The share of Americans who own their homes was 65 percent in the first quarter, down from 65.4 percent a year earlier and the lowest level since the third quarter of 1995, the Census Bureau reported today.

"Investors" are buying single-family homes and renting them out to capitalize on demand among families unable to qualify for a mortgage.

Home values in 20 cities increased 9.3 percent in February from a year earlier.

FED is "financing" top 5th percentile and this guys "invest".

Fresh data showed industrial production in March fell 7.6pc from a year earlier, dropping for the 15th consecutive month. New orders fell 10pc.

Country’s industrial output fell back to levels reached in 1979 and continue to fall.

The EU expects Italy’s economy to contract by 1.3pc this year, pushing the debt ratio to 131pc of GDP. Many private forecasters fear far worse

Via: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/10069752/Italys-industrial-output-falls-back-to-1970s.html

Microsoft has said that a fee will be charged for any game disc to be tied to a second Xbox Live account after its initial installation.

Want to play game with your friend on his XBox? No luck. You are just renting right to play the game :-)

Sanyo Electric Co may cease to exist under a reorganization by Panasonic Corp that includes global jobs cuts, Nikkei reported on Friday.

Panasonic will cut 90 percent of Sanyo's global workforce of about 2,500 in around three years, the daily reported.

About 1,000 workers at Sanyo's headquarters will be reduced to around 100 this fiscal year, leaving just a skeleton crew for handling legal matters, managing intellectual property and other tasks. Panasonic may decide to absorb the unit entirely, the Nikkei said

Via: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/17/us-sanyo-divest-idUSBRE94G0S020130517

One thing Google apparently forgot to announce yesterday at its annual I/O developer conference is that it has cancelled its contract with Doctor Mobile, the developer of the mobile applications for the Quickoffice service.

Google acquired Quickoffice, which is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, in June last year for an undisclosed sum.

Now, less than a year later, Google is shutting down two of its offices, namely in Saint Petersburg (Russia) and Kharkiv (Ukraine), where more than 100 people are working.

Yep, this guys cancelled all contracts without warning and without any payments.

As after buyout they had all people working as contractors.

The rumor also notes that OS X 10.9, which is internally codenamed "Cabernet," will include a new version of Safari with a focus on speed and efficiency. Like Mountain Lion before it, 10.9 will reportedly borrow features from iOS: a new multitasking feature inspired by the mobile operating system may be included, and background apps may be paused similarly to how they are on iPhones and iPads.

"Improvements" galore.

via: http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/29/4281684/os-x-10-9-rumored-redesigned-finder-with-tabbed-browsing

RED claims that three cameras made by defendants Sony Electronics and Sony Corporation of America “all embody the subject matter claimed in Red’s asserted patents without any license.” The federal court filing adds that “Red is informed and believes and thereupon alleges that the sale of Sony’s unauthorized, infringing cameras has resulted in lost sales, reduced the business and profit of Red, and greatly injured the general reputation of Red.” Alleging two instances of “willful and wanton” patent infringement on technology used in its Red One camera, Red is seeking a court order that its patents are “valid and enforceable” as well as an injunction against Sony’s F65, F55 and F5 cameras to stop their further sale and have them destroyed.

Document - http://www-deadline-com.vimg.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/RED-DIGITAL-SONY-PATENT-SUIT__130213155619.pdf

Via: http://www.deadline.com/2013/02/lawsuit-red-digital-cinemas-sony-corp-the-hobbit-cameras/

It seems like Sony cameras made big hole in RED sales, especially in the rented cameras department.

This morning, Disney shut down LucasArts, the 31-year-old gaming division of Lucasfilm. They gutted the whole division with approximately 150 employees losing their jobs.

“After evaluating our position in the games market, we’ve decided to shift LucasArts from an internal development to a licensing model, minimizing the company’s risk while achieving a broader portfolio of quality Star Wars games. As a result of this change, we’ve had layoffs across the organization. We are incredibly appreciative and proud of the talented teams who have been developing our new titles.”

Corporations....

Via: http://www.cartoonbrew.com/business/breaking-disney-shuts-down-lucasarts-150-staffers-laid-off-80498.html

As 3D TV continues to grow, competition between two main 3D technologies is heating up, and film patterned retarder is finally catching up to the more established shutter glass approach. According to research firm DisplaySearch, demand for 3D patterned retarder film is expected to reach 34 million units in 2013.

"Despite the fact that 3D TV has not grown as fast as many in the industry expected, the penetration rate is still growing steadily. Nearly 30% of LCD TV panels shipped in 2013 will have 3D capability," noted Yoonsung Chung, director of large-size displays for DisplaySearch. "3D patterned retarder film reportedly minimizes eye fatigue, and demand for it is growing at a much faster pace. It is forecast to account for 48% of total 3D TV panel shipments in 2013, up from 39% in 2011."

Via: http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20130328PR200.html

And 4K passive 3D panels will be absolutely perfect thing :-)

Unemployment rate is already 26pc and lay-offs are continuing at an alarming pace. Labour specialists AML Afi-Asempleo said the economy would shed 300,000 jobs over the first three months of this year.

The ratio of unemployed to the number of jobs available has risen to a record 107.

Via: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9925876/Italys-companies-face-slow-death-as-credit-crunch-deepens.html

Four out of 10 Greeks told the same survey that they no longer have any disposable money left after covering their basic needs, which is the highest rate ever recorded in Greece and the biggest in the October-December period in Europe. A year earlier (in Q4 2011) that rate had stood at 34 percent and in Q4 of 2010 it had been at 25 percent.

Even in cases where consumers do have some money left to spend, it goes mostly toward the payment of loan and credit card installments (31 percent) or savings (22 percent). Only a very small number of consumers use their disposable income for entertainment, vacations and buying clothes, which helps to explain the turnover slump in of the sectors of food catering, domestic tourism and apparel stores.

In exactly same fasion it'll be in US and EU.

Less and less money will be left, and this small amount will lead to destruction of division of labor. System will turn into ineffective natural economic.

One of Apple’s key weapons in its legal battle against competitors is a special type of patent that protects the visual appearance of a product. Critics have denounced these patents as a way to own “rounded rectangles” but we may have to get used to seeing a lot more of them.

In December President Obama signed a law that will increase the term and scope of so-called “design patents.” The law could offer US designers a new way to fight knock-offs — but some fear it will strain an already over-burdened Patent Office and make America’s troubled patent system even more dysfunctional.

Read the rest at http://gigaom.com/2012/12/27/here-come-the-design-patents-new-law-boosts-rights-in-shapes-designs/

Interesting thing, isn't it? PHP here is PCRE. Blue line is algorithm proposed (and used as you can see in some tools) long long time ago.
Good illustration to our current approach - hardware is cheap, let's install more powerful server. :-)

Check http://swtch.com/~rsc/regexp/regexp1.html

Greek police have stormed a metro train depot in the capital Athens, breaking up a sit-in by striking workers.

The workers had been on the ninth successive day of strike action that has crippled the underground system.

The conservative-led government used an emergency law to threaten the strikers with arrest unless they went back to work. It was not clear if the move would lead to transport resuming.

Strikers are opposed to proposals which might see their salaries slashed.

The operation took place shortly before 04:00 local time (02:00 GMT), with around 100 riot police officers entering the depot where workers had barricaded themselves in overnight.

A police spokesman told the BBC three people were arrested and subsequently released. The area around the depot has now been cordoned off to prevent others from joining the strike.

Bus drivers and railway workers were to join the strike on Friday. Transport unions say they will continue their action, raising the possibility that some could face arrest and criminal charges, with a prison sentence of up to five years.

Via: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21192096

1. The strategy of distraction
The primary element of social control is the strategy of distraction which is to divert public attention from important issues and changes determined by the political and economic elites, by the technique of flood or flooding continuous distractions and insignificant information. distraction strategy is also essential to prevent the public interest in the essential knowledge in the area of the science, economics, psychology, neurobiology and cybernetics. “Maintaining public attention diverted away from the real social problems, captivated by matters of no real importance. Keep the public busy, busy, busy, no time to think, back to farm and other animals (quote from text Silent Weapons for Quiet War ).”

2. Create problems, then offer solutions
This method is also called “problem -reaction- solution. “It creates a problem, a “situation” referred to cause some reaction in the audience, so this is the principal of the steps that you want to accept. For example: let it unfold and intensify urban violence, or arrange for bloody attacks in order that the public is the applicant‟s security laws and policies to the detriment of freedom. Or: create an economic crisis to accept as a necessary evil retreat of social rights and the dismantling of public services.

etc

From http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/1063/10-strategies-of-manipulation/p1

When I say "his home," this appears to consist of nine houses and is the site of the Belize Ecological Foundation. The Belize Gang Suppression Unit's press release declares that McAfee, 66, was there with his 17-year-old girlfriend (referred to as a minor) and five security guards.

The GSU reportedly says it discovered 10 firearms and 5 air rifles, all allegedly unlicensed. It also claims that it took samples of an alleged antibiotic that was being manufactured at this home. The GSU is sure that McAfee had no license for such a production, the report says.

Via:http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57428439-71/mcafee-founder-booked-on-drug-weapons-charges-report-says/

Greece is facing a heating-oil crisis. With an economy that has contracted for five years and an unemployment rate at a record 25 percent, residents in northern Greece can’t heat their homes. Kastoria hasn’t received funds from the central government to warm schools and the mayor said he will close all 53 of them rather than let children freeze, a step already taken in a nearby town. Truckloads of wood are arriving from Bulgaria as families search for alternative fuels.

Via: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-18/greeks-can-t-find-euros-to-buy-heating-oil-with-winter-economy.html

Garbage has started mounting up on the streets of Athens and Thessaloniki as a deadlock between municipal workers and the government continues over the latter’s plans to place hundreds of state workers in a redundancy scheme and to introduce a new payroll structure that will see civil service salaries reduced.

Via: http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_18/12/2012_475064

Check it our, folks. This guys are slightly ahead in their jump :-)

The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of it? A Death! What's that, a bonus? I think the life cycle is all backwards. You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you live in an old age home. You get kicked out when you're too young, you get a gold watch, you go to work. You work forty years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement. You do drugs, alcohol, you party, you get ready for high school. You go to grade school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities, you become a little baby, you go back into the womb, you spend your last nine months floating... ...and you finish off as an orgasm (c) GC

"By creating the category of premium marijuana, we want to position it similar to a fine cognac, a fine brandy, a fine cigar," Shively said. "Something to be savored and enjoyed in small quantities by responsible adults.

It will be legal for adults 21 and older to possess marijuana in Washington state starting Dec. 6.

The state of Washington estimates it will make about $2 billion over the next five years on marijuana taxes alone.

"The buzz is in the air," Shively said. "This is a new industry in the making, and it's going to be a giant industry and the state of Washington is going to lead the way."

Via: http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/former-microsoft-executive-plans-premium-pot-busin/nTKds/

She will make history as she becomes the first Royal to appear in the new format in her Christmas Day speech, after Prince William refused to allow 3D cameras to film his wedding last year.

The 86-year-old monarch was filmed by the hi-tech cameras last Friday. They will make the Queen seem more life-like to those watching on a 3D television. Most 3D TVs require special glasses.

She talks about the celebration of her Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics — where she appeared in the opening ceremony film alongside James Bond.

The Queen’s speech was recorded by BSkyB, who will make it available to the BBC and ITV.

Via: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4688997/Queen-in-3D-debut-for-Xmas-message.html#ixzz2EdLfTEmJ

Interesting. I though that queen regime collapsed, as well as 3D. Big surprise.

Panasonic Corp. is considering selling one of its main office buildings in Tokyo's Shiodome business district possibly by the end of this business year through March to bolster its flagging financial base, company and other sources said Friday.

The planned asset sales would come as the electronics company, based in Osaka Prefecture, expects to book a hefty group net loss for the second straight year, projecting a loss of 765 billion yen for fiscal 2012.

The building in Tokyo's Minato Ward, called Panasonic Tokyo Shiodome building, was constructed in 2003 as the Tokyo headquarters office of Panasonic's then subsidiary.

In the building, about 2,000 employees work mostly in a department overseeing the company's energy-solutions business of selling energy-saving products such as LED lighting to homeowners and retail shops.

The company plans to lease the office after selling the building, the sources said.

As its cash reserves have decreased to around 470 billion yen as of the end of September from some 2 trillion yen two years earlier, the company plans to accelerate sales of assets which do not directly affect its earnings to avert excessive reliance on lending from banks, the sources said.

The company also plans to terminate the leasing of a building in the city of Osaka at the end of next May, they said.

The country's biggest commercial employer will axe another 10,000 jobs by end-March as it pares its costs and looks to return to profit. Panasonic shed 36,000 jobs last business year, some through the sale of businesses

Via: http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20121208p2g00m0bu002000c.html

Btw, all this operations came from MBA education of their managers. They teach you to sell main asserts and get them in the lease, as it usually can allow manager to stay at same place longer :-)

Biggest gain was in retail jobs as expected in part of the Thanksgiving rush, which added +53K jobs, Professional and Business services rose by 43K, of which Administrative and Waste Services was +23K, and Hospitality and Leisure +23K: all low paying jobs. Construction jobs lost: 20K

It is really simple. Look how effective they prevent goverments on imposing restrictions on their actions.
Of course, few pretty puppies make some noise on TV from time to time.
But I do not see this noises have any real effect.

In fact, proper system must impose big regulations and certain standards on mass produced goods.

• You must not be allowed to use custom batteries, protected chipped batteries
• Same for chargers
• Fixed build in batteries must not be allowed in any products indended for general public

• Same goes for printer cartridges

• Every corporation must have obligation to produce part for 10 years, they must be available for purchase via special site all this time, and total price of all parts must be no more than original product price

• If expected life of the product is 10 years or more, this time goes up to 25 years.

• Every product must contain full schematics and full assemble and disassembly instructions. Products without this are not allowed to be sold.

• Special tax must apply for the goods that have many similar parts with previous model, but prevent people to upgrade their old model buy purchasing this parts due to some incompatibility. Tax must be around 200% of MSRP.

Look at the tablets and smartphones. Perfect dream for corporations.

Short release cycle, big repair costs, big prices for replacement parts, fixed batteries in most models, frequently fixed ram and flash amount, special software design to prevent or make hard upgrades or full access to device, special restricted software markets.

Generally all this shit is quite simple. Every such thing consist from main board, sometimes wifi board, speakers and microphones, cameras, battery, screen and case. Having proper standards and proper system it can be ideal modular platforms. Most do not want to change case (except for one that allow bigger battery, may be) wi-fi or speaker, many are ok with old screens, many just want to change build in flash or add ram, may be just upgrade whole MB.

Look at the PC world. One big corporation made error (in their self interest terms), as they made modular system. I personally knew the cases from 286 computers that perfectly worked with MB two generations after that, and 386SX cases that ended life with Pentium II (due to ATX standard, otherwise they ahd been ok).

Pharmacies across the country will be closed next Monday and Tuesday as sector professionals launch new protest action, this time against a legislative act requiring them to pay a rebate to insurance funds which will cost pharmacists between 5,000 and 50,000 euros.

Pharmacists also decided to stop providing medicine on credit to customers insured with social security funds. Pharmacists have taken similar action in recent months over the failure by social security funds to settle unpaid drugs bill.

Via: http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_21/11/2012_471066

The maker of consumer electronics, solar panels and home appliances dropped 19 percent to 414 yen as of 9:33 a.m., headed for the lowest close since February 1975.

Reason? See - http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/5051/japan-panasonic-and-toshiba-losses#Item_12

• First, they do not care much (good stage).
• Second, they start to improve (worse, but tolerable), original authors still can interfere
• Third, they become angry, as few key top managers did not see their idea propertly implemented (warning!)
• Forth, they introduce "amazing" new products, axing all original design, according to ideas of marketing team (road to disaster).

Here is one example : http://ue.logitech.com/en-us/smart-radios#tab-specs

As user of two Squeezebox products, it is really sad. Hope that they won't kill supporting site too soon.

There are lots of changes with WinRT that make targeting it a little more tricky. For instance, you cannot merely open any file, access the registry, and even use the loopback (127.0.0.1) adaptor. LoadLibrary cannot be used to load any arbitrary DLL; you must call LoadPackageLibrary and only on a DLL that is present in the digitally signed appx package.

To be short. If you want to make official Windows 8 compatible applications that can be delivered via MS Store you MUST use Microsoft only tools. Period. Where are all this fighters with monopolies?

It must NOT be allowed for any OS author to release ANY development tools for this OS.
And it It must NOT be allowed for any OS author to own any applications store.

After PHP and few other components update on VPS, PM started to come slightly damaged.

Not on personal-view.com, but on nex-hack.info.

Further testing showed that same message sent to Outlook will look distored, and sent to gmail will look just fine.

It took some time to find relevant link - http://octeth.com/forum/showthread.php/5888-Email-output-with-php-5.3

One other - http://www.jeremytunnell.com/posts/really-hairy-problem-with-seemingly-random-crlf-and-spaces-inserted-in-emails

Just commenting three lines in phpmailer solved issue.

But isn't it weird?

So I looked in more details.

Check this phpmailer bug link (still open :-) ): http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&aid=2792361&group_id=26031&atid=385707

In comments you'll find what build in phpmailer function responsible for quoted printable encoding, in fact, contain code to prevent appearence of long time Microsoft bug.

So, after developers of phpmailer realised that they can now use standard PHP function in new versions they forgot about it.

And why all had been ok on PV? It just did not used such encoding.

Right now it works on '8bit' setting fine, but it is recommended to use 'base64', as you could have long and international titles.