Half Wall

U.S. pay rate

Sakthi — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 03:49:16 +0000

Based on the average U.S. pay rate, it takes less than two hours of work to pay for 12 basic food items — tomatoes, eggs, sugar, bacon, milk, ground beef, oranges, coffee, lettuce, beans, bread, and onions.

That figure is nearly as low as it’s ever been.

Consumption may finally be taking a breather, as it should, but discretionary items like computers, DVD players, cellphones, digital cameras and color TVs have become far more affordable. And that even includes those families considered “poor.”

http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/Issues.aspx?NewsletterEntryId=2335

Covered Bonds

Sakthi — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:21:18 +0000

What Are Covered Bonds?

Covered bonds are securities issued by a bank and backed by a dedicated group of loans known as a “cover pool”. There are two different types of covered bonds: those backed by high-quality mortgage loans and those backed by public sector loans. If the issuing bank becomes insolvent, the assets in the cover pool are separated from the issuer’s other assets solely for the benefit of the covered bondholders. Asset eligibility for the cover pool and the process in the event of an issuer insolvency are determined by laws specific to each country.

–PIMCO

Buy Products by Remote Control

Sakthi — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:13:14 +0000

TiVo, Amazon Let Customers
Buy Products by Remote Control

By JOSEE ROSE
July 22, 2008 2:04 p.m.

TiVo Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. reached an agreement to allow consumers to purchase products from Amazon through their television sets using their TiVo remote control.

The products are available through Amazon.com on any broadcast or cable network, as well as any interactive advertising feature.

The new program, dubbed “Product Purchase,” also lets customers search for and buy products associated with shows, movies, actors, and directors. Purchases will be secured with a PIN associated with the user’s Amazon.com account.

TiVo will launch the new service to consumers by merchandising products related to several high-profile programs, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Colbert Report, and Burn Notice. Broadband-connected Series2, Series3 and TiVo HD DVRs will be able to take advantage of the new feature.

Evan Young, TiVo’s broadband-services director, said the deal will allow its viewers “to purchase products related to their favorite TV shows or that they’ve seen in TV ads without leaving their couch.” The move highlights the ever-growing importance of product placement in television shows and commercial choices. For example, fans of shows aimed at tweens try to emulate the fashion seen on TV, looking in local stores for exact replicas of outfits.

– WallStreet Journal

iPhone 3G – Unclear Specification

Raj — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 15:59:03 +0000

You are chatting with XYZ, an Apple Expert

XYZ: Hi, my name is XYZ. Welcome to Apple!
How may I help you today?

Me: hi.
I bought an iphone 3g last week.
I have a question abt its included charger

XYZ: Great! Congratulations.

Me: I am traveling abroad on vacation for a month where there are electric power outlets with 240 V. I could not find a spec anywhere that the charger included will work with 240V or not.
most of the PDA / laptops support 240 V too

XYZ: I suggest you the Apple World Travel Adapter Kit.

Me: Is there any where in Apple website/manual that clearly specifies what voltages this charger would support. just for clarity.

XYZ: One moment while I research that for you.

Me: ok. thks.

XYZ: Thanks for waiting. I’ll be right with you.

Me: ok.

XYZ: Read this overview about Apple World Travel adapter.

Click Here to see information about it

Me: I understood that the world traveller has that capability that costs me extra. I wanted to know a spec somewhere that specifies what is the supported voltage for the included charger. If it is not specified anywhere that is okay. I just wanted to make sure it is spec’ed out or not..

XYZ: It is safety to you using the traveler adapter kit.

Me: Thanks for your info. Bye.

XYZ: You’re welcome.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600

Sakthi — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 15:33:11 +0000

I was just curious to know the real performanace benefit of multi cores in Intel Processors. Here goes, Quad processors can deliver much superior performance if the software can really utilize the multicores. Not all software stress the cores today, even games uses only the two cores. Though Quad processors show performance gain, you may not see any big performance gains unless software catch up with quad core. Sure, you can settle with some xtreame dual core processor now, get quad one later. However, you can get Quad processor now by throwing some extra bucks!

“Games have barely adapted to dual-core processors, needless to say quad-core does very little for a performance boost in this respect. The Q6600 performed much the same as the X6800 and E6700. “ — TechSpot

“Exporting a high-quality moviefrom QuickTime took just 7:21 minutes when using the Q6600, making it just 4% faster than the X6800. ” — TechSpot

Intel Q6600 Quad Processor

Not even 99¢

Raj — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 18:17:59 +0000

This is related to Vish’s previous post. I just found an iGoogle Gadget that lists all of the FREE iTunes songs and video downloads. I haven’t tried yet to see how useful it is.

99¢ movie rentals on iTunes

Vish — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:03:27 +0000

Every week, Apple offers a movie rental special on iTunes for just 99¢. Regular price is $2.99.

Ok, I know what you are thinking – “Must be some crappy movies”? Not always. They had Usual Suspects, Ronin a few weeks ago.

How do I know which movie is on special rental, you ask? Head over to 99Rental.com. You can check the site or be notified automatically through RSS, Email, Twitter, or Dashboard Widget.

Financial Situation of this Nation.

Sakthi — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:27:24 +0000

Check below for how much per capita individual debt.

http://zfacts.com/p/461.html

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

The stock market is still a big f**^&* up. The VIX is not reached the high yet, probably it may continue to weaken till VIX make a new high. It is making…. It is too late to short and early to long. UYG and whole finance sector is bleeding heavily even uncle SAM is not able to help. The major trend is down and there could be bounce. Watch out for option expiration plays this week and earnings.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/84919-vix-hits-3-month-high-market-skeptical-about-fed-s-power?source=feed

1.6 Trillion in Loss!

http://www.minyanville.com/articles/fre-fnm-crisis-Global-banking/index/a/17994

Failed Banks!

http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/banklist.html

All right, enough! Let’s have a peace of mind and hang tight!