[via bit-tech.net]
Google is to pay up to $1,337 for each confirmed vulnerability in Chrome or Chromium - although it's first come, first served.
According to a post on the official Chromium blog – via PC World – the advertising giant is looking to pay $500 (£313) per confirmed vulnerability found in the Chromium codebase, as used in the Chrome browser for Windows, Mac, and Linux and also in the still-early Linux-based Chrome OS.
[via consumerist.com]
Craig Cunningham has made $20,000 from 18 lawsuits he’s filed against debt collectors for violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). In fact, it’s something a part-time job/hobby for him. To ensnare his first FDCPA-violating collector, with voice recorder running, he called back the number they left on his answering machine, and asked:
“Can you garnish my wages if I don’t pay?”
“Yes,” said the debt collection rep.
“Can you put a lien on my house?”
“Yes,” they said.
[via nytimes.com]
Representative Anthony D. Weiner denounced what he called the predatory practices of Cash4Gold in New York’s diamond district on Tuesday.
The flashy ads have become a staple on late-night television, sometimes featuring figures like the late Ed McMahon or M.C. Hammer, trumpeting promises of quick dollars in exchange for bits of old gold jewelry.
The company behind the ads is called — plainly enough — Cash4Gold, but on Tuesday afternoon, Representative Anthony D. Weiner said that the company’s business practices were not always straightforward.
Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve asked a U.S. appeals court to block a ruling that for the first time would force the central bank to reveal secret identities of financial firms that might have collapsed without the largest government bailout in U.S. history.
The Federal Reserve
The U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan will decide whether the Fed must release records of the unprecedented $2 trillion U.S. loan program launched after the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. In August, a federal judge ordered that the information be released, responding to a request by Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News.
[via dailymail.co.uk]
Prince Charles derided nanoparticles as 'grey goo' food
Britain is on the brink of a massive expansion in foods containing controversial ‘grey goo’ nanoparticles, according to the former head of the Food Standards Agency.
Low-calorie chocolate and beer that doesn’t go flat could be on sale within just five years, Lord Krebs said last night.
However, he and other peers believe there will be no requirement for the hi-tech products to be labelled as containing nanoparticles – microscopic compounds that can worm their way into the brain, liver and kidneys with unknown consequences.
[via dailymail.co.uk]
The swine flu outbreak was a ‘false pandemic’ driven by drug companies that stood to make billions of pounds from a worldwide scare, a leading health expert has claimed.
Wolfgang Wodarg, head of health at the Council of Europe, accused the makers of flu drugs and vaccines of influencing the World Health Organisation’s decision to declare a pandemic.
This led to the pharmaceutical firms ensuring ‘enormous gains’, while countries, including the UK, ‘squandered’ their meagre health budgets, with millions being vaccinated against a relatively mild disease.
[via gadgetinn.blogspot.com]
The founders of Twitter may not be making much money from the microblogging platform, but savvy marketeers like Dell are already way ahead of the curve in online sales.
The US PC maker has revealed that its Twitter followers have spent over $6.5 million (£4 million) on products specifically promoted through tweets alone.
Discounts worldwide
By offering Twitter-only discounts and special products in 12 different countries, Dell has proved the power of building a strong online brand and communicating it directly to potential customers.
Google Nexus One Carries $174.15 Materials Cost, iSuppli Teardown Reveals El Segundo, Calif., January 8, 2010-With its new Nexus One, Google Inc. has taken many of the latest smart-phone innovations and combined them in a single product that manages to be both cutting edge and cost competitive, according to a teardown conducted by iSuppli Corp.The Nexus One, sold with the Google brand name but manufactured by HTC Corp., carries a Bill Of Materials (BOM) of $174.15, based on a preliminary estimate from iSuppli’s Teardown Analysis Team. This total comprises only hardware and component costs for the Nexus One itself and does not take into consideration other expenses such as manufacturing, software, box contents, accessories and royalties.
[via nytimes.com]
Swiffer kitties? Just attach little dusting pads to your felines’ paws, so they can help keep your floors clean while making their rounds.
A bit farfetched? Executives at consumer-products king Procter & Gamble Co. thought so, too, and sent the idea to the discard pile.
P&G also rejected pitches from outside inventors for a bellybutton lint brush, a Knees and Toes body wash to complement Head and Shoulders shampoo, and a ”man handle” to keep marital harmony in the bathroom by making it easier to raise and lower the toilet seat.
[via consumerist.com]
Photo by Felix Pomerantz
Corey, who is trying to help his Brooklyn parents improve their TV setup, feels his folks were baited and switched by Verizon, displaying a cheap deal on its site that went away after he entered his parents’ address.
He writes:
Verizon just wired my parents’ apartment building in Brooklyn with FIOS and they were looking to switch from Cablevision because FIOS seemingly offers more channels at a similar price and plus my mom is really angry with Cablevision because of the Food Network dispute.
So I figured I would help them out with setting up FIOS, since they do not use the internet and I figured they had a better offer online. I went to the FIOS website and clicked over to the “FIOS TV Plans” page, which can be found here.