free market

Dronebusters: Turning Spy Drones into Barney Fife

"An Oregon company says that it has developed a new technology which will prevent drones from 'completing their mission.' It will not say how this technology does this. It does not say what it will cost. But it claims that commercial units will be affordable for private homes. Whether local governments will place restrictions on its use, the way some states have made using car-based radar speed trap detectors illegal, also is yet to be seen. The important thing is that the company says the technology exists. There will probably be cheap Chinese knock-offs. The creativity of the free market works against the government. So does the basic incompetence of the government." Continue reading →

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Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo makes first powered flight

"The spaceplane being developed by UK billionaire Sir Richard Branson has made its first powered flight. The vehicle was dropped from a carrier aircraft high above California's Mojave Desert and ignited its rocket engine to go supersonic for a few seconds. Sir Richard's intention is to use the spaceship to carry fare-paying passengers on short pleasure rides above the Earth's atmosphere. His company Virgin Galactic has already taken hundreds of deposits." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingVirgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo makes first powered flight

$2 Trillion Underground Economy May Be Recovery’s Savior

"The shadow economy is a system composed of those who can't find a full-time or regular job. Workers turn to anything that pays them under the table, with no income reported and no taxes paid. Shadow economies are usually associated with illegal activity, such as drug dealing. But anecdotal evidence indicates that off-the-books work in today's job market includes personal and domestic workers, such as housekeepers and nannies. It also includes firms that hire hourly or day construction labor, information technology specialists and Web designers. Many who have a job that doesn't pay enough take another one that pays under the table." Continue reading →

Continue Reading$2 Trillion Underground Economy May Be Recovery’s Savior

Privatization Is the Best Response to FAA Deliberately Inconveniencing Air Passengers

"The sequester cuts about $637 million from the FAA, which is less than 4% of its $15.9 billion 2012 budget, and it limits the agency to what it spent in 2010. The White House decided to translate this 4% cut that it has the legal discretion to avoid into a 10% cut for air traffic controllers. Though controllers will be furloughed for one of every 10 working days, four of every 10 flights won’t arrive on time. ... To run smoothly and efficiently, our ATC system should be given independence from the government. We should privatize the system, as Canada has done very successfully. Unlike the U.S. system, Nav Canada is self-supporting and not subsidized." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPrivatization Is the Best Response to FAA Deliberately Inconveniencing Air Passengers

The 10 Best Jobs in America

"10. Computer Systems Analyst; Salary: $77,740. 9. Physical Therapist; Salary: $76,310. 8. Optometrist; Salary: $94,990. 7. Occupational Therapist; Salary: $72,320. 6. Dental Hygienist; Salary: $68,250. 5. Financial Planner; Salary: $64,750. 4. Audiologist; Salary: $66,660. 3. Software Engineer; Salary: $90,530. 2. Biomedical Engineer; Salary: $81,540. 1. Actuary; Salary: $87,650" Continue reading →

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Guy Spent $11,000 On A Coding ‘Bootcamp’ And Doubled His Salary

"These intensive training programs are not cheap — charging $10,000 to $15,000 for programs running nine to 12 weeks — and they're highly selective, typically only admitting 10 to 20 percent of applicants. And they're called boot camps for a reason. Students can expect to work 80 to 100 hours a week, mostly writing code in teams under the guidance of experienced software developers. One San Francisco school called App Academy doesn't charge tuition. Instead, it asks for a 15 percent cut of the student's first-year salary. Graduates who can't find jobs don't have to pay, but so far nearly all of them have." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGuy Spent $11,000 On A Coding ‘Bootcamp’ And Doubled His Salary

How to Be a YouTube Star and Beat Justin Timberlake in the Charts

"I released my first musical thing (called YouTube Tour) in 2007 I think it was, and it made a couple hundred bucks. Then in 2008 they introduced the YouTube partnership program and I was one of the first partners. Back then I made maybe $300 a month. Then it slowly rose, and at the same time my first album came out in October 2009, so with the money from that plus YouTube I moved out in March 2010 to a place with my best friend and we paid £600 each on rent so it wasn’t too bad. Typically I make around £3500 a month from YouTube (I’m on a network so they can sell the ad space higher) and at least £10,000 a month from music and merch sales." Continue reading →

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Extra! Extra! New daily papers arrive as Myanmar lifts press monopoly

"Privately owned daily newspapers hit Myanmar’s streets for the first time in decades on Monday under new freedoms that represent a revolution for a media shackled under military rule. Four Burmese-language titles — The Voice, The Golden Fresh Land, The Union and The Standard Time — made the transition from weekly as new rules came into effect that swept away state media’s long monopoly on daily printing. The country’s military rulers seized control of private daily papers in 1964, according to veteran journalist Thiha Saw of Open News weekly." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingExtra! Extra! New daily papers arrive as Myanmar lifts press monopoly

Samaritans in Taiwan turn plastic junk into items for the needy

"At the station operated by Taiwan’s largest charity group Tzu Chi Foundation, hundreds of volunteers help sort and recycle plastic waste along with used glass bottles and electronic appliances. Tzu Chi runs 5,400 recycling stations across Taiwan with the help of more than 76,000 volunteers and has distributed more than 460,000 blankets made from plastic bottles since 2007 for relief use at home and abroad. For the volunteers in charge of crushing the plastic bottles, who are from two nearby nursing homes for the mentally ill, the recycling work has also become part of their therapy." Continue reading →

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Security audit finds developer outsourced his 9-5 job to China to goof off at work

"The analysis of his workstation found hundreds of PDF invoices from the Chinese contractors. The scheme worked very well for Bob. In his performance assessments by the firm's human resources department, he was the firm's top coder for many quarters and was considered expert in C, C++, Perl, Java, Ruby, PHP, and Python. Further investigation found that the enterprising Bob had actually taken jobs with other firms and had outsourced that work too, netting him hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit as well as lots of time to hang around on internet messaging boards and checking for a new Detective Mittens video." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSecurity audit finds developer outsourced his 9-5 job to China to goof off at work