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Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/7358550/ns/today-entertainment/
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Sunday, August 26, 2012
Top 10 Pinterest Pins This Week
Jan of Poppytalk
"Homemade, giant Oreos."
Click here to view this gallery.
[More from Mashable: Pinterest Finally Comes To Android, iPad]
From the ultimate customizable DIY iPhone case to a massive homemade Oreo, these are the top 10 Pinterest pins you won't want to miss.
[More from Mashable: Top 10 Pinterest Pins This Week]
Each week we gather our favorite pins from boards across Pinterest. Our top 10 Pinterest pins are a look at the images that captivated us and left us thinking, "That is really cool!"
This week we found helpful ideas for making your home more sightly and tech friendly at the same time -- including a space-saving nook for your computer area and the solution to power cords that block your furniture.
We also include the hottest pin from our own Pinterest boards in our weekly roundup. This week, our most popular pin was a mashup of old and new technology. You also won't want to miss a clever DIY iPhone case that will allow you endless and colorful options.
What were your favorite Pinterest pins this past week?
BONUS: Last week's Top 10 Pinterest Pins
1. One Comfortable Nap
How relaxing does this suspended "Nestrest" look?
Click here to view this gallery.
This story originally published on Mashable here.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/top-10-pinterest-pins-week-112123846.html
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Law Professor Says One Of Romney's Tax-Avoidance Schemes ...
Legal experts continue to crawl through the massive cache of Mitt Romney's Bain fund documents that Gawker published on Thursday.
And one law professor, Victor Fleischer of the University of Colorado, believes he has found a tax-avoidance trick used by the funds that is illegal.
As expected, the Bain funds appear to have employed pretty much every sophisticated tax-dodging scheme in the book, including:
- creating "blocker" corporations that allow the funds to avoid business taxes,
- entering into credit-default swaps that allow the funds to avoid dividend taxes, and, of course,
- taking advantage of the ludicrous "carried interest" tax loophole that allows private-equity and hedge-fund managers to treat their performance fees as capital gains instead of ordinary income and thus pay a tiny fraction of the taxes on them that normal professionals would pay
All of these tricks rely on legal technicalities and sophisticated techniques to avoid taxes.? For practical purposes, none of them are available to average taxpayers, because they require considerable sophistication and expense to set up and maintain. But they're common in the fund-management industry. And, for now, they are considered legal.
One of the tax-avoidance tricks that Romney's funds employ, however, is not legal, according to Fleischer.
This trick involves treating not just "performance-based fees" but management fees as capital gains rather than ordinary income.
Private-equity firms, like other fund management firms, generally charge two kinds of fees on each fund:
- Performance-based fees, which pay the firm ~20% of any gains
- Management fees, which assess an annual ~2% fee on all invested capital
Both of these fees are standard professional fees, so they both should be taxed at ordinary income rates.
In one of the most outrageous loopholes in the tax code, however, the fund-management industry has bamboozled (or simply bribed) Congress into treating "performance-based" fees as capital gains rather than income. So, unlike lawyers, doctors, architects, mechanics, and hundreds of other service professionals, fund managers get the privilege of having their fees accrue tax-free in their funds. And, if they structure the funds well enough, they can avoid ever having to pay ordinary income taxes on their fees. This is likely the primary means by which Mitt Romney has managed to pay such a low tax rate for so long.
But Bain went further than claiming the common "carried interest" treatment on its performance fees, says Fleischer.
In a much more controversial move, Bain also claimed capital gains treatment for its management fees. This allowed the funds (and Romney) to avoid paying ordinary income taxes on all of its fees, not just its performance fees.
How did Bain claim that its management fees were capital gains?
By "waiving" its management fees in some years in exchange for receiving a priority payment of "profit" in future years.
In other words, instead of taking a $20,000 cash payment for each $1 million under management in a particular year, Bain opted to take the $20,000 payment in a later year, as the first portion of any profit distributed from one of the fund's investments.
The theoretical basis for this tax treatment is presumably the same as the one used to justify the regular "carried interest" exemption, which is that by keeping its fees in the funds, the Bain partners are subjecting them to some risk: If the particular investment ends up losing money, the partners won't get paid.
For two reasons, though, this justification is weak.
First, for normal Americans, investment capital is eligible for capital-gains treatment only after it has been assessed with ordinary income taxes. A doctor who makes $1 million for rendering medical services would pay his ~35% tax rate, and then whatever he has left over would be available as investment capital. If the doctor put this capital at risk, he would then be entitled to capital-gains treatment. Thanks to the "carried interest" loophole, however, fund managers can put the whole $1 million of fees at risk simply by keeping it in their funds. Thus, they can let all of their fee-income compound tax free and never pay ordinary income taxes on it. Over decades, this generates vast wealth above and beyond what they would have earned if they had had to pay ordinary income taxes before they invested like everyone else.
Second, as Fleischer explains, Bain had extraordinary flexibility in choosing which investments to take its guaranteed share of "future profits" out of, in addition to when.
Basically, all Bain had to do to ensure that it would get its management fees was to choose one investment in each fund that would appreciate in value at some point in the future.? And given that Bain also had lots of control over the "carrying values" of these investments, it had superior knowledge of which investments would be the most likely to gain value. Thus, Fleischer argues, although there might have technically been some modest risk that Bain would never get paid its fees, this risk was extremely low.
Fleischer says this trick, treating management fees as capital gains, is "not legal." He also believes it would not stand up in court.
To be fair, it appears that, legally, this particular tax-avoidance scheme is still in the "not yet settled" phase as opposed to the "established law" phase. At some point, if the IRS concludes that the capital gains treatment is bogus, it will likely challenge it in court. And Bain and other private-equity firms will defend it. And, years later, a judge or jury will issue a ruling that can be used to set future precedent. Or, alternatively, the IRS and/or Congress could issue a clarification that either explicitly allows this treatment or explicitly disavows it.
But what appears clear is that this aggressive interpretation and use of tax law has likely saved Bain and Mitt Romney millions of dollars in taxes over the years.
Read Fleischer's post here >
SEE ALSO: Many Romney Supporters Appear To Be Delusional About A Key Reason For His 13% Tax Rate
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Saturday, August 25, 2012
Taylor Swift Crashed a Kennedy Wedding
TV host Kathie Lee Gifford confirmed that Taylor Swift was indeed asked to leave the wedding of her current boyfriend Conor Kennedy?s cousin, Kyle Kennedy, twice. She had witnessed it, having been related to the bride?s mother Victoria Gifford Kennedy, who happens to be her stepdaughter, making her Kyle?s grandmother by marriage.
Her boyfriend Conor was actually invited to the wedding, however he did not respond to the RSVP of the invitation. However, in fairness to Swift, it seems like she was not aware that they were not invited at the event.Victoria also politely asked the pop star to leave the reception, which was held at the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston, having been concerned that she might steal the limelight to the newlyweds.
Liam Kerr with Kyle Kennedy
Source: http://www.business2community.com/entertainment/taylor-swift-crashed-a-kennedy-wedding-0261128
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Technology Acceptance Model: Computer Science Careers
Top Five Computer Science Careers
Careers in computer science aren't hard to find. There are wide ranges of specialties in computer science to choose from. The key to finding the perfect computer science career is to narrow the individual specialties down to the ones that are the fastest-growing, will allow room for you to grow in that career and, of course, you may want to check out the salary statistics for each of the jobs.
For instance, take a look at the job description and salary statistics for a systems analyst. A systems analyst has a wide variety of responsibilities including researching and recommending software and system choices to meet the requirements of other businesses. Systems analysts communicate with their customers about what the customers' requirements are for a particular project. They meet with designers and developers that are working on the software to make sure it is up to the customer's standards.
With the help of testers, systems analysts use sample data to perform tests on it to make sure it is working properly and then the systems analysts enable the new systems. On average in the United States, a systems analyst makes anywhere from ,000 to ,000 a year.Another top computer science career is a software engineer. A software engineer applies the techniques and procedures that are used in the design, development, testing and evaluation of the software and systems that allow computers to run correctly. The average salary of a software engineer in the U.S. is ,000 a year.
Computer programmers are the brains behind the software. Computer programmers' job duties involve writing the software; testing the software for glitches and then debugging the software; and also maintaining the computer programs so that they run correctly. Typically, depending on the programmer's employer and what type of programming is being done, the salary of a computer programmer can range anywhere from ,000 to 0,000 a year.
Next, we'll take a look at network systems analyst. A network systems analyst does the designing, evaluating, testing, and maintaining of a variety of different networks, including WANS, LANS, intranets, wireless systems, etc. The average yearly income of a network systems analyst is ,000.
The last computer science career we'll talk about today is the database administrator. A database administrator is responsible for the recoverability of the database such as creating and testing the Backups. They are also responsible for verifying the integrity of the database and for making sure the database is secure. Database administrators also have to make sure the availability and performance of the database are at its maximum and they help the programmers and the engineers with development and testing support. Although the database administrator is responsible for all these things, they also have an array of other duties depending on their particular job description, employer, etc. The annual salary of a database administrator ranges from ,000 to ,000. However, the median annual salary in the U.S. for a database administrator is ,000.
Keep in mind, these are just five of the computer science careers. There are many more careers in computer science with annual incomes and responsibilities within the same range as those listed.
Source: http://top-100-sci-fi-novels.blogspot.com/2012/08/computer-science-careers.html
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U.S. court strikes down graphic warnings on cigarettes
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Friday struck down a law that requires tobacco companies to use graphic health warnings, such as of a man exhaling smoke through a hole in his throat.
The 2-1 decision by the court in Washington, D.C., contradicts another appeals court's ruling in a similar case earlier this year, setting up the possibility the U.S. Supreme Court will weigh in on the dispute.
The court's majority in the latest ruling found the label requirement from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration violated corporate speech rights.
"This case raises novel questions about the scope of the government's authority to force the manufacturer of a product to go beyond making purely factual and accurate commercial disclosures and undermine its own economic interest -- in this case, by making 'every single pack of cigarettes in the country mini billboard' for the government's anti-smoking message," wrote Judge Janice Rogers Brown of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The FDA "has not provided a shred of evidence" showing that the graphic labels would reduce smoking, Brown added.
Five tobacco companies representing most of the major cigarette makers in the United States challenged the FDA rules: Reynolds American Inc, Lorillard Inc; Commonwealth Brands Inc, which is owned by Britain's Imperial Tobacco Group Plc; Liggett Group LLC and Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co Inc.
The FDA has argued the images of rotting teeth and diseased lungs are accurate and necessary to warn consumers -- especially teenagers -- about the risks of smoking.
The health agency said on Friday that it does not comment on possible, pending or ongoing litigation. The U.S. Department of Justice, which argued the case for the FDA, said it needs to review the ruling before deciding on next steps.
The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, which has vigorously supported stricter cigarette laws, urged the government to appeal.
"Today's ruling is wrong on the science and law, and it is by no means the final word on the new cigarette warnings," said Matthew Myers, the group's president, in a statement.
YOUTH EPIDEMIC
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates some 45 million U.S. adults smoke cigarettes, which are the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. And the World Health Organization predicts smoking could kill 8 million people each year by 2030 if governments do not do more to help people quit.
The U.S. Surgeon General warned in March that youth smoking has reached epidemic proportions, as one in four U.S. high school seniors is a regular cigarette smoker, paving the way to a lifetime of addiction.
Judge Judith Rogers, who wrote the dissenting opinion, said the FDA warnings were factual, and necessary to counter tobacco companies' history of deceptive advertising.
"The government has an interest of paramount importance in effectively conveying information about the health risks of smoking to adolescent would-be smokers and other consumers," she wrote.
Congress passed a law in 2009 that gave the FDA broad powers to regulate the tobacco industry, including imposing the label regulation. The law requires color warning labels big enough to cover the top 50 percent of a cigarette pack's front and back panels, and the top 20 percent of print advertisements.
The FDA released nine new warnings in June 2011 that were meant to go into effect this September, the first change in U.S. cigarette warning labels in 25 years. Cigarette packs already carry text warnings from the U.S. Surgeon General.
The ruling against the FDA means tobacco companies will likely not have to comply with the requirements for now, given divergent court rulings.
The U.S. Appeals Court for the 6th Circuit, based in Cincinnati, upheld the bulk of the FDA's new tobacco regulations in March, including the requirement for warning images on cigarette packs.
The difference in the two cases is that the FDA had not introduced the specific images when the companies filed the 6th Circuit suit. While the Washington suit focused on the images, the appeals court in Cincinnati addressed the larger issue of the FDA's regulatory power.
Most countries in the European Union already carry graphic images to illustrate the health risks of smoking. Earlier this month, Australia took a further step to limit smoking advertising by banning company logos on cigarette packs, and the EU said it was considering a similar ban.
(Reporting by David Ingram and Anna Yukhananov; Editing by John Wallace, Lisa Von Ahn and Tim Dobbyn)
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Friday, August 24, 2012
NeuroSky Necomimi Brainwave Cat Ears
Computers that can read our every thought are still a long way off, but a few sensors and some circuitry can let some devices read some measure of our brain activity. Last year, I tested the Mattel MindFlex Duel ?, which let me lift and lower a floating ball with my mind as I moved it through a track. The ball floated because of a fan and I moved it back and forth with a dial, but it still read my brain activity and adjusted how hard the fan blew based on my concentration. The NeuroSky Necomimi are electronic cat ears (in Japanese, Neco means cat, and mimi means ear) with motors and sensors that make the ears move based on your brain activity, but at $99.95 (direct) they're an expensive novelty. Even still, it's safe to say that if you pick up a pair, you'll be the first of your friends to own brain-reading robot cat ears.
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Design
The Necomimi ears consist of a pair of fuzzy, plush cat ears and a headband. The ears fit securely on two large, rectangular blocks on the headband, and because they're removable you can potentially replace them with, say, horns, antennae, or something else. The blocks are mounted on motorized pads, letting the ears move up and down in response to your brain activity. That activity is measured by a sensor that presses against your forehead and a pair of sensors that clip onto your left ear. Both connect to a long box on the left side of the headband with a Power button and a compartment that holds four AAA batteries.
The headband is relatively comfortable and easily adjustable, but it can take a few minutes to get used to its 7.2-ounce frame. It mostly stays on with two pads on the sides and an elastic strap in the back to keep it stable, but the pressure of the pads and the sensor on the forehead can feel strange at first. The motors in the ears produce a gentle buzzing that can feel either vaguely therapeutic or irritating, depending on your mood and the sensitivity of your head.
Brain Reading
The Necomimi ears use NeuroSky's Attention and Meditation algorithms to measure your brain activity and make the ears respond. In practice, it just means the ears will occasionally move faster and perk up when you're focused and concentrating and droop when you're relaxed. Even then, it's a very erratic system that won't necessarily directly respond to your thoughts or moods. With practice you can get the ears to droop by relaxing, but otherwise it's a passive interaction. It's less precise than Mattel's Mindflex Duo game, because instead of the ears moving directly in response to your brain activity, it only activates certain specific animations of the ears, like perking up, drooping down, and wiggling a set number of times at specific speeds. I found that I could make the ears perk up by going through multiplication tables in my head and make them droop by meditating, but that's all the conscious control I had over them.
It's hard to judge these ears based on performance, because there's really nothing quite like them. It's a unique tech toy that does what it claims to do (if you give the brain sensing the benefit of the doubt), but it doesn't do much else for your $100. But between the cosplay appeal and the high-tech gimmick, they might appeal to nerds who want something unique to play with.
More Toy Reviews:
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/pV_y8tTpMz4/0,2817,2408700,00.asp
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