Earlier this week, I did a blog entry looking at whether the US was in a recession. As I said at the time, it depends how you define it but the signs are not looking good and things are likely to get worse.

Now we have further confirmation of that with Department of Commerce figures, reported here, indicating that inflation is now at a 17 year high, rising 4.5 percent, the steepest since February 1991. And personal income has tumbled unexpectedly in July, slipping 0.7 percent in the month when analysts were expecting it to stay flat. And inflation-adjusted spending has fallen 0.4 percent, the sharpest slide in four years.

These figures are yet another sign that economy is doing a lot worse than the so-called experts believe. They don't know what's really going on!

By:  leon                        Source

The number of personal information leaks reported in the US this year have already eclipsed the total amount in all of 2007, according to the latest figures from the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC).

The agency found that 449 US businesses and government agencies have thus far reported lost or stolen customer and employee data. And there is still time left!!

Now, 449 is not a lot but it warns that the actual number is likely to be a lot higher because of under-reporting and the fact that some of these reported breaches, which affect multiple businesses, are listed as single events. "While the ITRC breach list reflects compromised records of more than 22 million, in more than 40% of breach events, the number of records exposed is not reported or fully disclosed. This means the number of affected records is grossly incomplete and unusable for any statistic or research purpose."

The agency does not indicate how high the number can be. Still, if there is a positive in this, it's that US companies might not be getting any better at securing personal details, but at least more are honest when they screw up. It's a start. Kind of.

By:  leon                        Source

US taxpayers are subsidizing CEO salaries by more than $20 billion a year through tax and accounting loopholes, according to a report by the Institute of Policy Studies. That is more than double what is spent in the US educating children with disabilities.

The report, Executive Excess 2008, found that S&P 500 CEOs averaged $10.5 million in pay, 344 times the pay of your average American worker. However, hedge and private equity fund managers did even better. The top 50 in this group were pulling an average $588 million each, or 19,000 times as much as the average worker.

The CEOs get subsidies through a whole lot of scams. Like for example unlimited deferred compensation where they can legally shield unlimited amounts of compensation from taxes through special deferred accounts set up by their employers. That's not the same situation for US taxpayers who face limits on how much income they can defer from taxes via 401(k) plans. I am told by my American friends that this amounts to no more than $15,500 per year for most workers. And the total cost of this little scam for taxpayers? $80.6 million.

The report also found that corporations claimed 2005 stock option tax deductions that totalled $61 billion more than the expenses shown on company books. And they got away with it!

No doubt, this will get worse with neither John McCain nor Barack Obama endorsing all the big reforms needed to change this situation.

By:  leon                        Source

I was watching the Olympics last night when a commercial came on for a video I could buy that would celebrate Michael Phelps' 8 gold medals and also give me some home movies or "behind the scenes" footage of Michael swimming and whatever else he does in the 15 minutes per day that he's not in a pool. I said to my wife, "We really should get that."

She looked at me and smirked.

Nothing against Michael Phelps, but, come on, who really wants to buy and own and watch more than once (if that) a video about his Olympic victories with a little extra footage thrown in? The only people who might want such a thing are those caught up in the moment who think they're getting some awesome piece of history. How many times do you think that video comes off the shelf after, say, September? (To be fair, if you were a young competitive swimmer, I could see you buying this video as a motivational tool to "keep your eyes on the prize" as they say.)

I'm no better than you; I've bought a lot of things on the spur of the moment or in the spirit of the experience that I never looked at again. (That beaded necklace from Spring Break 19xx looked pretty cool in Daytona Beach, but that was about it.)

But I will not be seduced by Michael Phelps toothy smile that is soon to be on every packaged good in America. And neither should you.

(Don't worry, Michael will still get rich without you.)

By:  Justin McHenry                        Source

Here's a pair of winners, Maria Sharapova, and Canon that have joined forces to bring you an opportunity to win a rather unique camera.

Canon is running a sweepstakes and the prize, actually Canon is giving away 5 of them, is a diamond studded Canon SD 1100IS Digital Elph camera.

The Canon Elph SD 1100IS digital camera is a neat little imaging device available at a reasonable price and you can learn more about it at the Canon website.

Before you buy one you may want try to win one of the 5 diamond studded ones, called "Maria's Diamonds", and you can enter the Canon sweepstakes here.

Tennis star Maria Sharapova, unfortunately, is not included, I guess because there's only one of her.

Take a camera with you whenever possible, and look around, you'll find a picture somewhere.

Source:www.hollywood-celebrity-pictures.com

By:  jim                        Source

A few months ago, I recommended the Amazon Kindle over the Sony E-Book reader, and while my recommendation still stands, I am urging you to have a bit of patience before you dive into the Kindle world. It seems that recommended the Amazon Kindle over the Sony E-Book reader, and their recommended the Amazon Kindle over the Sony E-Book reader, is spreading the rumor that Kindle 2.0 on its way, and it is supposed to be very sexy.

The first generation kindle, which I eagerly adopted early, was a bit ugly and non-conventional, but overall it is an excellent device. The second generation E-Book reader is rumored to have both a radical overhaul in the looks department, a bigger screen, and even more usability. Considering, I think that the current model is a winner, the little brother is bound to be awesome.

The best part for a new Kindle owner, or the kick in the pants for us early adopters is that the Kindle 2.0 is bound to be cheaper. Some estimates have the new unit coming in at $249. Considering, I payed $399 for mine, I would say that $249 will be a steal.

Look for an official announcement soon from Amazon.

Source.

By:  Chris Matier                        Source

It is a well known fact that iPhone 3G customers are facing a number of issues with their iPhone 3G's such as slow 3G connections and frequent call drops. Apple has been trying its level best to resolve these issues by releasing frequent updates to its OS as we recently saw the release of OS version 2.0.2. Recently we also witnessed Apple being sued by some annoyed iPhone 3G users.

However according to a study conducted by wired.com, the iPhone 3G Smartphone shouldn't actually be blamed for the problems faced by the users. The real problem lies with immature and problematic 3G carrier networks. You will notice from the facts and figures shown below that the users in regions with mature 3G networks such as Europe show good results whereas users in regions with immature 3G networks such as US and Australia show poor results.

A total of 2636 iPhone 3G users from USA, Canada, Australia and Europe took part in this study and the following interesting facts and figures were revealed.

In terms of country data:

1. Users in Australia reported the slowest 3G download speeds (759 Kbps).

2. Users in USA reported the most problematic connections.

3. Users in Germany and Netherlands reported the fastest 3G download speeds (2000 Kbps).

In terms of carrier data:

1. European T-Mobile Users reported the fastest 3G download speeds (1822 Kbps).

2. Canadian Rogers and Fido users reported the second fastest download speeds (1330 Kbps).

3. US AT&T users reported download speeds of 990 Kbps.

4. Australian Optus and Virgin users reported the slowest download speeds (390 Kbps).

Jump over to Wired.com to read more about this study.

By:  Umair Khalid                        Source

“Distinguishing Russ Meyer’’s Vixens for their power and not for their obvious and insatiable sexual potency is a reasonably futile endeavor, I realize, although this is precisely one of the many aspects of his career we intend to clarify over the course of the next few weeks, in which we will be reviewing each of Meyer’’s narrative films. And this notion of feminine power vis-à-vis objectified sexuality notwithstanding, there are other aspects of Meyer’’s career and work that mark him as a man of immense, if undervalued creative ingenuity.” Rumsey Taylor introduces Not Coming to a Theater Near You’’s latest feature, Bosomania!: The Sex, the Violence, and the Vocabulary of Russ Meyer, hot on the heels of the ongoing The Mystic: The Films of Nicholas Ray.

Updated through 8/29.

By:  dwhudson                        Source

“Revered screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (1905 - 1976) is the most famous of the Hollywood Ten - the Tinseltown scapegoats blacklisted in 1947 after refusing to name names before the House Committee on Un-American Activities - probably because his own life sounds like a movie he scripted,” writes Benjamin Strong, reviewing Trumbo in the L Magazine.

“The readings of Dalton Trumbo’’s letters to family and friends are starkly rendered-famous faces (Michael Douglas, Nathan Lane, Donald Sutherland, Liam Neeson, David Strathairn, Joan Allen, so forth) recite rousing missives without the aid of sets or props of any kind save for Trumbo’’s own thunderous proclamations in defense of free speech,” writes Robert Wilonsky in the Voice.

Updated through 6/27.

By:  dwhudson                        Source

Note the Princess Leia buns (Dior) and Star Trek-ish dress (bottom row, third from left).

I was putting this collage together, and all the sudden giving Anna Wintour (clad in a futuristic frock) a spot in the intergalactic space queen lineup seemed undeniably perfect.

There’’s a little oh-dear-Lord-why-am-I-still-awake-at-this-time-of-night humor for you. The quality of my jokes tends to wane after midnight. . .

By:  Kori                        Source