Apple hit Google again, what gives? Apple doesn't read your email, but Google does. Google hits back

91/18/2014

Sell Apple stock and buy Google stock. What is Tim Cook thinking? bigger than God?



This is another salvo to Google. The previous one is Apple sells real products, but not Google Apple CEO Cook: 'I'm not an unfair person' MAY 21, 2013 Seriously, what is the weight of the Google product? zero, google sells ads.

Tim Cook Is Keeping Your Apple Data Safe From The Cops ...

readwrite.com/2014/09/18/apple-privacy-policy--police-ios8-tim-cook

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9 hours ago - Beginning with iOS 8, Apple says data on your device is kept private, even ... including iCloud and new services like Apple Pay," CEO Tim Cook  ...

Tim Cook didn't address Apple's real privacy problem - Sep ...

money.cnn.com/2014/.../apple.../index.html?...

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CNNMoney

6 hours ago - CEO Tim Cook says Apple has addressed customers' privacy concerns. ... in Apple's ability to keep their information private is because Apple has a ... Until it does that, Apple can't truly claim that it is protecting customers' data.

Tim Cook on Apple privacy open letter | BGR

bgr.com/2014/09/18/tim-cook-on-apple-privacy-2/

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Boy Genius Report

12 hours ago - This might be Apple CEO Tim Cook's most important message yet ...The pages also include details on how Apple handles private data, what  ...

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Apple’s stance on privacy and data security appears to be stronger than ever, as the company has published an entire new privacy section on its website, complete with an important privacy-related message from CEO Tim Cook. The pages also include details on how Apple handles private data, what users can do to protect their Apple IDs used to log into iTunes and iCloud, and what information the company shares with law enforcement agencies.

This isn’t the first time Apple highlights user privacy when talking about its products –most recently Cook extensively talked about privacy in a lengthy interview with Charlie Rose, and before that (at WWDC 2014) Apple highlighted various privacy-oriented features in upcoming iOS and OS X releases.

From the looks of it, Apple appears interested in making privacy one of the flagship features of its products. Sure, some may say Apple is doing it to divert attention from NSA-related reports that reveal how easy it is for spies to tap into smartphones orfrom the recent “Nudesgate” leak scandal that raised questions about Apple’s iCloudscandal right before Apple’s iPhone 6 event, or simply to offer a different stance on private data than competing companies, including Google, Amazon and others who collect data using their smart products.

But Cook’s new privacy-defending manifesto shows that Apple is really committed to protecting the privacy of its users, and might just be the most important open letter the exec has written so far while atop of one of the most important companies in tech.

In his letter, Cook reiterates some of the things he told Rose a few days ago, taking hits at Google, addressing iOS backdoor reports and spy-related concerns, and mentioning details about Apple’s own advertising business.

“A few years ago, users of Internet services began to realize that when an online service is free, you’re not the customer,” Cook wrote. “You’re the product. But at Apple, we believe a great customer experience shouldn’t come at the expense of your privacy.”

“Our business model is very straightforward: We sell great products. We don’t build a profile based on your email content or web browsing habits to sell to advertisers. We don’t “monetize” the information you store on your iPhone or in iCloud. And we don’t read your email or your messages to get information to market to you. Our software and services are designed to make our devices better. Plain and simple,” the exec added, taking obvious hits at Google.

The entire message “from Tim Cook about Apple’s commitment to your privacy,” a read that may remind certain fans about Steve Jobs’ famous “Thoughts on Flash”letter, follows below, and it’s available at the source link below, where you’ll find additional pages describing how Apple is handling user privacy.

A message from Tim Cook about Apple’s commitment to your privacy.

At Apple, your trust means everything to us. That’s why we respect your privacy and protect it with strong encryption, plus strict policies that govern how all data is handled.

Security and privacy are fundamental to the design of all our hardware, software, and services, including iCloud and new services like Apple Pay. And we continue to make improvements. Two-step verification, which we encourage all our customers to use, in addition to protecting your Apple ID account information, now also protects all of the data you store and keep up to date with iCloud.

We believe in telling you up front exactly what’s going to happen to your personal information and asking for your permission before you share it with us. And if you change your mind later, we make it easy to stop sharing with us. Every Apple product is designed around those principles. When we do ask to use your data, it’s to provide you with a better user experience.

We’re publishing this website to explain how we handle your personal information, what we do and don’t collect, and why. We’re going to make sure you get updates here about privacy at Apple at least once a year and whenever there are significant changes to our policies.

A few years ago, users of Internet services began to realize that when an online service is free, you’re not the customer. You’re the product. But at Apple, we believe a great customer experience shouldn’t come at the expense of your privacy.

Our business model is very straightforward: We sell great products. We don’t build a profile based on your email content or web browsing habits to sell to advertisers. We don’t “monetize” the information you store on your iPhone or in iCloud. And we don’t read your email or your messages to get information to market to you. Our software and services are designed to make our devices better. Plain and simple.

One very small part of our business does serve advertisers, and that’s iAd. We built an advertising network because some app developers depend on that business model, and we want to support them as well as a free iTunes Radio service. iAd sticks to the same privacy policy that applies to every other Apple product. It doesn’t get data from Health and HomeKit, Maps, Siri, iMessage, your call history, or any iCloud service like Contacts or Mail, and you can always just opt out altogether.

Finally, I want to be absolutely clear that we have never worked with any government agency from any country to create a backdoor in any of our products or services. We have also never allowed access to our servers. And we never will.

Our commitment to protecting your privacy comes from a deep respect for our customers. We know that your trust doesn’t come easy. That’s why we have and always will work as hard as we can to earn and keep it.

Tim

Meteor

The meteor that hit Mexico's Yucatán peninsula 66 million years ago that is supposed to have spelled the doom for dinosaur life on the planet also may be responsible for a goodly part of the biodiversity visible around the globe today.

ALS and water bucket

Mao Zedong - (1893-1976) Chinese military and political leader, who led the Communist Party of China (CPC) to victory against the Kuomintang (KMT) in the Chinese Civil War, and was the leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976. Regarded as one of the most important figures in modern world history, Mao is still a controversial figure today, over thirty years after his death. He died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known in the U.S as Lou Gehrig's Disease and elsewhere as Motor Neurone Disease. Mao had been in poor health for several years and had declined visibly for some months prior to his death. - See more at: http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/famous-als.shtml#sthash.theHt0dn.dpuf

Mao Zedong - (1893-1976) Chinese military and political leader, who led the Communist Party of China (CPC) to victory against the Kuomintang (KMT) in the Chinese Civil War, and was the leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976. Regarded as one of the most important figures in modern world history, Mao is still a controversial figure today, over thirty years after his death. He died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known in the U.S as Lou Gehrig's Disease and elsewhere as Motor Neurone Disease. Mao had been in poor health for several years and had declined visibly for some months prior to his death. - See more at: http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/famous-als.shtml#sthash.theHt0dn.dpuf

 Mao Zedong - (1893-1976) Chinese military and political leader, who led the Communist Party of China (CPC) to victory against the Kuomintang (KMT) in the Chinese Civil War, and was the leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976. Regarded as one of the most important figures in modern world history, Mao is still a controversial figure today, over thirty years after his death. He died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known in the U.S as Lou Gehrig's Disease and elsewhere as Motor Neurone Disease. Mao had been in poor health for several years and had declined visibly for some months prior to his death. - See more at: http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/famous-als.shtml#sthash.theHt0dn.dpuf

Mao Zedong - (1893-1976) Chinese military and political leader, who led the Communist Party of China (CPC) to victory against the Kuomintang (KMT) in the Chinese Civil War, and was the leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976. Regarded as one of the most important figures in modern world history, Mao is still a controversial figure today, over thirty years after his death. He died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known in the U.S as Lou Gehrig's Disease and elsewhere as Motor Neurone Disease. Mao had been in poor health for several years and had declined visibly for some months prior to his death. - See more at: http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/famous-als.shtml#sthash.theHt0dn.dpuf

 已知ALS是由蛋白在上，下运动神经元堆积引起，就是说蛋白质降解途径出了问题。蛋白质降解
有三条途径，最常见的ubiquitin途径已经证实于此有关。2011的nature 文章说ubiquilin2
(ubiquitin-like protein)可引起染色体X显性遗传的 ALS/dementia(后者是一种类型的
老年痴呆）。这个基因在染色体X上，因此由这个基因突变引起ALS女多于男。
此外，还有多个基因的突变和ALS有关，第一个被发现的基因是SOD1（占20%），是的，就是“大宝
天天见”的那个酶， 估计是突变使酶失效，造成自由基堆积，损伤了线粒体。跟中国人有关的一个
基因叫PFN1 （Profilin 1），突变只在中国人里发现。下面讲治疗。
基因病只能基因治疗，但是神经细胞的基因治疗也是很难的，因为成年人的神经细胞不分裂，更难
表达外源基因。未来儿童的基因治疗和成年人的干细胞治疗是科研方向。作为普通人预防，
1.多吃水果蔬菜，清除多余自由基。
2.远离杀虫剂，农药等化学环境因子。
3.有条件做一下以上几个突变的基因检查。
The defining feature of ALS is the death of both upper and lower motor neurons in the motor cortex of the brain, the brain stem, and the spinal cord. Prior to their destruction, motor neurons develop protein-rich inclusions in their cell bodies and axons. This may be partly due to defects in protein degradation.[46] These inclusions often contain ubiquitin, and generally incorporate one of the ALS-associated proteins: SOD1, TAR DNA binding protein (TDP-43, or TARDBP), or FUS.

Cause of ALS is found, Northwestern team says

Breakthrough in Lou Gehrig's disease could lead to treatment

August 22, 2011|By William Mullen, Tribune reporter

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Researchers at Northwestern University say they have discovered a common cause behind the mysterious and deadly affliction of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, that could open the door to an effective treatment.
Dr. Teepu Siddique, a neuroscientist with Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine whose pioneering work on ALS over more than a quarter-century fueled the research team's work, said the key to the breakthrough is the discovery of an underlying disease process for all types of ALS.

The discovery provides an opening to finding treatments for ALS and could also pay dividends by showing the way to treatments for other, more common neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, dementia and Parkinson's, Siddique said.
The Northwestern team identified the breakdown of cellular recycling systems in the neurons of the spinal cord and brain of ALS patients that results in the nervous system slowly losing its ability to carry brain signals to the body's muscular system.
Without those signals, patients gradually are deprived of the ability to move, talk, swallow and breathe.
"This is the first time we could connect (ALS) to a clear-cut biomedical mechanism," Siddique said. "It has really made the direction we have to take very clear and sharp. We can now test for drugs that would regulate this protein pathway or optimize it, so it functions as it should in a normal state."
The announcement of the breakthrough is in Monday's issue of the research journal Nature. The paper lists 23 contributing scientists, including the lead authors, Northwestern neurological researchers Han-Xiang Deng and Wenjie Chen, and Siddique as senior author.
ALS afflicts about 30,000 Americans. With no known treatment for the paralysis, 50 percent of all ALS patients die within three years.
It is particularly tragic because it often strikes people who are very physically active. In 1941, New York Yankee baseball superstar Lou Gehrig died at 37 of the disease that now carries his name.
Amelie Gubitz, a research program director at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, said the Northwestern research is a big step forward in efforts worldwide to conquer ALS.
"You need to understand at the cellular level what is going wrong," said Gubitz. "Then you can begin to design drugs.
"ALS is a complicated problem, and Dr. Siddique's research adds a big piece to the puzzle that gives us important new insights."
A variety of proteins perform different functions within cells, and Deng and Chen led research that discovered a key protein, ubiquilin2, in the ALS mystery.

Ubiquilin2 in spinal and brain system cells is supposed to repair or dispose of other proteins as they become damaged. The researchers discovered a breakdown of this function in ALS patients.
When Ubiquilin2 is unable to remove or repair damaged proteins, the damaged proteins begin to pile up in the cells, eventually blocking normal transmission of brain signals in the spinal cord and brain, leading to paralysis.
There are three forms of ALS: "familial," which is hereditary and passed through genes; nonhereditary, which is called "sporadic"; and ALS that targets the brain, called "ALS/dementia."
Siddique was part of a study that made a breakthrough in ALS in the early 1990s, discovering the "familial" gene that causes the disease within some families. That breakthrough came after he began an ongoing study 25 years ago of an East Coast family that has lost more than 20 members to ALS.
Joanne Saltzman, a 72-year-old member of that family, recalled last week how she first learned of ALS when she was a small girl and her father, a naval veteran, was dying of the disease. Her grandfather died of it, too, as did four of her father's seven brothers.
Subsequently, one of Saltzman's sisters and many of her cousins died from ALS. It killed her 51-year-old son last October, she said in a phone interview, and in February her 52-year-old niece died of it.
"I am so excited by their new findings," Saltzman said of the Northwestern study. "Dr. Siddique has been studying our family for 25 years, and it is so encouraging for our remaining family."
"I told Dr. Siddique's office, if I could cut off my arm and send it to them I would if it would help them in the research," she said. "I would do anything. It is so important to me to be able to find some kind of cure for this awful disease."

Sell Apple now 7/30/2014

Sell Apple AAPL now 7/30/2014 at around $98 a share. Reasons are the following:

1. It cannot cross $100 a share. It tried but failed to do so.
2. Apple's growth area is China. Microsoft just got raided in China. Apple is rumored to be the next.
3. IPhone 6 very likely to be delayed due to its large size.

A gut wrenching correction -10% is coming for AAPL. 

Apple crossed above $600 a share today

5/5/2014

Apple closed above $600 a share today for the first time in the last 18 months.

AAPL will go ex-dividend on 05/08/14 with a $3.29 dividend payable to shareholders of record as of 05/12/14. Last day to get the dividend is to buy AAPL on 5/7 Wed.

Will AAPL go up more in the future? Yes. Will it go to all time high of $700? Very likely.

Catalysts:

1. IPhone 6 roll out.
2. 7-1 Split. Though it was already announced.
3. ITV.
4. Stock rotation from growth momentum to value. 

克里米亚是普京一张牌 2014年03月17日

克里米亚是普京一张牌
2014年03月17日 08:06 本文来源于 财新网 | 评论（53）
　　 乌克兰危机一开始就陷入“叙利亚模式”，克里米亚是普京未来的一张牌
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　　财新特派乌克兰顿涅茨克记者 倪伟峰

　　1945年，美、英、苏联三大国在克里米亚半岛雅尔塔举行的首脑会议，奠定了二战后世界格局的基础。近70年后，发生在同一地点的公投，或许是新一轮世界格局变革的开始。

　　早在公投开始前一周，乌克兰东部就流传着这么一句笑话：“公投之日早就定好了，那就是昨天。”虽然国际社会对俄罗斯总统普京的指责从未停止，但在克里米亚，普京正步步为营。东部亲西方人士担心，这只是普京的第一步。

　　“叙利亚模式”

　　从一开始，克里米亚危机就注定陷入了“叙利亚模式”：西方国家用国际法谴责俄罗斯所为，而普京却用“尊重克里米亚人民意志”加以还击。在没有善恶对立的平行叙事中，双方正将克里米亚推向俄罗斯。周日（3月16日），克里米亚公投如期举行；枪口下做出的选择，结果也可想而知：95.5%的支持率。

　　普京明白，美国与欧盟国家虽然嘴上以制裁威胁，但能够做的实在是有限。对他来说，铁腕和武力是解决差异的终极选择，况且他还有一张核武牌（事实上，俄罗斯国营媒体已经开始谈论这一话题了）。西方从一开始就诚实地表明，武力无法解决问题。

　　不过，美国能够伤害俄罗斯的也实在不多，哪怕是乌克兰新总理Arseniy Yatsenyuk到访华盛顿求援，奥巴马也只能重复此前的论调。最能对普京及其寡头朋友们产生影响的英国与德国则表示，“要给外交手段一次机会”（德国语）；“制裁伤害伦敦金融城”（英国语）。

　　在这一背景下，脆弱的乌克兰和复杂的克里米亚，恰给普京的占领提供了机会。“西方不能帮助我们（指乌克兰），我们对西方也没有太大的希望。”东部城市顿涅茨克政治研究中心执行主任署图卡瑞（Sergiy Shtukarin）对财新记者说，西方在乌克兰危机中的反应，也显示出其局限性。“如果西方也派兵来保护乌克兰，就给俄罗斯落下把柄：你看，西方正以保护乌克兰的名义侵略乌克兰。”

　　普京的下一步

　　对于克里米亚，普京的算盘并不是为了侵占，而是赢得一张牌，为今后与亲西方的乌克兰谈判赢得筹码；同时，他将利用这场危机（以及叙利亚危机），在俄罗斯对自己强硬民族主义领导人形象的维护。

　　他曾说，苏联的解体是20世纪“最大的遗憾”。另一方面，早已开始受到俄罗斯反对派挑战的普京，也希望以这种方式给他们释放出一个信号：不要试图通过这种方式挑战权威。而对他一向敌视的美国，普京则更显自己的胜者之优越。

　　虽然普京仍然意识形态浓厚，但他还是位精明的商人。克里米亚半岛地处乌克兰东部，近六成为俄罗斯裔人，大部分人使用俄语。即便在地理上与文化上都与俄罗斯相近，且直到20世纪中叶，克里米亚才被前苏联“送给”乌克兰，但这并不能说明头脑精明的普京就会不惜一切代价捍卫这片领土。

　　事实上，若克里米亚“回归”俄罗斯联邦，其对普京更将是一个长期的财政负担。自1991年乌克兰独立以来，克里米亚半岛从基辅方面获得的补贴，要比其交给基辅的税收还多。这就意味着，若克里米亚离开乌克兰，其经济状况可能会变得十分糟糕 。

　　更实际的问题是，克里米亚80%的水与90%的电力，通过乌克兰大陆而来。这也是前苏联领导赫鲁晓夫（Nikita Khrushchev）将克里米亚转让给乌克兰的原因之一。在俄罗斯经济发展模式已经出现严重缺陷，索契冬奥会又让国家负债累累的背景之下，普京会在如何持有克里米亚问题上，做出细致的考量。

　　那普京下一步会如何做呢？ 公投前一日，俄罗斯的武装力量进入乌克兰南部赫尔松州（Kherson）境内，并占领了克里米亚地区以北斯特里尔科维（Strilkove）村。俄罗斯的借口是，疑似恐怖分子要进行攻击，“我们前来保护”。但实际用意是，掌握当地的天然气厂。这是普京与基辅的下一个争论点。

　　很快，基辅新政府与国际社会就会对公投结果予以否认。但既然克里米亚人自己做出了决定投靠俄罗斯，普京则必须予以回应。这样，莫斯科与基辅很快就将进行接触。基辅政府会坚持不允许分裂的立场；普京则会用“民意牌”来与基辅方面进行谈判。“普京的底线是，把在乌克兰失去的影响力夺回来。”署图卡瑞说。■

Apple's Tim Cook

Apple's Tim Cook picks a fight with climate change deniers

By Philip Elmer-DeWitt March 1, 2014: 6:27 AM ET

[A] self-described conservative think tank was pushing a shareholder proposal that would have required Apple to disclose the costs of its sustainability programs and to be more transparent about its participation in "certain trade associations and business organizations promoting the amorphous concept of environmental sustainability"...

Links:

• Tim Cook Soundly Rejects Politics of the NCPPR, Suggests Group Sell Apple's Stock 
• Tim Cook to Apple investors: Drop Dead

The Coca-Cola Company future in doubt: FLOTUS attacks again First Lady

The Coca-Cola Company future is in doubt again.
2/28/2014

With its flagship product in doubt, Coca-Cola is experiencing pain. KO is at $38, close to its 52-week low as of today, while S&P is at all-time high. What a stark contrast!

FLOTUS Michelle Obama just unveiled the new nutrition fact label on foods with fanfares from USDA, and other groups. The new proposal will hit Coca-Cola and other soft drink companies hard.

1. Calories will be shown in bigger fonts and the number will be larger. A 20-ounce soda is 275 calories, not 100 as FDA uses serving size that is likely to be consumed by one person. If Coca-Cola followed that FDA proposal, a label of a 2-liter bottle would have to be an eye-popping 800 calories right on the front of the package. Consumers will be shocked, negatively.
2. Since we all hate fat, FLOTUS' proposal will hurt Coca-Cola. The line of Calories from fat will be removed. Coca-Cola will lose a selling point of zero-fat products.
3. This one is the killer. The new nutrition fact will add one line of added sugar. All the carbs in Coca are added sugar.

The stock market already discounted such a hit. KO is at $38, close to its 52-week low as of today. See a chart below thanks to Yahoo Finance.

Coca-Cola will not die, but will have a bumpy road ahead of it. The management has realized its problem and is diversifying. It just bought 10% stake of Green Mountain Coffee House. Selling coffee is the future? That is a billion dollar question and a lot of people's jobs are at stake.

I can argue that conventional soft drinks, including Coca-Cola, are dead products with the following points.

1. The historic success of Coca-Cola built on this: Soft drinks offer a cheap calories source when people are poor. And it tastes great. Still do.
2. But time has changed. No longer faced with a food shortage, we have the problem of obesity. Since the world is getting richer we can afford to over-eat. People are hard-wired to over-eat, and we have a body weight problem.
3. Everybody hates fat, and drinking soft drink makes us fat. 
4. The reputation is getting worse. People coined empty calories, food bullies to describe the sugary drinks.
5. Can you live without soft drinks? Yes. Jesus lived just fine.

GOOG VS AAPL: GOOG is winning as of 20140226

Will GOOG become the most valuable company in the world, overtaking AAPL?
20140226

GOOG had a good start in 2014, with YTD up 8%, beating AAPL's -5%.

However, with the annual shareholder meeting for Apple coming on 20140228, the Apple's management, Cook CEO in particular, will have an earful from complaining shareholders. Cook is already under pressure for its under-performing stock price. It is as simple as this: If stock price isn't up, it is a bad stock. Icahn will not back off either.

Can Cook, under pressure, deliver in the next a few quarters?  Where is the new killer product?  iTV or iWatch, etc?
It will be a disaster for Apple to buy Tesla, which is way over-valued.