an eight-inch version of the iPad that would act as a complement to its classic model.
GET THE LATEST iPAD RUMORS: The rumor rollup for Feb. 22, 2012
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Apple's iPad may be the most successful tablet in the world, but few manufacturers seem willing to copy it from a size perspective.
While the iPad and its roomy 9.7-inch display screen are popular with users everywhere, it seems that Apple's rivals are intent on making tablets that range from having cozier five-to-eight-inch displays. Even Apple may be hedging its bets on larger tablets, as the company has been rumored to be testing out an eight-inch version of the iPad that would act as a complement to its classic model.
GET THE LATEST iPAD RUMORS: The rumor rollup for Feb. 22, 2012
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So why have so many manufacturers decided to go with smaller tablets such as the Samsung Galaxy Note, BlackBerry PlayBook, Amazon Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet? Rapid Repair CEO Aaron Vronko and iFixit technical communication director Miroslav Djuric both say that it comes down to portability.
"A 10-inch form factor is still a little bit on the large side," Djuric says. "You need a backpack to carry it around. But if you had something that's eight inches, that almost might be pocketable, it might fit in ladies' purses easier."
Vronko expresses a similar sentiment and says that a smaller tablet is "lighter, more portable, potentially even pocketable and easier to fit inside a purse."
But beyond the portability issue, are there any obvious advantages or disadvantages to having a smaller screen size?
On the plus side, Vronko says having smaller screens makes it more difficult for users to break their screens as tablets keep getting thinner. He notes that he's seen Rapid Repair customers break their iPad 2 screens at a significantly higher rate than they broke the first generation of iPads and he attributes this to the fact that the iPad 2's glass "is about 40% thinner than the original iPad." So if tablets are going to keep getting thinner, it makes more sense to have a smaller overall screen size to lower the chances of a break.
The other big positive, Djuric says, is that smaller tablets often mean smaller prices. The seven-inch Amazon Kindle Fire, which was the second-most popular tablet on the market in the fourth quarter last year after the iPad, was a big success because its small size was part of the reason Amazon was able to sell it for just $199. Djuric says Apple may consider releasing an eight-inch iPad at some point just so it can offer its users a version of the tablet that's roughly in the same price range as the Kindle Fire.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Bernanke is Wrong, Gold is Money

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke today said that the Federal Reserve is prepared to act with an additional round of quantitative easing if there is any weakening of the U.S. economy and threat of deflation. Bernanke also said that the Fed could act in other ways to stimulate the economy, such as cutting the interest rate that the Fed pays to banks on their $1.5 trillion in excess reserves that they currently keep parked at the Fed. NIA believes this $1.5 trillion alone would multiply into $15 trillion once it circulates through the U.S. economy and if Bernanke on top of that unleashes any additional quantitative easing, it will just about guarantee hyperinflation. Bernanke has made it very clear that he is prepared to print money until the U.S. dollar becomes worthless and the incomes and savings of all U.S. citizens are destroyed.

Ron Paul today asked Bernanke whether or not he watches the price of gold and if he thinks gold is money. Although Bernanke admitted that he does watch the price of gold, Bernanke said that gold is not money, but it is only an asset. Bernanke explained that central banks only hold gold as a "tradition". The truth is, gold has been accepted as money throughout all civilizations over periods of thousands of years. Bernanke doesn't want U.S. citizens to wake up and realize that they can opt-out of the criminal Federal Reserve system if they get rid of their U.S. dollars and store all of their wealth in gold and silver. To see a video of Ron Paul's exchange today with Bernanke, simply visit our blog by clicking here.

The U.S. Constitution defined gold as legal tender and the current fiat currency system we have today where Bernanke can steal from the purchasing power of the poor and middle-class and redistribute this wealth to his banker friends on Wall Street is unconstitutional, immoral, and illegal. The U.S. dollar originally only had purchasing power because it was backed by gold. Today, the U.S. dollar is a fiat currency that is backed by nothing. Any remaining purchasing power the U.S. dollar still has is just an illusion and will soon evaporate due to Bernanke's actions.

In order for an item to function as money, it should be liquid and easily tradable, easily transportable, and durable. It should be divisible into smaller units without destroying its value and should also be fungible, meaning one unit of equal weight must be equivalent to another (which is why diamonds can't be used as money). The item must also be a specific weight, measure, or size, so that it is easy to count. It must be long lasting, durable, and not perishable or subject to decay (which is why food items can't be used as money).

Money must be easily recognizable and most importantly, it must be difficult to counterfeit. The U.S. dollar simply isn't real money because Bernanke has been counterfeiting trillions of dollars out of thin air. Money shouldn't require a mark or image to be valuable, but it should just be valuable based on weight and measure. Gold is valuable based on its weight and measure, and fits all of these other qualities and characteristics as well. Never do people explore shipwrecks hoping to discover U.S. dollars, because dollars that Bernanke can print at will even if they could survive the corrosion of the ocean, simply won't have any purchasing power left by the time explorers can locate them. People explore shipwrecks for gold, because it will last underwater for thousands of years and always retain its value.

When Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe ordered their central bank to implement exactly the same monetary policies that Bernanke has been ordered to implement here in the U.S., the Zimbabwe dollar became worthless and Zimbabweans were forced to pan their rivers for gold. Citizens of Zimbabwe who were able to find 0.1 gram of gold after a long hard day's work of shifting through thousands of buckets full of mud, were able to take that 0.1 gram of gold and exchange it for a loaf of bread. Those who were too old or weak to pan for gold simply couldn't afford food and starved to death.

NIA recommends to all U.S. citizens that they read this eHow article about homemade gold panning. This is a skill all Americans will need to have in order to survive hyperinflation. Unfortunately, unlike in Zimbabwe, most gold in U.S. rivers has already been explored for, so Americans might not be as lucky as Zimbabweans.

In order for an asset to be considered money, its supply must be kept scarce. Bernanke has spent a total of $4.7 trillion since the financial crisis of late-2008, which has flooded the world with excess liquidity of U.S. dollars and led to massive inflation in the prices of food and energy, the two items that Americans need most to live and survive. The inflation problems in China are a direct result of their currency peg to the U.S. dollar and willingness to accept the dollars we print in return for the real goods they produce. As soon as the Chinese central bank decides to end their currency peg, China's currency will increase in purchasing power and all of the monetary inflation the U.S. has exported to them will flow back to the U.S. like a giant tsunami.

Ron Paul today pointed out exactly what we said in our last article. Since the last Presidential election about three years ago, the U.S. dollar has lost about half of its purchasing power priced in gold. Although the U.S. government's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has reported only 2% annual price inflation over the past three years, when you account for how the U.S. government used to calculate price inflation before the implementation of hedonics and quantitative easing, annual price inflation has actually been closer to 9%. Soon when price inflation begins spiraling out of control, Bernanke will be forced to raise the Fed Funds Rate north of 10%, which will cause our interest payments on the national debt to soar to over $1 trillion per year. The U.S. government will then need to immediately end Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and all other entitlement programs, to have any chance of survival.



http://www.inflation.us/

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Getting It Right

 
 A Personal Finance Planner, provides financial planning system and financial management software. The system aggregates information about assets and liabilities into one place and conducts complex analysis on them for better decision making.

                              Useful Financial Resources

Online personal finance – The LivingBalanceSheet.com, a Personal Finance Planner, provides financial planning system and financial management software. The system aggregates information about assets and liabilities into one place and conducts complex analysis on them for better decision making.
Real Estate Market – The Real Estate market is designed to help investors analyze a piece of real estate for the purpose of purchasing and renting out to tenants.

R.W. Management IQ On How To Borrow Money Online

Do you want to borrow money online but do not have a clue on who you should trust with your personal finance information. You need to learn where to find professional advice on who you can trust with this kind of information online. Find out what real banks are out there that lend money to people everyday. This is America and there are banks everywhere right. These people have money to give you. You just need a little direction on the best ways to borrow money and manage it properly.
Your credit is a powerful tool. Many people just don’t realize the buying power that their credit gives them. You literally can borrow money for anything that you want. You just need to know what the smartest way to approach borrowing money is. First off, any time you borrow money and you have debts already. It is wise to invest in credit repair. The reason we recommend this, is most credit reports have at least one thing on them that is not correct. Also most credit reports contain at least one late payment on them. Credit repair gets your late payments removed from your credit report. It also helps you get anything else that makes your credit score lower fixed. They do this with professional credit repair. After you use credit repair. Your credit report is in perfect shape for presenting to a bank for financing.
That was just one example of a personal finance tool that you need to know about when trying to borrow money online. It gives you a whole new outlook on how to borrow money the smart way. But just because you have this power, it is important to not forget that these tools are not meant for you to go on a shopping spree with. They are meant to help you with things like debt consolidation, home repairs, bills you are behind on, investing into a business, and things like that. This money is meant to be used for the things that you need. When people get rapped up in spending money on useless things with their credit. This is how you end up in the poor house.
Also find tools to help you invest money that you borrow online. You can use this money to start a business online. Or you can use it to invest in real estate. We give you all the tools you need for creative financing to invest in real estate with no money out of your pocket. You don’t need some expensive program you see on tv for how to invest in real estate. All the tools you need to learn how to do this can be found in My Money Mechanic’s guide to fix your income. They show you how to borrow money online the smart way. As well as help you start a business in real estate. The banks you find in here are real financial institutions that will lend you money when you use the tools in here to get your credit in the best shape for lending. You can even find banks in here that will lend you money even if you do have bad credit as well.
My name is Matt Sciotti and I help people fix problems with their personal finances. Helping people save money on their bills and fix problems they have with their credit is what I do best. I help provide people with the personal finance tools they need to improve their financial wellbeing.

Personal Finance

Your Personal Finance Smart guide to manage your money effectively
Are you facing problems with your personal finance? There are many people who face difficulty in managing their personal finance regardless of whether they earn six to seven figures in a year or live paycheck to paycheck. The key aspect is to know how to manage your money effectively. Here’s where Your Personal Finance can help you. This website aims to provide you with the perfect solution to all your personal finance related problems.
Some of the key areas of personal finance are:
Budgeting In order to plan your finance successfully, you should at first know how to make a realistic budget plan. Budgeting can be defined as an estimation of the income and expenses over a definite period of time. It can be the financial assessment of a week, a month or even a year.
Investment Investment is quite necessary to build a solid financial footing for you and your family. You need to invest carefully so that you get profitable returns in future. This site will help you to know about the ins and outs of different types of investments.
Insurance Your task doesn’t end just by making an effective budget and investing your money properly. You should also ensure that a sudden financial loss doesn’t destroy your savings at one go. Therefore, know about certain insurance policies that can provide you with the right coverage when you need it the most.
Loan It is not always possible to purchase a house with cash. You need to take out a loan in order to buy a home or a car of your choice. Gather knowledge on how a loan can affect your financial condition and how you should plan your monthly payments so that you’re able to repay the loan on time.
Personal finance is not just limited to the areas discussed above. There’s much more for which you’ll have to browse through this website.