Archive for the 'Economy' Category
What Happens When Big Data Meets Human Resources?
November 27th, 2013In the mid 1990s, I worked for FedEx and even back then, every minute of the work day had to be accounted for by noting activity codes and times on our timesheets. At random intervals, the bean counters would light fires under our managers’ tails and the managers would get on our cases about, “Productivity.” […]
Gold Fix Drawing Scrutiny
November 26th, 2013Via: Bloomberg: Every business day in London, five banks meet to set the price of gold in a ritual that dates back to 1919. Now, dealers and economists say knowledge gleaned on those calls could give some traders an unfair advantage when buying and selling the precious metal. The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority is scrutinizing […]
Software Mines Science Papers to Make New Discoveries
November 26th, 2013In other news: Majority of Landmark Cancer Studies Cannot Be Replicated. Via: MIT Technology Review: Software that read tens of thousands of research papers and then predicted new discoveries about the workings of a protein that’s key to cancer could herald a faster approach to developing new drugs. The software, developed in collaboration between IBM […]
Britain: £150 Cosy Cob Home
November 26th, 2013If this sort of thing calls to you, see: The Hand-Sculpted House: A Practical and Philosophical Guide to Building a Cob Cottage by Ianto Evans. Via: Daily Mail: Smallholder Michael Buck spent eight months constructing the house using the ancient technique of cob – building with a mixture of sand, clay, straw, water and earth. […]
U.S. Banks Warn Fed Interest Cut Could Force Them to Charge Depositors
November 25th, 2013Via: Financial Times: Leading US banks have warned that they could start charging companies and consumers for deposits if the US Federal Reserve cuts the interest it pays on bank reserves. Depositors already have to cope with near-zero interest rates, but paying just to leave money in the bank would be highly unusual and unwelcome […]
Israelis Secretly Inspect Saudi Bases; Possible Staging Ground for Strikes Against Iran
November 24th, 2013As a response, would Iran blow up Saudi Aramco’s deep water oil terminal at Ras Tanura, or close shipping through the Strait of Hormuz? Decisions, decisions. Via: Klein Online: Israeli personnel in recent days were in Saudi Arabia to inspect bases that could be used as a staging ground to launch attacks against Iran, according […]
Britain: Prisons Privatisation Cancelled Amid Serco Probe
November 22nd, 2013Via: BBC: Plans to privatise three prisons have been cancelled because of an ongoing investigation into the leading bidder. The justice secretary said the prison service would remain in charge at Hatfield, Lindholme and Moorland, all in South Yorkshire, while allegations against Serco remained outstanding. The contractor is accused of over-charging the government for electronically […]
#Let’s Cook: Feds Stop North Korean Meth ‘Floodgate’ Into New York
November 20th, 2013Via: New York Observer: Is Walter White working out of North Korea? According to federal authorities, five men were arrested in New York this week for attempting to bring over 200 pounds of methamphetamine from the dictatorial regime into the Empire State. (Mirroring the quality of “Blue Magic” meth produced in Breaking Bad, the illegal […]
Behind the Pentagon’s Doctored Ledgers, a Running Tally of Epic Waste
November 20th, 2013Never forget: Trillions: I would argue that Chalmers Johnson’s estimate was corroborated on September 10, 2001, on the eve of the worst terrorist attack in US history, when Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged during a press conference that the Department of Defense (DoD) could not account for $2.3 trillion of the massive Pentagon budget, […]
The City Addicted to Crystal Meth: The Methamphetamine Zombie Apocalypse in Fresno
November 20th, 2013This is a documentary from 2009. I think that YouTube recommended it to me because I was looking at videos about Breaking Bad. Via: BBC:
