| O2 Tube trial takes mobile payments underground
O2 has today launched a six-month pilot of NFC (near-field communications) wallet phone technology in London, describing it as the "largest and most comprehensive trial in Europe" of a technology that's already big in Japan. But even as the 500 guinea pigs get their hands on the Nokia 6131 NFC clamshell handset being used in the trial, O2 admitted there's no prospect of an imminent rollout of mobile wallet NFC as a business model. The 500 mobile wallet testers will be able to use the phones to pay for travel across London, as well as for other services such as accessing smart posters at The O2 to download information or ringtones. A smaller number - 225 - also have access to a Barclaycard Visa application preloaded with 200, which they can use to pay for low-value goods at selected retail outlets.
Bucks couple struggling as debt crisis hits home
I discovered the wonderful world of refinancing," he said. Cash from the first three refinancings - $160,000 in 1997, $230,000 in 2000 and $360,000 in 2003 - went mostly into home improvements including kitchen repairs, a new roof, a new furnace, vinyl siding, new windows, a new outside staircase, an upstairs addition, and hardwood floors for the living room. The size of the Salamones' refinancings outpaced the growth in average house prices in Warwick Township. The median sale price there - meaning half the homes in the township sold for more and half sold for less - climbed from $168,650 in 1997 to $375,000 in 2006. That's a 122 percent gain, compared with a 165 percent gain for the amount lent against the Salamones' house. Trouble started after the 2003 refinancing, the first involving a so-called piggyback loan.
'Idol:' Pretty, pretty, creepy
But if he's so smart, why doesn't he see that something needs to be done about his hair? And why hasn't he learned by now that you Don't Cross The Cowell? I don't think sassing Simon is especially new for "Idol," but it still amazes me that these kids don't learn. Yes, Ryan and Paula make relentless fun of Simon's clothes and pomposity, but Ryan is already rich and famous, and Paula wants to hang teenagers from her rear-view mirror. Contestants get to listen to the harsh-but-usually-correct critique, gulp and smile, and move on. If you need to show up Simon, kids, draw a funny picture, make it into a paper airplane, and fly it anonymously. Or, alternately, sing better. How hard can it be? .
A Financial-Aid Bias?
While high school seniors fret over what schools are going to admit them, their parents along with the parents of current college freshmen, sophomores and juniors anxiously wait to find out what next year's financial-aid packages hold. I have to admit, however, that as we waited last year to hear from the four schools my daughter had applied to, I was relatively calm on both scores. Our daughter had already won early acceptance at M.I.T., and we thought it likely that she would get into the other schools she applied to. I, meanwhile, having seen the federal- and private-aid estimates of our financial need, was confident that we'd also be getting the assistance we'd require to be able to put our daughter through college without ending up in the poorhouse. Well, I was right on one point: My daughter did indeed get accepted to her top picks.
Saturn dominates during March, while Jupiter moves onto the stage
See http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm for the latest news and images from the Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn.
As Saturn drops toward the western horizon each night, Jupiter will be climbing upward in the southeast. The brilliant white planet will rise around 4 a.m. local time at the beginning of the month and about 90 minutes earlier by month's end. It will dominate the stars of the constellation Sagittarius the Archer.
Venus and Mercury will be very close in morning twilight in early March, but you'll need a clear view of the east-southeastern horizon to see them. The pair of planets will rise an hour before the sun. Venus will be easy to see in the brightening sky, but you may need binoculars to find much fainter Mercury slightly to the upper right (south).
Brooks Global-Lok Sets a New Quality Standard in Security Seals
LIVINGSTON, N.J., Nov. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Over the past two years, E.J. Brooks has been conducting market research as part of its new product development initiative to further improve the performance and feature levels of mechanical cable seals that are used in cross border and intermodal use around the world. Being the only security seal manufacturer that is a validated member of C-TPAT as well as a strong believer in independent testing by a third party ISO 17712 accredited lab, global compliancy is Brooks number one objective. However, the logistics community raised other issues that were considered in product design and we are now announcing a breakthrough in mechanical cross border security seal protection. E.J. Brooks is proud to announce the introduction of the Global-Lok, a high security cable seal that is not only ISO 17712 compliant, but exceeds the ISO 17712 required minimum tensile strength level by 82% with over 4,000 lbs of pressure necessary to pull it apart.
Have the credit card handy
The weather this Sunday was phenomenal. Sixty degree temperatures brought students out to play on the campus mall; there were countless bikers and runners on the (muddy) canal. I was even tempted outside to enjoy the weather and ended up walking around the neighborhood for an hour or so, soaking up the rays of sunshine and thawing out after the freeze of the past few weeks or so. .
Anders Meanders
Tips, touts and tidbits from the road. RSS feed If you use an RSS reader, here is feed for Anders Meanders: XML. Learn more about RSS. What's on this page? The entry titled "Want your photos published? Save them in high rez." Categories .
Charities attack proposals to make council house tenants look for work
In her first speech since her appointment, Ms Flint said that there was an urgent need to break the link between social housing and unemployment. The proportion of council estate residents who are out of work has risen from one in five in 1983 to one in two today. "The link between social housing and worklessness is stark," Ms Flint told the Fabian Society. "I am concerned about what has been called a collapse in the number of people in council housing in work over the past 25 years. Council housing was originally somewhere which brought together people from different backgrounds and professions but this has declined. We need to think radically and start a national debate about whether we can reverse this trend and have strong, diverse estates with a mix of people." Ms Flint proposed that all new council tenants should have to sign a "commitment contract" to seek extra help with finding work, including access to mentors and skills training.
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That high figure must have seemed like a stretch to the school, too. In the 2005 catalog that students received, a 2003 figure of 98 percent is covered by a stapled-in page that drops the placement rate down to 89 percent. Today, the school's materials claim an 81 percent placement rate. Graduates say the new figure might be accurate if the school is including every Starbucks barista in its count of positive outcomes. The complaints and allegations against CCA should sound familiar to its parent company, Career Education Corporation. Over the past few years, the company has been hit with a succession of student lawsuits, and federal investigations are underway. All take issue with admissions policies and question the truthfulness of admissions representatives. In 2005 people began asking questions about the company's business model, and investigating how it made such spectacular profits.
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