Tag: Geek Stuff

Has Google Cheated America Out of Billions of Tax Dollars?

For a company with the unofficial motto of “don’t be evil”, Google’s tax practices seem a little bit…sketchy. The company has used various loopholes in numerous countries to save $3.1-billion in taxes. While I understand that a publicly traded company is supposed to maximize profits to keep shareholders happy, it’s a little funny that the “don’t be evil” company has cost America money when the country has an enormous deficit. It’s even funnier when you consider that Google is based in California, a state with a wrecked budget that has resorted to imposing unpaid furloughs on government employees.

Here are the details on Google’s scheme via Bloomberg:

Google Inc. cut its taxes by $3.1 billion in the last three years using a technique that moves most of its foreign profits through Ireland and the Netherlands to Bermuda.

Google’s income shifting — involving strategies known to lawyers as the “Double Irish” and the “Dutch Sandwich” — helped reduce its overseas tax rate to 2.4 percent, the lowest of the top five U.S. technology companies by market capitalization, according to regulatory filings in six countries.

Don’t be evil, hey?

Google is hardly the only American company engaging in these practices, but it’s one of the biggest and most influential. What do you think of these loopholes? Is it cheating America out of money? Or is it fiscal cleverness that Google is obligated to pursue on behalf of its stockholders? And yes, I fully expect RPadholic smartguy for a full analysis from an accountant’s perpective.

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Twitter Makes Sports More Enjoyable

I enjoy using Twitter for a variety of reasons, but the one that’s been on my mind lately is how much the service adds to watching sports. Using Twitter makes watching the Yankees in the MLB playoffs a better experience for me. I love that the service makes me feel like I’m watching the games with friends all over the world. There’s something cool about watching a Yankee home run in Los Angeles and celebrating it with friends in New York, San Francisco, London, Tokyo, etc.

A bunch of my friends follow athletes on Twitter. They regularly get replies from athletes in baseball, football, basketball, boxing, and more. That’s awesome! Twitter is a great way for athletes to keep in touch with their fans. It’s a low-effort way for athletes to personally connect with everyday people.

Do any of you use Twitter to keep in touch with fellow fans? How about athletes? Have you received any replies from any big-time players? Now please excuse me. I have to cheer for Tim Lincecum in the Twitterverse (dude’s part Filipino, you know).

Apple’s Mac App Store Will Be a Huge Game Changer

At its “Back to the Mac” press conference, Apple unveiled the Mac App Store for the current Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6) and the upcoming Lion (OS X 10.7) operating systems. The Mac App Store replicates the simple experience of purchasing apps for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch devices. It also offers the 70/30 split between free apps and paid apps, as well as developer revenue and Apple’s cut. Here’s more info from the press release:

The Mac App Store brings the revolutionary App Store experience to OS X, making discovering, installing and updating Mac apps easier than ever. Like on iPad, you purchase apps using your iTunes account and they download and install in just one step. App updates are delivered directly through the Mac App Store, so it’s easy to keep all of your apps up to date. The Mac App Store will be available for Snow Leopard within 90 days and will be included in Lion when it ships next summer.

I’ve been thinking about the Mac App Store all day (even while watching the Yankees beat the crap out of the Rangers). My initial thought was, “This is going to be frickin’ huge!” After digesting the information for several hours I have come to the conclusion that this is going to be frickin’ huge!

From Apple’s perspective, this is an ingenious way to trap customers into its walled garden. For consumers, the convenience of buying apps in a simple and straightforward way is brilliant. The apps can be used across multiple machines, which is great for people with multiple Macs. I’m sure Apple feels that once people invest in the ecosystem, it will be harder for them to leave; it’s similar to how many iPhone users are reluctant to switch platforms because they have bought so many iPhone apps. If people buy numerous Mac App Store apps, they’re less likely to switch to Windows (or Linux).

I also expect more developers than ever to flock to the Mac platform. Some analysts have stated that Mac OS accounts for 10 percent of the personal computers in North America and 20 percent globally. I believe that the Mac App Store will help grow the installed base.

I’m convinced that this is Apple’s most significant software and services product since the original iTunes. As you know, iTunes helped Apple dominate with the iPod, enjoy enormous success with the iPhone, and legitimize the tablet market with the iPad. While the results won’t be as dramatic as what it did with the iPod, I think the Mac App Store will invigorate the Mac software scene, attract new customers, and make existing customers more likely to purchase a Mac in the future.

Then again, I could be totally wrong. What do you think of the Mac App Store? Is it a genius move by Apple? Or am I overstating the impact that it will have?

Coffee Talk #229: What Kind of Headphones Do You Use?

Whether it’s playing games, listening to music, or watching a movie, a good pair of headphones can drastically alter your experience. Today I’m going to talk about the headphones I use and get some recommendations from you.

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Christina Aguilera being single, your ALCS/NLCS predictions, or touchscreen phones having more bacteria than urinal handles, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Whether it’s playing games, listening to music, or watching a movie, a good pair of headphones can drastically alter your experience. Today I’m going to talk about the headphones I use and get some recommendations from you.

I’ve been using the same headphones for the last eight years and am extremely happy with my gear. At home, I use Grado’s SR125 open-ear cans; they offer incredible sound quality at an incredible price — the SR 125s sound as good or better than cans that cost two to three times as much. On the road, I opt for in-ear headsets with foam tips. The foam tips completely rule at blocking out airplane noise. My Etymotic ER-4Ps offer a perfectly balanced sound, while my Shure E4Gs offer more bass and a sound most people prefer for pop music.

What kind of headphones do you guys and dolls use?

John Sculley Talks Steve Jobs, Microsoft, Sony, and More

Cult of Mac has posted the transcript to a completely fascinating interview with former Apple CEO John Sculley. (Here’s the audio version for download too!) Some of you might remember him as the guy brought in by Steve Jobs and the guy that helped push Jobs out. Some of you will recall the famous line Jobs used to court Sculley who was president of Pepsi at the time: “Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?”

Most tech blogs are focusing on Sculley’s admiration for Jobs and the enormous amount of praise he doles out in the interview. I thought it was more interesting to read Sculley talk about Apple’s competitors and influences. Here’s a clip where he discusses Jobs’ admiration for Sony:

The one that Steve admired was Sony. We used to go visit Akio Morita and he had really the same kind of high-end standards that Steve did and respect for beautiful products. I remember Akio Morita gave Steve and me each one of the first Sony Walkmans. None of us had ever seen anything like that before because there had never been a product like that. This is 25 years ago and Steve was fascinated by it. The first thing he did with his was take it apart and he looked at every single part. How the fit and finish was done, how it was built.

I almost forgot what a “premium” company Sony used to be. While it still offers some of the best consumer electronics in the world, the competition has caught up and Sony products don’t have the same mystique they used to. Sculley also discussed what went wrong at Sony:

You can see today the tremendous problem Sony has had for at least the last 15 years as the digital consumer electronics industry has emerged. They have been totally stove-piped in their organization. The software people don’t talk to the hardware people, who don’t talk to the component people, who don’t talk to the design people. They argue between their organizations and they are big and bureaucratic.

Sony should have had the iPod but they didn’t — it was Apple. The iPod is a perfect example of Steve’s methodology of starting with the user and looking at the entire end-to-end system.

To cap things off, here’s a bit where Sculley talks about Jobs’ goal of simplifying complexity. He contrasts it to Microsoft’s approach with the Zune media player:

He’s a minimalist and constantly reducing things to their simplest level. It’s not simplistic. It’s simplified. Steve is a systems designer. He simplifies complexity.

If you are someone who doesn’t care about it, you end up with simplistic results. It’s amazing to me how many companies make that mistake. Take the Microsoft Zune. I remember going to CES when Microsoft launched Zune and it was literally so boring that people didn‘t even go over to look at it… The Zunes were just dead. It was like someone had just put aging vegetables into a supermarket. Nobody wanted to go near it. I’m sure they were very bright people but it’s just built from a different philosophy. The legendary statement about Microsoft, which is mostly true, is that they get it right the third time. Microsoft’s philosophy is to get it out there and fix it later. Steve would never do that. He doesn’t get anything out there until it is perfected.

It’s really a fantastic interview that covers all sorts of topics. I’m completely fascinated with Steve Jobs and it was interesting to see how he’s perceived by a former colleague. Not that I don’t want you to stay here, but please, please, please make some time to read the entire interview.

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Today’s Poll: Sony 3D TV or Sony Google TV?

Sony has been aggressively pushing its 3D television sets in 2010 and all signs point to an even bigger push in 2011. This week, the company announced a handful of televisions that feature Google TV. Google’s service is something that’s useful now, while 3D might be the future of television. Which would you rather have? Kindly take the poll and expand on your choice in the comments section.

[poll id=”79″]

Apple Announces October 20th 2010 “Back to the Mac” Presser

Apple has sent out invites to an October 20, 2010 press conference called “Back to the Mac”. The teaser image shows a lion behind the Apple logo, which indicates that the focus of the presser will be on the next version of Mac OS X. Tech writers expect that the new MacBook Air will be revealed as well. Some have speculated that the next version of Mac OS X will be the most radical yet, implementing all kinds of touch interface features.

Let’s do some speculating of our own! What do you think will be announced at the Apple presser? With the success of iOS and the recent introduction of the Magic Trackpad, do you think touch will become a large part of Mac OS X? Do you think the new MacBook Air — rumored to have an 11.6-inch screen — will be a convertible notebook that also works as a tablet?

Andy Samberg Plays Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on SNL

In case you missed it, here’s a clip of Saturday Night Live’s Andy Samberg playing Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on “Weekend Update”. With The Social Network killing it at the box office the last two weeks, Zuckerberg’s fame has gone mainstream, making him a prime target for parody. The SNL writers and Samberg did a nice job with the sketch.

Just for kicks, here’s the Christine O’Donnell “I’m not a Witch” parody too!

Google’s Self-Driving Cars Are Completely Awesome

I’m amazed and impressed that Google has been testing self-driving cars. As a resident of Los Angeles’ Koreatown, I see hundreds of old Korean women driving every day. It’s terrifying. A self-driving car would save thousands of lives each year. I kid, I kid. Seriously, the tech is pretty awesome and something that can possibly hit mass production within a decade. Here’s more info from a Google blog post by distinguished software engineer Sebastian Thrun:

We have developed technology for cars that can drive themselves. Our automated cars, manned by trained operators, just drove from our Mountain View campus to our Santa Monica office and on to Hollywood Boulevard. They’ve driven down Lombard Street, crossed the Golden Gate bridge, navigated the Pacific Coast Highway, and even made it all the way around Lake Tahoe. All in all, our self-driving cars have logged over 140,000 miles. We think this is a first in robotics research.

Our automated cars use video cameras, radar sensors and a laser range finder to “see” other traffic, as well as detailed maps (which we collect using manually driven vehicles) to navigate the road ahead. This is all made possible by Google’s data centers, which can process the enormous amounts of information gathered by our cars when mapping their terrain.

I really didn’t think this was something that would happen in my lifetime, but it’s almost here! That’s not to say Google’s endeavor is all about being geek chic and advancing humanity. I can easily see these cars having a new type of advertising (that is Google’s bread and butter, after all). Imagine hopping in your car, wondering where to eat, and doing a Google Maps voice search through the car’s dashboard. After you find a place via search, your self-drving cars brings you to the restaurant. Advertisers would pay big-time money for direct connections like that and I’m sure Google would be more than happy to sell the ad “space”.

What do you guys and dolls think of the self-driving car? I’m totally in love with the concept, but considering that I haven’t had a drivers license in 15 years, my opinion is probably atypical.

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Image via The New York Times

Will.i.am’s Awesome “New Twitter” Video

Here’s an awesome video by Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas on the “new” Twitter. It’s pretty slick…despite its use of auto-tune. I love Twitter. I love the Black Eyes Peas (have to support Filipino-American Apl.de.ap!). Ergo I love this video.

Seriously, please check it out and let me know what you think.

#newtwitter