Dvorak News Blog

Dvorak Poll: Do You Agree With Obama’s “Gay Speech” Tonight?

By Uncle Dave Saturday October 10, 2009

President Barack Obama reaffirmed his campaign pledge to end the ban on homosexuals serving openly in the military in a speech Saturday, but offered no timetable or specifics for acting on that promise.

He acknowledged to a cheering crowd that some policy changes he promised on the campaign trail are not coming as quickly as they expected.
[…]
Obama also called on Congress to repeal the Defense Of Marriage Act, which limits how state, local and federal bodies can recognize partnerships and determine benefits. He also called for a law to extend benefits to domestic partners.

He expressed strong support for the Human Rights Campaign agenda – ending discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people – but stopped short of laying out a detailed plan for how to get there.

“My expectation is that when you look back on these years you will look back and see a time when we put a stop against discrimination … whether in the office or the battlefield,” Obama said.

No Agenda. Bombing the Moon with the Nobel Prize

By John C Dvorak Saturday October 10, 2009

12 Comments

Go here for show notes: CURRY.COM » NA-138-2009-10-10

Listen now:

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Another “Fun Theory” behavioral experiment

By Jacob Galt Saturday October 10, 2009

10 Comments

Dvorak recently posted a video on the “Fun Theory”. The above is another one in the series.

Cripes! What Next? Kidney for Sale?

By John C Dvorak Saturday October 10, 2009

15 Comments

From Craigslist:

How High Are Your Bank’s Overdraft and Related Fees?

By Uncle Dave Saturday October 10, 2009

31 Comments

Here’s a question. If you hand cash to a bank teller to deposit into your account, then go to an ATM and withdraw that money, wouldn’t you think that money is there for you to withdraw? Ha! Deposits often post after withdrawals to ensure a fee on the unsuspecting. And then there was the ATM that allowed you to withdraw more than you had in the account (guess calculating balance minus withdrawal is too complicated to program) thus incurring a fee.

You’ve got to hand it to the bankers. (Actually, we pretty much already have.) They blow themselves and the economy up while paying themselves grotesquely large salaries. Then, working with government officials, they figure out multiple ways to get taxpayers and customers to fund their recapitalization. […] And how does the industry that has received so much largesse from taxpayers repay the public? By jacking up fees for basic services. According to Bankrate.com, the average surcharge for using a money machine rose from $1.78 in 2007 to $1.98 in 2008. It’s probably higher now. Last week, when I stopped payment on a check, I was astonished to find the charge was $32—about what it costs to sponsor a child for a month through Save the Children. Meanwhile, consumer complaints about being hit with massive and repeated overdraft fees have led to threats of congressional action.

The reality is that banks feel they have no other choice. Newsweek’s Steve Tuttle recently argued that the outrage over overdraft fees is overdone because people incur them only when they spend money they don’t have. Of course, banks are in the business of enabling just that sort of activity. They lend money to businesses and consumers to spend on stuff—cars, factories, houses—for which they can’t pay cash. The problem for the banks is that the demand for that core business of spending money you don’t have is way down.

“And the winner of Miss Plastic Hungary 2009 is…”

By Uncle Dave Saturday October 10, 2009

13 Comments

It was a night for unnatural beauties. Contestants showed off breast implants, nose jobs and face lifts as Miss Plastic Hungary 2009 strove to promote the benefits of plastic surgery in a country where artificial enhancements are viewed mostly with a wary eye.

“I think this competition is long overdue,” said photographer Marton Szipal, one of the pageant judges. “Hungarians used to laugh about plastic surgery but it’s time for Hungarian women to care more about their appearance. They are the most beautiful in Europe.”

Plastic surgeon Dr. Tamas Rozsos said the pageant also meant to show that cosmetic corrections did not necessarily have to be about oversized breasts, bulbous lips and skin stretched to near tearing point.

On a vaguely related note, Liverpool girls have the biggest breasts in England.

And on a vaguely unrelated note, here’s something from a guy who sailed to the Texas-sized Pacific plastic garbage patch.

Chinese vs Black Lady: Bus fight in San Francisco

By John C Dvorak Friday October 9, 2009

87 Comments

Typical MUNI Bus ride in San Francisco. Mass transit is such a winner. A later investigation showed that the driver never stopped as required or reported the incident.

Tech Grouch #2 – iPhone Review and Netflix

By Jacob Galt Friday October 9, 2009

24 Comments

[Official site] – the Mevio website
[RSS] – Subscribe to the podcast using RSS
[iTunes] – Subscribe using iTunes
[Youtube] – All Tech Grouch videos on Youtube

Sponsor: Use the code TECH at Squarespace.com

Would a Nobel peace prize winner attack Iran?

By Jacob Galt Friday October 9, 2009

61 Comments

The Washington Post is typically the main-stream-media copy-press-release type of newspaper, but today one of their editors asked this fine question on an op-ed:

Would a Nobel peace prize winner authorize an attack on Iran?

Maybe Obama getting the Nobel peace prize is just a way to stop him from invading Iran.

Who could be behind this?

Iran is perhaps the most vexing challenge. Some progress toward a negotiated solution was made last week in Geneva, but it is too early to tell whether that will be sustainable. The diplomatic efforts may fail, forcing the president to consider sanctions that may bring suffering to the Iranian people. Ultimately, he may find on his desk a Pentagon proposal for a military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. Or he may get a call from an Israeli prime minister saying such a strike is imminent.

An attack on Iran may be in the U.S. interests. But is it something a Nobel peace prize winner would authorize?

Behavioral Experiment!

By John C Dvorak Friday October 9, 2009

26 Comments

Found by John Ligums.

Dvorak Horowitz Number 35 — Is the Market Going to Hit 10,000?

By John C Dvorak Friday October 9, 2009

11 Comments

Here is the latest conversation I had with money manager Andrew Horowitz…. new insights for anyone who invests in anything. This week the highlight is a discussion about the Fed, minerals, GOLD and the Dollar. Interesting!
click ► to listen:

Right click here and select ‘Save Link As…’ to download the mp3 file.

This week’s episode brought to you by Squarespace.com.
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Your Dog DEMANDS A Health Care Tax Break! Your Cat Says, Meh…

By Uncle Dave Friday October 9, 2009

24 Comments

Woof!

In the midst of all the heated conversation about health-care reform, a Michigan Congressman is sponsoring a bill to give pet owners a tax break for pet care.

Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mi) has introduced H.R. 3501 to create a deduction of up to $3,500 on federal tax returns for the care of “qualified” pets, defined as “legally owned, domesticated, and live animals.” Animals used for business purposes–say, a dog that helps round up sheep or a cat filmed in TV commercials–aren’t covered. The bill says qualified care includes veterinary care, though it doesn’t mention what else (pet sitting? chew toys?) would be included. There’s no apparent provision for people who don’t itemize and utilize the standard deduction instead. And there’s no word on whether the pet needs a valid Social Security number. (Just kidding.)

I wonder if Michael Vick supports this.

NVIDIA On The Way To The Video Card Scrapyard?

By Uncle Dave Friday October 9, 2009

36 Comments

How the mighty have fallen.

NVIDIA is killing the GTX260, GTX275, and GTX285 with the GTX295 almost assured to follow as it (Nvidia: NVDA) abandons the high and mid range graphics card market. Due to a massive series of engineering failures, nearly all of the company’s product line is financially under water, and mismanagement seems to be killing the company.

Not even an hour after we laid out the financial woes surrounding the Nvidia GTX275 and GTX260, word reached us that they are dead. Normally, this would be an update to the original article, but this news has enough dire implications that it needs its own story. Nvidia is in desperate shape, whoop-ass has turned to ash, and the wagons can’t be circled any tighter.

Word from sources deep in the bowels of 2701 San Tomas Expressway tell us that the OEMs have been notified that the GTX285 is EOL’d, the GTX260 is EOL in November or December depending on a few extraneous issues, and the GTX275 will be EOL’d within 2 weeks. I would expect this to happen around the time ATI launches its Juniper based boards, so before October 22.

Here’s info on their problems with Intel. And when they wanted to show off a card at a conference, they had to fake it.

Found by Brother Uncle Don.

President Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize

By Uncle Dave Friday October 9, 2009

148 Comments

Well, this may be a tad controversial in some quarters.

President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Friday morning for what the committee called “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,” especially his work to reach out to the Muslim world and to eliminate nuclear weapons around the globe.

The announcement, less than nine months after Obama took office, sparked immediate questions from reporters in Oslo about whether the Nobel committee was acting prematurely in rewarding a world leader who has outlined a lofty and ambitious agenda but has not yet made many concrete steps toward realizing it.

But Thorbjoern Jagland, chairman of the five-member Nobel committee, said “we have not given the prize for what may happen in the future. We are awarding Obama for what he has done in the past year. And we are hoping this may contribute a little bit for what he is trying to do.”