Washington Post on "In Debt" vs. "Insolvent"

This is one from the "Yes, someone really wrote this" files. The Washington Post "fact checker," Josh Hicks, has put it in writing that the United States government, in spite of its trillions of debt, is not insolvent because insolvency implies an inability to pay debt, and the US can pay its debt because it "has little trouble" borrowing [...]

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Mobile Marketing Startup PageWoo Launches To Make Mobile Ads Location-Aware

Screen Shot 2012-10-24 at 5.22.46 PMPageWoo seeks to solve a number of problems for mobile marketers: It is at once a content-generation engine, as well as a multi-image testing platform. It can target ads based on location and even on the weather. Oh, and did I mention that it provides detailed analytics that can be used to better target those ads.

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Foxconn builds products for many vendors, but its mud sticks to Apple

The name Foxconn has become shorthand for the human costs of building the iPhone in China, linking Apple to bad publicity about worker suicides, deaths from a plant explosion and rioting factory workers.

But many other companies besides Apple contract with the Taiwan-based firm to build their products. Even if you don't have an iPhone, there's a good chance that something you own or use each day was built by Foxconn Technology Group, a company analysts say is the largest electronics manufacturer in the world.

Foxconn, which employs some 1.2 million workers in China, is secretive about who it does business with, and the company declined to name its customers for this article. But analysts who follow the company offered examples of the products assembled, and the list is long.

Sony's PlayStation 3, the Nintendo Wii and Amazon's Kindle Fire are just a few of the products Foxconn makes. It also produces TVs for Sony, Sharp, and Toshiba; handsets for Nokia, Motorola and Huawei, and networking equipment for Cisco, according to Arthur Liao, an analyst with Fubon Securities Investment Services Co.

Michael Kan/IDGNSAn entrance to a Foxconn factory in Zhengzhou, China.

Foxconn is also a major assembler of PCs for Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Acer, and manufactures all three of the big game consoles, from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony, other analysts said.

Cisco, Huawei, Nintendo, Sony and Nokia all confirmed they use Foxconn as a manufacturer, though Nokia said the "clear majority" of its phones are made in-house. Other firms including Acer, Microsoft, Motorola, Sharp and Toshiba declined to comment about where their products are made.

Still, as allegations of abusive labor practices continue to be levelled at Foxconn, Apple has been the main target of complaints about the manufacturer's working conditions.

The strong association may not be unjustified. Among Foxconn's clients, Apple is the largest and contributes about 40 percent of the company's revenue, according to Liao. Another analyst put the figure higher, at more than 50 percent.

Apple's relationship with Foxconn is so extensive that the Taiwanese firm has been building factories exclusively to assemble Apple products, according to Helen Chiang, an analyst with research firm IDC. This is done to meet Apple's demand for secrecy regarding its products. In contrast, a manufacturer such as Quanta Computer, also based in Taiwan, will use one floor of a manufacturing plant for a vendor such as HP, and another floor for Dell, she said.

In the eyes of labor protection groups, Apple deserves to be singled out for criticism because of its powerful position in the market.

"Foxconn is the largest manufacturer and Apple is the largest electronics company, so they have an even greater responsibility than other companies," said Li Qiang, founder of New York-based China Labor Watch. Most recently, the group blamed Apple's iPhone 5 requirements for tension and violence at a factory in Zhengzhou.

That's not to say labor groups have ignored other electronics suppliers. China Labor Watch released a report last year about conditions at 10 factories in China, including ones operated by Foxconn, Quanta, Catcher Technology and Compal Electronics. It found instances of forced overtime, harsh worker treatment and poor dorm conditions. Chinese factories used by Samsung have also come under scrutiny.

"We never said that Apple was the worst in the industry," said Debby Chan, a project officer with Hong Kong-based Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM). "Samsung, HTC, Motorola, Amazon and Nokia have the same problems."

SACOM has been one of the most vocal advocates for change at Foxconn. The issue was first raised in 2010 after a string of worker suicides prompted former Apple CEO Steve Jobs to defend its supplier. In a widely reported email, Jobs said, "Although every suicide is tragic, Foxconn's suicide rate is well below the China average."

"It was the main reason for us to target Apple," Chan said, referring to Jobs's comment defending Foxconn. While media and labor groups were looking into the root cause behind the problem, Apple ignored inquiries into the matter, she said.

Since then, Apple has been more active about addressing problems at Foxconn factories, for example working with the Fair Labor Association to audit facilities for labor violations. Apple declined to comment for this article. In the past it has said: "Our team has been working for years to educate workers, improve conditions and make Apple's supply chain a model for the industry."

Foxconn said it wants to give its employees in China "a safe and positive working environment and compensation and benefits that are much higher than government-mandated wages, and that are competitive with all of our industry peers in every location where we operate."

It provides housing, food allowances and medical benefits, and has raised wages five times in three years, it said in a statement. "Foxconn is not perfect, but we have made tremendous progress," it said.

While labor groups remain unconvinced that the progress is sufficient, Chan agreed that Apple's influence over its suppliers could help to improve working conditions in factories across China. In addition to Foxconn, Apple uses 155 other suppliers, some of which have also drawn allegations of poor working conditions. Chan's group hopes Apple will take the lead and help to reform the entire electronics manufacturing industry.

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Samsung doesn't infringe on Apple's multitouch patent, Dutch court rules

Samsung's Galaxy devices don't infringe on an Apple multitouch patent that describes technology that prevents smartphone users from pushing two on-screen buttons at the same time, the Court of The Hague ruled on Wednesday. The technique used in Android is sufficiently different from Apple's patent, the judge said.

"The court judges that Samsung with the trading of its Galaxy products does not infringe on EP 948," said judge Peter Blok and two other judges. "Apple, as the unsuccessful party, will be ordered to pay the litigation costs," the judges wrote. Samsung's costs already exceed $422,000.

Lawsuit Background

Apple sued Samsung in the Netherlands over a a multitouch patent called "touch-event model." The technology described in the patent disables parts of the screen of a multitouch device when an application developer deems it necessary to do so to avoid undesirable input.

In video games for instance, it is desirable for a player to operate different control buttons at the same time. But it can also be undesirable to let the gamer push parts of the screen such as the menu bar because that can interrupt the game unexpectedly. Therefore, developers need a method to let a user control some buttons on the screen simultaneously, while disabling others on the same screen.

Both Android and iOS have a method to disable parts of the touchscreen. Apple developed and patented a technique to prevent unwanted touches by giving each element of the user interface, also known as a "view," exclusivity.

samsung galaxy s iiiSamsung Galaxy S III smartphone

Android uses a more hierarchical, similar system and doesn't apply exclusivity to one "view", Samsung's lawyer argued during the plea hearingin September, adding that Samsung's Galaxy products therefore do not infringe on Apple's patent.

The technology used in Android is sufficiently different from Apple's patented technology, the judges wrote.

Most important is that professional developers who are familiar with the possibilities to disable part of a touch screen to prevent unwanted input, will assume that the technique used in Android 2.3, 3.0 and higher?which Apple said Samsung's Galaxy infringed on?"do not fall under the protection of the scope of the patent", according to the verdict.

Apple can appeal this verdict, a spokeswoman for the Court of The Hague said. Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

A Samsung spokeswoman said in an emailed statement it welcomed the ruling, "which affirms our position that our products do not infringe Apple's intellectual property", Samsung said. "We will continue to further develop and introduce products that enhance the lives of Dutch consumers," Samsung added.

Other Apple/Samsung Disputes

Today's verdict is in line with earlier European decisions concerning litigation over this patent in Europe which the Dutch judges said they considered.

Apple was also denied an injunction on Samsung's products in preliminary proceedings regarding the same patent at the Court of the Hague last year.

In July, Apple also was denied an injunction against HTC in the United Kingdom in a case concerning the same patent, Apple appealed that case. The lower regional of Mannheim, Germany, also ruled in September that Samsung's Galaxy products do not infringe on Apple's "touch- event model" patent.

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Peace of Mind in an Erratic World

The world is tough and it's so sad that most Christians are being harsh on themselves with pessimistic thoughts. It's ironically striking that Christians serve a mighty God but most of the times seem to demean God's power by pessimistic thinking. This needs to change! Embrace God's power and live in it by being positive all through life, it's not easy but it sure is rewarding to be optimistic when everything around you is crumbling because of your unwavering faith and belief in God's mighty power.

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Will Microsoft's First Hardware Foray Just Be Drool-Worthy on the Surface?

Windows 8's imminent commercial release has been making the rounds at tech forums for quite some time now; and why shouldn't it? For better or worse, Microsoft's OS is expected to shake the way operating systems are perceived by giving a touch-centric mien to traditional keyboard-and-mouse-operated interfaces; the goal being to bridge the gap between desktop/laptop OSes and tablet PC ones.

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Solutions To Clean Dried Ink Off Your Printer Head Nozzles

Reducing the volume of printouts is not the only proper solution for you to save on printing expense. The only main reason why you get all those costly issues from your equipment, is the expensive prices of printer supplies, mainly the laser toner cartridges and ink cartridges that you purchase. Printing less, will only solve a small portion of your problem, and using printers less frequent may just cause the nozzles of your printer cartridges to dry up.

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