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10 Stocks Account For 88% Of S&P 500 Earnings Growth
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/10-stocks-account-for-88-percent-2012-eps-growth-2012-11
Morgan Stanley’s US Equity Strategy team led by Adam Parker just published their 2013 outlook for the stock market. They’re calling for the S&P 500 to end next year at 1,434.
The massive research note included a lot of interesting information about the stock market including this: just 10 companies are accounting for 88 percent of all of the earnings growth in the S&P 500 this year.
For 2013, the sources of growth are expected to be much more diversified with the top 10 names driving just 34 percent of growth.
Still, the biggest names will play a big role next year. “Notably, Apple, Bank of America, Microsoft, GE, and Google are forecasted to be one-quarter of the entire S&P500’s earnings growth in 2013,” writes Parker.
Here’s the chart from Parker’s note:
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Source: http://gizmodo.com/5883585/google-wallets-pin-system-has-been-cracked-but-dont-panic-just-yet
The security PIN system that Google Wallet users have to enter to verify transactions has been compromised. Thankfully, the chances of your wallet being used against you is relatively low—assuming you haven’t rooted your phone, that is.
Since Wallet saves your PIN in an encrypted file on the phone itself, rather than the secured NFC chip, if your phone falls into the wrong hands, that person could lift your PIN file from the phone and simply crack it using brute force. From there, he’d have access to—and use of—your Wallet account.
Security firm, Zvelo, discovered and reported the issue to Google, but because Wallet’s security architecture, the change will require a fundamental rejiggering of the security protocols. Man, talk about an oversight. According to Zvelo,
The lynch-pin, however, was that within the PIN information section was a long integer “salt” and a SHA256 hex encoded string “hash”. Knowing that the PIN can only be a 4-digit numeric value, it dawned on us that a brute-force attack would only require calculating, at most, 10,000 SHA256 hashes…This completely negates all of the security of this mobile phone payment system.
So, if you are rooted, be sure to take some additional security steps to protect yourself like activating the lock screen, disabling the USB debugging option in settings, and enabling full-disk encryption. Or maybe not losing your phone in the first place. [Zvelo via Android Central via The Verge]
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5883585/google-wallets-pin-system-has-been-cracked-but-dont-panic-just-yet
The security PIN system that Google Wallet users have to enter to verify transactions has been compromised. Thankfully, the chances of your wallet being used against you is relatively low—assuming you haven’t rooted your phone, that is.
Since Wallet saves your PIN in an encrypted file on the phone itself, rather than the secured NFC chip, if your phone falls into the wrong hands, that person could lift your PIN file from the phone and simply crack it using brute force. From there, he’d have access to—and use of—your Wallet account.
Security firm, Zvelo, discovered and reported the issue to Google, but because Wallet’s security architecture, the change will require a fundamental rejiggering of the security protocols. Man, talk about an oversight. According to Zvelo,
The lynch-pin, however, was that within the PIN information section was a long integer “salt” and a SHA256 hex encoded string “hash”. Knowing that the PIN can only be a 4-digit numeric value, it dawned on us that a brute-force attack would only require calculating, at most, 10,000 SHA256 hashes…This completely negates all of the security of this mobile phone payment system.
So, if you are rooted, be sure to take some additional security steps to protect yourself like activating the lock screen, disabling the USB debugging option in settings, and enabling full-disk encryption. Or maybe not losing your phone in the first place. [Zvelo via Android Central via The Verge]
Mobile web usage doubling every year, Nokia leads the way
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/07/statcounter-mobile-web-usage-doubling-every-year-nokia-leads-t/
We already knew that Nokia sits atop the world’s market when it comes to shipments and market share. As it turns out, though, the Finnish manufacturer leads the way in terms of mobile web browsing, too. That’s according to the latest report from StatCounter, which found that Nokia handsets account for about 40 percent of the world’s mobile browsing, followed by Apple, at around 29 percent. Coming in at a relatively distant third is Samsung, with an approximately 14 percent share. Android OEMs as a whole, however, account for a little under 25 percent of the world’s mobile browsing, while RIM came in at just 8.3 percent (thought it still ranks second in the UK, behind Apple). Overall, global mobile web usage has just about doubled every year since 2009, which is both crazy and not crazy. For more numbers and insight, check out the full PR after the break.
Continue reading StatCounter: Mobile web usage doubling every year, Nokia leads the way
StatCounter: Mobile web usage doubling every year, Nokia leads the way originally appeared on E ngadget on Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Google updates ToS, shares your data across its services (video)
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/24/google-new-privacy-policy/
You’re you, right? Of course you are. If you have an Account, Google knows that too and now, with an updated and streamlined Google Terms of Service, you’re even more you than ever before. The company is consolidating most of its more than 70 separate privacy documents into a single Privacy Policy that is so important it gets capitalized. The biggest change? If you have a Google Account, your information will now be shared across the company’s many services. Scary? Don’t fear — the company is taking this time to re-iterate its pledge to never sell your personal information, never share it externally and to continue to support the Data Liberation Front. Viva transparency.
Continue reading Google updates ToS, shares your data across its services (video)
Google updates ToS, shares your data across its services (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Google Is Changing Its Privacy Policy To Share Your Data Between Its Services (GOOG)
While the rest of the tech world was obsessing over Apple’s earnings, Google announced a change to its privacy policy and terms of service.
Starting on March 1, Google will allow itself to share your personal information across Google services, as long as you’re signed in.
Google previously had 60 separate privacy policies for different products. Now, it’s got just one.
Among the changes:
- Google can now look at what you’ve been doing on YouTube, Gmail, and Google+ to suggest search results and “more relevant ads.”
- Google can take information you provide on your Google Profile, including your name and photo, and use it on all your other Google products like Gmail — and can replace past names you used, so you’re the same on all sites.
- Google will collect information from your mobile device, including your phone number, and associate it with your Google Account.
Here’s the most relevant bit pulled from the full policy:
We use the information we collect from all of our services to provide, maintain, protect and improve them, to develop new ones, and to protect Google and our users. We also use this information to offer you tailored content – like giving you more relevant search results and ads.
We may use the name you provide for your Google Profile across all of the services we offer that require a Google Account. In addition, we may replace past names associated with your Google Account so that you are represented consistently across all our services. If other users already have your email, or other information that identifies you, we may show them your publicly visible Google Profile information, such as your name and photo.
You can compare it against the current version here.
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See Also:
- President Obama Will Host A Video Chat Next Monday — Here’s How To Get In
- THE GOOGLE INVESTOR: How Evil Does Google Need To Be?
- Now You Can Use A Fake Name On Google+
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DoJ, RIAA, MPAA, and Universal Music All Offline [Hackers]
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5877679/anonymous-kills-department-of-justice-site-in-megaupload-revenge-strike
![medium 5110071c626aabb3982c51386de91283 DoJ, RIAA, MPAA, and Universal Music All Offline [Hackers]](http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2012/01/5110071c626aabb3982c51386de91283.jpg "Anonymous Goes on Megaupload Revenge Spree: DoJ, RIAA, MPAA, and Universal Music All Offline")
Anonymous has sure been quiet lately, but today’s federal bust of Megaupload riled ‘em up good: a retaliatory strike against DoJ.gov (and plenty of other foes) leaving them completely dead.
DownForEveryoneOrJustMe.com is reporting the department’s site as universally nuked, and an Anonymous-affiliated Twitter account is boasting success. This is almost certainly the result of a quickly-assembled DDoS attack—and easily the widest in scope and ferocity we’ve seen in some time. If you had any doubts Anonymous is still a hacker wrecking ball, doubt no more.
The combination of the hacking nebula’s SOPA animosity—they’ve been a vocal opponent of the bill since its inception—combined with today’s sudden Megaupload news has made the group bubble over: hundreds upon hundreds of Anon operatives are in a plotting frenzy, chatting about which site will go down next. In Anon’s eyes, the government and media interests are responsible for the undue destruction of Megaupload (and the arrest of four of its operators), so it’ll be exactly those entities that’re feeling the pain right now. Pretty much every company that makes movies, TV, or music, along with the entirety of the federal government, is in Anonymous’ crosshairs.
Update: Anonymous says they’ve also knocked off the RIAA’s site—looks down for us at the moment as well.
Update 2: Universal Music Group has also fallen off an e-cliff.
Update 3: Goodbye for now, MPAA.org.
Update 4: Affected sites are bouncing in and out of life, and are at the very least super slow to load. Anon agents are currently trying to coordinate their DDoS attacks in the same direction via IRC.
Update 5: The US Copyright Office joins the list.
Update 6: This Anon sums up the mood in their “official” chat room at the moment:
Danzu: STOP EVERYTHING, who are we DoSing right now?
Update 7: Russian news service RT claims this is the largest coordinated attack in Anonymous’ history—over 5,600 DDoS zealots blasting at once.
Update 8: the Anonymous DDoS planning committee is chittering so quickly, it’s making my laptop fan spin.
Update 9: Major record label EMI is down for the count.
Update 10: La résistance est international—French copyright authority HADOPI bites the dust under Anon pressure.
Update 11: The Federal Bureau of Investigation has fallen and can’t get up.
Update 12: Anonymous has released a statement about today’s attacks.
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YBUY allows impulse tech buyers to wonder, ‘Why not?’
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/17/ybuy-allows-impulse-tech-buyers-to-wonder-why-not/
It’s always helpful when tech start-ups scheme new ways for you to burn through that bank account. Like YBUY, the membership-only site that charges a monthly fee in exchange for trying out the latest and greatest in gadgetry, like an iPad 2 or Xbox 360, sans shipping fees. The fresh-out-of-beta portal offers approved users the ability to return or purchase the pre-selected goods after a 30 day trial period, with that recurring charge going towards the full retail price if you choose to opt-in. Its co-founders claim to curate the ever-changing roster of high-end kit, taking into account the best product reviews (ahem) and even featuring certified refurbs. So, what’s the catch? Well, there doesn’t really appear to be any. It’s simply up to you to curb that tech enthusiasm and keep your credit card balance resting peacefully at zero.
YBUY allows impulse tech buyers to wonder, ‘Why not?’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 23:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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A Best Buy Manager Thinks That The 3,000 Employees Running Its Customer Service Twitter Account Can’t Be Trusted
Best Buy hasn’t been doing so hot lately, and here’s another example that shows why.
The retailer has a Twitter account @Twelpforce that uses 3,000+ employees to help run it. So far it has worked without a major disaster, despite the exposure it has with so many employees working on it.
But at least one Best Buy manager disagrees, and thinks it’s basically a load of crap, reports Chris Morran at the Consumerist.
Morran received a note from a reader, Jonathan, explaining his experience. Jonathan was trying to exchange a box set of CDs, which was missing one CD when he got it, but didn’t have the receipt. The Best Buy site pointed him toward @Twelpforce, who told him to “Talk to a manager at your local Best Buy, they should be able to assist with exchange.”
He did. When he showed the Best Buy manager the tweet from customer service, he dismissed it as an unreliable source (even though the Best Buy website tells you that the only places to ask questions are a phone number and the Twitter account). The manager also said that it’s “just social media” and “that could be anybody.”
Which begs the question: what’s the point of having a customer service Twitter account if Best Buy managers don’t even acknowledge it as a legitimate source of information? Somebody got company policy wrong here, but whether it’s the manager or the person who answered that tweet doesn’t matter. The manager shouldn’t have dismissed the Twitter help line as useless.
It shows a fundamental disconnect between the brick-and-mortar and the online world. The corporate side has accepted that social media is a viable tool, yet that feeling hasn’t been passed down to its employees — even at the manager level. Oops.
NOW SEE: 14 Surprising Ways Employees Cost Their Companies Billions In The Workplace >
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See Also:
- 11 Craft Beer Companies That Went From Little To Big Time
- Proof That Giving Your Employees More Freedom Makes Them More Productive
- Starbucks Is Hiking Prices On A Bunch Of Its Drinks To Deal With Rising Costs
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Digital Consigliere
Dr. Augustine Fou is Digital Consigliere to marketing executives, advising them on digital strategy and Unified Marketing(tm). Dr Fou has over 17 years of in-the-trenches, hands-on experience, which enables him to provide objective, in-depth assessments of their current marketing programs and recommendations for improving business impact and ROI using digital insights.
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