CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-05-21 18:40:13 (5 comments, 1 reshares, 7 +1s)

"So we can agree that all the chicanery is unseemly. But still: Apple paid $6 billion in taxes to the Treasury in the 2012 fiscal year and says it anticipates paying $7 billion this year. By contrast, Citizens for Tax Justice has compiled a list of 26 major American companies that paid no taxes whatsoever from 2008 to 2011. That includes Boeing, Verizon, GE, and a slew of electrical utilities like PG&E, Pepco, and ConEd.

These zero-tax companies weren’t doing anything illegal. Rather it was thanks largely to an affirmative act of Congress that enabled companies to claim “accelerated depreciation” of their physical assets to offset earnings. As Martin Sullivan, chief economist at Tax Analysts, has pointed out, these tax breaks especially benefit the manufacturing sector. The fact that Carl Levin,  Michigan’s senior senator, is criticizing the tech sector tells you more about whatkind of ... more »

2013-05-21 18:23:36 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

"This is the Lamborghini Egoista, a 5.2-liter V10, 600-horsepower supercar that can hit 0-60 in under two seconds. It was designed as a one-of-a-kind to celebrate the carmaker's 50th birthday. For my 50th? I dunno, maybe somebody will come scatter flower petals at the site of my failed spaceship launch."

2013-05-21 18:21:34 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 2 +1s)

"While psychologists can’t know exactly what goes on inside our heads, they have, through surveys and laboratory studies, come up with a set of traits that correlate well with conspiracy belief. In 2010, Swami and a co-author summarized this research in The Psychologist, a scientific journal. They found, perhaps surprisingly, that believers are more likely to be cynical about the world in general and politics in particular. Conspiracy theories also seem to be more compelling to those with low self-worth, especially with regard to their sense of agency in the world at large. Conspiracy theories appear to be a way of reacting to uncertainty and powerlessness.

Economic recessions, terrorist attacks and natural disasters are massive, looming threats, but we have little power over when they occur or how or what happens afterward. In these moments of powerlessness and uncertainty, a part of theb... more »

2013-05-21 18:15:26 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

"As proponents of a new immigration overhaul cast about for a Republican ally to help give their bill an extra boost, they have focused on a 79-year-old lawmaker with new hipster glasses (from Costco), black Nike sneakers (for his bad arches) and, perhaps most important, a deep and complicated relationship with immigration policy: Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah.

Members of the bipartisan group of eight senators who drafted an overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws see Mr. Hatch as a potentially influential partner. He was an original co-sponsor of the Dream Act for younger immigrants and has shown a willingness to embrace other immigration legislation as well. Though he ran to the right during a primary challenge in the 2012 election, they believe he might be brought back into the fold now that he is safely ensconced in his seventh Senate term."

2013-05-21 17:56:49 (2 comments, 8 reshares, 7 +1s)

"Sen. James Inhofe, a Republican from Oklahoma, argued that there is no comparison between Hurricane Sandy relief, which he voted against last fall, and aid for his state in the wake of the devastating tornado, because the two are “totally different.”

Yes, they are different - this aid would benefit your own constituents who would vote you out of office if you didn't get them aid and emergency relief.

Inhofe would earn more respect if he simply admitted he was wrong and that we, as a society, need to help each other out in the wake of a natural disaster.

2013-05-21 15:55:51 (6 comments, 1 reshares, 6 +1s)

"Obama's "scandals" are not like Nixon's. They're a fishing expedition to stop his agenda and find something bigger"

This is not to say that there are not things that shouldn't be examined, investigated, or corrected. However, things should be kept in perspective and the business of serving the American people should be kept front and center.

2013-05-21 15:49:41 (2 comments, 2 reshares, 4 +1s)

"The last time Congress passed a disaster aid package was in January, in response to Hurricane Sandy. Nearly 180 House Republicans voted against the $50.5 billion package, in large part because they were demanding that it be offset with spending cuts elsewhere. After outcry over delays from New England lawmakers in both parties, Republican leaders brought the bill to the floor without offsets and it passed with mostly Democratic votes.

Oklahoma's senators are in an awkward position given their past opposition to disaster aid packages without offsets. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has already said that he wants any Oklahoma disaster aid package to be offset. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), meanwhile, has signaled he may not push for offsets in this case."

2013-05-21 15:39:04 (5 comments, 1 reshares, 9 +1s)

I don't know why I still feel this way since it's been going on for so long, but the lack of civility and the pure venom that often comes out from right wing radio hosts on a range of issues just sickens me. I am amazed and saddened not only by the hosts, but by the people who keep them in business by listening to and supporting them. It's up to all of us to work to return this country to more civil discourse by not listening to people like this so that they lose their positions.

2013-05-21 15:18:34 (26 comments, 8 reshares, 9 +1s)

"Robertson said the tornadoes may not have happened if enough victims had prayed: “If enough people were praying He would’ve intervened, you could pray, Jesus stilled the storm, you can still storms."

How absurd and also heartless. He makes himself more irrelevant every time he speaks.

2013-05-21 04:27:38 (3 comments, 1 reshares, 1 +1s)

"Amazon often earns its reputation as the world's largest online retailer due to the fact that they offer tons of awesome discounts and services that most of us don't know about until they've been around for years. The latest? Their virtual outlet store."

h/t +Lifehacker 

2013-05-21 04:25:09 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

"But the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, urged the high court to "affirm government neutrality on religion. A town council meeting isn't a church service, and it shouldn't seem like one," he said. His group represented Susan Galloway and Linda Stephen, two local residents who objected to the monthly prayers."

2013-05-21 04:14:30 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

"A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked enforcement of one of the country’s most stringent abortion laws, an Arkansas ban on the procedure at the 12th week of pregnancy, saying the law was likely to be declared unconstitutional.

Adopted in March, the law was the sharpest challenge yet to the standard set by the Supreme Court. Roe v. Wade in 1973 and later decisions determined that a woman has a right to an abortion up to the point that a fetus is viable outside the womb, usually around 24 weeks."

2013-05-21 04:10:46 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 3 +1s)

"A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked enforcement of one of the country’s most stringent abortion laws, an Arkansas ban on the procedure at the 12th week of pregnancy, saying the law was likely to be declared unconstitutional.

Adopted in March, the law was the sharpest challenge yet to the standard set by the Supreme Court. Roe v. Wade in 1973 and later decisions determined that a woman has a right to an abortion up to the point that a fetus is viable outside the womb, usually around 24 weeks."

2013-05-21 04:06:03 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

"The rush toward France’s first same-sex marriage officially began Saturday morning, after President François Hollande signed the country’s “marriage for all” act into law."

2013-05-21 04:00:54 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

"While management waits, it hears players say they respect their manager, the iconic Mattingly. It hears Kemp, for one, call him by the familiar, "Donnie B.," the "B" short for baseball. It understands the players like Mattingly.

Dodgers leaders wonder why, then, they won't win for him, too."

2013-05-21 03:53:46 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Go +New York Yankees !!

2013-05-21 03:49:33 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

"A celebrated chef. A political donor with a private jet to lend and a product to pitch. The state’s top two elected officials.

Virginia is in the grip of an old-fashioned, finger-licking political scandal linking all these figures. There are overlapping plot lines, a cameo by the governor’s wife and, in an offstage role portending a possible dark denouement, F.B.I. agents.

The story is unfolding almost daily in court records and aggressive coverage by the Richmond press corps. It is riveting the state’s political class even as it distracts the gubernatorial campaign of the attorney general, Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, and clouds the ambitions of the governor, Bob McDonnell, who has been mentioned as a Republican presidential contender in 2016."

2013-05-21 02:49:13 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

"Once settled, Yumi Narita started describing the disappointing qualities of a big entertainment company she’d been checking out. “I’m inclined not to trust this compensation committee,” she told the group.  “Year-over-year, they pay their C.E.O. more, and the metrics are often questionable.”

There were sympathetic nods around the room. Ms. Narita is one of about 20 analysts on the corporate governance team at BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager. BlackRock’s size is mind-boggling. With almost $4 trillion under management, it is, according to a recent University of Michigan study, the single largest shareholder in one of every five United States companies. It manages money from pension funds and endowments as well as retail investors, controls large stakes in companies like JPMorgan Chase, Wal-Mart and Chevron and owns 5 percent or more of roughly 40 percent of allpublicly traded ... more »

2013-05-21 02:44:13 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

"Georgian television captured clear images as a mob of more than 20,000 attacked a small gay rights march in downtown Tbilisi on Friday, sending at least 14 people to the hospital.

Some of the priests leading the rock-throwing throngs who stormed past police cordons could be seen participating in the melee; one repeatedly slammed a stool into the windshield of one of several minibuses trying to carry the marchers to safety, while another punched marchers and tried to drag a driver out of a bus. Some gave their names in interviews.

But as of Sunday, the Georgian police have made no arrests, and there are few signs that the investigation is moving forward.

Instead, a bishop who helped to organize the mass turnout — ostensibly a counterprotest — said from the pulpit that while the violence was “regrettable” and those who committed it should be punished, theGeorgia... more »

2013-05-21 02:42:55 (2 comments, 2 reshares, 1 +1s)

"Georgian television captured clear images as a mob of more than 20,000 attacked a small gay rights march in downtown Tbilisi on Friday, sending at least 14 people to the hospital.

Some of the priests leading the rock-throwing throngs who stormed past police cordons could be seen participating in the melee; one repeatedly slammed a stool into the windshield of one of several minibuses trying to carry the marchers to safety, while another punched marchers and tried to drag a driver out of a bus. Some gave their names in interviews.

But as of Sunday, the Georgian police have made no arrests, and there are few signs that the investigation is moving forward.

Instead, a bishop who helped to organize the mass turnout — ostensibly a counterprotest — said from the pulpit that while the violence was “regrettable” and those who committed it should be punished, theGeorgia... more »

2013-05-21 00:59:57 (20 comments, 3 reshares, 10 +1s)

"Google+ has never looked and felt as it good as it does right now. Alas, looks aren't everything.

A massive overhaul of the service, announced Wednesday during a keynote at Google's I/O conference for developers, has brought it in line with the most modern and functionally powerful Web design principles. It now has a multi-column layout, scrolling menu bars, and enormous images. Google also rolled out an umbrella messaging service called Hangouts, a standalone app for Web and mobile that neatens up the sloppy mess that was Voice, Talk, and Google+ messaging.

All of this is great news for heavy users of Google+ who have been awaiting a design push that looks and feels like 2013. But there's still one giant problem plaguing the service and Google's entire social platform at large: the hub of your Google life is still an email address, and that's a nightmare for... more »

2013-05-21 00:56:51 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 9 +1s)

"A year ago, I left Google's annual I/O developers conference convinced it was making a major strategic shift into being a hardware company.

As this year's I/O wraps up, I'm left questioning that conclusion.

The message Google is putting forward in 2013 is very different: It's all about what developers can do with the software tools it provides, whether that means broad digital platforms like the Chrome Web browser and the Android mobile operating system, or fungible, ubiquitous services like Google+, YouTube and Google Maps."

2013-05-21 00:48:33 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

"Getting called out by the Obama administration wasn't enough of a deterrent for Unit 61398, the cyberattack unit of the People's Liberation Army of China, because apparently they're at it again, working to pilfer information from private company and public government data stores.

The New York Times is reporting that Unit 61398 has resumed operations and is actively engaged in hacking into any U.S. systems that might hold information considered to be of use for the People's Republic of China.

Security firm Mandiant told the Times "that the Chinese hackers had stopped their attacks after they were exposed in February and removed their spying tools from the organizations they had infiltrated. But over the past two months, they have gradually begun attacking the same victims from new servers and have reinserted many of the tools that enable them to seek out data... more »

2013-05-21 00:44:02 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

#Cloud #Dropbox

2013-05-21 00:32:03 (0 comments, 3 reshares, 0 +1s)

"Today, under the guidance of new CEO Marissa Mayer, the company has given the oft maligned image-sharing community a major facelift. Yahoo’s announcement promises a Flickr that’s “more spectacular, much bigger, and one you can take anywhere.”

2013-05-21 00:19:27 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

"Google just announced that is it is shutting down Google Checkout, a Web-based payments system it launched to great expectations seven years ago.

It will continue to offer Google Wallet and handle transactions for apps, games, music, and movies on the Google Play store. But Google is largely getting out of the business of processing payments for physical goods and services.

Google Checkout may have had great expectations, but it delivered little in the way of results. Amazon and eBay's PayPal continue to dominate e-commerce, with a host of lesser-known players also doing the digital scutwork of processing credit-card transactions online. (Two of those, Braintree and Shopify, are offering discounts to former Google Checkout customers.)"

2013-05-21 00:12:15 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

"All these efforts rely on the same intellectual justification—looking at surface characteristics makes sense because they’re a potential signal of deeper activity, whether it’s terrorism or crime or electioneering. As a right-wing blogger might say, “Not all Muslims are terrorists—but most terrorists are Muslims.” If you believe that, doesn’t it make sense to focus on Muslims when you’re fighting terrorism? Take it away, Michelle Malkin: “Where else are federal agents supposed to turn for help in uncovering terrorist plots by Islamic fanatics: Buddhist temples? Knights of Columbus meetings? Amish neighborhoods?”

That’s exactly what the IRS was doing with Tea Party groups. Not all Tea Party groups applying for 501(c)(4) status were engaged in campaign politics. But out of all the many groups that applied for such status, wouldn’t any reasonable person guess that agroup called “Tea Party... more »

2013-05-20 22:21:46 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

"It would seem that River Song’s arc on Doctor Who has come to an end in “The Name of the Doctor” (Although as always that will remain to be seen.) so Doctor Who Online’s senior art editor Will Brooks put together this nifty infographic that illustrates how her twisty timeline matches up with the Doctor’s. The full hi-res version is up on Photobucket (it’s gigantic, so follow the linky-link to see the whole chart) but we’re not sure we’re convinced yet. Does this timeline work for you? Can we ever be certain if we don’t get direct confirmation from the characters?"

2013-05-20 22:09:59 (0 comments, 2 reshares, 2 +1s)

National Geographics details the cases of women who were passed over in recognition for their contributions to major scientific advances. Via http://TrendSpottr.com/

2013-05-20 20:59:25 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 0 +1s)

The Economist looks into the impact GPS technology has had on industry since it was opened up for commercial use after its initial launch as a military technology. via http://TrendSpottr.com/

2013-05-20 20:46:31 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

"California and Texas might be leading the nation’s rollout of solar and wind power, respectively, but Washington, where hydroelectric dams provide over 60 percent of the state’s energy, was the country’s biggest user of renewable power in 2011, according to new statistics released last week by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

...

More than half of the 29 states that require utilities to purchase renewable power are currently considering legislation to pare back those mandates, in many cases pushed by (surprise, surprise) the American Legislative Exchange Council. “We’re opposed to these mandates, and 2013 will be the most active year ever in terms of efforts to repeal them,” ALEC energy task force director Todd Wynn recently told Bloomberg.

But so far the tide seems to be turning against that campaign: This week the Minnesota legislature willconsider tw... more »

2013-05-20 17:37:44 (9 comments, 1 reshares, 8 +1s)

"The party on the brink of destroying the Voting Rights Act reminds us that Republicans were really the great civil-rights leaders all along."

"When you start talking about race and the Republican Party, Republicans tend to say the following things. First, they tell you that most Republicans are not bigots (true) and that Democrats can be bigots, too (also true). Then you’re reminded that during the decades when southern segregationists made their home in the Democratic Party, Republicans were instrumental in founding the NAACP, in 1909; a Republican chief justice (Earl Warren) presided over Brown v. Board of Education, in 1954; a Republican president (Eisenhower) called in troops to desegregate Little Rock’s schools, in 1957; and another Republican president (Nixon) created the first federal affirmative-action program with teeth. (All true.)

Then you ask,wha... more »

2013-05-20 17:11:35 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 6 +1s)

"How Amazon and the strengthening economy are threatening the once-invincible retail giant."

h/t +Slate 

2013-05-20 16:24:32 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

"After the conclusion of The Clone Wars, and the general restructuring of Lucasfilm under Disney, the future of Star Wars animation was in question. Until now! Star Wars.com has just revealed that a new series called Rebels will air beginning in 2014. Focusing on the years between Episode III and Episode IV, Rebels will (shockingly) deal with how the rebels got their groove on as the Empire was rising. Below is a video from Star Wars.com featuring some of the creators talking about the project."

h/t +Tor.com 

2013-05-20 15:55:00 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

From Turner Classic Movies:

Don’t miss The AFI Lifetime Achievement Award: A Tribute to Mel Brooks on July 24, which airs June 15 on our sister network TNT We Know Drama. Martin Scorsese will present Mel with the prestigious award on June 6 in Hollywood. Unique to TCM, the program is uncut and commercial-free, and is followed by a lineup of rarely seen feature films, documentaries, shorts and interviews specially curated by TCM to highlight Brooks’ career. 

2013-05-20 15:54:26 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 2 +1s)

From Turner Classic Movies:

Don’t miss The AFI Lifetime Achievement Award: A Tribute to Mel Brooks on July 24, which airs June 15 on our sister network TNT We Know Drama. Martin Scorsese will present Mel with the prestigious award on June 6 in Hollywood. Unique to TCM, the program is uncut and commercial-free, and is followed by a lineup of rarely seen feature films, documentaries, shorts and interviews specially curated by TCM to highlight Brooks’ career. 

2013-05-20 15:48:29 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 3 +1s)

Good post on basic research in science.

2013-05-20 14:56:30 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 2 +1s)

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2013-05-19 23:49:28 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Pretty amazing to see the amount of traffic Yahoo's acquisition of Tumblr is generating across social media sites! Via http://TrendSpottr.com/

2013-05-18 16:42:49 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Now trending in Technology on http://TrendSpottr.com/

2013-05-17 16:24:30 (2 comments, 5 reshares, 8 +1s)

h/t +George Takei who wrote:

"This past March, a number of anti-marriage equality protestors gathered in Washington, and a number of the teenagers expressed their opinions in a slideshow that went viral. Here is my admittedly cheeky response."

2013-05-17 05:59:09 (6 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

"Google and NASA are forming a laboratory to study artificial intelligence by means of computers that use the unusual properties of quantum physics. Their quantum computer, which performs complex calculations thousands of times faster than existing supercomputers, is expected to be in active use in the third quarter of this year."