The Freedom Watch

Learn Bobby Tay’s $2.7 Trillion Sigma Secret

"His company was so impressive to the Arabs that they sent Mr. Tay home with $100 million to invest in Singapore’s industrial-property market. Sabana is a shari’ah-compliant REIT, meaning it adheres to Islamic financial principles. That’s appealing to a large swath of the Middle East that is eager to find a place outside the U.S. and Europe to put money to work. Singapore is a natural destination because of the safety of the banking system and the surety of the legal system. In 2011, an estimated $2.7 trillion was looking for a shari’ah-compliant home, and with a shari’ah-compliant REIT kicking off a dividend of 10% at the time, well there was no question the Arabs would invest." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLearn Bobby Tay’s $2.7 Trillion Sigma Secret

Barnes & Noble Slides Toward Bankruptcy

"You may remember You’ve Got Mail (1998). It was a movie about a small bookstore that could not compete with a huge bookstore that was modeled after Barnes & Noble. Technology and capital wiped out the local bookstore. Now Amazon is wiping out Barnes & Noble. Same story: capital and technology. The free market benefits customers. Barnes & Noble is a dinosaur. It looked unstoppable to Hollywood 15 years ago. But the World Wide Web has brought it down. It will not recover. Its Nook reader is a bust. People prefer Kindle. My time is valuable. I don’t like driving. One click is all it takes to get me what I want." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBarnes & Noble Slides Toward Bankruptcy

The Ultimate Cheat Sheet For Starting And Running A Business

"No joke. This is going be a bullet FAQ on starting a business. If you're a lawyer, feel free to disagree with me so you can charge someone your BS fees to give the same advice. If you can think of anything to add, please do so. I might be missing things. If you want to argue with me, feel free. I might be wrong on any of the items below. There are many types of business. Depending on your business, some of these won't apply. All of these questions come from questions I've been asked. The rules are: I'm going to give no explanations. Just listen to me." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Ultimate Cheat Sheet For Starting And Running A Business

Hackers who targeted media last year now targeting think tanks

"The hackers who penetrated the computer network of The New York Times last year have resurfaced with an attack on 'an organization involved in shaping economic policy,' experts warned Monday. The security firm FireEye said the original perpetrators 'appear to be mounting fresh assaults that leverage new and improved versions of malware.' Chinese officials repeatedly denied responsibility for the attacks, and since then the United States has in turn been accused of penetrating foreign networks through the spy programs revealed by leaker Edward Snowden. FireEye said it had detected 'a retooling of what security researchers believe is a massive spying operation based in China.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHackers who targeted media last year now targeting think tanks

A View Down The Road

"The latest versions of these GPS systems have 'real time' functionality. They can adjust route guidance to take account of accidents along your planned route, for instance. This is handy. But the same functionality can be put to other uses, too. For instance, there is no technological reason why the new Lincoln MKZ’s ability to keep abreast of the speed limit wherever you happen to be driving could not also be used to limit the speed you drive – or at least, record your failure to abide by the speed limit and perhaps report your noncompliance to the authorities. Or more likely, your insurance company. Perhaps both." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingA View Down The Road

Facebook won’t reward hacker who exposed security flaw in Zuckerberg’s profile

"Palestinian researcher Khalil Shreateh said on his blog he found a way for Facebook users to circumvent security and modify a user’s timeline. He said he took the unusual step of hacking into Zuckerberg’s profile after being ignored by the Facebook security team. His reward for exposing the flaw was having his Facebook account disabled. Facebook security engineer Matt Jones posted a comment Sunday on a security forum saying 'we fixed this bug on Thursday,' and admitted that 'we should have asked for additional… instructions after his initial report.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFacebook won’t reward hacker who exposed security flaw in Zuckerberg’s profile

Developer warns: Take Twitter “write access” at your own risk

"When the right individual or organization Tweets, it can have the power to move global financial markets and major economies, as well as incite mass chaos – all with a single, well-placed, 140 character missive. We’ve seen as much recently when a single Carl Icahn tweet raised Apple’s market cap by $17 billion and another by a hacked Associated Press Twitter account that caused an estimated $135 billion to evaporate from the S&P 500 Index. In an era when everyone from disgruntled teens to war-minded nations are looking for ways to inflict pain, Twitter is an increasingly attractive target." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDeveloper warns: Take Twitter “write access” at your own risk

World’s costliest auctioned car ‘in Swiss hands’

"The most valuable road car ever sold at auction, a candy red Ferrari convertible that fetched $27.5 million at a sale in the US last weekend, was acquired by a Swiss buyer, a report says. The unidentified successful bidder acquired the 300-horsepower NART Spider sports car, built in 1967, at an auction in Monterey, California. The car was previously owned by Eddie Smith Jr., the son of Eddie Smith Sr., an American multi-millionaire from North Carolina who bought the car new in 1968 after travelling to the Ferrari plant in Modena in northern Italy. With a 3,866cc V-12 engine and five-speed transmission, the two-seater was only one of 10 such models made." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWorld’s costliest auctioned car ‘in Swiss hands’

Over 50% Of Electric Cars Sold In US Are In 5 Cities

"Here’s the list: Los Angeles, California; San Francisco, California; New York City; Seattle, Washington; Atlanta, Georgia. Georgia offers a tax credit for electric vehicles that is equal to 20% of the vehicle’s cost, up to a maximum amount of $5,000. California has many charging stations, which might have contributed to its presence in the list above, but it also offers a $2,500 incentive for electric vehicles. New York City has its own EV policies that surely helped stimulate EV adoption a bit, but the fact that it is the largest city in the US (by far) is also surely a factor." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOver 50% Of Electric Cars Sold In US Are In 5 Cities

Tesla Outsold Buick, Fiat, Land Rover, Lincoln, and Mitsubishi in Q1 and Q2

"The state of California has just released its new vehicle sales numbers for the first half of 2013, and the big winner so far is the Tesla Model S, with 0.6% of the overall market share. That may not sound like much, but – in California – it’s more than Buick (0.5%), FIAT (0.5%), Land Rover (0.5%), Lincoln (0.3%), and Mitsubishi (0.3%) did in the same time, with stronger dealer networks, more existing customers, and a lower initial pricetag! Also of note in the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA) report, hybrids accounted for just over 7% of overall sales for the first time, up from 6.2% in 2012 and 4.8% in 2011." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTesla Outsold Buick, Fiat, Land Rover, Lincoln, and Mitsubishi in Q1 and Q2