The parent company of the New York Stock Exchange has agreed to be acquired by the operator of the Frankfurt stock exchange in a deal that will create the world’s largest financial markets company. (Feb. 15)
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Stars Johnny Depp and Isla Fisher hit the red carpet for the premiere of their new animated film ‘Rango’ (Feb. 15)
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A stray tabby is being enlisted by British Prime Minister David Cameron to help control a rat problem at his official residence at 10 Downing Street in London. (Feb. 15)
Continue reading …Wal-Mart is a stickler for store policy: It fired four employees in Utah after they disarmed a convicted felon who pulled a gun on them. After the employees saw the man try to shoplift a netbook, they escorted him to a store office, reports AoL News . There, he pulled out…
Continue reading …Researchers calculate the amount of information in the world, move on to calculate how much time they wasted on silly calculations
February 15, 2011 No Comment
Have you ever wondered how much information there is in the world? No? Well, someone has. In fact, new research by a team at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, led by Martin Hilbert, has gone ahead and done some calculations to that effect, and the results, while seemingly trivial, are rather interesting. Turns out that there’s a ton of information in the world, and the rate of its production is ever-increasing. A few fun tidbits: the current capacity for information, including digital and analog devices, is 295 exabytes, and by their metrics, 2002 is considered the start of the digital age. By 2007, around 94 percent of information was stored digitally. The full research is in the February issue of Science Express , and a video describing their methodology is after the break. Continue reading Researchers calculate the amount of information in the world, move on to calculate how much time they wasted on silly calculations Researchers calculate the amount of information in the world, move on to calculate how much time they wasted on silly calculations originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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enlarge Matt Yglesias says if there are going to be cuts to Social Security , they should happen right away to everyone, including current recipients. And I have to admit, he has a point. Because the “of course we’ll exempt everyone 55 and older” from getting their promised benefits is just how the politicians on both sides of the aisle are covering their asses as they toil away for the banker class, and maybe it’s time those shiny pink butts should be exposed to the light. Not to mention, this is classic “divide and conquer” strategy. We should stick together. We should present a united front. You want to cut Social Security? Then you need to face the universal wrath of the voters in the next election, instead of putting some of us in a protected class. (Of course, it’s a rather desirable side effect that if we do present a united front, the chances of actual Social Security cuts drop precipitously.) This could be our Egypt moment. Just as Christians surrounded the Muslims at prayer, we should surround the younger generation with our promise that if they try to take their future Social Security, they’ll have to go through us first. You cut one, you cut us all. How about it?
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We can’t all have 3G or 4G wireless wherever — sometimes we need to get friendly with a plain ‘ol hotspot. Skype is making that a little easier, expanding Skype Access in partnership with eight international WiFi pushers: BT Openzone Fon M3 Connect Row 44 Skyrove Spectrum Interactive Tomizone Vex Fon will probably be the most familiar if you’re in America, but combined the program covers 500,000 hotspots, including 500 hotels. Users will be able to pay for WiFi by the minute using Skype Credit, with prices ranging from a nickel to $.19 per currently. No word on whether that will be changing with this new announcement. Skype Access expands, now unlocks over 500,000 hotspots originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 14:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Eight-time world champion boxer Manny Pacquiao was in Washington Tuesday, visiting with Nevada Senator Harry Reid on Capitol Hill. Pacquiao was wrapping up his press tour for his next fight, May 7th against Shane Mosley in Las Vegas. (Feb. 15)
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There’s more choosing shades than how good they look on you. Your sunglasses should keep damaging sunrays away from your eyes.
Continue reading …Two main themes are emerging from President Obama’s news conference this afternoon—he called out Iran over its violent crackdown on protesters and said critics of his budget plan were way too “impatient”: On Iran: “I find it ironic that you’ve got the Iranian regime pretending to celebrate what happened…
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