Google's presentations may have an Enron flair, but at the moment Google doesn't have an Enron-type balance sheet. According to Yahoo! Finanace, Google's debt-to-equity ratio is effectively zero. Total debt of $1.3M with total cash of $2.5B. I don't remember what Enron's numbers were like, but their party crashed when their debtors started calling Enron's bluffs. So for now, Enron comparisons to Google don't fit. This is not to say, however, that there couldn't be some other catalyst for Google investors to start thinking "wait a second, this company is *#!@ing overvalued!" and sell.
Wasn't there a hubbub in the last year or so about lower ratings across the board? The networks blamed the Nielsen folks (IIRC there was some kind of change in the counting method. I'm too lazy to dig up a link, sorry.) while TV critics blamed it on the lack of quality programming. Now imagine if broadcast ratings dropped 12% at once? Of course it won't happen- most of the folks will switch to the new signal. But say there's a sustained drop of 1% or 2% compared to the previous season. Seems like the networks already sweat fractions of a percentage point. They should be very motivated in making sure the transition to digital goes as smoothly as possible.
Oh wait, that requires forward thinking on the part of TV execs. Never mind.
...becoming the first person to fly solo around the world without stopping or refuelling.
[snip]
In 1986, two people made history by accomplishing the same flight that Fossett made solo this week. They were Jeana Yeager and Dick Rutan, the brother of the man who designed Fossett's GlobalFlyer, Burt Rutan.
It's also part of why companies occasionally do a reverse split
The other reason to do a reverse split is that the Nasdaq and NYSE both have minimum price requirements to be listed on their exchanges. If a company's price per share drops below a threshold value for a certain amount of time (something like under $1.00 for a week or more) then it can be delisted (the actual process is much more complicated than this). From there, the company goes into the murky world of Over-the-Counter (OTC), Bulletin Board, and Pink Sheet trading (not sure what the difference between those 3 is).
From what I've seen, reverse splits often just postpone the inevitable. IIRC, Webvan did a reverse split before croaking. There have been exceptions, I'm sure.
A number of Tech CEOs are against expensing stock options. Here's my argument to them (perhaps my points have been said elsewhere. If so, I apologize):
It's duplicitous to, on the one hand, say "Stock options are valuable (some say necessary) for attracting and retaining talent, and aligning employee interests with the company", and then turn around and say (both to the SEC and shareholders) "We have no idea how to value the options we give out, therefore we're telling you to assume they are worth nothing."
Yes, option expenses are currently disclosed in the footnotes, but there's no reason not to make the Earning per Share number (the one everyone focuses on) more accurate than it currently is.
Even beyond all this, in the end it isn't an issue about what investors, executives or employees think. This is an *accounting* issue, to be determined by the FASB. We shouldn't let Congress or Executives start dictating accounting policy for publicly held companies.
Travis
(On this issue I side with Warren Buffett and the writers at Fool.com rather than Craig Barrett and Barbara Boxer.)
It's also useless for decoding numbers. Hypothetical example:
The armor is designed to withstand a blast of XXXXXX pounds.
Is that number in scientific notation or not? Where is the decimal point? Are there any commas? And while "3" and "8" might be the same number of pixels across (give or take), mistaking one for the other can make a big difference.
Of course the article starts by saying it was a "distraction," nothing more.
When the MPAA called to ask if I wanted to talk with him for ten minutes last week
I guess the interviewer ran out of time. I agree he shouldn't have spent so much time dithering over DVD and Linux. Instead he should have spent more time getting Valenti to understand the whole "how can we have a dialog" point, which has much larger ramifications for the whole issue.
I need to go check the listings for next week to see what to watch & tape. Let's see... new episodes of Smallville, NYPD Blue, Touching Evil, ER (tho I wish they'd just kill that show off already)... Wonderfalls is gone (bummer)... not to mention A's and Giants games next week.
What's that? You want me to turn the TV off??? Yeah right.
...to cover all your bases before earnestly starting such a project. The poster doesn't mention who his/her employer is (if any), but the employer company may not want you to do this. Follow me for a second... I work for a defense contractor (think Aukheed-lay Artin-may) and the standard employment contract includes a clause that the company gets first crack at ownership of any patents you develop. What I don't know is this: by extension, if you develop software that relates to your company's line of business, and said software violates US Export laws, could the company be liable? What if the developer in question uses resources or methods gleaned from the workplace? I assume, at the very least, you risk being fired. If the poster doesn't work for such a company, then that isn't much of a threat, but still.
I don't know if the code would be illegal to develop necessarily, but I think it's safe to say it would *definitely* be illegal to export (including allowing access to the code by unfriendly nations via HTTP or FTP). IANAL however.
If you really want to do this, I would suggest two options: (1) Get a job with a defense company and a secret clearance, and get paid to develop the stuff legally. (This option would not allow *you* to give the code to developing nations, the State Dept. would make that decision). Or (2) move to a country with less restrictive export laws. I'm not trying to flame here, just pointing out some of the dangers.
I, for one, will be switching to DirecTV if they don't get this figured out.
There was a similar situation with DirecTV, the ABC Family channel, and the 700 Club a while ago. In that case, however, it was DirecTV playing hardball. IIRC, DirecTV wanted to pay less to ABC for the ABC Family channel, and threatened to drop it. Since ABCF is the cable outlet for the 700 Club, the issue of "freedom of religion" came up. So DirecTV started a scroll that said something like "The 700 Club is carried by a number of local channels throughout the country." A deal was eventually worked out, and ABCF is still on DirecTV.
There was also a nasty battle between ESPN and Cox Communications.
In short, these disputes are becoming commonplace. Thank goodness so many good shows are being put out on DVD!
I'm a little confused as this isn't really your rights online
I agree.
So there are moderators for the comments, and meta-moderators for the moderators. But where's the procedure for telling the Slashdot editor "hey this is in the wrong group"? (Or that the story is a duplicate?)
Just wondering Travis
Re:Umm.... and how are they getting this info?
on
BudNet Tracks Your Suds
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
From the article:
This data, crossed with U.S. Census figures on the ethnic and economic makeup of neighborhoods, also helps Anheuser tailor marketing campaigns with a local precision only dreamed of a few years ago.
The original poster overstated it. AB is taking sales and store info from the store and mixing that with general Census data. The article doesn't say anything about matching a particular person (name, age, gender, etc.) with their buying patterns. So I don't think the article is overblown at all.
I wonder if there is a possibility for a 911 "opt-out" feature for VOIP? A person who opts out gets a small credit on their bill. In exchange, no 911 service is provided for that number. Of course, there is a some fixed cost associated with providing 911 service at all. So if 90% of the customers opt out, you'd have to really jack up the rates for the other 10%.
For any of the posts that wonder if Morse code is still useful, don't forget the scene where the US Captain communicates to Sean Connery via Morse code and the periscope light.
"For all I know I could be sending him dimensions of Playmate of the Month."
And the movie said it was based on a true story, so it really happened right?;) Seriously though, it was a cool scene.
"Geostationary" refers to a satellite that appears to be stationary from a viewer on the Earth's surface. The satellite orbits once every 24 hours (actually every 23 hrs 56 mins 4 secs, but that's another story) and so stays roughly at the same point in the sky. It still orbits the Earth (which orbits the Sun).
...something that would stand on the pointy end? The flat side (on the top) could open up to reveal I/O cards, or drives or whatever. You'd have some room below to put stuff around it. Maybe be able to spin it around to get to the ports on the back.
Or use the top as a big heat sink (hot air rises)?
The company is now looking to earn between $0.13 and $0.17 a share in the June quarter on revenue of at least $62 million. While it has made a comforting habit of underpromising and overdelivering with every passing guidance marker, this will be its first profitable quarter.
So it isn't profitable yet, but coming close.
Travis
P.S. This is my 3rd post to this article, but I really don't work for Netflix, I just like the service.
I agree, the selection at Netflix is great. Part of the reason I signed up with them is because they had "Rififi", an old French gangster movie (no jokes please) that the guys on The Digital Bits (www.thedigitalbits.com) raved about. Now I don't know for sure that Blockbuster and Hollywood don't carry it, but why go searching thru the aisles when I can just click on it?
I've been a customer of Netflix since last December, and have had positive experiences with them. Here's my typical timeline:
1. Monday: Put DVD in mail. 2. Tuesday: DVD arrives at Netflix. Next DVD picked out and mailed. 3. Wednesday: Next DVD arrives in mail for me.
Now, I live in the Bay Area, so I'm sure that's helping the turnaround times. I've also been renting 3-5 movies per month, so they're probably just on the edge of making money off me. Other posts outline the advantages Walmart has over Netflix, or vice versa, so I won't regurgitate here. But I'll stick with them as long as service is good (and no, I don't work for Netflix).
From one of the astronomy programs I have, I was able to get this data for 08-May-2003:
Earth-Mars range: 1.398e8 km Jupiter-Mars range: 9.438e8 km
Earth radius: 6378.12 km Jupiter radius: 71492.35 km
So using
size = atan( radius / range )
we obtain apparent sizes from Mars:
Jupiter: 0.0043 deg Earth: 0.0026 deg
So Jupiter should be almost twice as big, even though it's almost 7 times farther away. One can probably also figure out the magnification based on the image.
Slashdot Mirror
China is the 2nd largest foreign holder of US debt, after Japan:
Major Foreign Holders of Treasury Debt
They basically act like one of our biggest credit cards.
Travis
Google's presentations may have an Enron flair, but at the moment Google doesn't have an Enron-type balance sheet. According to Yahoo! Finanace, Google's debt-to-equity ratio is effectively zero. Total debt of $1.3M with total cash of $2.5B. I don't remember what Enron's numbers were like, but their party crashed when their debtors started calling Enron's bluffs. So for now, Enron comparisons to Google don't fit. This is not to say, however, that there couldn't be some other catalyst for Google investors to start thinking "wait a second, this company is *#!@ing overvalued!" and sell.
Travis
Wasn't there a hubbub in the last year or so about lower ratings across the board? The networks blamed the Nielsen folks (IIRC there was some kind of change in the counting method. I'm too lazy to dig up a link, sorry.) while TV critics blamed it on the lack of quality programming. Now imagine if broadcast ratings dropped 12% at once? Of course it won't happen- most of the folks will switch to the new signal. But say there's a sustained drop of 1% or 2% compared to the previous season. Seems like the networks already sweat fractions of a percentage point. They should be very motivated in making sure the transition to digital goes as smoothly as possible.
Oh wait, that requires forward thinking on the part of TV execs. Never mind.
Travis
From the article (emphasis mine):
...becoming the first person to fly solo around the world without stopping or refuelling.
[snip]
In 1986, two people made history by accomplishing the same flight that Fossett made solo this week. They were Jeana Yeager and Dick Rutan, the brother of the man who designed Fossett's GlobalFlyer, Burt Rutan.
So the orignal post is OK.
Travis
It's also part of why companies occasionally do a reverse split
The other reason to do a reverse split is that the Nasdaq and NYSE both have minimum price requirements to be listed on their exchanges. If a company's price per share drops below a threshold value for a certain amount of time (something like under $1.00 for a week or more) then it can be delisted (the actual process is much more complicated than this). From there, the company goes into the murky world of Over-the-Counter (OTC), Bulletin Board, and Pink Sheet trading (not sure what the difference between those 3 is).
From what I've seen, reverse splits often just postpone the inevitable. IIRC, Webvan did a reverse split before croaking. There have been exceptions, I'm sure.
Travis
A number of Tech CEOs are against expensing stock options. Here's my argument to them (perhaps my points have been said elsewhere. If so, I apologize):
It's duplicitous to, on the one hand, say "Stock options are valuable (some say necessary) for attracting and retaining talent, and aligning employee interests with the company", and then turn around and say (both to the SEC and shareholders) "We have no idea how to value the options we give out, therefore we're telling you to assume they are worth nothing."
Yes, option expenses are currently disclosed in the footnotes, but there's no reason not to make the Earning per Share number (the one everyone focuses on) more accurate than it currently is.
Even beyond all this, in the end it isn't an issue about what investors, executives or employees think. This is an *accounting* issue, to be determined by the FASB. We shouldn't let Congress or Executives start dictating accounting policy for publicly held companies.
Travis
(On this issue I side with Warren Buffett and the writers at Fool.com rather than Craig Barrett and Barbara Boxer.)
A small nitpick: AMC-11 is the payload, not the rocket.
A realtime status log is available at Spaceflight Now.
Travis
It's also useless for decoding numbers. Hypothetical example:
The armor is designed to withstand a blast of XXXXXX pounds.
Is that number in scientific notation or not? Where is the decimal point? Are there any commas? And while "3" and "8" might be the same number of pixels across (give or take), mistaking one for the other can make a big difference.
Of course the article starts by saying it was a "distraction," nothing more.
Travis
From the article:
When the MPAA called to ask if I wanted to talk with him for ten minutes last week
I guess the interviewer ran out of time. I agree he shouldn't have spent so much time dithering over DVD and Linux. Instead he should have spent more time getting Valenti to understand the whole "how can we have a dialog" point, which has much larger ramifications for the whole issue.
Travis
I need to go check the listings for next week to see what to watch & tape. Let's see... new episodes of Smallville, NYPD Blue, Touching Evil, ER (tho I wish they'd just kill that show off already)... Wonderfalls is gone (bummer)... not to mention A's and Giants games next week.
What's that? You want me to turn the TV off??? Yeah right.
Travis
The original post wasn't an April Fool's prank was it? Hope I didn't waste all my verbiage for naught.
Drat.
...to cover all your bases before earnestly starting such a project. The poster doesn't mention who his/her employer is (if any), but the employer company may not want you to do this. Follow me for a second... I work for a defense contractor (think Aukheed-lay Artin-may) and the standard employment contract includes a clause that the company gets first crack at ownership of any patents you develop. What I don't know is this: by extension, if you develop software that relates to your company's line of business, and said software violates US Export laws, could the company be liable? What if the developer in question uses resources or methods gleaned from the workplace? I assume, at the very least, you risk being fired. If the poster doesn't work for such a company, then that isn't much of a threat, but still.
I don't know if the code would be illegal to develop necessarily, but I think it's safe to say it would *definitely* be illegal to export (including allowing access to the code by unfriendly nations via HTTP or FTP). IANAL however.
If you really want to do this, I would suggest two options: (1) Get a job with a defense company and a secret clearance, and get paid to develop the stuff legally. (This option would not allow *you* to give the code to developing nations, the State Dept. would make that decision). Or (2) move to a country with less restrictive export laws. I'm not trying to flame here, just pointing out some of the dangers.
Good luck
Travis
I, for one, will be switching to DirecTV if they don't get this figured out.
There was a similar situation with DirecTV, the ABC Family channel, and the 700 Club a while ago. In that case, however, it was DirecTV playing hardball. IIRC, DirecTV wanted to pay less to ABC for the ABC Family channel, and threatened to drop it. Since ABCF is the cable outlet for the 700 Club, the issue of "freedom of religion" came up. So DirecTV started a scroll that said something like "The 700 Club is carried by a number of local channels throughout the country." A deal was eventually worked out, and ABCF is still on DirecTV.
There was also a nasty battle between ESPN and Cox Communications.
In short, these disputes are becoming commonplace. Thank goodness so many good shows are being put out on DVD!
Travis
I'm a little confused as this isn't really your rights online
I agree.
So there are moderators for the comments, and meta-moderators for the moderators. But where's the procedure for telling the Slashdot editor "hey this is in the wrong group"? (Or that the story is a duplicate?)
Just wondering
Travis
From the article:
This data, crossed with U.S. Census figures on the ethnic and economic makeup of neighborhoods, also helps Anheuser tailor marketing campaigns with a local precision only dreamed of a few years ago.
The original poster overstated it. AB is taking sales and store info from the store and mixing that with general Census data. The article doesn't say anything about matching a particular person (name, age, gender, etc.) with their buying patterns. So I don't think the article is overblown at all.
Travis
I wonder if there is a possibility for a 911 "opt-out" feature for VOIP? A person who opts out gets a small credit on their bill. In exchange, no 911 service is provided for that number. Of course, there is a some fixed cost associated with providing 911 service at all. So if 90% of the customers opt out, you'd have to really jack up the rates for the other 10%.
Travis
For any of the posts that wonder if Morse code is still useful, don't forget the scene where the US Captain communicates to Sean Connery via Morse code and the periscope light.
;) Seriously though, it was a cool scene.
"For all I know I could be sending him dimensions of Playmate of the Month."
And the movie said it was based on a true story, so it really happened right?
Travis
According to RIAA Radar (http://www.magnetbox.com/riaa/), the White Stripes label
V2 *IS* part of the RIAA (they're related to BMG). Looky here:
http://shorterlink.com/?QHVMBI
Travis
"Geostationary" refers to a satellite that appears to be stationary from a viewer on the Earth's surface. The satellite orbits once every 24 hours (actually every 23 hrs 56 mins 4 secs, but that's another story) and so stays roughly at the same point in the sky. It still orbits the Earth (which orbits the Sun).
Travis
Personally I think SCO has chosen to craft their business model after an urban legend.
Travis
...something that would stand on the pointy end? The flat side (on the top) could open up to reveal I/O cards, or drives or whatever. You'd have some room below to put stuff around it. Maybe be able to spin it around to get to the ports on the back.
Or use the top as a big heat sink (hot air rises)?
That could be kinda cool.
Travis
what I've read they haven't yet shown a profit
According to a recent article on The Motley Fool:
The company is now looking to earn between $0.13 and $0.17 a share in the June quarter on revenue of at least $62 million. While it has made a comforting habit of underpromising and overdelivering with every passing guidance marker, this will be its first profitable quarter.
So it isn't profitable yet, but coming close.
Travis
P.S. This is my 3rd post to this article, but I really don't work for Netflix, I just like the service.
I agree, the selection at Netflix is great. Part of the reason I signed up with them is because they had "Rififi", an old French gangster movie (no jokes please) that the guys on The Digital Bits (www.thedigitalbits.com) raved about. Now I don't know for sure that Blockbuster and Hollywood don't carry it, but why go searching thru the aisles when I can just click on it?
Travis
I've been a customer of Netflix since last December, and have had positive experiences with them. Here's my typical timeline:
1. Monday: Put DVD in mail.
2. Tuesday: DVD arrives at Netflix. Next DVD picked out and mailed.
3. Wednesday: Next DVD arrives in mail for me.
Now, I live in the Bay Area, so I'm sure that's helping the turnaround times. I've also been renting 3-5 movies per month, so they're probably just on the edge of making money off me. Other posts outline the advantages Walmart has over Netflix, or vice versa, so I won't regurgitate here. But I'll stick with them as long as service is good (and no, I don't work for Netflix).
Travis
Why does Jupiter look so big in that picture?
From one of the astronomy programs I have, I was able to get this data for 08-May-2003:
Earth-Mars range: 1.398e8 km
Jupiter-Mars range: 9.438e8 km
Earth radius: 6378.12 km
Jupiter radius: 71492.35 km
So using
size = atan( radius / range )
we obtain apparent sizes from Mars:
Jupiter: 0.0043 deg
Earth: 0.0026 deg
So Jupiter should be almost twice as big, even though it's almost 7 times farther away. One can probably also figure out the magnification based on the image.
Travis