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INTEREST: Apple building Arizona manufacturing plant
by Wayne Billing 04 Nov '13

04 Nov '13

...from: http://azgovernor.gov/dms/upload/PR_110413_Apple.pdf http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/11/05/uk-apple-manufacturing-idUKBRE9A40… http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/124873-apple-confirms-next-us-factory-set-f… Apple confirms next US factory, set for Arizona to create 2000+ jobs * By Jake Smith <http://www.pocket-lint.com/author/jake-smith> Follow on Twitter<https://twitter.com/intent/user?screen_name=jakeosmith> * 7 hours ago Apple and the state of Arizona have announced a second Apple factory in the US - specifically in Mesa, Arizona - as Apple works to bring some manufacturing back to its home country. The factory will be in partnership with GT Advanced, a company that will "own and operate furnaces and related equipment" at the Apple facility. "We are proud to expand our domestic manufacturing initiative with a new facility in Arizona, creating more than 2,000 jobs in engineering, manufacturing and construction," Apple told Pocket-lint in a statement. "This new plant will make components for Apple products and it will run on 100% renewable energy from day one, as a result of the work we are doing with SRP to create green energy sources to power the facility." The purpose of the factory hasn't been named specifically by Apple, though GT Advanced says it has entered "into a multi-year supply agreement with Apple Inc. to provide sapphire material." Sapphire is used abundantly in Apple products, including the Touch ID fingerprint sensor and camera lens in the iPhone 5S. This gels nicely with the word about "components" Apple gave us. Talking business, "Apple will provide GT with a prepayment of approximately $578 million. GT will reimburse Apple for the prepayment over five years, starting in 2015," GT said in a press release. The Arizona factory follows an Apple-backed factory from Flextronics in Fort Worth, Texas that will be the hub of most of the Mac Pro's manufacturing. Apple has touted the "made in the USA" fact heavily in several marketing campaigns. On the east coast of the US, Apple has also opened an AppleCare center in Pennsylvania to speed up some repairs. "Apple is indisputably one of the world’s most innovative companies and I’m thrilled to welcome them to Arizona," Arizona governor Janice K. Brewer said in a statement. "Apple will have an incredibly positive economic impact for Arizona and its decision to locate here speaks volumes about the friendly, pro-business climate we have been creating these past four years." >From an environmental standpoint, Apple is said to advanced green energy in Arizona. Apple's "investment in renewable energy will also be greening our power grid, and creating significant new solar and geothermal power sources for the state," Brewer said. Wayne Billing Classroom Technology Support Audio Visual and Classroom Technology Support Computer & Network Services 130 Machray Hall Building 204-474-6649 204-807-3153 (cell) 204-474-7625 (fax) Wayne.Billing(a)umanitoba.ca<mailto:Wayne.Billing@umanitoba.ca>

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INTEREST: Apple leads 2013 U.S. Wireless Smartphone Satisfaction Study
by Wayne Billing 19 Oct '13

19 Oct '13

…from: http://www.jdpower.com/content/press-release/RDbY51O/2013-u-s-wireless-smar… 2013 U.S. Wireless Smartphone Satisfaction Study--Volume 2 10/17/2013 J.D. Power Reports: Both Apple and Samsung Lead in Overall Satisfaction Performance among the U.S. Wireless Tier 1 Carriers, Excelling in All Smartphone Experience Factors Apple Smartphone Devices Rank Highest among Customers of AT&T and Verizon Wireless Carriers; Samsung Ranks Highest among Sprint and T-Mobile Customers WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.: 17 October 2013 -- Apple and Samsung are the only smartphone brands to achieve overall satisfaction scores that are at or above the study average in all four performance factors, according to the J.D. Power 2013 U.S. Wireless Smartphone Satisfaction StudySM--Volume 2 released today. [cid:7EB70C3F-5718-43B2-A90E-F31724319992@cc.umanitoba.ca]

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FYI: MacBook Air Flash Storage Firmware Update 1.1
by Wayne Billing 18 Oct '13

18 Oct '13

…from: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1690?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US [Download icon] MacBook Air Flash Storage Firmware Update 1.1 Download<http://support.apple.com/downloads/DL1690/en_US/MacBookAirFlashStoreFWUpd1.…> This firmware update is recommended for MacBook Air (mid 2012) models. Apple has discovered that a small percentage of flash storage drives in these MacBook Air models have an issue that may result in data loss. This update tests your drive and, in the majority of cases, installs new firmware to resolve the issue. If your drive cannot be updated, Apple will replace it, free of charge Post Date: Oct 17, 2013 File Size: 2.21 MB If you do happen to see the "drive cannot be updated" message, check the replacement procedure at: http://www.apple.com/support/macbookair-flashdrive/ MacBook Air Flash Storage Drive Replacement Program [cid:AE53E50D-A93C-46B7-A277-6B51C96EA0A0@cc.umanitoba.ca] Please select a Country Asia Australia België Belgique Brasil България Canada (English) Canada (Français) 中国 Česká republika Danmark Deutschland España Eesti Ελλάδα France Hong Kong (English) 香港 India Ireland Italia 日本 대한민국 Κύπρος Latin America América Latina Latvija Lietuva Luxembourg (English) Luxembourg (Français) Luxemburg (Deutsch) Malaysia Magyarország Malta México Nederland New Zealand Norge Österreich Polska Portugal Россия România Singapore Slovensko Slovenija Schweiz Suisse Suomi Sverige 台灣 ไทย United Kingdom United States Apple has determined that certain 64GB and 128GB flash storage drives used in the previous generation of MacBook Air systems may fail. These systems were sold between June 2012 through June 2013. Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP) will replace affected flash storage drives, free of charge. If you ran a firmware update and were directed to this web page, skip to Replacement Process section for next steps. To see if your drive may be affected, go to the Mac App Store<http://itunes.apple.com/store?mt=12>, click on Updates and choose the MacBook Air Flash Storage Firmware Update 1.1. The firmware update will test your drive to see if it is affected. You will be directed back to this page for next steps if needed. IMPORTANT: If your drive is affected, we strongly recommend that you do not install any operating system updates or new applications. We also recommend backing up your data on a regular basis until you receive a replacement drive.Learn more about backup options<http://www.apple.com/support/backup/> Replacement Process If your MacBook Air has an affected flash drive, please contact one of the Apple service providers below to schedule an appointment to get your drive replaced: * Apple Retail Store - Set up an appointment with a Genius<http://www.apple.com/retail/storelist/>. * Apple Authorized Service Provider - Find one here<https://locate.apple.com/>. * Apple Technical Support - Contact us<http://www.apple.com/support/macbookair-flashdrive/> for local service options. Before you bring your MacBook Air in for service, please back up your data. Learn more about backup options<http://www.apple.com/support/backup/>. Additional Information You will be able to reinstall the operating system version that shipped with your product by going to the Mac App Store. Any other applications or other data should be restored from the back up that you made before the replacement. If you believe you have paid for a repair or replacement due to this issue, contact Apple<http://www.apple.com/support/macbookair-flashdrive/> regarding a refund. This worldwide Apple program does not extend the standard warranty coverage of the MacBook Air. The program covers affected MacBook Air for three years after the first retail sale of the unit. Apple will continue to evaluate service data and will provide further updates to this program as needed.

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INTEREST: Ransomware comes of computer age
by Wayne Billing 17 Oct '13

17 Oct '13

…from: http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/10/youre-infected-if-you-want-to-see-y… Ransomware comes of age with unbreakable crypto, anonymous payments. by Dan Goodin<http://arstechnica.com/author/dan-goodin/> - Oct 17 2013, 12:06pm CDT [cid:92703777-A750-40B0-A160-CA42788A79E1@cc.umanitoba.ca] Malware that takes computers hostage until users pay a ransom is getting meaner, and thanks to the growing prevalence of Bitcoin and other digital payment systems, it's easier than ever for online crooks to capitalize on these "ransomware" schemes. If this wasn't already abundantly clear, consider the experience of Nic, an Ars reader who fixes PCs for a living and recently helped a client repair the damage inflicted by a particularly nasty title known as CryptoLocker. It started when an end user in the client's accounting department received an e-mail purporting to come from Intuit. Yes, the attached archived zip file with an executable inside should have been a dead giveaway that this message was malicious and was in no way affiliated with Intuit. But accounting employees are used to receiving e-mails from financial companies. When the receiver clicked on it, he saw a white box flash briefly on his screen but didn't notice anything else out of the ordinary. He then locked his computer and attended several meetings. Within a few hours, the company's IT department received word of a corrupt file stored on a network drive that was available to multiple employees, including the one who received the malicious e-mail. A quick investigation soon uncovered other corrupted files, most or all of which had been accessed by the accounting employee. By the time CryptoLocker had run its course, hundreds of gigabytes worth of company data was no longer available. "After reading about the ransomware on reddit earlier this week<http://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/1mizfx/proper_care_feeding_of_you…>, we guessed [that it was] what we were dealing with, as all the symptoms seemed to be popping up," Nic, who asked that his last name not be published, wrote in an e-mail to Ars. "We went ahead and killed the local network connection on the machine in question and we were immediately presented with a screenshot letting us know exactly what we were dealing with." According to multiple participants in the month-long discussion, CryptoLocker is true to its name. It uses strong cryptography to lock all files that a user has permission to modify, including those on secondary hard drives and network storage systems. Until recently, few antivirus products detected the ransomware until it was too late. By then, victims were presented with a screen like the one displayed on the computer of the accounting employee, which is pictured above. It warns that the files are locked using a 2048-bit version of the RSA cryptographic algorithm<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSA_(algorithm)> and that the data will be forever lost unless the private key is obtained from the malware operators within three days of the infection. “Nobody and never will be able to restore files” "The server will destroy the key after a time specified in this window," the screen warns, displaying a clock that starts with 72:00:00 and counts down with each passing second. "After that, nobody and never will be able to restore files. To obtain the private key for this computer, which will automatically decrypt files, you need to pay 300 USD / 300 EUR / similar amount in another currency." None of the reddit posters reported any success in breaking the encryption. Several also said they had paid the ransom and received a key that worked as promised. Full backup files belonging to Nic's clients were about a week old at the time that CryptoLocker first took hold of the network. Nic advised them to comply with the demand. The ransomware operators delivered a key, and about 24 hours later, some 400 gigabytes of data was restored. CryptoLocker accepts payment in Bitcoins or through the MoneyPak payment cards, as the following two screenshots illustrate. [cid:48881253-8F25-4753-90C7-D155D1D8BDDE@cc.umanitoba.ca]<http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/BitCoin.jpg> Enlarge<http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/BitCoin.jpg> [cid:38D78380-3DF8-4986-8D67-F5BED90658FF@cc.umanitoba.ca]<http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/MoneyBank.jpg> Enlarge<http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/MoneyBank.jpg> The outcome hasn't been as happy for other CryptoLocker victims. Whitehats who tracked the ransomware eventually took down some of the command and control servers that the operators relied on. As a result, people on reddit reported, some victims who paid the ransom were unable to receive the unique key needed to unlock files on their computer. The inability to undo the damage hit some victims particularly hard. Because CryptoLocker encrypted all files that an infected computer had access to, the ransomware in many cases locked the contents of backup disks that were expected to be relied upon in the event that the main disks failed. (The threat is a graphic example of the importance of "cold," or offline backup, a backup arrangement that prevents data from being inadvertently overwritten.) Several people have reported that the 72-hour deadline is real and that the only way it can be extended is by setting a computer's BIOS clock back in time. Once the clock runs out, the malware uninstalls itself. Reinfecting a machine does nothing to bring back the timer or restore the old encrypted session. Earlier this year, researchers from Symantec who infiltrated the servers of one ransomware syndicate conservatively estimated that its operators were easily able to clear $5 million per year<http://arstechnica.com/security/2012/11/mushrooming-growth-of-ransomware-ex…>. No wonder CryptoLocker has had such a long run. As of last week, more than three weeks after it was first published, the reddit thread was still generating five to 10 new posts per day. Also a testament to the prevalence and staying power of CryptoLocker, researchers from security firms TrendMicro and Emsisoft provided technical analyses here<http://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/threat-refinemen…> and here<http://www.kernelmode.info/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=2945>. "This bug is super scary and could really wipe the floor with lots of small businesses that don't have the best backup practices," Nic observed. "Given the easy money available to scam operators, it's not hard to see why."

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INTEREST: Foxconn admits to pushing interns into overtime to build PS4 parts
by Wayne Billing 17 Oct '13

17 Oct '13

…from: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/10/foxconn-admits-to-pushing-interns-int… Foxconn admits to pushing interns into overtime to build PS4 parts Chinese manufacturer says factory is now in "full compliance" with regulations. by Kyle Orland<http://arstechnica.com/author/kyle-orland/> - Oct 10 2013, 9:21am CDT Controversial Chinese component maker Foxconn has admitted that student interns were assigned to work overtime in order to make parts for Sony's PlayStation 4, in violation of the company's policies. Reports emerged yesterday from Chinese site Tencent Games<http://games.qq.com/a/20131009/015913.htm> (translated by Games in Asia<http://www.gamesinasia.com/report-foxconn-using-forced-student-labor-to-bui…>) that thousands of students from the Xi’an Institute of Technology were forced to work at the Foxconn plant in order to receive six course credits necessary for them to graduate. Once at the plant, the students were reportedly put into menial assembly line jobs rather than anything related to their fields of study. According to the reports, they were forced to work long hours, including night shifts and overtime. In a statement obtained by news site Quartz<http://qz.com/133950/your-playstation-4-may-be-built-by-chinese-students-in…>, Foxconn said that “immediate actions have been taken to bring that campus into full compliance with our code and policies" and that the company is "reinforcing the policies of no overtime and no night shifts for student interns." Foxconn stressed, however, that the interns' work was voluntary and that they could "terminate their participation in the program at any time." The course credit requirement appears to belie that claim, however. Sony, for its part, told gaming industry news site MCV<http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/forced-student-labour-used-to-build-ps4s-at-…> that it had found Foxconn to be in full compliance with the Sony Supplier Code of Conduct<http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/csr_report/sourcing/supplychain/supplier.pdf>, meaning it was “complying with all applicable laws, work ethics, labor conditions, and respect for human rights, environmental conservation, and health and safety." Foxconn has long<http://arstechnica.com/apple/2006/06/4461/> faced<http://arstechnica.com/apple/2006/06/4395/> accusations of substandard labor practices<http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/10/internal-investigation-underage-work…> and worker abuse<http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2010/10/leaked-foxconn-report-details-suppos…> and has been the scene of worker riots<http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/09/foxconn-worker-riot-closes-factory/>. Last May, Apple reportedly joined with Foxconn<http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/05/foxconn-and-apple-to-split-costs-to-im…> in paying the costs needed to improve conditions at the factory.

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INTEREST: Guilford County Schools [ASUS] tablet program on hold pending Gorilla Glass
by Wayne Billing 15 Oct '13

15 Oct '13

….from: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/10/13/4385582/guilford-county-schools… Guilford County Schools tablet program on hold The Associated Press Posted: Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013 GREENSBORO, N.C. Guilford County Schools' goal to get tablet computers to every one of its 15,000 students is on hold after students reported melted chargers and a 10 percent rate of broken screens. The system decided earlier this month to shelve the tablets and delay the $3.2 million program until officials can work out the problem with Amplify, a New York-based education technology company that provides the tablets. The students had the tablets for about six weeks. "It may take a while for us to get tablets back, which is of course disappointing. But when we do this again, we want to make sure we do it right," Guilford County Board of Education Chairman Alan Duncan told the News & Record of Greensboro (http://bit.ly/168OPGc). One immediate problem that must be fixed is the failure to put more durable glass in the tables. The school district paid extra for a kind of glass called Gorilla Glass, but the tablets were given regular glass, Amplify spokesman Justin Hamilton said. Amplify buys the tablets from Taiwan-based Asus and is trying to determine why its instructions were not followed, Hamilton said. Guilford County Schools have reported about 10 percent of the tablets had broken glass, compared to about 2 percent in other districts Amplify has worked with before, Hamilton said. The school board is reviewing its decision to buy the tablets from Amplify. The company had the lowest bid of $199 a tablet, which included a built-in platform teachers can use for lessons and to get students involved with each other. The Amplify bid was picked over other offers from companies like Apple, Lenovo, Dell, HP and Samsung. Board member Darlene Garrett, who cast the lone no vote against the Amplify deal, said less than two weeks after the vote the board should have had more information. "We should have asked for it," she said. "But I think we were in a rush to approve it." Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/10/13/4385582/guilford-county-schools… Wayne Billing Classroom Technology Support Audio Visual and Classroom Technology Support 130 Machray Hall Building 204-474-6649 204-807-3153 (cell) 204-474-7625 (fax) Wayne_Billing(a)umanitoba.ca<mailto:Wayne_Billing@umanitoba.ca>

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FYI: Google sets plan to sell users’ endorsements
by Wayne Billing 12 Oct '13

12 Oct '13

….from: http://thechronicleherald.ca/world/1160337-google-sets-plan-to-sell-users-e… Google sets plan to sell users’ endorsements October 12, 2013 - 10:04am Share on facebook<http://thechronicleherald.ca/world/1160337-google-sets-plan-to-sell-users-e…>Share on twitter<http://thechronicleherald.ca/world/1160337-google-sets-plan-to-sell-users-e…>Share on linkedin<http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300&winname=addthis&pub=chjhurst&sour…>More Sharing Services<http://thechronicleherald.ca/world/1160337-google-sets-plan-to-sell-users-e…> Share on email<http://thechronicleherald.ca/world/1160337-google-sets-plan-to-sell-users-e…> Share on prin<http://thechronicleherald.ca/world/1160337-google-sets-plan-to-sell-users-e…> SAN FRANCISCO — Google, following in Facebook’s footsteps, wants to sell users’ endorsements to marketers to help them hawk their wares. On Friday, Google announced an update to its terms of service that allows the company to include adult users’ names, photos and comments in ads shown across the web, based on ratings, reviews and posts they have made on Google Plus and other Google services like YouTube. When the new ad policy goes live Nov. 11, Google will be able to show what the company calls shared endorsements on Google sites and across the web, on the more than 2 million sites in Google’s display advertising network, which are viewed by an estimated 1 billion people. If a user follows a bakery on Google Plus or gives an album four stars on the Google Play music service, for instance, that person’s name, photo and endorsement could show up in ads for that bakery or album. Google said it would give users the chance to opt out of being included in the new endorsements, and people younger than 18 will automatically be excluded. Such product endorsements, especially coming from friends and acquaintances, are a powerful lure to brands, replicating word-of-mouth marketing on a broad scale. But as Facebook has learned, many users have strong and skeptical feelings about their endorsements being used in ads without their explicit permission. “The trick to any advertising like this is to avoid coming across as creepy to your user base and have them say, 'I didn’t want anyone else to know that,'?” said Zachary Reiss-Davis, a Forrester analyst, speaking generally about social ads. In a notice to users posted on its site Friday, Google said, “Feedback from people you know can save you time and improve results for you and your friends across all Google services.” Facebook, the world’s largest social network with 1.2 billion users worldwide, has been aggressively marketing such social endorsements. For example, if you post that you love McDonald’s new Mighty Wings on the chain’s Facebook page, McDonald’s could pay Facebook to broadcast your kind words to all your friends, effectively using you as a product endorser. The company declined to specify exactly how it planned to use endorsements in advertising, what the ads would look like or how brands choose whether to include shared endorsements. Facebook does not allow its users to opt out of such ads, which it calls sponsored stories, although users can limit how their actions on the social network are used in some other types of advertising. Google Plus users, on the other hand, will be able to opt out of inclusion in ads on the social network’s settings page. If a Google Plus user has shared comments with a limited set of people, only people in that circle will see the personalized ads. Ratings and reviews on services like Google Plus Local are automatically public and can be used in ads, unless a user opts out of shared endorsements. Google had previously shown Plus 1s, votes of approval similar to Facebook likes, in ads across Google sites and its ad network. Google plans to expand that to include “follows,” comments, ratings, reviews and other interactions. Those who have already elected to opt out of using Plus 1s in ads will automatically be opted out of the expansion. Though 190 million users post on Google Plus and 390 million use the social network indirectly by sharing on other Google sites like YouTube, Google’s variety of services gives it a potentially wider reach. A user’s Google searches or Gmail correspondence, because they are not considered social interactions, would not be used to generate endorsement ads, although the company uses search history and the content of email to display other ads to users. Currently, Google does not have an ad option incorporating more social data that is ready to be used by advertisers, the company said. Instead, the company wants the ability to offer such ads in the future and is notifying users in advance. Although advertising irks some users — even while it helps support free services — social ads have proved particularly contentious. Facebook recently settled a class-action lawsuit that claimed it had not adequately notified users about how it was using endorsements. In late August, it tried to impose a new privacy policy that would have given the company clearer rights to run social ads without a user’s explicit permission. After privacy groups complained, the Federal Trade Commission began an inquiry into the changes, prompting Facebook to suspend the process. Google, which is under the supervision of the FTC for a previous privacy violation and has agreed to privacy audits and fines for privacy misrepresentations, is taking pains to show that it has considered the privacy implications of the new ads. It will notify users of the change with banners on Google’s home page, in search results, in Google Plus notifications and elsewhere. And posts by users who have registered as being younger than 18 will not appear in ads, though their posts can still appear in search results or other places that are not commercial in nature. Shared endorsements are the latest example of the continual push by Google and other web companies to collate in one place the reams of personal information people share online and use it to personalize people’s online experiences. Privacy advocates say companies do not generally get meaningful consent from their users before using such information. “Users reasonably expect that their comments should be used as they intended,” said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, which has tangled with numerous Internet companies, most recently Facebook, over the use of personal information in ads. “People don’t typically race around handing their friends leaflets and advertisements.” In Europe, where privacy is considered a personal right, early reaction was skeptical. “What Google intends to do is get everyone involved in their advertising model without necessarily involving citizens in a decision about whether to participate in that model,” Jan Philipp Albrecht, a German member of the European Parliament who is the main sponsor of legislation overhauling and updating the bloc’s privacy standards, said in a telephone interview Friday. Google’s plan for social advertising is “something we will have to react to in our legislation,” said Albrecht, who said he would like EU governments and legislators to reach a final agreement on the complex law by April.

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INTEREST: Paying tax: Apple Good; Google, Facebook not so much
by Wayne Billing 12 Oct '13

12 Oct '13

….from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2013/10/10/sec-clears-apple-taxes-se… http://arstechnica.com/business/2013/10/to-reduce-its-tax-burden-google-exp… http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2012/12/27/facebook-mirrors-googles-… AXES<http://www.forbes.com/taxes> | 10/10/2013 @ 1:15AM |1,822 views SEC Clears Apple Taxes---SEC Thinks Different Too [Image representing Apple as depicted in CrunchBase]<http://www.crunchbase.com/company/apple> Image via CrunchBase What does it mean that Apple has been cleared? In the SEC’s eyes, Apple accounts for taxes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. The vaunted Securities and Exchange Commission has been stirring the pot of Apple’s complex finances for months now. And as TaxProf Paul Caron notes, the SEC approves Apple’s overseas tax strategies<https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved…>. The SEC review<http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/000000000013032308/filename1.…> was a worry on one level, especially after Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) lambasted the tech giant as “the Holy Grail of tax avoidance.” For a company and CEO as cool as Apple and Tim Cook, respectively, this was presumably not a huge worry. The SEC, after all, as not Senator Levin on a tax witch hunt. Now the SEC has closed the book<http://allthingsd.com/20131007/sec-clears-apples-tax-strategy/>, finding that all is well. The SEC even went so far as to write this letter<http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/000000000013048900/filename1.…> that it would take no action. Whatever you think of the U.S. tax system and the lengths to which companies go to pay less, the SEC’s action—or lack thereof—clearly makes sense. Sure, the Senate Permanent Investigations Subcommittee’s report on Apple painted a grim picture. But Apple is less aggressive than many others. In his Senate testimony, CEO Tim Cook distanced Apple from tax gimmicks like IP offshoring. . . . To reduce its tax burden, Google expands use of the “Double Irish” New report: Google moved almost $12B through Bermuda shell company. by Cyrus Farivar<http://arstechnica.com/author/cyrus-farivar/> - Oct 11 2013, 1:55pm CDT . . . Facebook Mirrors Google's Offshore Tax Scheme [cid:552C8D2A-6870-45B1-A325-C624B1B041C7@cc.umanitoba.ca]<http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2012/12/27/facebook-mirrors-googles-…>[cid:4F64A233-8B8B-4C4C-AF68-2C68B5DDC7EF@cc.umanitoba.ca]<http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2012/12/27/facebook-mirrors-googles-…>[cid:4045C400-394F-4BA2-85BE-1D2C79B9AB18@cc.umanitoba.ca]<http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2012/12/27/facebook-mirrors-googles-…>[cid:4F64A233-8B8B-4C4C-AF68-2C68B5DDC7EF@cc.umanitoba.ca]<http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2012/12/27/facebook-mirrors-googles-…>[cid:618D8EDA-0D36-4ECA-8F96-3F6021CD69E8@cc.umanitoba.ca]<http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2012/12/27/facebook-mirrors-googles-…>[cid:4F64A233-8B8B-4C4C-AF68-2C68B5DDC7EF@cc.umanitoba.ca]<http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2012/12/27/facebook-mirrors-googles-…> 6 comments, 6 called-out<http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2012/12/27/facebook-mirrors-googles-…> Comment Now<http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2012/12/27/facebook-mirrors-googles-…> Follow Comments<http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2012/12/27/facebook-mirrors-googles-…> [google+ facebook]<http://www.flickr.com/photos/18090920@N07/6160054455> google+ facebook (Photo credit: Sean MacEntee) What is a tax scheme and what’s legitimate tax planning? It may be a question of opinion. Besides, a “scheme” has different connotations in the U.S. and U.K. But however you slice it, Google and Facebook have something in common. Both companies have used a kind of sandwich not for sustenance but for tax minimization. Recent reports state that Facebook flipped more than $700 million to the Cayman Islands last year as part of a “Double Irish” tax reduction strategy. See Facebook Defends its ‘Double Irish’ Tax Reduction Deal<http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/business-news/facebook-defends-i…>. Recall that former Zuckerberg pal and co-founder Eduardo Saverin took considerable heat when he exited the U.S. for Singapore. See Expats Face Steep Exit Tax Courtesy Of Facebook<http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2012/05/18/expats-face-steep-exit-ta…>. Yet Facebook is recently under more fire than Mr. Saverin. See Facebook Paid £2.9m Tax on £840m Profits Made Outside US<http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/dec/23/facebook-tax-profits-outsi…>. From an outsider’s perspective, it looks like Facebook Funneled Nearly Half a Billion Pounds Into the Cayman Islands Last Year<http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-funneled-nearly-half-a-billion-poun…>. Yet Facebook’s technique may not be overly aggressive. Big multinational companies can hire tax lawyers to come up with ways to reduce the company’s effective tax rate from 35% to much less. Google reportedly used the Double Irish and the Dutch Sandwich<http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-21/google-2-4-rate-shows-how-60-billi…>, saving the company billions<http://www.slate.com/id/2291269/> in U.S. taxes. The Double Irish involves forming a pair of Irish companies to turn payments on intellectual property into tax-deductible royalty payments. The U.S. parent company forms a subsidiary in Ireland. The parent signs a contract giving European rights to its intangible property to the new company. In return, the new subsidiary agrees to help market or promote those products in Europe. Thus, all the European income–that previously would have been taxed in the U.S.—is taxed in Ireland instead. Then the Irish company changes its headquarters to Bermuda–a true tax haven. So far, there has been no Irish tax, no Bermuda tax, and no U.S. tax. Finally, the parent forms a second Irish subsidiary that elects to be treated as disregarded under U.S. tax law–by filing a one-page form. The first Irish company (now in Bermuda) can now license company products to the second Irish company for royalties. The net result is one low 12.5% Irish tax compared to 35% in the U.S. Even this tax can be reduced, since the royalties going to the Bermuda company are deductible. Some of these steps may seem circuitous (they are). Tax treaties permit this, yet a deal done directly with Bermuda (and without all the layers) would incur a tax.

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INTEREST: Cloudy with a chance of security breaches at Adobe
by Wayne Billing 03 Oct '13

03 Oct '13

….from: http://9to5mac.com/2013/10/03/adobe-says-data-for-almost-3m-customers-compr… Adobe says almost 3M customers’ information compromised in sophisticated attack<http://9to5mac.com/2013/10/03/adobe-says-data-for-almost-3m-customers-compr…> [adobe-creative-cloud] Adobe’s Chief Security Officer Brad Arkin announced today<http://blogs.adobe.com/conversations/2013/10/important-customer-security-an…> on the company’s blog that “sophisticated attacks” on its network have been discovered and that some customer information was compromised in the process: Cyber attacks are one of the unfortunate realities of doing business today. Given the profile and widespread use of many of our products, Adobe has attracted increasing attention from cyber attackers. Very recently, Adobe’s security team discovered sophisticated attacks on our network, involving the illegal access of customer information as well as source code for numerous Adobe products. We believe these attacks may be related. Arkin says Adobe’s ongoing investigation has found that the attackers have accessed Adobe IDs and encrypted passwords for approximately 2.9 million customers, but that it does “not believe the attackers removed decrypted credit or debit card numbers.” They were, however, able to get their hands on names, encrypted credit or debit card numbers, expiration dates, and customer order information. The company is also investigating an attack that accessed source code for several Adobe products illegally. Adobe is of course working with law enforcement and continuing its investigation, but in the meantime it announced it will be contacting customers, banks, law enforcement, and automatically reseting customer passwords: * As a precaution, we are resetting relevant customer passwords to help prevent unauthorized access to Adobe ID accounts. If your user ID and password were involved, you will receive an email notification from us with information on how to change your password. We also recommend that you change your passwords on any website where you may have used the same user ID and password. * We are in the process of notifying customers whose credit or debit card information we believe to be involved in the incident. If your information was involved, you will receive a notification letter from us with additional information on steps you can take to help protect yourself against potential misuse of personal information about you. Adobe is also offering customers, whose credit or debit card information was involved, the option of enrolling in a one-year complimentary credit monitoring membership where available. * We have notified the banks processing customer payments for Adobe, so that they can work with the payment card companies and card-issuing banks to help protect customers’ accounts. * We have contacted federal law enforcement and are assisting in their investigation.

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INTEREST: Report finds almost all Android OEMs cheat on benchmarks
by Wayne Billing 02 Oct '13

02 Oct '13

….from: Report finds almost all Android OEMs, not just Samsung, cheat on benchmarks<http://9to5mac.com/2013/10/02/report-finds-almost-all-android-oems-not-just…> When Apple SVP Phil Schiller pointed us to a story earlier this week that Samsung was artificially inflating<http://9to5mac.com/2013/10/01/phil-schiller-calls-out-samsungs-note-3-bench…> benchmark scores for its new Galaxy Note 3, many were quick to point out it wasn’t the first time Samsung had been caught engaged in such a practice. The same issue was discovered by AnandTech for the Galaxy S4 back in July, and today the site has an extensive report showing<http://www.anandtech.com/show/7384/state-of-cheating-in-android-benchmarks> that almost every Android smartphone manufacturer is shipping devices that do the same. As pictured in the chart above, that includes the HTC One, HTC One mini, LG G2, Galaxy Tab 10.1, and many others. In fact, the only companies that appear to not be using the method is Apple and Motorola, as well as Google with its Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 devices: We started piecing this data together back in July, and even had conversations with both silicon vendors and OEMs about getting it to stop. With the exception of Apple and Motorola, literally every single OEM we’ve worked with ships (or has shipped) at least one device that runs this silly CPU optimization. It’s possible that older Motorola devices might’ve done the same thing, but none of the newer devices we have on hand exhibited the behavior. It’s a systemic problem that seems to have surfaced over the last two years, and one that extends far beyond Samsung… None of the Nexus do, which is understandable since the optimization isn’t a part of AOSP. This also helps explain why the Nexus 4 performed so slowly when we reviewed it – this mess was going on back then and Google didn’t partake. As noted in the report, the gains that OEMs are experiencing from the inflated scores are probably not worth the press they’ve been receiving. AnandTech points out that most of the inflated scores provide under a 10% increase in GPU and CPU performance benchmarks: The hilarious part of all of this is we’re still talking about small gains in performance. The impact on our CPU tests is 0 – 5%, and somewhere south of 10% on our GPU benchmarks as far as we can tell. I can’t stress enough that it would be far less painful for the OEMs to just stop this nonsense and instead demand better performance/power efficiency from their silicon vendors. You can check out the full report here<http://www.anandtech.com/show/7384/state-of-cheating-in-android-benchmarks>, which offers in-depth analysis on the optimizations it found for several devices across various benchmark tests. [android-benchmarks-cheaters.png]

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