Archive for January 23rd, 2008
Filed under: Computers
Perhaps having seen the latest Die Hard movie a few too many times, a bunch of hackers have quite promptly hacked their way into computer systems in various cities, attacking the grids and cutting their power. The goal? Anarchy. Or, who knows, maybe just free donuts (assuming Krispy Kreme doesn’t have a backup battery for their security system). The CIA believes the goal was extortion.
“We have information, from multiple regions outside the United States, of cyber intrusions into utilities, followed by extortion demands,” said CIA analyst Tom Donahue, in a statement posted on the Internet and reported yesterday by PC World. “In at least one case, the disruption caused a power outage affecting multiple cities. We do not know who executed these attacks or why, but all involved intrusions through the Internet.”
Unfortunately, in true CIA-fear-mongering style, the statement offered no specifics as to which “multiple” cities were affected.
Oh well. Here’s hoping the next time they pull this off it’s not in the middle of the first episode in the new season of Lost.
From PCWorld.com
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Filed under: Cell Phones, Green Tech
E-Ink displays and E-Book readers have been getting a lot of press as of late. And the potential for folding displays has captured the hearts of many gadget enthusiasts. After about 2 years of teasing the Philips spin-off Polymer Vision is finally prepping for a commercial release of foldable e-ink cell phone that first made the rounds in late 2005.
The device, when closed, is no bigger than a slightly bulky candy bar cell phone (roughly 4.5 x 2.2 x .82 inches), but it opens up to reveal a 5 inch high resolution black and white display for reading E-books, E-mail, RSS feeds, and making phone calls. In comparison, the iPhone “only” has a 3.5 inch screen. The Polymer phone comes packed with a 3G HSDPA data connection for placing voice calls and pulling in high-speed data, and works with Microsoft’s ActiveSync for corporate Exchange servers for E-Mail and contacts, in addition to the standard IMAP and POP for pulling in Gmail, Yahoo Mail, etc.
The one thing we can’t figure out is how you place calls on this thing if a person isn’t in your contacts. Without a touch screen and no keypad in sight, we’re thinking that you’re gonna have to resort to a pen and the palm of your hand to get that cute girl at the bar’s number.
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From Reuters
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Filed under: Computers, iPod, iPhone
We’ve seen how Mac users have somewhat interesting personalities compared to other people and, well, surely you know someone who’s a little more fond of their Apple device than some might consider healthy (if indeed that someone isn’t you). Those who bow down to the church of Steve Jobs may be interested in checking out a new documentary called ‘MacHeads,’ a film that will do to the Apple community what ‘Trekkies‘ did for the world of ‘Star Trek.’
Right now all we have is the above trailer, showing clips of Mac users espousing the virtues of their machines and the community that has sprung up around them, but expect the full thing to be released in the very near future.
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Filed under: Audio/Video, Computers, TV
HBO is sticking a tentative toe into the content downloading waters today, with Time Warner Cable and Roadrunner customers in the Green Bay and Milwaukee, Wisc., area being the first to benefit (if that’s the right word) from a free add-on to HBO On Demand that will allow users to download movies and original programming straight to their computers.
Why only Wisconsin? Maybe with temperatures hovering around zero degrees they figure all those folks will be staying warm indoors — and looking for more small-screen entertainment.
Besides geography, there seem to be lots of limits on the service, which will include some top series from the “not TV” premium cable network, such as ‘Entourage‘ and ‘The Sopranos,’ plus 400 other titles.
A proprietary computer application will be required so you won’t be able to use Windows Media Player or RealPlayer for playback, and this will only work on computers with Windows XP or Vista, at that. No Macintosh support was announced nor will the service be available for mobile devices — at least not yet.
Downloaded content will expire after four weeks.
Is this the first foray before a larger launch or just a one-time test? Only time will tell. If you’re one of the lucky Wisconsin customers, let Switched.com know if you’re going to use the service and if you like it.
(Note: both HBO and Switched.com have the same corporate parent Time Warner.)
From BetaNews.
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Filed under: Television, Internet, Google (GOOG), Time Warner (TWX), Technology
 It’s hard to believe that - not long ago - cable television was a cutting-edge thing. Hey, didn’t kids once say: “I want my MTV”?
Now, of course, the new-new thing is online video, especially with the extreme popularity of Google (NASDAQ: GOOG)’s YouTube.
Interestingly enough, we are seeing some movement from the cable players trying to figure out what to do about the broadband revolution (seems kind of late, huh?).
HBO is now making some moves. But, there are some limitations. If you are a subscriber (in certain markets), you can access shows online, though it requires a software download (which means there are pretty tight digital-rights management controls).
Despite all this, it does seem like a good start.
I had a chance to interview Chase Norlin, the CEO of Pixsy, an online video search company. According to him:
“This is a logical move for HBO to utilize their programming as a customer acquisition and retention tool in conjunction with the large MSOs (multiple service operators). Web-based multimedia content becomes another negotiable point between the content owners/producers and the cable operators/distributors. An additional benefit for HBO is the online ad monetization of their content. Expect to see more content owners/producers follow this trend.”
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements . He also operates DealProfiles.com.
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Filed under: Consumer experience, Internet, Google (GOOG), Technology
 It’s been said before that excellent tools and access to them can actually lead to less intelligent students and practitioners of any craft. From the high school student to the accountant, is this premise correct? After all, the abacus and the pocket calculator changed the face of math. Could Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) change the face of critical thinking in its users?
According to a study out of University College London, so much quality access to instant information could be responsible for hampering the ability of many to become quality thinkers. It’s a rather interesting premise: Google, known for employing more smart people than any other public company, is contributing to the dumbing down of its customers.
Are those born after 1990 really jeopardizing their critical thinking skills by searching for any and all information on anything using Google? The study mentioned the lack of critical and analytical skills among young people, students, professors, lecturers, and “practitioners” as they all have grown accustomed to “searching horizontally rather than vertically.” This is in reference, I think, to those that read headlines but don’t drill down into the real content.
Wow — instant gratification comes to the web. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. The web’s instant reach to so much has really pushed the concept of on-demand access to new heights. The study also indicated that those in the 12-to-15 age bracket did indeed understand what intellectual property meant — but that copyright protection procedures were unfair.
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Filed under: Major movement, Google (GOOG), Apple Inc (AAPL), Options, Technology
 Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) stock is trading lower this morning after Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) forecast a second-quarter profit well below analysts’ expectations. AAPL is now expecting a second-quarter profit of 94 cents per share, below Wall Street’s expectation of $1.09 per share. The forecast worried investors, who sent AAPL’s stock price way down. Along with AAPL, other tech stocks were down on fears that consumer spending will continue to decrease as the economy weakens. If you think this stock won’t be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on GOOG.
After hitting a one-year low of $437.00 in March, the stock hit a one-year high of $747.24 in November. This morning, GOOG opened at $560.57. So far today the stock has hit a low of $555.56 and a high of $568.00. As of 11:05, GOOG is trading at $558.14, down $26.21 (-4.5%). The chart for GOOG looks bearish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.
For a bearish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a February bear-call credit spread above the $670 range. A bear-call credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of call options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn’t do what you think but still leverage nice returns. This particular trade will make a 5.3% return in just 4 weeks as long as GOOG is below $670 at February expiration. Google would have to rise by more than 21% before we would start to lose money.
GOOG has been above $670 as recently as late December, but has shown resistance around $650 recently. This trade could be risky if the company’s earnings (due out 1/31) are a positive surprise or if Apple was just sandbagging, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by resistance GOOG might find just above $650 where it paused for a while earlier this month on its downward plunge.
Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in GOOG or AAPL.
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Filed under: Google (GOOG), Options
 Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) is recently down $47.16 to $538.08, down 8%.
GOOG is expected to report Q4 EPS on January 31.
GOOG call option volume of 34,658 contracts compared to put volume of 19,963 contracts. GOOG February option implied volatility of 61 is above its 26-week average of is 35 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.
Options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com
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