Rogue Trader Cost UBS $2 Billion
September 15th, 2011If UBS lost $2 billion, who wound up with it?
Via: Reuters:
Swiss bank UBS said a trader had lost it around $2 billion in unauthorized deals, and police in London arrested 31-year-old Kweku Adoboli in connection with the case.
Adoboli — a director of exchange traded funds and “Delta 1” working in the bank’s London office, according to his profile on networking site LinkedIn — was arrested on suspicion of fraud, sources told Reuters.
“I can confirm that an employee of the bank was arrested in London in connection with the statement,” a UBS spokesman said.
UBS said it might post a third-quarter loss after the rogue trades, a huge blow as it struggles to rebuild its credibility after years of crises.
The loss effectively cancels out the 2 billion-franc saving that the bank had hoped to make in a cost-cutting program announced last month in which it will axe 3,500 jobs.
It also threatens the future of UBS’s investment bank, which is being reviewed by chief executive Oswald Gruebel as part of a wide-ranging restructuring following heavy losses in the credit crisis and a damaging scandal over bankers helping rich U.S. clients dodge taxes.
UBS, which said no client positions were affected, is scheduled to hold an investor day on November 17 at which it was expected to announce major restructuring of the investment bank.
“The matter is still being investigated, but UBS’s current estimate of the loss on the trades is in the range of $2 billion,” the bank said in a statement.
‘New Emotion Detector Can See When We’re Lying’
September 14th, 2011[???]
Via: BBC:
A sophisticated new camera system can detect lies just by watching our faces as we talk, experts say.
The computerised system uses a simple video camera, a high-resolution thermal imaging sensor and a suite of algorithms.
Researchers say the system could be a powerful aid to security services.
It successfully discriminates between truth and lies in about two-thirds of cases, said lead researcher Professor Hassan Ugail from Bradford University.
The system, developed by a team from the universities of Bradford and Aberystwyth in conjunction with the UK Border Agency, was unveiled today at the British Science Festival in Bradford.
This new approach builds on years of research into how we all unconsciously, involuntarily reveal our emotions in subtle changes of expression and the flow of blood to our skin.
We give our emotions away in our eye movements, dilated pupils, biting or pressing together our lips, wrinkling our noses, breathing heavily, swallowing, blinking and facial asymmetry. And these are just the visible signs seen by the camera.
Even swelling blood vessels around our eyes betray us, and the thermal sensor spots them too.
Catholic Church Abuse Victims Seek Prosecution of Pope Benedict and Other Vatican Officials in International Criminal Court
September 14th, 2011Via: Time:
Clergy sex abuse victims upset that no high-ranking Roman Catholic leaders have been prosecuted for sheltering guilty priests have turned to the International Criminal Court, seeking an investigation of the pope and top Vatican cardinals for possible crimes against humanity. The Vatican called the move a “ludicrous publicity stunt.”
The Center for Constitutional Rights, a New York-based nonprofit legal group, requested the inquiry Tuesday on behalf of the U.S.-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, arguing that the global church has maintained a “long-standing and pervasive system of sexual violence” despite promises to swiftly oust predators.
The Vatican’s U.S. lawyer, Jeffrey Lena, called the complaint a “ludicrous publicity stunt and a misuse of international judicial processes” in a statement to The Associated Press.
The complaint names Pope Benedict XVI, partly in his former role as leader of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which in 2001 explicitly gained responsibility for overseeing abuse cases; Cardinal William Levada, who now leads that office; Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican secretary of state under Pope John Paul II; and Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who now holds that post.
Attorneys for the victims say rape, sexual violence and torture are considered a crime against humanity as described in the international treaty that spells out the court’s mandate. The complaint also accuses Vatican officials of creating policies that perpetuated the damage, constituting an attack against a civilian population.
Germany and Greece Flirt with Mutual Assured Destruction
September 14th, 2011Via: Telegraph:
First we learn from planted leaks that Germany is activating “Plan B”, telling banks and insurance companies to prepare for 50pc haircuts on Greek debt; then that Germany is “studying” options that include Greece’s return to the drachma.
German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble has chosen to do this at a moment when the global economy is already flirting with double-dip recession, bank shares are crashing, and global credit strains are testing Lehman levels. The recklessness is breath-taking.
If it is a pressure tactic to force Greece to submit to EU-IMF demands of yet further austerity, it may instead bring mutual assured destruction.
“Whoever thinks that Greece is an easy scapegoat, will find that this eventually turns against them, against the hard core of the eurozone,” said Greek finance minister Evangelos Venizelos.
Greece can, if provoked, pull the pin on the European banking system and inflict huge damage on Germany itself, and Greece has certainly been provoked.
Germany’s EU commissioner Günther Oettinger said Europe should send blue helmets to take control of Greek tax collection and liquidate state assets. They had better be well armed. The headlines in the Greek press have been “Unconditional Capitulation”, and “Terrorization of Greeks”, and even “Fourth Reich”.
Mr Schauble said there would be no more money for Athens under the EU-IMF rescue package until the Greeks “do what they agreed to do” and comply with every demand of `Troika’ inspectors.
Yet to push Greece over the edge risks instant contagion to Portugal, which has higher levels of total debt, and an equally bad current account deficit near 9pc of GDP, and is just as unable to comply with Germany’s austerity dictates in the long run. From there the chain-reaction into EMU’s soft-core would be fast and furious.
Utility Paid $200K for Positive Web Stories on Fake News Site
September 14th, 2011Via: CBS News:
A Southern California water utility paid nearly $200,000 in taxpayer dollars for glowing coverage from a website that boosted its profile on Google, according to a newspaper report.
The Los Angeles Times reports that officials from the Central Basin Municipal Water District used public funds to have a consultant produce promotional stories “written in the image of real news,” and to have those stories posted on a professional-looking website called News Hawks Review.
The utility used the stories to boost its ranking on Google, which classified News Hawks Review as a news site, the newspaper reported.
Google removed the site from its search index Tuesday, following publication of the Times’ story, saying News Hawks Review had violated its guidelines.
The site had published more than 30 glowing stories about the utility in the past year.
Central Basin spokeswoman Valerie Howard told the Times that she did not find the website misleading and the campaign had helped bring more web traffic to the utility’s website.
French Bank Ratings Downgraded by Moody’s
September 14th, 2011Via: BBC:
Rating agency Moody’s has downgraded two French banks whose share prices have dived on fears of their exposure to the eurozone debt crisis.
Credit Agricole was cut from Aa1 to Aa2 and Societe Generale from Aa2 to Aa3, due to their exposure to Greek debt.
A third bank, BNP Paribas, was kept on review for a possible downgrade.
The two downgraded banks have seen their share prices fall 60% and 65% respectively since February, while BNP has fallen 53% over the same period.
The banks’ ratings have been on review since 15 June, and Moody’s decision had been widely anticipated by the markets.
Emergency talks
However, the downgrade is likely to put further pressure on the banks, as many investors limit their exposure to them based on their credit ratings.
Moody’s focused on the banks’ exposure to the Greek economy, although the recent market sell-off reflects a broader concern over the health of other southern European countries such as Italy, as well as over the political will to sustain the euro.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are due to hold talks on Wednesday in response to growing market expectations of an imminent default by Greece.
Microsoft’s Desperation to Catch Apple in the Crackpad Race to the Land of Dumb and Dumber
September 14th, 2011As you guys know, I’m not much of a fan of any operating system. I find Windows XP to be the least bad for what I do. Windows 7 is usable. Mac OSX is usable (but doesn’t support MultiCharts, an application I use daily). Linux still sucks, on the client side, and I guess that will never change.
I’ve written repeatedly about Apple’s move to dumb down OSX, which immediately worried me, because Microsoft has been copying Apple for decades. And now, guess what…
If Apple’s transitioning of OSX to an iOS-like experience is dumb, Microsoft wants to be dumber with Windows 8. Apparently, Windows 8 is going to be a full-screen ‘app’ type experience from the start. I know, we will be able to make Windows 8 look like Windows 7 (which I make look like XP), but that’s not the point. The point is that the focus is shifting toward catering to zombies by default.
Do you want to see what happens when people, who actually use these systems to do real work, run into this zombie app paradigm on the desktop? It’s called Final Cut Pro X:
In the first week since its debut, Apple’s Final Cut Pro X was met by a spectacular disappointment and a list of harsh reviews calling the software “disastrous.”
Disastrous.
Yes. There are hundreds of articles like that.
Apple users, who were working professionals, were hair-on-fire pissed. Competing companies have been feasting on people leaving Apple over it and, less than two weeks ago, Apple broke down and started selling the “old” Final Cut Studio product again:
Apple has agreed to make older versions of Final Cut Studio 3 available for purchase, following several months of customer backlash against the radically redesigned Final Cut Pro X.
When Final Cut Pro X was released in June, Apple touted the release as “the biggest advance in Pro video editing since the original Final Cut Pro.” Video professionals disagreed.
After receiving negative reviews from customers, Apple promised to frequently update Final Cut Pro X in order to bring its features up to par with previous versions of the venerable editing software. Apple’s competitors in the space, including Avid and Adobe, used the opportunity to offer Final Cut Pro customers cheaper migration paths to their software.
Since July, we’ve been hearing that existing Final Cut Studio customers could purchase additional licenses to the old program by calling Apple directly. MacRumors confirms that any customer can now obtain the legacy version of the video editor by calling Apple.
Here’s why Apple is dumbing down: It likes zombies. It wants zombies. It needs zombies. Don’t take my word for it. Sachin Agarwal was an Apple developer on Final Cut Pro from 2002 to 2008:
I worked on Final Cut Pro from 2002 to 2008. It was an amazing experience. The Final Cut Pro X project was just getting started when I left Apple. It was an ambitious and controversial move, but it made sense for Apple. Here’s why:
Apple doesn’t care about the pro space
The goal for every Apple software product is to sell more hardware. Even the Mac operating system is just trying to get people to buy more Mac computers.
The pro market is too small for Apple to care about it. Instead of trying to get hundreds or even thousands of video professionals to buy new Macs, they can nail the pro-sumer market and sell to hundreds of thousands of hobbyists like me.
Millions of people are buying phones and cameras that can shoot HD video, and many of them are looking for ways to edit. I know how to use Final Cut Pro because I worked on it for 6 years, but for most people it’s just too complex.
FCP X lets Apple move beyond the pro space, and sell to a much larger group looking for better tools.
I don’t want an app version of Photoshop or Premiere Pro. I don’t want to run MultiCharts next to my Twitter feeds. I have no interest in Reason for Dummies.
DON’T CATER TO ZOMBIES WITH APPLICATIONS THAT ARE MEANT TO DO REAL WORK.
And I need multiple applications and windows open across my desktop, not full screen, single f*cking app nonsense.
I understand the logic for apps on mobile devices (get the Cryptogon app here haha). I won’t go near that stuff myself, but, hey, to each his own. But on real computers… This is not good.
It’s just starting and it’s going to be everywhere. Have you seen the new look on Amazon.com? That’s right. It’s a better interface for Amazon’s take on the crackpad/vending machine business model that will be out soon.
Here, have some apps. Would you like some apps? FREE APPS!
Thankfully, Google’s Chrome OS flopped, which was predictable. This full court press by Microsoft to catch Apple, however, can’t be written off. The Kool-Aid has gone down the hatch.
Check this out on Engadget:
It’s just not a developer conference these days without a big giveaway, and Microsoft’s now come through on that front at Build. The company announced that it’s giving away 5,000 Samsung-built developer “PCs” to attendees, and that AT&T will throw in a year of 3G service (2GB per month) for good measure. And, yes, if you haven’t noticed, Microsoft is intent on calling every Windows 8 device a “PC,” even including tablets. In this case, that PC comes complete with a second-gen Intel Core i5 processor, an 11.6-inch 1,366 x 768 Samsung Super PLS display, a 64GB SSD, 4GB of RAM, and a dock with a USB, HDMI and Ethernet ports.
That’s no tablet, young Skywalker. That thing has laptop specs. Real computer specs. This is aimed at you and me and everyone else. It’s not just for the Dancing with the Stars demographic anymore.
Vladimir Putin, Action Man
September 13th, 2011YES!!! The best EVER Putin propaganda photo gallery. No really. The. Best.
Via: The Atlantic:
Vladimir Putin, the 58-year-old former president and current prime minister of Russia, has cultivated a distinct public image over the past several years. The politician has piloted firefighting planes, darted whales, driven race cars, and even taken a submersible 1,400 meters (4,600 ft) below the surface of Lake Baikal. Putin was forced to step down from the presidency in 2008 due to a constitutional limit on more than two consecutive terms. However, he remained the most influential figure in Russian politics, and has had a strong hand in the “tandem rule” between himself and current president Dmitri Medvedev. The next presidential election takes place in March of 2012, and indications are that both Medvedev and Putin are planning to run, though neither has officially announced his candidacy yet. Gathered here are some of the more interesting photos taken of Vladimir Putin during his tenure as Russia’s prime minister over the past few years.
Cryptogon Reader Sends Contribution
September 13th, 2011JM sent $25. Thank you.
U.S. Poverty Rate Swells to Nearly 1 in 6
September 13th, 2011And to see how the so-called Middle Class is doing, this one is worth checking out: It’s Impossible To “Get By” In The U.S. Of course, the situation has gotten much worse since that article was published.
Via: AP:
The ranks of U.S. poor swelled to nearly 1 in 6 people last year, reaching a new high as long-term unemployment woes left millions of Americans struggling and out of work. The number of uninsured edged up to 49.9 million, the biggest in over two decades.
The Census Bureau’s annual report released Tuesday offers a snapshot of the economic well-being of U.S. households for 2010, when joblessness hovered above 9 percent for a second year. It comes at a politically sensitive time for President Barack Obama, who has acknowledged in the midst of his re-election fight that the unemployment rate could persist at high levels through next year.
The overall poverty rate climbed to 15.1 percent, or 46.2 million, up from 14.3 percent in 2009.
Reflecting the lingering impact of the recession, the U.S. poverty rate from 2007-2010 has now risen faster than any three-year period since the early 1980s, when a crippling energy crisis amid government cutbacks contributed to inflation, spiraling interest rates and unemployment.
Measured by total numbers, the 46 million now living in poverty is the largest on record dating back to when the census began tracking poverty in 1959. Based on percentages, it tied the poverty level in 1993 and was the highest since 1983.
