The glaring weakness of the cargo shipping system has been laid bare by the Yemen-based mail bomb plot, but the cost of fixing it may be too high for governments, airlines and shippers to stomach during a global downturn. (Nov. 1)
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One of the more egregious results of the Democrat-controlled Congress skipping town without passing a budget, thus failing to address the issue of whether scheduled income tax increases will really go into effect for everyone, the highest income-earners, or no one at all, is that the Internal Revenue Service and employers have been left in the lurch with no idea of how to prepare for next year. As I understand it, at a minimum this is the first time in a very long time that something like this has occurred, and it may be unprecedented. The issue is getting a half-decent amount of play in the business press , but as a general news item, it's going almost nowhere, even though some employers are already telling employees they will have to withhold more starting on January 1, 2011 if no action is taken in Washington. At the Associated Press's main web site, the one story about the withholding issue written by Andrew Taylor that went up early this morning plays a shady game of “Y'know, it really won't be all that bad if the increases are only in effect during the early part of next year.” See if you can detect what I'm referring to in the following excerpt: read more
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Well, in Canada at least. Sammy’s QX410 is listed as “backordered” on America’s Best Buy portal, but it’s bound to make its online debut in short order — in fact, we’re hearing that they’re already popping up on retail shelves. For those in need of a refresher , this 14.1-incher ships with a silver lining (and enclosure, too), 2.53GHz Core i5 processor, 4GB of DDR3 memory, a 640GB hard drive, dual-layer DVD burner, SD / SDHC / SDXC card reader, NVIDIA’s 512MB GeForce 310M GPU ( Optimus enabled) and an inbuilt webcam. You’ll also find gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, three USB 2.0 ports and a battery that’s supposedly good for up to seven hours. Oh, and did we mention it includes a WiMAX model for tapping into Sprint’s widening 4G network? Best Buy’s US site is estimating a ship date of “one to two weeks,” and you can pre-order now if you’re sold already for $829.99. [Thanks, B.S.] Gallery: Samsung’s 14.1-inch QX410 laptop Samsung’s 14.1-inch QX410 laptop now on sale at Best Buy originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Nov 2010 17:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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If you frequent small house parties like us, chances are you would’ve witnessed the many occasions where guests take turns to hook up their iDevices to the speakers ; if not, just picture yourself fighting your flatmates over your communal HiFi system — Altec Lansing claims that on average there are 2.2 portable audio devices per household, and they’re most likely iPods . Naturally, a dual-docking speaker — which is nothing new — would somewhat ease domestic tension and reduce interruption to the tunes, but think smarter: what if you could let music alternate between the devices, as well as having the ability to instantly change the amount of play time on both persons’ music libraries? Better yet, what if the speaker doubles up as an alarm clock? These are pretty much what Altec’s offering with its $99.95 Octiv Duo (or Octiv 202 outside the US), with a little help from its two free iOS apps: Music Mix and Alarm Rock. You know the drill — read on to find out whether this new box would end your little social crisis once and for all. Gallery: Altec Lansing Octiv Duo speaker dock review Continue reading Altec Lansing Octiv Duo (202) speaker dock review Altec Lansing Octiv Duo (202) speaker dock review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Nov 2010 17:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Photo: GM, Chevy Volt lithium-ion battery. Understanding Why So We Can Hopefully Do Something About It Researchers at the Ohio State University have been testing lithium-ion batteries, the kind used in the latest electric and hybrid vehicles, to find out how and why their performance degrades with age and use. The OSU lab is set up so that the batteries can be charged and discharged many times in difference conditions (hot like Arizona, cold like Alaska) over many months, mimicking real-world usage patterns as closely are possible…. Read the full story on TreeHugger
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By Daryl Cagle, Cagle Cartoons, MSNBC.com Related Entries November 1, 2010 The World Is Safer Without a Republican House October 31, 2010 GOP Ideas
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Truthdig’s own Robert Scheer made a recent appearance on “GRITtv with Laura Flanders” and went straight for the jugular with his pronouncement, now two years since the presidential election and on the brink of the midterms, that it’s time for “an obit on our hopes.” Related Entries November 1, 2010 The World Is Safer Without a Republican House October 31, 2010 GOP Ideas
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We know the feeling of set-top box fatigue as much as anyone, so naturally we were interested in Sony’s Internet TV Blu-ray player — just like the Sony Internet TV , it lets you add Google TV to your system without adding any more boxes. At the same time, we’re always wary of combo devices — they’re often a jack of all trades and master of none. And so we set out playing with Sony’s second riff on Google TV with the hope that it could serve both duties without sacrificing any features or functionality that we’d expect if we bought two devices. Obviously if you’re in the market for both a Blu-ray player and a Google TV device and price is the most important factor it’s an easy decision, but you’ll have to click through to find out the true cost of having one fewer box under your TV. This review is primarily of the Sony Internet TV Blu-ray player hardware — make sure you read our full Google TV review to get a feel for the platform itself ! Continue reading Sony Internet TV Blu-ray Disc Player with Google TV review Sony Internet TV Blu-ray Disc Player with Google TV review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Nov 2010 16:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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