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20 Jul 2011 23:20

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U.S.: Federal Reserve slaps Wells Fargo with puny $85 million penalty

  • $85 millionpaid by Wells Fargo for its role in the subprime mortgage fiasco; the penalty was issued by the Federal Reserve
  • $25 billion received by Wells Fargo from the Troubled Assets Relief Program, colloquially known as the bailout source
  • » This is both the largest consumer protection fine ever levied by the Fed and the first time the institution has punished a bank for nudging customers into subprime loans. There’s more to come, too; in addition to the fine, the order also “requires that Wells Fargo compensate affected borrowers,” although it’s unclear how this will work. It’s better than nothing, but $85 million just seems a bit low; as a point of comparison, the bank made $2.5 billion in the first three months of 2010 alone.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jul 2011 22:33

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Tech: App lets iPhone users see all of your drunken mistakes

  • A new iPhone app allows you to view real-time video feeds from inside local bars, so you can, in the words of the creators, “see what a venue looks like, to get a head count.” Cool idea, but that means that if you’re in one of said bars, everything you do is being streamed online—whether you know it or not. Bars that opt-in to this aren’t required to tell patrons that they’re being filmed, and the footage is accessible from the company’s website, so it’s not just limited to iPhone users. The creators defend the app’s integrity, saying that “the point of the product is not to make a stalker utility.” Which is a vapid defense, of course, because the intent behind a product has no bearing on the manner in which it’s capable of being used. We suspect Apple might pull this one before too long. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jul 2011 15:31

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Culture: Yao Ming officially retires from the NBA

  • China’s basketball pioneer says goodbye: Yao Ming, an athlete whose in-game performance (occasionally dominant as it was) paled in comparison to his international impact on the game of basketball, has officially retired from the NBA. He measures up at a staggering 7’6″, and weighs over 300 pounds, a size advantage that served as his prime asset on the court, but may well have spurred the leg injuries that now force his retirement at the young age of 30. His dedication to his country may not have helped, either — he logged a grueling workload keeping up with both his NBA career and his obligations back home, notably when he rushed back from a broken foot to play for host-nation China in the 2008 Olympics. He’ll be returning to his homeland to work with his team from his pre-NBA days, the Shanghai Sharks. (Photo courtesy Keith Allison) source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jul 2011 15:05

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Offbeat: Great Moments In Pie Throwing: Ralph Nader

  • That’s how you do it: Apologies for the low video quality, but it was the only actual footage we could find of this — when a pie-wielding troublemaker took aim at Ralph Nader in 2003, Nader knew exactly what to do. If you’re going to throw a pie, you should be able to take a pie, too. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jul 2011 14:27

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World: Somalia faces worsening famine, UN calls for action

  • 3.7 million Somalis face famine; UN says response is lacking source
  • » And it’s getting worse: Famine is a pervasive and devastating problem, and it’s presently burgeoning in Somalia, as well as Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, North and South Sudan, and Djibouti, to varying extents. The situation in Somalia is rapidly worsening, to boot — the U.N. believes that should food shortages continue unchecked for another one or two months, it will spread from its current concentration (mostly in Southern Somalia) and grip the entire country. The U.N. highlighting this reflects that urgency, as they’d like to see some international mobilization to ease this humanitarian crisis. Whether that happens remains unknown; it’s clear the U.N. feels the response has been far too anemic at this point.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jul 2011 13:59

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World: David Cameron regrets hiring guy that made his office look bad

  • Thought of the day: They have more fun raggin’ on world leaders on the other side of the pond. As for the clip itself, Cameron makes a point to emphasize that, Andy Coulson, the former “News of the World” editor who worked for him, didn’t do any wrong on his watch. “Of course I regret,” he said, “and I am extremely sorry, about the furor it has caused.” Well, duh. What else is he going to say? “Oh yeah! Andy was a great hire! He made my office look smashing! We got such good publicity from hiring that Andy Coulson! He was the sugar in my office’s tea!” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jul 2011 13:24

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Tech: Apple does a bunch of updates (OSX Lion!), kills off a classic breadwinner

  • cool While exterior changes didn’t happen (did it need any?) the new MacBook Air is a heckuva lot faster and comes with solid-state drives by default.
  • cooler The Mac Mini, sort of the redheaded stepchild of the Mac line, also got a fresh upgrade — notably without an optical drive of any kind.
  • coolest Mac. OSX. Lion. In the Mac App Store. You don’t even need to leave your apartment to upgrade it, guys. Do it naked if you want. source
  • » It’s so hard to say goodbye … Not all changes were in the form of hello, however. The polycarbonate MacBook, a stalwart of the line since Apple’s move to Intel, is gone, effectively replaced by the MacBook Air. It’s the first time in a decade that Apple hasn’t sold a white plastic notebook of any kind. A sad day, but one full of new beginnings, right?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

20 Jul 2011 12:04

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Tech: Hacker arrests apparently nail a bunch of hangers-on

  • It does look like some of these guys (hackers) were just fools. The PayPal attack in particular. It looks like these bozos must have just said ‘Cool, an attack on PayPal. You can use my machine.’ I think it makes it a lot less likely that that people will join the next digital lynch mob.
  • Former Homeland Security official Stewart Baker • Discussing the nature of the 14 people arrested yesterday in connection with a wide-scale attack on PayPal and other services late last year — a form of retribution, reportedly coordinated by Anonymous for PayPal taking away Wikileaks’ main source of funding. A couple other folks were arrested, too, in a series of raids that represent the largest law-enforcement response to the spate of large-scale hackings that have cropped up since late last year. But if Baker is right, they may not have gotten anyone of note — but a bunch of dudes who fed into the mob mentality. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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