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Friday, December 23, 2011
Apple awarded a patent for in-call app switching, starts drafting next lawsuit
Apple awarded a patent for in-call app switching, starts drafting next lawsuit originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Dec 2011 21:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Monday, December 19, 2011
Fisher says more Fed easing is "wrong path" (Reuters)
AUSTIN (Reuters) ? More monetary stimulus from the U.S. Federal Reserve would be the "wrong path," despite the threat the simmering European debt crisis is posing for the U.S. economy, a top Fed official known for his hawkish views on inflation said on Friday.
It is up to Congress and the President -- not the U.S. central bank -- to clean up the "yucky mess" that is the country's debt and fiscal problems, Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher said, reprising what is for him a frequent theme in public speeches.
"The Federal Reserve has done everything it can, and more, to reduce unemployment without forsaking our sacred commitment to maintaining price stability, or crossing over the monetary river Styx into full-blown debt monetization," Fisher told the Austin Chamber of Commerce. "From my standpoint, resorting to further monetary accommodation to clean out the sink, clogged by the flotsam and jetsam of a jolly, drunken fiscal and financial party that has gone on far too long, is the wrong path to follow."
The U.S. central bank stood pat on policy at its meeting Tuesday, leaving interest rates near zero, and continuing to signal that it will keep them there through at least mid-2013. One policymaker, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, dissented, calling for further easing.
Speaking in Florence, Italy on Friday, Evans reiterated his call for the Fed to keep rates low until unemployment, now at 8.6 percent, falls below 7 percent, as long as inflation does not threaten to top 3 percent.
He also said that while the United States needs better fiscal discipline in the medium and long term, some "smart stimulus" would help a lot in the short term.
DISSENTERS
Fisher and fellow hawks Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota and Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser were the dissenters earlier this year as the Fed eased policy to jumpstart a slowing recovery.
Fisher on Friday said his votes were driven not by a fear that easing would stoke inflation but on concern it would not help on employment.
Inflation, he said, is headed back down toward the Fed's 2 percent target, and recent economic indicators suggest domestic demand is strengthening.
Still, souring conditions in Europe and slowing growth in emerging economies like China and Brazil threaten to knock the U.S. recovery off course again, Fisher said.
Financial markets remain on edge about Europe's ability to put a floor under a bond market selloff that is pushing borrowing costs for countries such as Italy and Spain toward unsustainable levels.
But there is little U.S. policymakers can do but "pray that fiscal and monetary authorities abroad get it right," Fisher said. To reporters after the speech, Fisher said he does not envision the need for a monetary policy response to Europe's crisis, unless there were to be a panic of some sort.
In testimony at the U.S. House of Representatives Friday, the New York Fed's powerful chief, William Dudley, made a similar point.
"I don't anticipate, even if the crisis in Europe were to worsen, further steps on the part of the Federal Reserve at this time," Dudley told the panel of lawmakers.
Speaking in the Texas capital about 1,000 miles away, Fisher warned against the Fed opening the spigots of liquidity further to get the economy moving again, when the biggest culprit in his view was uncertainty over tax policy, given the huge national debt.
"It may provide immediate relief but risks destroying the plumbing of the entire house," said Fisher, who often uses colorful metaphors and literary references to enliven his speeches. "Better that the Congress and the president -- the makers of fiscal policy and regulation -- roll up their sleeves and get on with the yucky task of cleaning out the clogged drain."
Fisher and his fellow hawkish dissenters rotate off the Fed's policy-setting panel next year, and only one policy hawk -- Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker -- will rotate in.
The change in voting line-up means the panel will lean more dovish than it did last year, suggesting Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke may have more support for further easing in the New Year.
(With reporting by Valentina Za in Florence, Italy and Pedro Nicolaci da Costa in Washington, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama; Diane Craft)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111217/bs_nm/us_usa_fed
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Sunday, December 18, 2011
AP-GfK Poll: More than half say Obama should lose (AP)
WASHINGTON ? A majority of adults say President Barack Obama does not deserve a second term but are evenly divided on whether he will win re-election next year, says a new Associated Press-GfK poll that highlights some of the campaign obstacles he faces.
Although the public would prefer Obama be voted out of office, he fares relatively well in potential matchups with Republicans Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. Another bit of good news for the Democrat: For the first time since spring, more adults said the economy got better in the past month than said it got worse.
The president's approval rating on unemployment shifted upward ? from 40 percent in October to 45 percent in the latest poll ? as the jobless rate fell to 8.6 percent last month, its lowest level since March 2009.
But Obama's approval rating on his handling of the economy overall remains stagnant: 39 percent approve and 60 percent disapprove.
Heading into the 2012 campaign, the poll shows the challenges facing Obama as he tries to win a second term among a public that does not support his steering of the economy, the most dominant issue for Americans, or his reforms to health care, one of his signature accomplishments. Yet voters appear to be grappling with whether to replace him with Romney or Gingrich.
For the first time, the poll found that a majority of adults, 52 percent, said Obama should be voted out of office while 43 percent said he deserves a second term. The numbers represent a clear reversal since last May, when 53 percent said Obama should be re-elected while 43 percent said he didn't deserve four more years.
Separately, 49 percent expected Obama to win re-election while 48 percent think he will be voted out of office.
Obama's overall job approval stands at a new low: 44 percent approve while 54 percent disapprove. The president's standing among independents is worse: 38 percent approve while 59 percent disapprove. Among Democrats, the president holds steady with an approval rating of 78 percent while only 12 percent of Republicans approve of the job he's doing.
"I think he's doing the best he can. The problem is the Congress won't help at all," said Rosario Navarro, a Democrat and a 44-year-old truck driver from Fresno, Calif., who voted for Obama in 2008 and intends to support him again.
Robin Dein, a 54-year-old homemaker from Villanova, Pa., who is an independent, said she supported Republican John McCain in 2008 and has not been impressed with Obama's economic policies. She intends to support Romney if he wins the GOP nomination.
"(Obama) spent the first part of his presidency blaming Bush for everything, not that he was innocent, and now his way of solving anything is by spending more money," Dein said.
Despite the soft level of support, many are uncertain whether a Republican president would be a better choice. Asked whom they would support next November, 47 percent of adults favored Obama compared with 46 percent for Romney, a former Massachusetts governor. Against Gingrich, the president holds a solid advantage, receiving 51 percent compared with 42 percent for the former House speaker.
The potential matchups paint a better picture for the president among independents. Obama receives 45 percent of non-aligned adults compared with 41 percent for Romney. Against Gingrich, Obama holds a wide lead among independents, with 54 percent supporting the president and 31 percent backing the former Georgia congressman.
Another piece of good news for Obama: people generally like him personally. His personal favorability rating held steady at 53 percent, with 46 percent viewing him unfavorably. About three-quarters called him likable.
The economy remains a source of pessimism, though the poll suggests the first positive movement in public opinion on the economy in months. One in five said the economy improved in the last month, double the share saying so in October. Still most expect it to stay the same or get worse.
"I suppose you could make some sort of argument that it's getting better, but I'm not sure I even see that," said independent voter John Bailey, a 61-year-old education consultant from East Jordan, Mich. "I think it's bad and it's gotten worse under (Obama's) policies. At best, it's going to stay bad."
Despite the high rate of joblessness, the poll found some optimism on the economy. Although 80 percent described the economy as "poor," respondents describing it as "very poor" fell from 43 percent in October to 34 percent in the latest poll, the lowest since May. Twenty percent said the economy got better in the past month while 37 percent said they expected the economy to improve next year.
Yet plenty of warning signs remain for Obama. Only 26 percent said the United States is headed in the right direction while 70 percent said it was moving in the wrong direction.
The president won a substantial number of women voters in 2008 yet there does not appear to be a significant tilt toward him among women now. The poll found 44 percent of women say Obama deserves a second term, down from 51 percent in October, while 43 percent of men say the president should be re-elected.
About two-thirds of white voters without college degrees say Obama should be a one-term president, while 33 percent of those voters say he should get another term. Among white voters with a college degree, 57 percent said Obama should be voted out of office.
The poll found unpopularity for last year's health care reform bill, one of Obama's major accomplishments. About half of the respondents oppose the health care law and support for it dipped to 29 percent from 36 percent in June. Just 15 percent said the federal government should have the power to require all Americans to buy health insurance.
Even among Democrats, the health care law has tepid support. Fifty percent of Democrats supported the health care law, compared with 59 percent of Democrats last June. Only about a quarter of independents back the law.
The president has taken a more populist tone in his handling of the economy, arguing that the wealthy should pay more in taxes to help pay to extend a payroll tax cut that is worth about an additional $1,000 to a family earning about $50,000 a year. Among those with annual household incomes of $50,000 or less, Obama's approval rating on unemployment climbed to 53 percent, from 43 percent in October.
The Associated Press-GfK Poll was conducted Dec. 8-12 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved landline and cellphone interviews with 1,000 adults nationwide and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
___
Associated Press writer Stacy A. Anderson and News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report.
___
Online: http://www.ap-gfkpoll.com
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Cholesterol-lowering drugs may reduce mortality for influenza patients
ScienceDaily (Dec. 16, 2011) ? Statins, traditionally known as cholesterol-lowering drugs, may reduce mortality among patients hospitalized with influenza, according to a new study released online by The Journal of Infectious Diseases.
It is the first published observational study to evaluate the relationship between statin use and mortality in hospitalized patients with laboratory-confirmed influenza virus infection, according to Vanderbilt's William Schaffner, M.D., professor and chair of Preventive Medicine.
"We may be able to combine statins with antiviral drugs to provide better treatment for patients seriously ill with influenza," said Schaffner, who co-authored the study led by Meredith Vandermeer, MPH, of the Oregon Public Health Division.
Researchers studied adults who were hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed influenza from 2007-2008 to evaluate the association between patients who were prescribed statins and influenza-related deaths.
Among 3,043 hospitalized patients with laboratory-confirmed influenza, 33 percent were given statin medications prior to or during hospitalization. After adjusting for various factors, researchers found that patients not receiving statins were almost twice as likely to die from influenza as those who received the medication.
Schaffner stressed that receiving the influenza vaccine each year is still the best defense against influenza. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that between 5 percent and 20 percent of U.S. residents get the flu each year, and more than 20,000 persons are hospitalized for flu-related complications.
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- M. L. Vandermeer, A. R. Thomas, L. Kamimoto, A. Reingold, K. Gershman, J. Meek, M. M. Farley, P. Ryan, R. Lynfield, J. Baumbach, W. Schaffner, N. Bennett, S. Zansky. Association Between Use of Statins and Mortality Among Patients Hospitalized With Laboratory-Confirmed Influenza Virus Infections: A Multistate Study. Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2011; 205 (1): 13 DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jir695
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/A7tSYJSbHps/111216112907.htm
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Saturday, December 17, 2011
Distro Issue 18 explores the life of Ron Wayne, Apple's lost founder
Some have pegged Ron Wayne as unlucky; not only did he lose big by backing out of one of the most successful companies in consumer electronics, but a set of documents he once sold for a reported $500 recently demanded $1.6 million at auction. Earlier this month, Brian Heater spent two days in the Nevada desert following Apple's third founder, a man known best for his proximity to two guys named Steve and notoriously unfortunate timing. In this issue of Distro, we'll get a glimpse inside Ron's world -- a place occupied by slot machines, antique firearms and collectible coins -- and discover what he really thinks about his onetime business partners. Also in this issue, we'll double your pleasure with a pair of LG smartphone reviews: the Nitro HD and DoublePlay. Dana Wollman will rip through Jawbone's troubled fitness device, the Up, and take Lenovo's IdeaPad U400 for a spin. Ross Rubin will serve up his opinion on "WebOS' Open Sores" and we'll explore the gadgets we can't let go of in IRL. So get to downloading!
Continue reading Distro Issue 18 explores the life of Ron Wayne, Apple's lost founder
Distro Issue 18 explores the life of Ron Wayne, Apple's lost founder originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Dec 2011 09:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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