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What’s your bandwidth like? Any Rogers Cable users out there?

You can check your bandwidth at http://www.speedtest.net

Close to 8 million Canadians have signed up – 85% in the past year alone, unpublished study reveals

The list of things that help define Canada just got a little longer: Hockey, Tim Hortons and Facebook.

Despite the recent flurry of bad press over the popular social networking site’s privacy practices, nearly 8 million Canadians – more than one in four – have a Facebook profile page, according to an upcoming study by Toronto-based Solutions Research Group, highlights of which were obtained by the Star.

That makes Canada among the most plugged-in Facebook places in the world, boasting the most users of any country outside the United States and a nearly 15 per cent share of Facebook’s total subscriber base of 57 million.

The survey of 1,000 Internet users, completed in November, also found that about 85 per cent of Canadian Facebook accounts were added in the past year as the popularity of social networking has exploded on the Web.

And it’s not just Canadian teens and so-called “tweens” that are using Facebook to keep tabs on their online “friends.”

Kaan Yigit, the president of Solutions Research Group, said roughly half of all Canadian Facebook users are over the age of 30.

“It’s wonderfully Canadian because I bet that if I ask you where your family is, you’ll say: `They’re all over the place’,” Yigit said. “And Facebook is a good way to keep in touch with friends and family.”

Like online other social networking tools, Facebook allows people to connect with each other through a system of profile pages, friend networks and shared-interest groups.

Toronto alone has nearly 990,000 Facebook users, according to site data, and earlier this year the city was ranked as the site’s largest network, although it has since been overtaken by other cities such as London.

Initially created as a way for college students to stay in touch, Facebook’s meteoric rise in Canada has come largely at the expense of rival MySpace, another social networking site that was bought two years ago by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. for $580 million (U.S.).

MySpace only has about a quarter as many members as Facebook in Canada, and adoption already appears to have plateaued, according to Yigit.

In the U.S., by contrast, MySpace remains king with some 72 million subscribers, although Facebook is growing at a faster rate.

Yigit said Canadians’ fondness for Facebook probably has something to with specific cultural traits and the “tipping point” effect that occurs as people naturally follow their friends’ footsteps online.

He said Facebook’s main selling points are its ability to connect users with people they already know and its focus on offering subscribers privacy controls – features that appeal to Canadian sensibilities.

MySpace, by contrast, places more emphasis on giving users a platform to express themselves to a wide audience, which is why several musicians, for example, use the site to distribute their music.

“It’s so stereotypical of Canadian versus American character,” said Yigit. “Canadians are flocking to social media that’s all about staying connected with people you already know, whereas MySpace is about the adventure of meeting new people.”

-Thestar.ca

A grand jury indictment accuses them of importing fake Nike shoes, Burberry and Chanel handbags and Polo Ralph Lauren and Baby Phat fashions that were sent directly to retail stores – not to the kind of sidewalk vendors, common in New York City, who might be expected to be dealing counterfeit goods.

From June 2006 until November 2007, the merchandise was smuggled in shipping containers through the port of Newark, New Jersey, disguised using fraudulent documentation, and delivered to stores in the New York area, the indictment alleges.

An undercover agent posing as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent was paid $500,000 in bribes.

“It is always deeply troubling when a criminal enterprise seeks to circumvent our port security, whatever the form of contraband and wherever the point of entry,” U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia, the chief federal prosecutor in Manhattan, told a news conference.

In June, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn charged 29 people in a separate case of smuggling counterfeit goods, also from China, worth $700 million.

This ongoing battle with counterfeit merchandise will forever exist as long as there is a strong demand for people willing to purchase counterfeit goods and as long as costs in China’s manufacturing advantage remains. The only persistent problem will lie in the hands of customs enforcement agencies and similarly to the War on Drugs, this will likely follow suit and fail in the long-term, impacting only the short-term supply.

RE<C’s plan, in conjunction with Google’s philanthropic Google.org, is to drive the development of cheaper alternative energy through the use of grants and investments. According to Dr. Larry Brilliant, head of Google.org, the “hope is that by funding research on promising technologies, investing in promising new companies, and doing a lot of R&D ourselves, we may help spark a green electricity revolution that will deliver breakthrough technologies priced lower than coal.”

The company itself is also trying hard to reduce its drain on the environment. Google is working to reduce the energy expenditure of its data centers across the world, all of which need power and cooling for the servers, and plans to be carbon neutral by the end of the current year. It has also been developing an array of solar cells to power its California headquarters, the Googleplex, and is involved in an initiative to arrive at more energy-efficient computers.

With all signs pointing to an increased scarcity of resources in an world growing ever more crowded, philanthropic efforts such as this one by Google are very much needed. Although energy produced by burning fossil fuels has a high social cost when climate change and pollution are taken into account, those costs are not borne upfront. When short-term shareholder value and the need to maximize profit remains the number one priority for corporations, those businesses have no reason to not use the cheapest energy source they can, regardless of its effect on everyone else.

Presumably, the idea behind this move is as follows: if you can’t persuade people that burning coal is a bad idea ecologically, providing them with a cheaper, cleaner alternative makes it more expensive to pollute than not, and even if shareholders don’t care about the trees, they’ll care about the bottom line. At a time when report after report highlights the growing damage done to the planet through the use of fossil fuels, this move by Google to spur renewable energy uptake ought to be applauded.

By Jonathan M. Gitlin | Published: November 27, 2007 – 01:49PM CT

Link

E*Trade will book “significant writedowns” this quarter for asset-backed securities that sank in value last month, the New York-based brokerage said in a Nov. 9 regulatory filing. Citigroup’s Prashant Bhatia wrote in a report yesterday that there’s a 15 percent chance the company will seek protection from creditors after poor management “put the viability of the franchise at risk.”

Chief Executive Officer Mitchell Caplan’s strategy of building E*Trade’s bank by tripling loans outstanding backfired as borrowers fell behind on payments and U.S. home prices declined. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also began an informal inquiry on Oct. 17 “into matters related to the company’s loan and securities portfolios,” E*Trade said.

“A drop in the stock price this severe could prompt retail trading customers, who likely see the performance of E*Trade shares, to withdraw cash from their accounts,” Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. analyst Roger Freeman wrote in a report to clients today. He has an “overweight” rating on the stock.

In a letter to customers posted on the company’s Web site, Chief Operating Officer Jarrett Lilien said E*Trade is taking “prudent measures” to shore up its balance sheet. The firm will remain “well capitalized” by U.S. banking standards even if it had to write down $1 billion of assets, he said.

E*Trade dropped $5.04, or 59 percent, to $3.55 at 4:20 p.m. on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The stock has fallen 84 percent this year, wiping out about $8 billion in market value. E*Trade’s market value is now almost a tenth of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp., its closest competitor.

Here’s the latest parody video of the hit internet sensation, 2 girls 1 cup.com. The link is not work safe, nor for viewers with a weak stomach, under the age of 18, or have a displeasure for scat porn.

But the below parody is fine for viewing:

and here’s a reaction video to the viewing of the infamous 2 girls, 1 cup video and more reaction videos can be found here:

Here’s an excert from their privacy policy:

Facebook may use information in your profile without identifying you as an individual to third parties. We do this for purposes such as aggregating how many people in a network like a band or movie and personalizing advertisements and promotions so that we can provide you Facebook. We believe this benefits you. You can know more about the world around you and, where there are advertisements, they’re more likely to be interesting to you. For example, if you put a favorite movie in your profile, we might serve you an advertisement highlighting a screening of a similar one in your town. But we don’t tell the movie company who you are.

We may use information about you that we collect from other sources, including but not limited to newspapers and Internet sources such as blogs, instant messaging services, Facebook Platform developers and other users of Facebook, to supplement your profile. Where such information is used, we generally allow you to specify in your privacy settings that you do not want this to be done or to take other actions that limit the connection of this information to your profile (e.g., removing photo tag links).

Anyhow, click here for the link that details the evils of Facebook.

Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The tourist complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, “Only a little while.”

The tourist then asked, “Why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more fish?”

The Mexican said, “With this I have more than enough to support my family’s needs.”

The tourist then asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life.”

The tourist scoffed, ” I can help you. You should spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat: With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor; eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You could leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles and eventually New York where you could run your ever-expanding enterprise.”

The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?”

The tourist replied, “15 to 20 years.”

“But what then?” asked the Mexican.

The tourist laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions.”

“Millions?…Then what?”

The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”

Chrysler and other U.S. automakers have said that improved quality has not been fully recognized by American consumers. It joins larger competitors in offering more generous warranties to raise consumer confidence. Chrysler’s U.S. sales were down about 1 percent in the first half of this year as it relied on industry-leading incentives, including interest-free financing, to move an aging line-up of pickup trucks and minivans.

Conditions

The extended warranty, not transferable if a vehicle is sold, was being offered as of Thursday and supported by a TV and newspaper advertising campaign starting on Friday, the automaker said. Furthermore, the new “lifetime” warranty would also exclude Chrysler’s diesel-driven vehicles and its performance-oriented SRT line of vehicles.

Impact

This is a big statement brought forth by the Chrysler Group and is historical in nature. The author is hesitant whether this “lifetime” warranty program will help the company profit as the majority of their gross margins come from servicing and providing repairs for out of warranty vehicles. The true test is whether the company can put their money where their mouths are and provide sustainable long-term plan of selling improved quality and in turn reliable vehicles to the general public. In the short-term, Chrysler will boost vehicles sales instantly swaying customers from foreign manufacturers and the other big 2 domestic companies. Furthermore, it may also seem that the company is turning itself around as this marketing strategy comes as Cerberus Capital Management prepares to take Chrysler private in a $7.4 billion deal with DaimlerChrysler AG. Whether the company can shed away from its two decades of producing lackluster and scoring below-par in reliability test, remains to be seen.

Is the new design scheme a hit? Can’t tell yet but from preliminary suggestions, it sure will be!

The Federal Reserve’s interest rate 50 basis point decision drop has come and gone and even though the impact on the financial markets has been substantial, many are pondering how will this affect fellow Canadians and Americans traveling north of the boarder? The past week has marked various milestones in the global markets:

• The U.S. Dollar has plummeted to an all-time low against the Euro by breaking through the key 1.40 barrier.
• The Canadian Loonie approached parity with the U.S. currency for the first time in 31 years.
• Gold has hit a 28-year high as dollar sinks reaching $735.85 today, with the likelihood of $800 by years-end a favourable outcome.
• Crude Oil is hovering below record highs after U.S. inventories fell more than expected and as the threat of a storm gathering near Florida reignited supply concerns.

The Canadian Case:

The loonie, which has been gaining on its American counterpart since bottoming out below 62 cents in early 2002, has recently been on a spectacular run, up from 95 cents at the start of September and from under 90 cents last spring and its recent ascent is mainly caused by the surprised large cut in interest rates. Soaring demand for Canadian commodities, ranging from oil and wheat to coal, gold, nickel and zinc – have helped propel the currency, while a weakening American economy has dragged down the greenback, the world’s most widely held and traded currency.

Advantages:

The high dollar may make U.S.-made goods cheaper to buy in Canada due to the rise in purchasing power and is a boon to Canadians traveling in the United States, especially cross-border shoppers and those looking to book winter vacations to Florida or Arizona. Those trips are suddenly much cheaper than they were a month ago. On the other side of that, importers will also win big as the costs of bringing goods into Canada gets cheaper, as will whole sellers – the “middle men” in the economy.

Negatives:

But the high loonie will continue to put pressure on domestic manufacturers, who have to try to sell goods south of the border at a discount or have been priced out of U.S. markets. Manufacturers such as lumber exporters, which have not had some insulation from commodity prices, and automakers will be particularly hard-hit, as the rising Canadian dollar makes exports less competitive at the same time that the shrinking U.S. housing market is making demand for housing weak. Tourism in Canada could also be affected, as travel to Canada becomes more expensive to Americans – a drop that will likely ripple through the hospitality industry. While the manufacturing sector has lost 289,000 jobs since late 2002, the economy has created more than one million jobs in resources, construction, services, health care, education and financial industries, leaving the national jobless rate at 30-year lows.

Forecast:

With only two more Federal Reserve rate decisions on the calendar, we expect 25bp rate cuts in October and December with another half point cut may not be entirely out of the question if economic data remains weak. This spells trouble for the U.S. currency however we are heading into unchartered waters with records being posted galore so we must proceed with caution even though the U.S. economy and currency look to be in the brink of disaster. The Canadian currency will definitely trade at a premium by years-end and, possibly sooner than expected; consumers will be in joy for the upcoming x-mas season.

You too can value your blog by clicking here.

It’s been a great week long learning experience starting up this blog especially dealing with the difficulties of learning the Wordpress interface. I have had prior web designing experience so all things are coming together slowly and updates are becoming easy and breezy. As my blog’s intention is to attempt to show you, the reader, how to profit off the internet all the while being entertained with the latest news, it is my duty to list every Friday my earnings for the week.

I am still tinkering with the placement of the ads however from general feedback, the advertisements do not seem to bother most and the majority found the ads to neatly blend in with the content and layout. I still have not submitted my site to popular sites nor have applied any search engine optimization techniques and any marketing campaigns at the moment are non-existent as I am relying strictly on word-of-mouth referrals to generate traffic for the time being.

Items to be addressed in the next short while:

• Fix RSS feeds issue.
• Fix sidebar display error with Internet Explorer due to the MistyLook template’s unique layout.
• Submit the website URL to popular search engines.
• Add links after each blog entry for users to bump to popular social networking sites: digg, technorati, etc.
• The most important issue would be writing more detailed articles dealing with money.

Total Payouts to Date Since September 9, 2007:

• AuctionAds: $25.00
• Google Adsense: $4.62
• Bidvertiser: $3.81
• Text Link Ads: $0.00
• AGLOCO: 7 Signs-Ups to date
• Grand Total: $33.43

I expect this number to dramatically improve as traffic and the site grows complementing an effective affiliate and marketing campaign. Stay tuned for regular continuing status reports on my earnings.

Furthermore, be sure to check out the “Make Money Online Now” tab at the top of the screen to begin your journey into capitalizing off the internet and feel free to leave comments and suggestions!

For those living “the good life,” potential Aston Martin DBS owners will now have the opportunity to remotely start their $330,000 sex-on-wheels with their time piece and more. Famed watchmaking company, Jaeger LeCoultre, just released their limited edition $35,000 AMVOX2 chronograph model boasting “over 200 parts to its casing and an equal number in the watch movement itself,” along with transponding electronics giving the owner the ability to lock, unlock, and remotely start their vehicle through their svelte wristwatch. Potentially millionaires take notice, your automobile of choice should be approximately 10 times the price of your current wrist watch.

All I have to say is that the watch is simply breathtaking however I will have to pass on this particular model and will wait for version 2.0 with the laser and flame-thrower add-ons.

Simpsonize Yourself now and show off your character in our comments section by clicking here.