Citigroup and Bank of America were the reigning champs of finance in 2006.
The reigning champions of finance in 2006 were Citigroup Inc. (C) and Bank of America Corp. (BAC). As home prices peaked, they were leading the 10 biggest U.S. banks and brokerage firms to their best year ever with $104 billion of profits.
Continue reading… “The aristocracy on Wall Street got $1.2 trillion in secret loans”
Creative and functional artwork.
Wind-powered karaoke? Only in Shanghai would such a thing exist. These colourful pavilions were initially built as an art installation — one of many themed pavilions in a new waterfront park created for Shanghai’s 2010 World Expo — but now they have been torn down, except these Skittle-like structures. Currently, these neon-bright pavilions are utilized by city residents for leisure activities such as karaoke, games, picnics and music — all powered by the wind turbines spinning above each pavilion…
Continue reading… “Shanghai Park’s Pavilions are wind-powered urban leisure spots”
Is his theory out the window?
This is extremely shocking: CERN scientists using a 1300-ton particle detector have measured particles travelling faster than the speed of light. If confirmed, this discovery could invalidate Albert Einstein’s 1905 theory of special relativity and revolutionize physics.
Einstein’s theory says that there’s nothing in the universe that could travel faster than light. Now, CERN scientists believe this may be wrong according to their latest experiment…
Continue reading… “Faster than light particles could wreck Einstein’s Relativity Theory”
Can you blame it on the booze?
Have you made a rash or regrettable decision after a few cold Coors Lights. You can blame it on the booze, right? The University of Missouri College of Arts and Sciences sheds light on how the brain processes mistakes in the presence of alcohol in a new study.
Continue reading… “Can you blame your bad decisions on booze? Maybe not”
Companies are filing overly broad patents on obvious ideas in the hope that one day the technology will become feasible.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development reports that “the quality of patent filings has fallen dramatically over the past two decades. The rush to protect even minor improvements in products or services is overburdening patent offices. This slows the time to market for true innovations and reduces the potential for breakthrough inventions.”
Continue reading… “OECD warns quality of patents ‘falling dramatically’”
Mind reading could become a reality after scientists unveiled a device which translates what we are seeing in our heads onto a screen.
Researchers were able to recreate a moving picture similar to the real footage being played by monitoring the brain activity of people while they watched Hollywood movie trailers.
The Apple App Store has more than 90,000 apps for the iPad.
The marketplace for tablet apps is expanding quickly. The Apple App Store alone has more than 90,000 apps for the iPad. Although many marketers are rushing to get their tablet apps to market, usage data indicates that consumers regularly use a limited number of apps.
Featured invention at the DaVinci Inventor Showcase 2011
No time to exercise? Long hours at the computer? Tired? No energy? No problem!
Introducing the GoFidget Xerciser™, your fitness solution to sit-down days. The GoFidget Xerciser™ is an omni-directional fitness device that is easy to use while sitting and working at a computer. With its 360 degrees of movement and non-impact design, the GoFidget Xerciser™ is a whole new way to strengthen muscles from feet to knees, up to thighs and hips! GoFidget™ at home or in the office. It is convenient, effective and surprisingly fun!
Continue reading… “GoFidget Xerciser – fitness device easy to use while sitting”
An amazing new find.
Chalk another one up for Google Earth seeing everything we can’t. Australian armchair archaeologist David Kennedy simply fired up the app and managed to rediscover the ancient ruins of structures that rival the Nazca lines in southern Peru.
The lines were originally discovered by British RAF pilot Percy Maitland in 1927, but this is the first time they’ve ever been seen in all their glory. Kennedy used Maitland’s photos with Google Earth to pinpoint their locations. And Google offers really the only high resolution glimpse at them that can be seen by the ordinary viewer…
Continue reading… “Google Earth reveals strange Nazca-Like ruins in Saudi Arabia”
If you live in the US and think the internet speeds are as fast, you may be surprised to find out that the country is actually ranked 26th in a list of average global download speeds. In the eye-catching infographic below the US (outside of Google’s offices that is) looking like a digital laggard, but who could be sitting pretty at the top?
Digital download delivery company Pando surveyed about 35 petabytes (a petabyte is 1000 terabytes) of data from 27 million downloads from 20 million computers in 224 countries, and found that South Korea has the world’s fastest internet service, in terms of download speed. The country averaged download speeds of 17.62 Mbps. Compared to the download speeds in the US, 4.93 Mbps, South Korea is lightning fast…
Continue reading… “US download speeds ranked at just 26th in the world”
Another reason the patent system is so difficult.
Last month, Google stepped up to defend Android coders against notorious patent troll Lodsys. Apple fought the company a few months earlier on behalf of iOS developers. Patent reform is a hot topic right now, especially after President Obama just signed legislation that means the U.S. is shifting to a “first to file” (over “first to invent”) system. This won’t help much with the patent troll situation, which Boston University researchers James Bessen and Mike Meurer say have cost publicly-traded defendants $500 billion since 1990…
Continue reading… “Patent Trolls costing an astronomical $500 Billion”
Tissue engineers create artificial blood vessels on a 3D printer.
Tissue engineers are building a handful of new body parts, from intestines to tracheas — but progress on larger organs has been slow. This is mainly because tissues need nutrients to stay alive, and they need blood vessels to deliver those nutrients. It’s difficult to build those vascular networks, but now a team from Germany may have a solution: Print some capillaries with a 3-D printer.
Continue reading… “Artificial blood vessels made on a 3D printer”