If You Love Design, This Is The Perfect Site For Wasting Time On A Weekend Morning

There's a Tumblr blog called Little Big Details that features just that: small user-interface and user-experience design details in Web products that make a big difference.

Like here, how in the iOS Mail app, the "Drafts" folder icon is a partly folded paper airplane, and the "Sent" folder icon is a folded one:

LBD 04

Or this one, from OS X, where when you enter dictation mode, your computer's fans automatically turn off:

LIttle Big Details

Or this one from Facebook, where the icon for marriage actually matches the genders of the married couple:

LBD 2

Or how in Pinterest's iOS app, scrolling down hides the top bar and scrolling up makes it re-appear:

Anyway, if you're at all into design, Little Big Details is worth wasting 15 minutes clicking through on a Saturday morning >>

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/nkTFF90dQ98/if-you-love-design-this-is-the-perfect-site-for-wasting-time-on-a-weekend-morning-2012-10

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Should You Consolidate Debt With 0% Balance Transfer Credit Card Offers?

Consolidation Loans For People with Bad Credit With the new CARD act, a lot of card companies started to change their business models which helped in making zero percent credit card balance transfers a very rare commodity according to the wall street journal. But there are still a few and when properly executed, they can [...]

The post Should You Consolidate Debt With 0% Balance Transfer Credit Card Offers? appeared first on legal debt help online.

Source: http://www.legaldebthelponline.com/2012/06/28/should-you-consolidate-debt-with-0-balance-transfer-credit-card-offers/

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Joining Together Credit Card Bills The Correct Way

Bringing together consumer debt comes into play a new range of shapes and forms. Absolute confidence the things your overall pacificdebt.com|pacificdebt consolidation|pacificdebt|pacificdebt loansoverall credit score is therefore how very good involving credit debt you have, you’ll be able to obtain a lending product which can suit your specifications. The following are some frequent strategies that [...]

The post Joining Together Credit Card Bills The Correct Way appeared first on legal debt help online.

Source: http://www.legaldebthelponline.com/2012/06/27/joining-together-credit-card-bills-the-correct-way/

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Morgan Stanley Found Two Red Flags In This Week's Trade Report, And Now Its Forecast For Next Quarter Is Not Pretty

In his latest weekly Macro Dashboard note, Morgan Stanley chief economist Vincent Reinhart looks into Thursday's trade deficit report, and discovers bad news on two fronts.

First, exports are slowing. This is bad for GDP. Second, capital goods imports fell, which is red flag that companies are hitting the breaks on investment, possibly ahead of the fiscal cliff.

Here's Reinhart:

A soft international trade report showed increasing weakness in the two key areas that have turned into growing drags as the economy has slowed over the course of this year, exports and capital spending, the former hit by increasingly soft global growth and the latter increasingly depressed by fiscal cliff uncertainty.  The trade report was weak, pointing to a bigger drag on third quarter growth from net exports and investment.  The trade deficit widened to $44.2 billion in August from $42.5 billion in July, with exports falling 1.0% and imports 0.1% even with a boost from higher commodity prices.  In real terms, good exports fell 2.6% on top of a 2.3% decline in July, and goods imports fell 0.9%.  And although overall exports tumbled in August, capital goods exports rose, while capital goods imports declined, which means that domestic demand for equipment was even weaker than initially indicated by the drop in capital goods shipments in the durable goods report.

This point about slowing capital good spending by domestic companies is something more folks are talking about.

At The Big Picture conference this week, David Rosenberg said that the year-over-year decline in the 3-month moving average of core CAPEX orders was one of his big red flags.

Core capex orders

So what does this all mean for Q4 GDP?

Here's Morgan Stanley's Vincent Reinhart again, delivering the bad news:

Incorporating the results of the trade report, we forecast a 3% decline in exports in Q3 and a 0.3pp subtraction from net exports.  And we see equipment and software investment falling 3% and overall business investment 5%.  These would be the weakest results for exports and investment since the first half of 2009 when the economy was still in recession.  These downgrades cut our Q3 GDP estimate to +1.5% from +2.1%, of which inventory accumulation is expected to account for 0.9pp.  The business inventories report on Monday will likely show a further rise in the combined retail, wholesale, and manufacturing inventory/sales ratio to the highest level since late 2009, raising risks of a cutback in inventories weighing on growth in Q4. 

So yeah, a weak world, and a domestic investment slowdown. Not good.

For more gloom, see David Rosenberg's presentation on Navigating The New Normal >

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These Are The Biggest Myths About Hybrid Cars

Toyota Prius CarI have a confession: I don’t compost. I don't always recycle plastic bags, and I probably take longer showers than I should. In fact, two weeks ago, I didn’t know what, exactly, a hybrid car really was.

Check out the myths >

That all changed when I got to test drive the first of Toyota’s all-new, all-electric RAV4 EV and got schooled on the entire Prius family -- the original Prius that made hybrids famous, the Prius C, V and even the Plug-In.

My time with Toyota made me think twice about traditional gas-powered cars. All the fears I'd always had about non-gas motored engines fell away as I learned about all the precautions and technology that went into these hybrids.

Which made me realize: Clearing up misconceptions about hybrids is crucial to getting people to realize, like I did, that there are plenty of ways to save energy in parts of your life where you won’t even notice the change. So, in an attempt to dispel any myths holding you back from going green, here are the 10 biggest misconceptions about hybrids.

More Women Than Men Drive Hybrids

Actually, the stats say that for the regular Prius, it's exactly 50/50. "If anything, it’s a little heavier on the men [drivers] because of the technology side. There’s a strong tech allure to the Prius," says Erica Gartsbeyn, Prius product manager at Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc.

Even more surprisingly, the Prius Plug-In has a 67% male driver base, while the Prius C is 56% male-driven. The Prius C and V are more popular with women, however, most likely due to the feminine styling and colors.

Hybrids Aren't Fun To Drive

This just blatantly isn't true. Anyone who's been behind the wheel of a hybrid knows that the number of technology systems (from the premium seven-inch display audio with navigation and eco-drive monitor in the Prius to the EV's eight-inch touchscreen that supplies navigation and telematics showing exactly how much power you’re using) make these cars pretty fun to drive.

"People have begun to 'gamify' their driving habits," says Gartsbeyn. "The Prius has provided them with a number of different technology systems, and all of that becomes sort of a game to Prius drivers. They have tricks they talk about online. It’s become a little community-discussion board." Interested? Visit Prius Chat for a taste.

Hybrids Are Only For A Niche Buyer

Considering that Toyota has sold over 1.2 million Priuses in the U.S -- and globally over four million hybrids -- this myth seems to be on the decline. Furthermore, for Prius C buyers, 84% of them are buying their first hybrid. And for Prius V, 70% are first-time buyers. "It’s not only about loyalty anymore," says Gartsbeyn. "EVs and plug-ins may be niche, but hybrids have moved more toward the mainstream."

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/dYYeJ6MdogQ/biggest-misconceptions-about-hybrid-cars-2012-10

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If Going Without Your Phone Makes You Want To Flip Out, You Might Be Nomophobic

Where is your cell phone right now? Is it right next to you? On the desk? In the other room? Where is it?!?!? If you find yourself mildly freaking out when you’re not near your phone, you might have nomophobia, otherwise known as the fear of losing or being unable to use a cellphone. Just another condition they didn’t … [More]

Source: http://consumerist.com/2012/10/12/if-going-without-your-phone-makes-you-want-to-flip-out-you-might-be-nomophobic/

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The Most Disgusting Defense Mechanisms In Nature

Lizard shooting blood from eye

Scientists recently recorded footage of a never-before-seen defense mechanism deployed by a small species of deep-sea squid: When threatened, the squid attacks its predator and then pulls away, breaking off the tip of its own arm and leaving it behind as a distraction.

The arm continues to glow and twitch, creating a diversion and enabling the squid to escape.

But this squid isn’t the only creature with a bizarre way of defending itself. Here are several other ways animals try to save their own lives, or the lives of their comrades.

1. The Lizard That Shoots Blood From Its Eyes

The Texas Horned Lizard is a scary-looking creature. Brown, plump and perfectly camouflaged in its native sandy environment, its first line of defense is its spiky demeanor. If the sharp spikes and horns don’t ward off predators, the lizard steps it up a notch and squirts a well-aimed stream of blood out of its eyes. The stream of blood, which can go as far as 5 feet, is mixed with a foul-tasting chemical that wards off predators. But this odd weapon comes at a cost: The lizard may release a third of its total blood supply this way, amounting to two percent of its body mass.

2. The Hairy Frog That Breaks Its Own Bones

What if every time you felt threatened, your first and only method of defense was to break your own bones and use them for weapons? Meet the hairy frog, a Central African species that, despite its name and fuzzy appearance, isn’t hairy at all. When breeding, the male frogs develop thin strands of skin along the sides of their bodies that resemble hair. These strands also, in theory, allow the frogs to take in more oxygen while they watch over their eggs. But what’s really compelling about this frog is its ability to crack its own toe bones and push them through their skin to form sharp claws, great for warding off would-be attackers.

While it’s not completely clear what happens to the bones after the threat of attack subsides, researchers believe the bones slide back under the skin when the frog’s muscles relax.

3. The Newt That Turns Its Ribs Into Spikes

The hairy frog isn’t the only amphibian that uses its bones for weapons. When attacked, the Spanish ribbed newt shifts its ribs forward at an angle and pushes them through its stretched skin. The resulting effect is a row of spikes on either side of its body. Like the hairy frog, the newt has to force the bones through its skin every time it is attacked, but the mechanism seems to cause little or no harm to the creature. “Newts, and amphibians in general, are known to have an extraordinary ability to repair their skin,” says zoologist Egon Heiss of the University of Vienna in Austria.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/PuU86mtsd-o/bizarre-animal-defense-mechanisms-2012-10

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Is Chevron a Good Stock to Buy?

Meena is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinions of our bloggers and are not formally edited.

Chevron Corporation

?s stock fell on Wednesday when the company announced that its Q3 results (to be released in early November) would show earnings below what it received in the second quarter (when it had reported $3.66 in earnings per share). The oil and gas supermajor- it still has a market capitalization of about $220 billion- told the markets that its oil production had been down in the quarter and that prices had been lower as well.

We?ve already mentioned the $3.66 in EPS that Chevron earned during the second quarter of 2012. This figure was down 5% from the second quarter of last year, reflecting a 9% decline in revenue and higher margins that resulted from successful cost cutting. Over the first half of the year, revenue was down 5% compared to the same period in 2011 but net income was down only 2%; because of a small reduction in shares EPS were down only a penny, from $6.94 to $6.93.

Chevron currently trades at only eight times trailing earnings, but in the third quarter of last year it earned $3.67 per share, and the company?s statement indicates that its results for Q3 2012 were well below that figure. Recent analyst consensus has been for $12.59 in earnings per share for 2013- which implied a forward P/E of 9- but that predates the updated guidance. Since analysts had previously estimated $3.06 in earnings per share for the last quarter, it is possible that Chevron will actually end up beating those expectations and still be on track to achieve the sell-side targets for next year. However, we would guess that will not be the case.

Chevron made our list of the ten most popular energy stocks among hedge funds in the second quarter (see the full rankings). One of these funds, which increased its stake by 4% during the quarter, was Cliff Asness?s AQR Capital Management. AQR owned 1.6 million shares of Chevron at the end of June, which made it the fund?s third largest 13F position by market value at that time (research more of Cliff Asness's favorite stocks). Adage Capital Management sold shares on net but still reported a position of 2.8 million shares. Adage is managed by Phil Gross and Robert Atchinson, who previously worked at Harvard Management (find other stocks that Adage owns).

ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM)

, BP plc (NYSE: BP), ConocoPhilips (NYSE: COP), and TOTAL SA. (NYSE: TOT) make a good peer group for Chevron. These other oil and gas companies also show fairly low earnings multiples; a forward P/E of 9, which is what Chevron has before earnings targets are updated by analysts, is exactly in the middle of the range that these companies form. BP and Total trade at 7 times forward earnings estimates. BP obviously is still dealing with poor sentiment from consumers and investors as a result of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, and also has been seeing lower revenue. It does have a high dividend yield at 4.5% (Chevron?s is 3.1%) for any investors for whom that is a major factor. Total grew its revenue in the second quarter compared to the second quarter of 2011, but its earnings were down 42%. Its dividend yield, at 4.7%, is actually a bit larger than BP?s. Income investors might want to look closely at these stocks and make sure they can stabilize and continue their current dividend payments.

ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips have forward P/E multiples of 11 and 10, respectively, and we would guess that once analysts have processed Chevron?s recent news that company will be at that pricing as well if not higher (of course, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips could be encountering similar business conditions). Both of these two peers have been seeing sales fall, though ExxonMobil saw a substantial increase in earnings last quarter versus a year earlier. ConocoPhillips pays a 4.6% dividend yield, while ExxonMobil?s is 2.5%.

Chevron?s recent news has not been good, and a number of its peers have similar valuation multiples and pay more generous dividends (though it remains to be seen how the same factors harming Chevron?s business will affect them). Even though Chevron looks cheap, other oil and gas stocks are probably better buys.

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Source: http://feeds.fool.com/~r/usmf/foolwatch/~3/p1xu2gQq2xA/story01.htm

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Will Consumer Sentiment Finally End Its 12 Year Trend Downwards?

The Thompson Reuters University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index was released this morning, and like just about every other September release, it hugely beat economists consensus expectations. I had written several pieces in September alluding to the fact that withholding tax collections had surged early in the month and continued to do well thereafter, foreshadowing what would be stronger than expected economic releases for September.

But rather than watching good quality real time data, economists are constantly getting whipsawed in their wild guesses because they religiously adhere to following the bad data that results from seasonal adjustments. Rather than looking at concurrent real time data, they extrapolate last month’s seasonally adjusted data into the future. If the economy upticks, as it did in September, they are bamboozled, but they talk fast and make lots of plausible sounding excuses. So the media keeps interviewing them and investors go on paying attention to all the nonsense and gibberish that results.

“Consumers,” a euphemism for “everybody,” do not have that problem. They just follow the Dow and the value of their house, and take note of whether family and friends have jobs or are losing them, and when those things are looking up, their outlook brightens. So while the economists guessed totally wrong about just about everything in September “consumers” unlike economists, actually had their boots, and eyes and ears, on the ground, and actually experienced real life as it is on a day to day basis. They took note of the fact that stocks had broken out and responded to the fact that more of them and their neighbors had jobs, were making a little more money, and had houses whose values may have gone up a little. All of those things may or may not last long, but consumers got it. Economists didn’t. It has always been this way.

That being said, there’s the one month reading representing a barometer of the reality on the ground, and there’s the trend, representing the reality of from where we have come and where we are headed. There again, consumers seem to have a better handle on things then do economists. Because while consumer sentiment has broken out from a trough in 2011 through the highs of 2010, 2011, and earlier this year, that trend is about to run headlong into a long term downtrend that began in 2000. If things have really improved in the larger, long term sense, consumers have yet to tell us that. Depending on how they react over the next few months, they will.

I have taken the Reuters chart composed by Scott Barber and drawn a couple of trendlines and overlaid a chart of the S&P 500 to illustrate.

michigan consumer sentiment

Before we get to the implications in terms of stock prices, you will note that “consumers” are very good judges of the economy, far better than economists. Scott Barber’s graph of consumer sentiment and GDP growth shows that the consumer sentiment trend tends to foreshadow well the subsequent measure of GDP growth. So the implication in this case is that all the economists proclaiming that the economy is currently growing at 1.5-2% are probably wrong yet again. The breakout in consumer sentiment implies that GDP growth is likely to exceed the 2010 and 2011 highs of around 2.5%. The lead time may be a couple of quarters however, so we may not see the verdict on this immediately.

While sentiment broke out within the context of a year long uptrend in September, in the short run, it was following stock prices as it usually does. When sentiment didn’t follow stock prices up over the past dozen years, it was time to be afraid, be very afraid. But in this case, the public mood is confirming the new highs in stock prices for this bull market, in the short run.

The problem is that increasingly positive consumer sentiment is about to run headlong into the 12 year downtrend line. The first time the line was established by the late 2003 sentiment peak, it led to only a 6 month correction in stock prices. But the second time was in early 2007, after which sentiment began to diverge from still rising stock prices. That was the precursor to the 2007-09 bear market. It had already been preceded by a negative divergence from the 2003 peak. In this case, we haven’t quite reached the trend line yet, and there’s no preceding negative divergence.  But that may not be a requirement for an intermediate market decline.

Over the next few months it will be interesting to see how consumer sentiment performs relative to this trend line. Consumers are likely to prove yet again to be better predictors of both the economy and the stock market than are economists.

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Disabled Vet Says Debt Collector Told Him ?You Should Have Died?

An Army veteran who was left disabled after suffering spinal and head injuries in the line of duty claims that not only did a did a debt collector attempt to illegally garnish his disability payments, but that an employee of the collection agency told him he “should have died” after a judge sided with the vet.

Courthouse News reports on … [More]

Source: http://consumerist.com/2012/10/12/disabled-vet-says-debt-collector-told-him-you-should-have-died/

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