Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Capitalism the Apple Way vs. Capitalism the Google Way
TheAtlantic | Mihir A. Desai | date

While lots of attention is directed toward identifying the next great startup, the defining tech-industry story of the last decade has been the rise of Apple and Google. In terms of wealth creation, there is no comparison. Eight years ago, neither one of them was even in the top 10 most valuable companies in the world, and their combined market value was less than $300 billion. Now, Apple and Alphabet (Google's parent company) have become the two most valuable companies, with a combined market capitalization of over $1.3 trillion. And increasingly, these two behemoths are starting to collide in various markets, from smartphones to home-audio devices to, according to speculation, automobiles.

But the greatest collision between Apple and Google is little noticed. The companies have taken completely different approaches to their shareholders and to the future, one willing to accede to the demands of investors and the other keeping power in the hands of founders and executives. These rival approaches are about something much bigger than just two of the most important companies in the world; they embody two alternative models of capitalism, and the one that wins out will shape the future of the economy. ... Read more

Quantum computers compete for "supremacy"
Salon | Neil Savage, Scientific American | date

But to realize those visions, scientists first have to figure out how to actually build a quantum computer that can perform more than the simplest operations. They are now getting closer than ever, with IBM in May announcing its most complex quantum system so far and Google saying it is on track this year to unveil a processor with so-called "quantum supremacy" -- capabilities no conventional computer can match.

Small systems exist, but the next steps in the race to make them bigger will have to determine whether quantum computers can deliver on their potential. Scientists and industry players have focused largely on one of two approaches. One cools loops of wire to near --273.15 degrees Celsius, or absolute zero, turning them into superconductors where current flows with virtually no resistance. The other relies on trapped ions -- charged atoms of the rare earth element ytterbium held in place in a vacuum chamber by laser beams and manipulated by other lasers. The oscillating charges (in both the wires and the trapped ions) function as quantum bits, or "qubits," which can be harnessed to carry out the computer's operations. .. Read more

Our first and last home
Salon | Jesse Soloff | 07/09/17

Five months before my young wife died of cancer, we bought our first home together. We knew it would be her last

We had bought our first home, in the Charlotte, North Carolina, neighborhood of NoDa, five months earlier, in the spring of 2016, knowing that it would likely be our last. Not because we would spend the rest of our lives there, but because that's where Taylor would spend the rest of hers. ... Read more

"I'm Gonna Unchain The Dogs" Bannon Warned Ailes During Trump-Fox Spat
ZeroHedge | author | 07/101/17

Amid the 2016 Presidential campaign, White House chief strategist Steve Bannon reportedly told late Fox News head Roger Ailes to "go fuck yourself" during the Trump campaign's battle with the news network.

New York Magazine reported that Ailes, who died in May, sent his personal lawyer, Peter Johnson Jr., to Breitbart headquarters in D.C. to tell Bannon to stop running stories against then-Fox News host Megan Kelly, who questioned to President Trump during a primary debate about his behavior and language about women.,

As The Hill reports, Bannon reportedly refused to call off the coverage, calling Kelly "pure evil" and saying that she would turn on Ailes one day. ... Read more