Archive for the 'Economy' Category
Gold Fix Study Shows Signs of Decade of Bank Manipulation
March 1st, 2014Via: Bloomberg: The London gold fix, the benchmark used by miners, jewelers and central banks to value the metal, may have been manipulated for a decade by the banks setting it, researchers say. Unusual trading patterns around 3 p.m. in London, when the so-called afternoon fix is set on a private conference call between five […]
Autonomous Drones Flock Like Birds
March 1st, 2014Via: Nature: A Hungarian team has created the first drones that can fly as a coordinated flock. The researchers watched as the ten autonomous robots took to the air in a field outside Budapest, zipping through the open sky, flying in formation or even following a leader, all without any central control. The aircraft, called […]
Blood Pressure Pills ‘Raise Risk of Fatal Fall’
February 27th, 2014Warning: Nothing that appears on Cryptogon should be considered medical advice. See: Cayenne + hypertension and Vitamin C + hypertension Via: Telegraph: Millions of older people taking high-blood pressure tablets, like beta-blockers, may be doing themselves more harm than good because the pills increase the risk of fatal falls, scientists have warned. Yale University has […]
Rolls-Royce Drone Ships
February 26th, 2014Via: Bloomberg: In an age of aerial drones and driver-less cars, Rolls-Royce (RR/) Holdings Plc is designing unmanned cargo ships. Rolls-Royce’s Blue Ocean development team has set up a virtual-reality prototype at its office in Alesund, Norway, that simulates 360-degree views from a vessel’s bridge. Eventually, the London-based manufacturer of engines and turbines says, captains […]
Exxon CEO Tries to Stop Fracking Near His Land
February 26th, 2014Via: Globe and Mail: Rex Tillerson’s company may be a big player in fracking, but the chief executive of Exxon Mobil Corp. has a problem with what the related issues could mean to the value of his ranch. The chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil Corp., a major player where the controversial technique is concerned, […]
James Stuart Jr., Prominent Lincoln Banker, Found Dead
February 26th, 2014Via: Linkoln Journal Star: A successful Lincoln businessman and member of a prominent local family died last week. Former National Bank of Commerce CEO James Stuart Jr. was found dead in Scottsdale, Ariz., the morning of Feb. 19. A family spokesman did not say what caused the death. A Scottsdale, Ariz., police spokesperson could not […]
Electronics Retailer Checks Customers’ Names Against U.S. Watch List
February 25th, 2014Via: EEV Blog: If your name happens to be fairly common like mine, then you may end up having your orders flagged and put on hold by Element 14, at least here in Australia. Because, well, their system sucks arse, and it seems like they are licking the arse of the United States government to […]
Comcast’s Deal with Netflix Makes Network Neutrality Obsolete
February 23rd, 2014Via: Washington Post: For the past two decades, the Internet has operated as an unregulated, competitive free market. Given the tendency of networked industries to lapse into monopoly—think of AT&T’s 70-year hold over telephone service, for example—that’s a minor miracle. But recent developments are putting the Internet’s decentralized architecture in danger. In recent months, the […]
Use of Prescription Drugs in Kentucky and West Virginia [???]
February 23rd, 2014I was reading this piece about the most miserable states in the U.S. when I came across this sentence in the section on Kentucky: The state’s population was the nation’s most reliant on prescription drugs, with 19.3 prescriptions filled per capita in 2011, tied with West Virginia. 😯 Would that be a world leading statistic? […]
St. Mary’s College Considers Basing President’s Salary Off That of Cleaning Staff
February 22nd, 2014My position on this is here. Via: Washington Post: How much should a college president make compared to the worker who cleans his office? According to a proposal put forward by students and faculty at St. Mary’s College in Maryland, the answer is: no more than 10 times as much. On Thursday afternoon, the faculty […]
