on Google Privacy
You may have been contacted by Google:
We’re getting rid of over 60 different privacy policies across Google and replacing them with one that’s a lot shorter and easier to read. …
These changes will take effect on March 1, 2012.
Some are freaking out.
That’s dopey. Not much is changing. Here’s a much more measured assessment:
Read Write Web – Tech World Overreacts to Google’s New Privacy Policy – How Does It Affect You?
… You know what you can do? Stop sharing things you don’t want tracked. …
Before and after March 1st best advice is not to do anything online you’ll regret in future. Somebody, somewhere could be tracking it. And it probably won’t be Google. They’re one of the least evil players.
If you want to dig into this deeper, the best authority is Jeff Jarvis. He’s the author of:
US airlines must advertise TRUE fares
Good news — under the Obama administration:
A series of new airfare rules put forth by the Department of Transportation (DOT) will go into effect Jan. 26 and offer travelers better “passenger protections.”
The most visible of the new rules is a law that requires airlines to include mandatory government taxes and fees in all advertised fares. Other rules pertaining to ticket cancellation policies and baggage fees went into effect on Jan. 24. …
Luggage fees are still not included. And code-share flights not necessarily disclosed. When you buy a flight on Alaska, for example, you might find yourself on Horizon.
What happens in the States often ends up happening worldwide, the aviation industry so international.
jobs and the “wealth gap”
Jeff Jarvis is at the Davos World Economic Forum in Switzerland, the elite of the elite.
The theme is “jobs, jobs, jobs.”
… They’re discussing growth strategies and so far we’re hearing the same notions we hear elsewhere in Davos, the complete trick bag: spend money on infrastructure, be nice to business, regulate less, reform taxes, reform immigration. OK and OK.
“The problems of job creation are more complicated than that. …
Buzz Machine – Efficiency over growth (and jobs)
For example, Apple and Google are two of the wealthiest companies in 2011, but they don’t have many employees. Some jobs have been eliminated by technology. Others are gone overseas because people just as competent as you are willing to do it cheaper.
Obama’s State of the Union again chastised the American rich for not doing enough. That might be good politics, but it’s not going to do anything to create many American jobs nor reduce the “wealth gap“. I appreciate that he’s trying. … It’s better than nothing.
Is there any solution?
I don’t think so after listening to a new BBC audiocast documentary: The Wealth Gap: The View from London.
The future looks grim for most wealthy nations. The “occupy” protesters, most jobless, will continue being frustrated. And the rich will get richer. If you try to tax them, they’ll relocate abroad.
source – BBC – The Wealth Gap – Inequality in Numbers
If you have a job, I’d recommend you keep it. And start putting away emergency resources. (I’ll not be following my own advice, as you might guess.)
… One of the few bright spots is philanthropy – Davos 2012: Bill Gates commits $750m to fight AIDS
absurdities of American politics
Having read Game Change, two things jump out moronic:
1. Iowa … why (since 1972) has the first major electoral event of the nominating process for President of the United States been held here?
Though only about 1% of the nation’s delegates are chosen by the Iowa State Convention, the Iowa caucuses have served as an early indication of which candidates for president might win. It’s by far the most important State. Unfairly.
If you want to be nominated you try to win Iowa. And how do you win Iowa? You buy Iowa …
2. Super PACs (new since 2010):
… which can raise unlimited sums from corporations, unions and other groups, as well as individuals. …
Supposedly independent, both Romney and Gingrich have independent Super Pacs … run by former employees. They are a joke and a lie.
To mock Super PACs, Colbert legally formed his own — Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow (also known as the Colbert Super PAC)
Here’s one of Colbert’s real TV ads. Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
The Parliamentary Democracy of Canada is not perfect. But I like it far better than the system in the USA.
Zamboni in London
I dropped by the outdoor ice rink at Canary Wharf, London. It’s open Nov-Feb in Canada Square Park.
The Iron Lady
The Iron Lady is a biographical British film about Margaret Thatcher, longest serving Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of the 20th century, portrayed primarily by Meryl Streep, but also, in her formative and early political years, by Alexandra Roach. …
It was met with largely mixed reviews, though critics did give praise to Streep’s performance. Roach is excellent too. And Jim Broadbent is superb as Denis Thatcher. In fact, Olivia Colman is very believable as Carol Thatcher, Maggie’s daughter. It’s hard to fault the acting.
It was obviously a mistake to try to fit Maggie’s entire life into one film. Much better would have been a snapshot — like The King’s Speech. Or … The Queen.
Helen Mirren won Best Actress in 2006. Streep should win this year. She’s already won the Golden Globe.
I didn’t learn anything new about Thatcher. But Streep fans should see The Iron Lady. She’s perhaps the greatest actor all-time, male or female.
I saw it at Canary Wharf, London, adding to the ambiance.
this is the Obama I want
A guy who stands up for what’s right, even when it’s not politically convenient.
GOP candidates are silent when audience boos a gay soldier at their Orlando FL debate. Rick Santorum doesn’t even acknowledge the soldier’s service. The Commander in Chief calls them out on their failure to honor our men and women in uniform.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
We’ve seen far too little of that Obama since he became President.
The clip is from an October 2011 Human Rights Campaign dinner.
President Newt?
What am I missing here?
Isn’t Newt Gingrich the lowest of the low? An egomaniac with no morals whatsoever?
The guy who earned $1.6 million consulting for Freddie Mac?
Why did South Carolina Republicans vote for a guy so brashly amoral?
He can’t win the Presidency. And the Republican establishment knows it.
That would be a disaster for the USA. And the world.
related – Democrat Chris Dodd is a scumbag, happy to sell his soul for $1.2 million / year as chief lobbyist for the movie industry. He and Newt will be in the same circle of Hell, so far as I’m concerned.
Antwerp Train Station
Antwerpen-Centraal (Antwerp Central) is the name of the main railway station in the Belgian city …
In 2009 the American magazine Newsweek judged Antwerpen-Centraal the world’s fourth greatest train station.
It’s gorgeous. Interesting photos on Flickr.
Click PLAY or watch a flash mob at the station on YouTube. One of the best ever.
I’d totally join in one of those.
Today the Channel Tunnel Eurostar to Newsweek’s #1 train station — St. Pancras, London. At 300km per hour (186 mph).
why Apple builds in China
Thomas Lee for The New York Times:
… Not long ago, Apple boasted that its products were made in America. Today, few are. Almost all of the 70 million iPhones, 30 million iPads and 59 million other products Apple sold last year were manufactured overseas.
Why can’t that work come home? Mr. Obama asked.
Mr. Jobs’s reply was unambiguous. “Those jobs aren’t coming back,” he said …
That article has been getting wide circulation. Not even an embargo of Chinese goods by President Newt is going to bring back manufacturing. Read the article to see why.
applying to work at Foxconn
Foxconn City has 230,000 employees, many working six days a week, often spending up to 12 hours a day at the plant. … many workers earn less than $17 a day. …
related – why you shouldn’t use the new Apple iBooks Author software 
