rest
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5884415/travelling-in-modern-china-requires-serious-secret-agent-skills
If Kenneth G. Lieberthal were anything but a China expert at the Brookings institution, his travelling-in-China security procedures would read like the product of a paranoid mind that watched too many spy movies as a kid:
He leaves his cellphone and laptop at home and instead brings “loaner” devices, which he erases before he leaves the United States and wipes clean the minute he returns. In China, he disables Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, never lets his phone out of his sight and, in meetings, not only turns off his phone but also removes the battery, for fear his microphone could be turned on remotely. He connects to the Internet only through an encrypted, password-protected channel, and copies and pastes his password from a USB thumb drive. He never types in a password directly, because, he said, “the Chinese are very good at installing key-logging software on your laptop.”
Talk about overkill, right? Well he’s not alone. The Times reports that these seemingly paranoid precautions are par for the course for just about anyone with valuable information including government officials, researchers, and even normal businessmen who do business in China.
But what about the rest of us? I may not have any valuable state secrets or research that needs protecting but that doesn’t mean I want the Chinese government snooping on my internetting when I visit my grandparents (especially when the consequences can be so severe). In the past, I’ve relied on a combination of VPNs, TOR, and password-protecting everything I can, but now it sounds like even that isn’t enough. Or maybe it’s totally overkill given my general unimportance in the grand scheme of things. Dear readers, I ask you, how much security is enough when it comes to the average person on vacation? [NY Times]
Image credit: Shutterstock/Rynio Productions
How The iPad Kicks Kindle’s Butt When It Comes To Ad Traffic (AAPL, AMZN)
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-ipad-kicks-kindles-butt-when-it-comes-to-ad-traffic-2012-2
Amazon just kicked off a new TV campaign for the Kindle Fire, which it doubtless hopes will further dent sales of Apple’s iPad. But Kindle has a long way to go before it starts threatening the iPad as a device for serving online ads to consumers.
Data from Rimm-Kaufmann Group, an online marketing agency, show that the iPad maintains its total dominance of the tablet market when it comes to ad traffic. Kindle is slowly making progress, but it only has 3.48 percent of the market to iPad’s 88.1 percent.
iPad had a 93.44 percent share of the market late last year, so share is being traded quickly in this category.
With iPad 3 on the way, even those small gains for Kindle may be in jeopardy.
When it comes to ad performance, the iPad also has a significant edge. If you index the data to the average ad displayed on a desktop computer, ads on iPad get 10 percent more revenue per click, the same level of overall clicks, and a greater average order value.
All the other tablets, including Kindle, perform much worse than ads displayed on PCs.
iPad dominates ad traffic on tablets, but its dominance is slipping.
The Kindle is gaining share of ad traffic the fastest against the iPad.
But the iPad is still the most effective tablet device by far, for advertisers.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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See Also:
- REJOICE: Kindle’s Bikini Girl Is Back — And Now She’s Married
- How Groupon Is Trying, And Failing, To Work With Ad Agencies
- ‘Smell-vertising’ Technology Plans To Make Your Bus Stop Smell Like Greasy Potatoes
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5882172/the-world-now-buys-more-smartphones-than-computers
In 2011, manufacturers shipped 487.7 million smartphones and only 414.6 million computers—that’s desktops, laptops and tablets. Combined. We’d heard prophecy of this day, and now it may have arrived.
The study by Canalys has troves of data about global smartphone sales, which seem to lend credence to the theory that smartphones are becoming the main computing devices of the masses. Creation and productivity tasks aside, the vast majority of what we need to do or obtain from the internet can be accomplished on a $100 device that fits in our hand. And they’re becoming near-ubiquitous.
For the rest of the stat geekery, check out the full report if poring over data about product shipments is your thing. [Canalys]
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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How Apple’s Business Completely Changed
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-apples-business-completely-changed-2012-1
What a difference a few years makes. Four years ago, Apple analysts fretted over iPod shipments and computer sales when an earnings call rolled around. All the early chatter is now focused on whether surging iPhone and iPad sales will even be enough to meet soaring expectations.
The iPad, only a rumor two years ago, accounted for 24% of revenue last quarter. The iPhone, meanwhile, has jumped from 10% of revenue at the beginning of 2008 to 39% last quarter–and nearly 50% at the beginning of last year. With the tablet market still in its infancy and huge opportunities still available in mobile, the shift in Apple’s revenues has only just begun. All of which should futher underline the changing nature of their business: Apple is essentially a mobile computing company.
Which is not to say the rest of the company isn’t growing. Mac shipments were up 20.7% year-over-year in the fourth quarter, according to Gartner–even as the rest of the PC market fell 5.9%. It’s just that they have not kept up with the astronomic growth of the company’s mobile products.
See our preview of Apple’s earnings here→
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See Also:
- THE NEW NORMAL: The Changing Tech IPO Market
- EBAY’S TRANSFORMATION: When Do We Start Calling eBay A Payments Company?
- BING: Microsoft’s Still Throwing Billions Of Dollars A Year Into This Online Money Pit
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11 Facts About The World’s Changing Appetite For Luxury Watches
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/luxury-watches-global-market-2012-1
Luxury watches are not just functional wristwear–they’re works of art with hundreds of years of technology packed inside.
Consumers’ tastes and shopping preferences for watches are evolving around the globe.
Market research company Digital Luxury Group has just released its annual report on the worldwide market for high-end watches, looking at 15 of the world’s biggest haute timepiece brands ahead of Baselworld, the upcoming international watch and jewelry show in Switzerland.
The report is based on more than a billion consumer searches for luxury watches on search engines including Google, Bing and Baidu.
For the first time in 2011, demand for luxury watches was higher in the US than in China, based on internet search market share.
Within China, more than half of demand for luxury timepieces comes from first- and second-tier coastal cities with high-end shopping streets, like Beijing and Shanghai.
Heritage brands like Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin are more popular with traditional clients from Beijing, while IWC attracts a younger, trendier, urban audience.
Source: Digital Luxury Group
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
Please follow The Life on Twitter and Facebook.
See Also:
- A Chinese Government Worker’s Wild Macau Shopping Spree Causes On Uproar Online
- A Yellow Diamond That Was Part Of A $20 Million Heist Resurfaces In A Hong Kong Pawn Shop
- Dolce & Gabbana Officially Apologizes To Hong Kong For That Photo-Banning Incident
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21 Crazy Facts About The Unbelievably Corrupt Olive Oil Industry
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/fake-olive-oil-2012-1
Olive oil has played a prominent part in Mediterranean culture for over 2,000 years and is beloved by foodies the world over.
However, the industry has a dirty little secret.
A lot of the “Italian extra virgin olive oil” isn’t what it says on the tin. Sometimes its not extra virgin, sometimes its not Italian — and sometimes it’s not even made from olives.
Here’s what you need to know about one of the world’s most lucrative criminal endeavors.
Olive oil is far more expensive than other oils, but surprisingly easy to fake.
(Source).
The fake industry seems to have almost as long a history as the real industry.
In the past merchants used to mix the oil with lard.
(Source)
It’s probably because of how valuable it is — way back in ancient Rome, per-capita consumption of olive oil was as much as fifty liters every year.
“People were prepared to spend the same amount of money on olive oil back then as they do on petroleum today.”
Nigel Kennell a specialist in ancient history, tells the New Yorker’s Tom Mueller.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
Please follow Europe on Twitter and Facebook.
See Also:
- These Are The 20 Least Economically Free Nations In Europe
- Divers Explode Holes In The Hull Of The Costa Concordia To Search For Passengers
- An Italian Couple Committed A Double Suicide — And Dedicated It To Berlusconi
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iPhones recover market share in Q4 2011, but Android draws the first-timer crowds
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/06/npd-iphones-recover-market-share-in-q4-2011-but-android-draws/
According to the latest research from the NPD group, Apple has got its second wind in smartphone sales. In the same quarter that saw the iPhone 4S
reinvent the wheelobey our every vocal whim, the trio of available models soaked up a total of 43 percent of the US smartphone market in Q4 2012, apparently knawing away at Android’s market share of 53 percent held during the rest of 2011. However, Google’s mobile OS appears to be the debutante smartphone of choice, cornering 57 percent of new purchases, with 34 percent going for Apple. The remaining 9 percent is distributed between the smartphone also-rans, with the likes of Windows Phone and BlackBerry languishing in that anonymous grey bar at the top. The top five handsets from NPD’s Mobile Phone Track service is an Apple and Samsung love-in, with iOS devices claiming the three top spots, followed by the Samsung Galaxy S II (we assume collectively) and the Galaxy S 4G. NPD’s blow-by-blow commentary on this increasingly two-horse race awaits below.Continue reading NPD: iPhones recover market share in Q4 2011, but Android draws the first-timer crowds
NPD: iPhones recover market share in Q4 2011, but Android draws the first-timer crowds originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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