13.05 2012

Google to change search pages, include new results from extensive database

SAN FRANCISCO — Google (GOOG) is introducing a new tool, designed to make its search engine smarter.

The new feature debuting Wednesday draws from a Google-built database of more than 500 million people, places and commonly requested things to provide a summary of vital information alongside the main search results.

Mountain View-based Google. spent the past two years poring through online encyclopedia Wikipedia, the CIA Factbook and other sources to expand a database of 12 million items that it picked up as part of its 2010 acquisition of Metaweb.

The information warehouse, which Google calls a “Knowledge Graph,” is an attempt by the Internet’s dominant search engine to provide answers as quickly and concisely as possible so users don’t have to sift through a hodgepodge of Web links displayed on the main results page.

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Posted by Laura Hernandez
Tags: Database

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03.05 2012

Carbon tax repeal not so easy

Utilities are likely to recover additional costs due to the carbon tax through higher electricity prices.

IT IS Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s ”pledge in blood”: repeal Labor’s price on carbon. And with polls putting Labor’s primary support at below 30 per cent, it’s a prospect that warrants reflection.

But as the Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, has pointed out, promises to repeal complicated laws are difficult to pull off.

”Well, we tried rollback on the GST; it didn’t work.

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Posted by Laura Hernandez
Tags: Carbon Tax, Repeal

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17.04 2012

National Science Foundation program at Stanford aims to tap into Silicon Valley know-how

The National Science Foundation has hit some grand slams in its day: Research projects funded by the federal agency have gone on to become Google (GOOG), Netscape and the Internet itself.

But such hits are relatively rare, considering that the NSF pours billions into university research each year. Now the agency — mindful that every dollar counts in these days of heated campaign rhetoric — is teaming with Stanford University to see if Silicon Valley can boost that batting average.

Participants in the NSF’s Innovation Corps spent three days on campus last month pitching their ideas to a panel of venture capitalists and Stanford faculty — everything from improved wastewater treatment to wall-climbing robots that inspect and clean skyscrapers.

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Posted by Laura Hernandez
Tags: Foundation, National Science, National Science Foundation, Science Foundation

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10.04 2012

Suddenly, Indonesia gets protective

Clamped a new regulation bans the export of unprocessed ore from 2014.

Good times may bring on a new economic nationalism.

Indonesia has been restored to investment grade by ratings agencies Fitch and Moody’s, and it’s a member of the G20, but its law-making process remains odd, opaque and frequently surprising.

The global mining industry has discovered in recent weeks the surprises are not always pleasant.

Law No.4 of 2009 on Mineral and Coal Mining was passed three years ago and replaced a licensing system dating from 1967, when Suharto was the country’s dictator.

But, like much Indonesian legislation, the law was a set of statements of intent, with the heavy lifting left to regulations in the form of presidential and ministerial decrees, which have been dribbling out since.

On March 8, a new decree, No.

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Posted by Laura Hernandez
Tags: Indonesia, Indonesia Gets

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01.04 2012

Groupon, Visa Among Stocks to Watch

(MarketWatch) – Groupon, Global Payments and Visa are among the stocks that could see active trade in Monday’s session.

Shares of Groupon slumped more than 10 percent in after-hours action Friday after the company revised down its fiscal fourth-quarter revenue and profit but stuck to its first-quarter outlook.

Credit and debit card processor Global Payments recovered a bit late after taking a nine percent beating in the regular session. After the close, the company said that it had “identified and self-reported unauthorized access into a portion of its processing system” but “promptly notified appropriate industry parties to allow them to minimize potential cardholder impact.”

And Visa and MasterCard could both take some hits.

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Posted by Laura Hernandez
Tags: Watch

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26.03 2012

Yahoo spurns activist investor, names 3 new board directors

Yahoo (YHOO) appointed three new independent directors Sunday, bypassing four candidates proposed by activist investor Dan Loeb and setting the stage for a battle for control of the struggling Sunnyvale internet giant.

Loeb’s investment company Third Point, which owns about 6 percent of Yahoo’s shares, said it has “no choice but to take our case directly to our fellow shareholders.

“Third Point intends to move forward with a proxy contest,” the investment company said in a statement. A proxy battle is waged by running an alternate slate of directors at a company’s annual meeting. Loeb’s slate included himself and three others.

A date for the annual meeting has not been set, but clearly the outcome will determine the future course of the company.

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Posted by Laura Hernandez
Tags: Activist Investor, Directors

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17.03 2012

Wages hit in ‘new economy’

Low balance workers in the sector are dealing with uncertainty regarding renumeration and job retention.

REDUNDANCIES, uncertainty about the coming year and a lower number of sales and leasing deals have all played havoc with the remuneration scales for the commercial real estate sector.

In some cases it’s adapt or die, according to recruiters, who have seen more retrenchments come on to their books than in the past few years.

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Posted by Laura Hernandez

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