Wednesday, November 23, 2011
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Gates to testify in $1B lawsuit against Microsoft (AP)
SALT LAKE CITY ? Microsoft's Bill Gates was set to testify Monday in a $1 billion antitrust lawsuit accusing the software maker of duping a competitor prior to its rollout of Windows 95.
The case against Microsoft has been ongoing in federal court in Salt Lake City for about a month.
Utah-based Novell Inc. sued Microsoft in 2004, claiming the Redmond, Wash., company violated U.S. antitrust laws through its arrangements with other computer makers when it launched Windows 95. Novell says it was later forced to sell WordPerfect for a $1.2 billion loss.
The company argues that Microsoft co-founder Gates ordered company engineers to reject WordPerfect as a Windows 95 application because he feared it was too good. WordPerfect's share of the market then plummeted from nearly 50 percent to less than 10 percent as Microsoft's own office programs took hold.
Novell attorney Jeff Johnson has conceded that Microsoft was under no legal obligation to provide advance access to the Windows 95 operating system so Novell could prepare a compatible WordPerfect version. Microsoft, however, enticed Novell to work on a version, only to withdraw support months before Windows 95 hit the market, he said.
Microsoft lawyer David Tulchin said Gates decided against installing WordPerfect because it threatened to crash Windows and couldn't be fixed in time for the rollout. He argued that Novell's missed opportunity was its own fault, and that Microsoft had no obligation to give a competitor a leg up.
"Novell never complained to Microsoft," Tulchin said during arguments Friday. "There's nothing in the evidence, no documents."
Johnson maintains Novell was tricked in violation of federal antitrust laws so Microsoft could monopolize the market.
"We got stabbed in the back," he said.
Microsoft is seeking a dismissal, calling the claims groundless.
Throughout arguments Friday, U.S. District Judge Frederick Motz openly expressed doubts that Novell's claims had merit.
"I don't see why I have to give a product to a competitor so he can beat me," Motz told Novell attorneys.
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How to Clean expensive Leather Car Seats
Leather car seats are a sign of luxury and also an indication that you are doing well in life. If you think about it, not many people can afford leather sofas in their home let alone in their cars as a luxury item. Therefore, in order to upkeep the interior of your car and to keep the passengers impressed, one must clean and care for leather car seats properly.
We do a lot in our cars that we probably shouldn't be doing. We eat and drink in our cars on our way between destinations and food and liquid spillage simply occurs. We alos rest packages on our car seats which unbeknownst to us are leaking. The passengers themselves might be tracking dirt on their persons and leave it behind on the seats. On and on we abuse the car seats.
We Buy Any Car
Fortunately, to clean the car's interior, all you need is a small vacuum cleaner to lift off the covering dirt. This is the introductory cleaning stage. For leather car seats, you want to get that leather shining and keep it supple and soft to touch. You might be tempted to go with commercial leather cleaner kits but some homemade solutions work just as well. Obviously, with any cleaning spicy leather, you want to achieve a small patch test on an inconspicuous corner first. This goes with commercial cleaning products as well as reading the label will tell you. For a homemade leather cleaning and conditioning solution, use a vinegar and linseed oil mixture. The percentage is one part vinegar and two parts linseed oil. Clean and condition your car seats with a lint free cloth and apply with small circular motions. After you're done, you might even think about applying some sunscreen on the leather seats to avoid discoloration. You can always park in shaded areas but those are hard to come by when you're in a hurry.
By keeping your car clean and the leather seats pristine, you'll be impressing passengers for a long time to come.
How to Clean expensive Leather Car Seats
Should the Euro break up?
Greece now issue government bonds in Euro. Because of the risk of insolvency, the interest rate on these bonds have shot up. If Greece were to leave the Euro zone and issue their bonds in their own currency, i.e. the Drachma, the interest rate will be even higher as the investors have to face the risk of default and depreciation in the currency.
How will having their own currency help the Greek government? I have an interesting observation. The Greek government is not able to collect sufficient tax revenue to pay their expenses - e.g. due to tax evasion. They can continue to fund their deficit with debt in their currency. The interest rate will shoot up and the currency will depreciate over time. The depreciation in the currency is a way of lowering the standard of living for the people, who are living beyond their means. It is also an indirect way of taxation.
High inflation has its other negative impacts but this is a separate matter. It seems to be a good idea for each country to have its own currency, rather than to join a strong currency like the Euro.
There was a similar situation during the Asian Financial crisis. The currencies of several Asian countries were pegged to the US dollar. As this was unsustainable, the pegs were broken, leading to quite severe damage. After the currencies were unpegged, they were able to adjust to their right level and their economy regained their strength.
It looks like the Euro will have to break up.
Banks Accused of ‘Dishonesty’ on Reform
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
In NH, Obama to push for payroll tax cut extension
President Barack Obama makes a statement at the White House after the congressional debt supercommittee failed to reach an agreement on debt reduction on Monday, Nov. 21, 2011, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Barack Obama makes a statement at the White House after the congressional debt supercommittee failed to reach an agreement on debt reduction on Monday, Nov. 21, 2011, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Targeting Republicans in Congress and on the presidential campaign trail, President Barack Obama is heading to New Hampshire, a political battleground, to begin a year-end push to extend payroll tax cuts.
During a speech Tuesday at a Manchester high school, the president was to argue that a failure to extend the tax breaks would hurt middle-class families already struggling amid a shaky economy, effectively daring congressional Republicans to block the extension and thus increase taxes.
"If we don't act, taxes will go up for every single American, starting next year. And I'm not about to let that happen," Obama said Monday, previewing the message he was expected to deliver.
But if Republicans are in Obama's sights, he's firmly in theirs, too.
Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is airing his first TV ads in the Granite State, and they are sharply critical of Obama's economic record. He also ran ads in New Hampshire newspapers that say to Obama, "I will be blunt. Your policies have failed."
The president's trip follows the collapse of the special congressional deficit-reduction supercommittee, which failed to reach a deal on $1.2 trillion in cuts. Democrats had hoped to tuck the payroll tax extension, as well as a renewal of jobless benefits for the unemployed, into a supercommittee agreement.
With that option seemingly off the table, the White House plans to make a full-court press for a separate measure to extend the payroll tax cuts before they expire at the end of the year ? and set up Republicans as the scapegoat if that doesn't happen.
The White House says a middle-class family making $50,000 a year would see its taxes rise by $1,000 if the payroll tax cuts are not extended.
Republicans aren't wholly opposed to the extension. In fact, party members sent the White House a letter in September stating that extension of the payroll tax cut is one element of Obama's $447 billion jobs bill where the two sides may be able to find common ground.
Some Republicans worry that the tax cut extension would undermine the solvency of Social Security, and others are opposed to any effort to pay for the renewal by taxing the wealthiest Americans.
Last year's cut in the 6.2 percent payroll tax, which raises money for Social Security, was accomplished with borrowed money. The White House has been vague on exactly how it wants to see another round of cuts paid for; spokesman Jay Carney on Monday said only that the money should come from "asking millionaires and billionaires to pay a little bit extra."
A senior administration official said the president would not insist on the cuts being paid for immediately. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal administration strategy.
The 2 percent payroll tax cut expiring in December gave 121 million families a tax cut averaging $934 last year at a total cost of about $120 billion, according to the Tax Policy Center. Economists say allowing the cuts to expire would harm an economy already hobbled by 9 percent unemployment.
Obama wants to cut the payroll tax by another percentage point for workers, at a total cost of $179 billion, and cut the employer share of the tax in half as well for most companies, which carries a $69 billion price tag.
The issue could appeal to independent voters in low-tax New Hampshire, the presidential swing state Obama won in 2008. With Republican candidates blanketing the state with an anti-Obama message ahead of the Jan. 10 primary, the president and his surrogates, including Vice President Joe Biden, are seeking to steal some of the spotlight for their economic message.
It's been nearly two years since Obama visited New Hampshire. And on Tuesday, he'll find a state that has shifted distinctly to the right since his 2008 victory. Recent polls indicate that, if an election between the two of them were held today, Obama would lose by roughly 10 percentage points to Romney.
Romney's print ads, in the form of an open letter, say the evidence on Obama's economic stewardship is "unequivocal" ? his policies have "fallen short even by the standards your own administration set for itself."
"Far from bringing the crisis to an end, (they) have actively hindered economic recovery," the ad says.
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Associated Press writer Steve Peoples in Manchester, N.H., contributed to this report.
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