Now might be a good time to become accustomed with Windows 8 if you’re still a holdover Windows XP user. Computerworld reports that hackers have started storing up any fresh Windows XP exploits they find and are preparing to unleash them on unsuspecting XP users as soon as Microsoft stops supporting the operating system next year. Microsoft security expert Jason Fossen tells Computerworld that hackers who discover […]
NEW DELHI – India, the world’s biggest buyer of gold, raised duties Tuesday on bullion imports for the third time this year as it battles to narrow a record trade gap and stabilize the rupee. The government increased the customs duty on gold to a record 10 percent from eight percent as it strives to break the country’s love affair with the precious metal. The announcement boosted […]
Bloomberg By George Smith Alexander & Anto Antony – Aug 13 India’s economy is growing at the slowest pace in a decade, companies are burdened by record debt and governance is so bad that even local cement billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla is reluctant to invest in the country. Yet some foreign entities, from Diageo Plc to Qatar’s government, are undaunted, finding buying opportunities as Indian firms look […]
Reuters: Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah’s disdain for Iran leaps from U.S. embassy cables. “May God prevent us from falling victim to their evil,” he told U.S. officials, according to a cable released by WikiLeaks. According to another, he told his own diplomats he wanted Washington to “cut off the head of the snake”. On the other side of the Gulf, Iran’s contempt for Saudi Arabia crackles through […]
(Reuters) – Lebanon needs to spend at least $20 billion to improve its basic infrastructure otherwise the high growth the country has been witnessing will “dwindle and vanish,” the economy and trade minister said on Wednesday. Lebanon is famous for its robust service-oriented sectors, but many investors are discouraged from setting up businesses in a country where power cuts are frequent, road networks beyond the capital are […]
Even people who are relatively happy at work go through periods when they hate their jobs—for days, weeks or even months at a time. Just read between the lines of the recent obituaries of CBS newsman Mike Wallace, who died on April 7 at the age of 93. As The New York Times reported, Wallace suffered a nervous breakdown when his documentary on deception by the American […]
Totsy, a flash sales site for baby and prenatal care products, announced today that it’s raised $18.5 million in series B financing from Rho Ventures and DFJ Gotham. Named one of America’s Most Promising Companies by Forbes in December 2011, the company says revenues are up 125% from the first half of 2011. The New York-based company previously raised $5 million from Rho and DFJ in November 2010. […]
Social media platforms allow customer networks to be bigger, faster and better organized. They increase the downside of getting service wrong and the upside of getting it right. The effects are both direct and indirect. Zappos generates so much buzz with its fantastic service experience that the company can spend significantly less on marketing than its rivals. This virtuous service cycle spins faster because we get to […]
Wells Fargo reported its 10th consecutive quarter of earnings growth as a result of a booming business originating and refinancing mortgages. The bank’s second-quarter profit was a record $4.6 billion, a 17 percent rise from the $3.9 billion profit it reported a year earlier. The San Francisco-based company earned 82 cents a share, above the 81 cents expected by the analysts polled by SNL Financial. Wells has […]
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A state judge on Friday temporarily blocked plans by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia to sell certain branded products at J.C. Penney stores. The preliminary injunction was a win for Macy’s , which has sued Martha Stewart Living claiming it has exclusive rights to sell certain Martha Stewart products including soft furnishings, dinnerware and cookware. In issuing the preliminary injunction, New York State Supreme […]
Before you jump into the markets, take the time to learn from the missteps of novice investors. Here are three common first-time investing mistakes. Not having a plan A common mistake among first-time investors is that they lack a solid plan that will carry them through good and bad times, says Mark Holder, chief investment officer at Oklahoma-based portfolio management firm Stone Fox Capital Advisors. Failing to […]
Netflix is more popular among couch potatoes than investors a year after its polarizing decision to raise U.S. prices for video subscription services. The unexpected twist that Netflix unveiled a year ago Thursday triggered mass customer cancellations and a sell-off in its stock, which has wiped out more than $11 billion US in shareholder wealth. Netflix Inc. has bounced back this year to revive its subscriber growth. […]
By K. Raveendran | Special to Gulf News | 3/3/2006 According to WorldClimate, a portal that provides worldwide weather data over long periods of time, Singapore receives an average annual rainfall of about 240 cm and London some 61 cm per year. Compared to this, Dubai gets an average rainfall of only 10 cm for a full year. So, one might assume that buildings in Singapore and […]
