Despite the positive-sounding headline, the NYT article was actually negative in tone, starting off with a joke about how an Android developer making $1-$2 per day on his app was laughed at by his peers, while insisting "that's pretty good money!"
The blows against Android then continue with a quote from Matt Hall, co-founder of Larva Labs, who talked about the problems with Google Checkout. Then Rovio's (maker of Angry Birds) Peter Vesterbacka complained about the challenges of developing for such a fragmented environment. And then it was Hall again, with a quote that's already getting repeated on Apple-watching blogs like John Gruber’s Daring Fireball:
"Google is not associated with things you pay for, and Android is an extension of that," said Mr. Hall of Larva Labs. "You don't pay for Google apps, so it bleeds into the expectations for the third-party apps, too."
There Are Ways to Get Paid
If you want to debate the merit of the above statements, feel free to head to the comments section, but we feel the need to point out the obvious miss from the NYT article: there are alternative revenue streams for developers besides direct app sales. (After all, even Google's "free" services aren't actually free - they're monetized through advertising.)
We recently highlighted some findings related to this matter earlier this month. For example, research from mobile ad company Millennial Media found that Android ad revenue has, for the first time ever, beaten iPhone ad revenue on the company's ad network.
At the time, we wondered why, given the lower ad impression numbers (as compared with iPhone/iOS). As it turns out, Millennial's Michael Avon had some thoughts on the matter. Besides the fact that there is simply less ad inventory amid soaring demand on Android, he also shared that Android is currently a "hot" platform for advertisers as it allows them to reach first-time smartphone buyers and a more diverse set of consumers.
"We believe some advertisers are paying a premium to reach those users early in their smartphone experience," he said. "Our advertisers have also shared that Android allows them to reach a diverse set of consumers across all major carriers, making the platform highly desirable and increasing demand for the platform...With more advertiser demand per each available impression on Android, it resulted in more revenue per impression."
The NYT article also makes brief mention of the lack of an in-app purchases model for Android, another disappointment for developers, especially since we recently learned that in-app purchases generate more revenue than ads, in some app categories.
However, as we also noted last week, developers don't have to wait on Google to implement an official in-app purchase mechanism, because there are several third-party solutions already available, including Boku and Zong for virtual goods and PayPal's in-app purchases technology for physical goods.
NYT had one good thing to say about Android development: because of the store sizes (100K vs 300K apps/Android vs iPhone) it's easier to get noticed in the Android Market today than it is in the iTunes App Store. Well, at least there's that.
What's amazing -- and, for the Democrats, terrifying -- isn't just that 57 percent of Americans are "somewhat" or "very" concerned about making their next mortgage payment. It's that two years ago, when the macroeconomy was in worse shape, that number was a comparatively modest 37 percent. Most Americans, in other words, have gotten more insecure over that period, at least on this metric.
There are all sorts of ways to explain this, of course. Unemployment drives foreclosures, and it's a lagging indicator. The financial crisis was driven by the expectation of this housing insecurity, not just the foreclosures that had happened in late-2007. Financial crises always take a long time to work through, and if you're a Reinhart and Reinhart fan, you know that housing crises and credit bubbles take years, not months, to work through.
But that's all cold comfort to the 57 percent of Americans who walk around with a knot in their stomach. They're hurting now. And they're about to vote.
Welcome to Wonkbook.
Top Stories
With outside groups included, this election cycle's cost could hit $4 billion, reports Dan Eggen: "There are three general tides of money swamping this year's elections, according to CRP's data: House and Senate candidates, who have reported raising $1.7 billion; the political parties, with about $1.1 billion; and outside interest groups, which have raised at least $400 million. That adds up to $3.2 billion, but the numbers are incomplete amid the frenzy of ad buys and other activity in the week before the election...Donations from Wall Street, medical and insurance firms, energy conglomerates and other corporations have shifted decisively toward Republicans over the past year because of policy disputes with Democrats and anticipation of a possible GOP takeover in Congress."
Democrats are amping up their secret campaign spending: http://wapo.st/bAq5ju
Most Americans say they worry about making mortgage or rent payments, report Ariana Eunjung Cha and Jon Cohen: "In all, 53 percent said they are 'very concerned' or 'somewhat concerned' about having the money to make their monthly payment. Worries are the most intense among those with lower incomes and among African Americans... there's now even more unease about making next month's rent or mortgage payment than there was two years ago. Back then, 37 percent of respondents said they were somewhat or very concerned about their monthly housing costs. Since that time, the economy has modestly improved."
To triangulate or not to triangulate, that is the White House's question, report Laura Meckler and Peter Wallsten: "Strategists in both parties see two options for President Barack Obama. He could seek deals on issues including trade, taxes and spending, following the model of President Bill Clinton, who after losing Congress in 1994, compromised with the GOP to overhaul welfare...Mr. Obama could also follow the model of Harry Truman, who dug in and successfully portrayed an opposition Congress as obstructionist. That would lay the foundation for a 2012 reelection campaign where the president could draw contrasts with his opponents... White House Chief of Staff Pete Rouse, in investigating the various options, is consulting with people who worked for Mr. Clinton in the mid-1990s."
Special guest interlude: Belle & Sebastian and Jenny Lewis play "Lazy Line Painter Jane".
Still to come: Sen. Kent Conrad is sticking up for TARP and the stimulus; Matthew Yglesias thinks Obama's biggest economic mistakes came in neglecting the Fed; Milton Friedman would support quantitative easing; and There Will Be Blood as a Super Nintendo game.
Economy/FinReg
Kent Conrad is leading a defense of TARP and the stimulus, reports Lori Montgomery: "Over the past week, Conrad, a Democrat from North Dakota, has crisscrossed the state, delivering speeches to college economics classes and lecturing skeptical editorial boards, in addition to making his pitch on national television. On Thursday morning, thousands of North Dakota newspaper subscribers awoke to a full-page ad with colorful charts and graphs about the improving economy, alongside a vigorous defense of the bailout and the equally reviled 2009 economic stimulus package. The ad describes the perilous economic conditions that prompted a terrified Congress to approve the $700 billion bailout - officially, the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP - just before the 2008 presidential election."
The administration is concerned that the foreclosure mess will hike up home prices, reports Sewell Chan: "Revelations about paperwork shortcuts and so-called robo-signed affidavits, as well as the likelihood of protracted legal battles by homeowners and inquiries by state and federal officials, will hinder foreclosure proceedings and discourage prospective buyers, a Treasury Department official said. 'Together, these two factors may exert downward pressure on overall housing prices both in the short and long run,' said the official, Phyllis R. Caldwell, chief of the homeownership preservation office at the Treasury."
Obama praised Larry Summers' tenure on The Daily Show: http://bit.ly/bhHqP0
Opponents of higher taxes for the rich are fewer, but care more, writes Larry Bartels: "The sizable minority of people who want the tax cuts for affluent taxpayers renewed seem to attach much more weight to this issue than the slim majority who want them to expire. In a statistical analysis taking separate account of prospective voters’ broader partisan attachments, those who support President Obama’s position on the tax cuts are only 6% more likely than those who are unsure about the issue to say they will vote for a Democratic House candidate. Even those who want to let all the tax cuts expire are only 9% more likely to vote Democratic. By comparison, those who want to keep the tax cuts for affluent taxpayers in place are 22% more likely to say they will vote for a Republican House candidate."
Milton Friedman would support quantitative easing, writes David Wessel: http://bit.ly/97KggH
The Obama administration is suffering because it paid the economy too little attention, writes Matthew Yglesias: "A party whose leaders realized that economic results were the most important driver of public opinion wouldn't have renominated a conservative Republican to head the Federal Reserve. Even more astoundingly, having given Ben Bernanke a second term in office, the Obama administration didn't get around to nominating anyone to fill the other vacant posts on the Federal Reserve Board until April 2010...Similarly, the extent of stimulus possible in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was famously limited by the need to gain Republican support. Given that, shouldn't someone have put reconciliation instructions into the budget resolution that would have allowed for additional stimulus to be undertaken by majority vote?"
Obama's economic agenda works for women, writes Neera Tanden: http://bit.ly/clCoxH
British austerity measures are incoherent, writes Brad DeLong: "Cameron’s government used to claim that its policies would produce a boom by bringing a visit from the Confidence Fairy that would greatly reduce long-term interest rates and cause a huge surge of private investment spending. Now it appears to have abandoned that claim in favor of the message that failure to cut will produce disaster...But if you ask the government’s supporters why there is no alternative to mammoth cuts in government spending and increases in taxes, they sound confused and incoherent. Or perhaps they are merely parroting talking points backed by little thought."
Athletics interlude: The world's most awesome sports montage clip.
Energy
The White House is defending the choice to push health care reform before climate change legislation, reports Darren Samuelsohn: "'We really felt like it was a walk and talk, walk and chew gum' situation, said Melody Barnes, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council. Barnes said the White House believes the country can still tackle climate change without Congress passing legislation that caps greenhouse gas emissions, noting the push for executive agencies to curb emissions, coupled with efforts at the state and local government levels...'We’ve been absolutely thinking about this at every level,' Barnes said, citing the Environmental Protection Agency and Energy Department programs, as well as federal grants to help local governments build more sidewalks, light rail lines and street trolleys."
The inventor of SuperSoakers is revolutionizing solar power: http://bit.ly/a7QWh6
Action on climate change could require a cultural shift analogous to the turn against smoking, reports John Broder: "Professor Hoffman likened the widespread skepticism about the reality of climate change to the gradual acceptance of the link between smoking and lung cancer and other diseases. It was only when the public accepted the overwhelming scientific consensus on the dangers of tobacco use did policy tools like the banning of indoor smoking become socially and politically possible, he said...He said that the development of a feasible, low-cost alternative energy source to fossil fuels could also change the economic and public opinion equation relatively quickly."
Nanotech could stop electronics not in use from hogging electricity: http://bit.ly/cGgdbU
There are more politically viable alternatives to a carbon tax, writes Jeffrey Sachs: "A feed-in tariff subsidizes the low-carbon energy source rather than taxing the high-carbon energy source. In our example, the government would pay a subsidy of $0.10/kilowatt-hour to the solar-power plant to make up the difference between the consumer price of $0.06 and the production cost of $0.16. The consumer price remains unchanged, but the government must somehow pay for the subsidy. Here is another way. Suppose that we levy a small tax on existing coal power plants in order to pay for the solar subsidy, and then gradually raise consumers’ electricity bills as more and more solar plants are phased in."
16 bit interlude: There Will Be Blood, the SNES game.
Domestic Policy
The FTC is backing off its privacy probe of Google, report Cecilia Kang: "The federal government has ended an inquiry into a privacy breach involving Google's Street View service, satisfied with the company's pledge to stop gathering e-mail, passwords and other information from residential WiFi networks as it rolls through neighborhoods. Wednesday's decision by the Federal Trade Commission is a sharp contrast with the reaction of regulators in Europe. The United Kingdom has launched a new investigation into Google's collection of unencrypted WiFi data, exposing the company to potential fines. Germany told Google to mark its Street View cars that take pictures of neighborhoods and homes. The Czech Republic banned Google from expanding its mapping software program."
Cuts in federal building costs could save billions: http://wapo.st/cAFFFl
College tuition is rising in tandem with Pell Grants, reports Stephanie Banchero: "The average price of tuition and fees for in-state students at public four-year institutions is $7,605 this school year, a 7.9% increase over last year. At private nonprofit colleges and universities, the average price is $27,293, a 4.5% rise. Two-year state colleges saw a 6% rise to $2,713. But the federal government gave out $28.2 billion in Pell grants to students in the 2009-10 school year, almost $10 billion more than the previous year. Pell grant numbers for the current school year are not yet available, but are expected to rise."
Citizens United helps unions more than corporations, writes Daniel Henninger: http://bit.ly/aVfNS8
The National Archives are failing to keep government records properly, reports Lisa Rein: "Four out of five federal agencies are also at risk of illegally destroying public records, and the Archives has a huge backlog of documents that need to be preserved, the Government Accountability Office found. Two reports by Congress' watchdog arm found that many agencies do not follow proper procedures for disposing of public records as they assess whether to preserve or destroy them. And the Archives, as it preserves records electronically, has also left itself open to hackers. Among the findings of the year-long audits are that the Archives did not protect its computer networks with a strong firewall to keep out unauthorized users."
Closing credits: Wonkbook is compiled and produced with help from Dylan Matthews, Mike Shepard, and Michelle Williams.
eric seiger
Keith Olbermann suspended after donating to Democrats - Simmi <b>...</b>
Olbermann has been suspending indefinitely after violating NBC's ethics policies.
Fox <b>News</b> Ratings on Election Night Beat Networks - NYTimes.com
The Fox News Channel's midterm election coverage attracted more viewers than any of the broadcast networks' coverage, according to the Nielsen Company.
Great, great <b>news</b>: Pelosi might stay on as House minority leader <b>...</b>
Great, great news: Pelosi might stay on as House minority leader.
eric seiger
Despite the positive-sounding headline, the NYT article was actually negative in tone, starting off with a joke about how an Android developer making $1-$2 per day on his app was laughed at by his peers, while insisting "that's pretty good money!"
The blows against Android then continue with a quote from Matt Hall, co-founder of Larva Labs, who talked about the problems with Google Checkout. Then Rovio's (maker of Angry Birds) Peter Vesterbacka complained about the challenges of developing for such a fragmented environment. And then it was Hall again, with a quote that's already getting repeated on Apple-watching blogs like John Gruber’s Daring Fireball:
"Google is not associated with things you pay for, and Android is an extension of that," said Mr. Hall of Larva Labs. "You don't pay for Google apps, so it bleeds into the expectations for the third-party apps, too."
There Are Ways to Get Paid
If you want to debate the merit of the above statements, feel free to head to the comments section, but we feel the need to point out the obvious miss from the NYT article: there are alternative revenue streams for developers besides direct app sales. (After all, even Google's "free" services aren't actually free - they're monetized through advertising.)
We recently highlighted some findings related to this matter earlier this month. For example, research from mobile ad company Millennial Media found that Android ad revenue has, for the first time ever, beaten iPhone ad revenue on the company's ad network.
At the time, we wondered why, given the lower ad impression numbers (as compared with iPhone/iOS). As it turns out, Millennial's Michael Avon had some thoughts on the matter. Besides the fact that there is simply less ad inventory amid soaring demand on Android, he also shared that Android is currently a "hot" platform for advertisers as it allows them to reach first-time smartphone buyers and a more diverse set of consumers.
"We believe some advertisers are paying a premium to reach those users early in their smartphone experience," he said. "Our advertisers have also shared that Android allows them to reach a diverse set of consumers across all major carriers, making the platform highly desirable and increasing demand for the platform...With more advertiser demand per each available impression on Android, it resulted in more revenue per impression."
The NYT article also makes brief mention of the lack of an in-app purchases model for Android, another disappointment for developers, especially since we recently learned that in-app purchases generate more revenue than ads, in some app categories.
However, as we also noted last week, developers don't have to wait on Google to implement an official in-app purchase mechanism, because there are several third-party solutions already available, including Boku and Zong for virtual goods and PayPal's in-app purchases technology for physical goods.
NYT had one good thing to say about Android development: because of the store sizes (100K vs 300K apps/Android vs iPhone) it's easier to get noticed in the Android Market today than it is in the iTunes App Store. Well, at least there's that.
What's amazing -- and, for the Democrats, terrifying -- isn't just that 57 percent of Americans are "somewhat" or "very" concerned about making their next mortgage payment. It's that two years ago, when the macroeconomy was in worse shape, that number was a comparatively modest 37 percent. Most Americans, in other words, have gotten more insecure over that period, at least on this metric.
There are all sorts of ways to explain this, of course. Unemployment drives foreclosures, and it's a lagging indicator. The financial crisis was driven by the expectation of this housing insecurity, not just the foreclosures that had happened in late-2007. Financial crises always take a long time to work through, and if you're a Reinhart and Reinhart fan, you know that housing crises and credit bubbles take years, not months, to work through.
But that's all cold comfort to the 57 percent of Americans who walk around with a knot in their stomach. They're hurting now. And they're about to vote.
Welcome to Wonkbook.
Top Stories
With outside groups included, this election cycle's cost could hit $4 billion, reports Dan Eggen: "There are three general tides of money swamping this year's elections, according to CRP's data: House and Senate candidates, who have reported raising $1.7 billion; the political parties, with about $1.1 billion; and outside interest groups, which have raised at least $400 million. That adds up to $3.2 billion, but the numbers are incomplete amid the frenzy of ad buys and other activity in the week before the election...Donations from Wall Street, medical and insurance firms, energy conglomerates and other corporations have shifted decisively toward Republicans over the past year because of policy disputes with Democrats and anticipation of a possible GOP takeover in Congress."
Democrats are amping up their secret campaign spending: http://wapo.st/bAq5ju
Most Americans say they worry about making mortgage or rent payments, report Ariana Eunjung Cha and Jon Cohen: "In all, 53 percent said they are 'very concerned' or 'somewhat concerned' about having the money to make their monthly payment. Worries are the most intense among those with lower incomes and among African Americans... there's now even more unease about making next month's rent or mortgage payment than there was two years ago. Back then, 37 percent of respondents said they were somewhat or very concerned about their monthly housing costs. Since that time, the economy has modestly improved."
To triangulate or not to triangulate, that is the White House's question, report Laura Meckler and Peter Wallsten: "Strategists in both parties see two options for President Barack Obama. He could seek deals on issues including trade, taxes and spending, following the model of President Bill Clinton, who after losing Congress in 1994, compromised with the GOP to overhaul welfare...Mr. Obama could also follow the model of Harry Truman, who dug in and successfully portrayed an opposition Congress as obstructionist. That would lay the foundation for a 2012 reelection campaign where the president could draw contrasts with his opponents... White House Chief of Staff Pete Rouse, in investigating the various options, is consulting with people who worked for Mr. Clinton in the mid-1990s."
Special guest interlude: Belle & Sebastian and Jenny Lewis play "Lazy Line Painter Jane".
Still to come: Sen. Kent Conrad is sticking up for TARP and the stimulus; Matthew Yglesias thinks Obama's biggest economic mistakes came in neglecting the Fed; Milton Friedman would support quantitative easing; and There Will Be Blood as a Super Nintendo game.
Economy/FinReg
Kent Conrad is leading a defense of TARP and the stimulus, reports Lori Montgomery: "Over the past week, Conrad, a Democrat from North Dakota, has crisscrossed the state, delivering speeches to college economics classes and lecturing skeptical editorial boards, in addition to making his pitch on national television. On Thursday morning, thousands of North Dakota newspaper subscribers awoke to a full-page ad with colorful charts and graphs about the improving economy, alongside a vigorous defense of the bailout and the equally reviled 2009 economic stimulus package. The ad describes the perilous economic conditions that prompted a terrified Congress to approve the $700 billion bailout - officially, the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP - just before the 2008 presidential election."
The administration is concerned that the foreclosure mess will hike up home prices, reports Sewell Chan: "Revelations about paperwork shortcuts and so-called robo-signed affidavits, as well as the likelihood of protracted legal battles by homeowners and inquiries by state and federal officials, will hinder foreclosure proceedings and discourage prospective buyers, a Treasury Department official said. 'Together, these two factors may exert downward pressure on overall housing prices both in the short and long run,' said the official, Phyllis R. Caldwell, chief of the homeownership preservation office at the Treasury."
Obama praised Larry Summers' tenure on The Daily Show: http://bit.ly/bhHqP0
Opponents of higher taxes for the rich are fewer, but care more, writes Larry Bartels: "The sizable minority of people who want the tax cuts for affluent taxpayers renewed seem to attach much more weight to this issue than the slim majority who want them to expire. In a statistical analysis taking separate account of prospective voters’ broader partisan attachments, those who support President Obama’s position on the tax cuts are only 6% more likely than those who are unsure about the issue to say they will vote for a Democratic House candidate. Even those who want to let all the tax cuts expire are only 9% more likely to vote Democratic. By comparison, those who want to keep the tax cuts for affluent taxpayers in place are 22% more likely to say they will vote for a Republican House candidate."
Milton Friedman would support quantitative easing, writes David Wessel: http://bit.ly/97KggH
The Obama administration is suffering because it paid the economy too little attention, writes Matthew Yglesias: "A party whose leaders realized that economic results were the most important driver of public opinion wouldn't have renominated a conservative Republican to head the Federal Reserve. Even more astoundingly, having given Ben Bernanke a second term in office, the Obama administration didn't get around to nominating anyone to fill the other vacant posts on the Federal Reserve Board until April 2010...Similarly, the extent of stimulus possible in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was famously limited by the need to gain Republican support. Given that, shouldn't someone have put reconciliation instructions into the budget resolution that would have allowed for additional stimulus to be undertaken by majority vote?"
Obama's economic agenda works for women, writes Neera Tanden: http://bit.ly/clCoxH
British austerity measures are incoherent, writes Brad DeLong: "Cameron’s government used to claim that its policies would produce a boom by bringing a visit from the Confidence Fairy that would greatly reduce long-term interest rates and cause a huge surge of private investment spending. Now it appears to have abandoned that claim in favor of the message that failure to cut will produce disaster...But if you ask the government’s supporters why there is no alternative to mammoth cuts in government spending and increases in taxes, they sound confused and incoherent. Or perhaps they are merely parroting talking points backed by little thought."
Athletics interlude: The world's most awesome sports montage clip.
Energy
The White House is defending the choice to push health care reform before climate change legislation, reports Darren Samuelsohn: "'We really felt like it was a walk and talk, walk and chew gum' situation, said Melody Barnes, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council. Barnes said the White House believes the country can still tackle climate change without Congress passing legislation that caps greenhouse gas emissions, noting the push for executive agencies to curb emissions, coupled with efforts at the state and local government levels...'We’ve been absolutely thinking about this at every level,' Barnes said, citing the Environmental Protection Agency and Energy Department programs, as well as federal grants to help local governments build more sidewalks, light rail lines and street trolleys."
The inventor of SuperSoakers is revolutionizing solar power: http://bit.ly/a7QWh6
Action on climate change could require a cultural shift analogous to the turn against smoking, reports John Broder: "Professor Hoffman likened the widespread skepticism about the reality of climate change to the gradual acceptance of the link between smoking and lung cancer and other diseases. It was only when the public accepted the overwhelming scientific consensus on the dangers of tobacco use did policy tools like the banning of indoor smoking become socially and politically possible, he said...He said that the development of a feasible, low-cost alternative energy source to fossil fuels could also change the economic and public opinion equation relatively quickly."
Nanotech could stop electronics not in use from hogging electricity: http://bit.ly/cGgdbU
There are more politically viable alternatives to a carbon tax, writes Jeffrey Sachs: "A feed-in tariff subsidizes the low-carbon energy source rather than taxing the high-carbon energy source. In our example, the government would pay a subsidy of $0.10/kilowatt-hour to the solar-power plant to make up the difference between the consumer price of $0.06 and the production cost of $0.16. The consumer price remains unchanged, but the government must somehow pay for the subsidy. Here is another way. Suppose that we levy a small tax on existing coal power plants in order to pay for the solar subsidy, and then gradually raise consumers’ electricity bills as more and more solar plants are phased in."
16 bit interlude: There Will Be Blood, the SNES game.
Domestic Policy
The FTC is backing off its privacy probe of Google, report Cecilia Kang: "The federal government has ended an inquiry into a privacy breach involving Google's Street View service, satisfied with the company's pledge to stop gathering e-mail, passwords and other information from residential WiFi networks as it rolls through neighborhoods. Wednesday's decision by the Federal Trade Commission is a sharp contrast with the reaction of regulators in Europe. The United Kingdom has launched a new investigation into Google's collection of unencrypted WiFi data, exposing the company to potential fines. Germany told Google to mark its Street View cars that take pictures of neighborhoods and homes. The Czech Republic banned Google from expanding its mapping software program."
Cuts in federal building costs could save billions: http://wapo.st/cAFFFl
College tuition is rising in tandem with Pell Grants, reports Stephanie Banchero: "The average price of tuition and fees for in-state students at public four-year institutions is $7,605 this school year, a 7.9% increase over last year. At private nonprofit colleges and universities, the average price is $27,293, a 4.5% rise. Two-year state colleges saw a 6% rise to $2,713. But the federal government gave out $28.2 billion in Pell grants to students in the 2009-10 school year, almost $10 billion more than the previous year. Pell grant numbers for the current school year are not yet available, but are expected to rise."
Citizens United helps unions more than corporations, writes Daniel Henninger: http://bit.ly/aVfNS8
The National Archives are failing to keep government records properly, reports Lisa Rein: "Four out of five federal agencies are also at risk of illegally destroying public records, and the Archives has a huge backlog of documents that need to be preserved, the Government Accountability Office found. Two reports by Congress' watchdog arm found that many agencies do not follow proper procedures for disposing of public records as they assess whether to preserve or destroy them. And the Archives, as it preserves records electronically, has also left itself open to hackers. Among the findings of the year-long audits are that the Archives did not protect its computer networks with a strong firewall to keep out unauthorized users."
Closing credits: Wonkbook is compiled and produced with help from Dylan Matthews, Mike Shepard, and Michelle Williams.
eric seiger
Keith Olbermann suspended after donating to Democrats - Simmi <b>...</b>
Olbermann has been suspending indefinitely after violating NBC's ethics policies.
Fox <b>News</b> Ratings on Election Night Beat Networks - NYTimes.com
The Fox News Channel's midterm election coverage attracted more viewers than any of the broadcast networks' coverage, according to the Nielsen Company.
Great, great <b>news</b>: Pelosi might stay on as House minority leader <b>...</b>
Great, great news: Pelosi might stay on as House minority leader.
eric seiger
eric seiger
eric seiger
Keith Olbermann suspended after donating to Democrats - Simmi <b>...</b>
Olbermann has been suspending indefinitely after violating NBC's ethics policies.
Fox <b>News</b> Ratings on Election Night Beat Networks - NYTimes.com
The Fox News Channel's midterm election coverage attracted more viewers than any of the broadcast networks' coverage, according to the Nielsen Company.
Great, great <b>news</b>: Pelosi might stay on as House minority leader <b>...</b>
Great, great news: Pelosi might stay on as House minority leader.
eric seiger
Despite the positive-sounding headline, the NYT article was actually negative in tone, starting off with a joke about how an Android developer making $1-$2 per day on his app was laughed at by his peers, while insisting "that's pretty good money!"
The blows against Android then continue with a quote from Matt Hall, co-founder of Larva Labs, who talked about the problems with Google Checkout. Then Rovio's (maker of Angry Birds) Peter Vesterbacka complained about the challenges of developing for such a fragmented environment. And then it was Hall again, with a quote that's already getting repeated on Apple-watching blogs like John Gruber’s Daring Fireball:
"Google is not associated with things you pay for, and Android is an extension of that," said Mr. Hall of Larva Labs. "You don't pay for Google apps, so it bleeds into the expectations for the third-party apps, too."
There Are Ways to Get Paid
If you want to debate the merit of the above statements, feel free to head to the comments section, but we feel the need to point out the obvious miss from the NYT article: there are alternative revenue streams for developers besides direct app sales. (After all, even Google's "free" services aren't actually free - they're monetized through advertising.)
We recently highlighted some findings related to this matter earlier this month. For example, research from mobile ad company Millennial Media found that Android ad revenue has, for the first time ever, beaten iPhone ad revenue on the company's ad network.
At the time, we wondered why, given the lower ad impression numbers (as compared with iPhone/iOS). As it turns out, Millennial's Michael Avon had some thoughts on the matter. Besides the fact that there is simply less ad inventory amid soaring demand on Android, he also shared that Android is currently a "hot" platform for advertisers as it allows them to reach first-time smartphone buyers and a more diverse set of consumers.
"We believe some advertisers are paying a premium to reach those users early in their smartphone experience," he said. "Our advertisers have also shared that Android allows them to reach a diverse set of consumers across all major carriers, making the platform highly desirable and increasing demand for the platform...With more advertiser demand per each available impression on Android, it resulted in more revenue per impression."
The NYT article also makes brief mention of the lack of an in-app purchases model for Android, another disappointment for developers, especially since we recently learned that in-app purchases generate more revenue than ads, in some app categories.
However, as we also noted last week, developers don't have to wait on Google to implement an official in-app purchase mechanism, because there are several third-party solutions already available, including Boku and Zong for virtual goods and PayPal's in-app purchases technology for physical goods.
NYT had one good thing to say about Android development: because of the store sizes (100K vs 300K apps/Android vs iPhone) it's easier to get noticed in the Android Market today than it is in the iTunes App Store. Well, at least there's that.
What's amazing -- and, for the Democrats, terrifying -- isn't just that 57 percent of Americans are "somewhat" or "very" concerned about making their next mortgage payment. It's that two years ago, when the macroeconomy was in worse shape, that number was a comparatively modest 37 percent. Most Americans, in other words, have gotten more insecure over that period, at least on this metric.
There are all sorts of ways to explain this, of course. Unemployment drives foreclosures, and it's a lagging indicator. The financial crisis was driven by the expectation of this housing insecurity, not just the foreclosures that had happened in late-2007. Financial crises always take a long time to work through, and if you're a Reinhart and Reinhart fan, you know that housing crises and credit bubbles take years, not months, to work through.
But that's all cold comfort to the 57 percent of Americans who walk around with a knot in their stomach. They're hurting now. And they're about to vote.
Welcome to Wonkbook.
Top Stories
With outside groups included, this election cycle's cost could hit $4 billion, reports Dan Eggen: "There are three general tides of money swamping this year's elections, according to CRP's data: House and Senate candidates, who have reported raising $1.7 billion; the political parties, with about $1.1 billion; and outside interest groups, which have raised at least $400 million. That adds up to $3.2 billion, but the numbers are incomplete amid the frenzy of ad buys and other activity in the week before the election...Donations from Wall Street, medical and insurance firms, energy conglomerates and other corporations have shifted decisively toward Republicans over the past year because of policy disputes with Democrats and anticipation of a possible GOP takeover in Congress."
Democrats are amping up their secret campaign spending: http://wapo.st/bAq5ju
Most Americans say they worry about making mortgage or rent payments, report Ariana Eunjung Cha and Jon Cohen: "In all, 53 percent said they are 'very concerned' or 'somewhat concerned' about having the money to make their monthly payment. Worries are the most intense among those with lower incomes and among African Americans... there's now even more unease about making next month's rent or mortgage payment than there was two years ago. Back then, 37 percent of respondents said they were somewhat or very concerned about their monthly housing costs. Since that time, the economy has modestly improved."
To triangulate or not to triangulate, that is the White House's question, report Laura Meckler and Peter Wallsten: "Strategists in both parties see two options for President Barack Obama. He could seek deals on issues including trade, taxes and spending, following the model of President Bill Clinton, who after losing Congress in 1994, compromised with the GOP to overhaul welfare...Mr. Obama could also follow the model of Harry Truman, who dug in and successfully portrayed an opposition Congress as obstructionist. That would lay the foundation for a 2012 reelection campaign where the president could draw contrasts with his opponents... White House Chief of Staff Pete Rouse, in investigating the various options, is consulting with people who worked for Mr. Clinton in the mid-1990s."
Special guest interlude: Belle & Sebastian and Jenny Lewis play "Lazy Line Painter Jane".
Still to come: Sen. Kent Conrad is sticking up for TARP and the stimulus; Matthew Yglesias thinks Obama's biggest economic mistakes came in neglecting the Fed; Milton Friedman would support quantitative easing; and There Will Be Blood as a Super Nintendo game.
Economy/FinReg
Kent Conrad is leading a defense of TARP and the stimulus, reports Lori Montgomery: "Over the past week, Conrad, a Democrat from North Dakota, has crisscrossed the state, delivering speeches to college economics classes and lecturing skeptical editorial boards, in addition to making his pitch on national television. On Thursday morning, thousands of North Dakota newspaper subscribers awoke to a full-page ad with colorful charts and graphs about the improving economy, alongside a vigorous defense of the bailout and the equally reviled 2009 economic stimulus package. The ad describes the perilous economic conditions that prompted a terrified Congress to approve the $700 billion bailout - officially, the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP - just before the 2008 presidential election."
The administration is concerned that the foreclosure mess will hike up home prices, reports Sewell Chan: "Revelations about paperwork shortcuts and so-called robo-signed affidavits, as well as the likelihood of protracted legal battles by homeowners and inquiries by state and federal officials, will hinder foreclosure proceedings and discourage prospective buyers, a Treasury Department official said. 'Together, these two factors may exert downward pressure on overall housing prices both in the short and long run,' said the official, Phyllis R. Caldwell, chief of the homeownership preservation office at the Treasury."
Obama praised Larry Summers' tenure on The Daily Show: http://bit.ly/bhHqP0
Opponents of higher taxes for the rich are fewer, but care more, writes Larry Bartels: "The sizable minority of people who want the tax cuts for affluent taxpayers renewed seem to attach much more weight to this issue than the slim majority who want them to expire. In a statistical analysis taking separate account of prospective voters’ broader partisan attachments, those who support President Obama’s position on the tax cuts are only 6% more likely than those who are unsure about the issue to say they will vote for a Democratic House candidate. Even those who want to let all the tax cuts expire are only 9% more likely to vote Democratic. By comparison, those who want to keep the tax cuts for affluent taxpayers in place are 22% more likely to say they will vote for a Republican House candidate."
Milton Friedman would support quantitative easing, writes David Wessel: http://bit.ly/97KggH
The Obama administration is suffering because it paid the economy too little attention, writes Matthew Yglesias: "A party whose leaders realized that economic results were the most important driver of public opinion wouldn't have renominated a conservative Republican to head the Federal Reserve. Even more astoundingly, having given Ben Bernanke a second term in office, the Obama administration didn't get around to nominating anyone to fill the other vacant posts on the Federal Reserve Board until April 2010...Similarly, the extent of stimulus possible in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was famously limited by the need to gain Republican support. Given that, shouldn't someone have put reconciliation instructions into the budget resolution that would have allowed for additional stimulus to be undertaken by majority vote?"
Obama's economic agenda works for women, writes Neera Tanden: http://bit.ly/clCoxH
British austerity measures are incoherent, writes Brad DeLong: "Cameron’s government used to claim that its policies would produce a boom by bringing a visit from the Confidence Fairy that would greatly reduce long-term interest rates and cause a huge surge of private investment spending. Now it appears to have abandoned that claim in favor of the message that failure to cut will produce disaster...But if you ask the government’s supporters why there is no alternative to mammoth cuts in government spending and increases in taxes, they sound confused and incoherent. Or perhaps they are merely parroting talking points backed by little thought."
Athletics interlude: The world's most awesome sports montage clip.
Energy
The White House is defending the choice to push health care reform before climate change legislation, reports Darren Samuelsohn: "'We really felt like it was a walk and talk, walk and chew gum' situation, said Melody Barnes, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council. Barnes said the White House believes the country can still tackle climate change without Congress passing legislation that caps greenhouse gas emissions, noting the push for executive agencies to curb emissions, coupled with efforts at the state and local government levels...'We’ve been absolutely thinking about this at every level,' Barnes said, citing the Environmental Protection Agency and Energy Department programs, as well as federal grants to help local governments build more sidewalks, light rail lines and street trolleys."
The inventor of SuperSoakers is revolutionizing solar power: http://bit.ly/a7QWh6
Action on climate change could require a cultural shift analogous to the turn against smoking, reports John Broder: "Professor Hoffman likened the widespread skepticism about the reality of climate change to the gradual acceptance of the link between smoking and lung cancer and other diseases. It was only when the public accepted the overwhelming scientific consensus on the dangers of tobacco use did policy tools like the banning of indoor smoking become socially and politically possible, he said...He said that the development of a feasible, low-cost alternative energy source to fossil fuels could also change the economic and public opinion equation relatively quickly."
Nanotech could stop electronics not in use from hogging electricity: http://bit.ly/cGgdbU
There are more politically viable alternatives to a carbon tax, writes Jeffrey Sachs: "A feed-in tariff subsidizes the low-carbon energy source rather than taxing the high-carbon energy source. In our example, the government would pay a subsidy of $0.10/kilowatt-hour to the solar-power plant to make up the difference between the consumer price of $0.06 and the production cost of $0.16. The consumer price remains unchanged, but the government must somehow pay for the subsidy. Here is another way. Suppose that we levy a small tax on existing coal power plants in order to pay for the solar subsidy, and then gradually raise consumers’ electricity bills as more and more solar plants are phased in."
16 bit interlude: There Will Be Blood, the SNES game.
Domestic Policy
The FTC is backing off its privacy probe of Google, report Cecilia Kang: "The federal government has ended an inquiry into a privacy breach involving Google's Street View service, satisfied with the company's pledge to stop gathering e-mail, passwords and other information from residential WiFi networks as it rolls through neighborhoods. Wednesday's decision by the Federal Trade Commission is a sharp contrast with the reaction of regulators in Europe. The United Kingdom has launched a new investigation into Google's collection of unencrypted WiFi data, exposing the company to potential fines. Germany told Google to mark its Street View cars that take pictures of neighborhoods and homes. The Czech Republic banned Google from expanding its mapping software program."
Cuts in federal building costs could save billions: http://wapo.st/cAFFFl
College tuition is rising in tandem with Pell Grants, reports Stephanie Banchero: "The average price of tuition and fees for in-state students at public four-year institutions is $7,605 this school year, a 7.9% increase over last year. At private nonprofit colleges and universities, the average price is $27,293, a 4.5% rise. Two-year state colleges saw a 6% rise to $2,713. But the federal government gave out $28.2 billion in Pell grants to students in the 2009-10 school year, almost $10 billion more than the previous year. Pell grant numbers for the current school year are not yet available, but are expected to rise."
Citizens United helps unions more than corporations, writes Daniel Henninger: http://bit.ly/aVfNS8
The National Archives are failing to keep government records properly, reports Lisa Rein: "Four out of five federal agencies are also at risk of illegally destroying public records, and the Archives has a huge backlog of documents that need to be preserved, the Government Accountability Office found. Two reports by Congress' watchdog arm found that many agencies do not follow proper procedures for disposing of public records as they assess whether to preserve or destroy them. And the Archives, as it preserves records electronically, has also left itself open to hackers. Among the findings of the year-long audits are that the Archives did not protect its computer networks with a strong firewall to keep out unauthorized users."
Closing credits: Wonkbook is compiled and produced with help from Dylan Matthews, Mike Shepard, and Michelle Williams.
eric seiger
eric seiger
Keith Olbermann suspended after donating to Democrats - Simmi <b>...</b>
Olbermann has been suspending indefinitely after violating NBC's ethics policies.
Fox <b>News</b> Ratings on Election Night Beat Networks - NYTimes.com
The Fox News Channel's midterm election coverage attracted more viewers than any of the broadcast networks' coverage, according to the Nielsen Company.
Great, great <b>news</b>: Pelosi might stay on as House minority leader <b>...</b>
Great, great news: Pelosi might stay on as House minority leader.
eric seiger
eric seiger
Keith Olbermann suspended after donating to Democrats - Simmi <b>...</b>
Olbermann has been suspending indefinitely after violating NBC's ethics policies.
Fox <b>News</b> Ratings on Election Night Beat Networks - NYTimes.com
The Fox News Channel's midterm election coverage attracted more viewers than any of the broadcast networks' coverage, according to the Nielsen Company.
Great, great <b>news</b>: Pelosi might stay on as House minority leader <b>...</b>
Great, great news: Pelosi might stay on as House minority leader.
eric seiger
Keith Olbermann suspended after donating to Democrats - Simmi <b>...</b>
Olbermann has been suspending indefinitely after violating NBC's ethics policies.
Fox <b>News</b> Ratings on Election Night Beat Networks - NYTimes.com
The Fox News Channel's midterm election coverage attracted more viewers than any of the broadcast networks' coverage, according to the Nielsen Company.
Great, great <b>news</b>: Pelosi might stay on as House minority leader <b>...</b>
Great, great news: Pelosi might stay on as House minority leader.
eric seiger
Keith Olbermann suspended after donating to Democrats - Simmi <b>...</b>
Olbermann has been suspending indefinitely after violating NBC's ethics policies.
Fox <b>News</b> Ratings on Election Night Beat Networks - NYTimes.com
The Fox News Channel's midterm election coverage attracted more viewers than any of the broadcast networks' coverage, according to the Nielsen Company.
Great, great <b>news</b>: Pelosi might stay on as House minority leader <b>...</b>
Great, great news: Pelosi might stay on as House minority leader.
eric seiger eric seiger
eric seiger
eric seiger
eric seiger
Keith Olbermann suspended after donating to Democrats - Simmi <b>...</b>
Olbermann has been suspending indefinitely after violating NBC's ethics policies.
Fox <b>News</b> Ratings on Election Night Beat Networks - NYTimes.com
The Fox News Channel's midterm election coverage attracted more viewers than any of the broadcast networks' coverage, according to the Nielsen Company.
Great, great <b>news</b>: Pelosi might stay on as House minority leader <b>...</b>
Great, great news: Pelosi might stay on as House minority leader.
big seminar 14
Although the first outburst of blogging in the internet was introduced for hobbyists, now, you can still enjoy doing it, while earning thousands of dollars along with it.
Yes, it is true, though it seems a bit unrealistic, you can make money doing what you love to do-BLOGGING.
Any work you do to earn your living requires some energy and time and so does writing a blog. Then why not earn some extra money doing things that you love the most, blogging. If you work out carefully and follow the below given instructions while creating a blog, it can easily earn you anywhere between few hundred to a few thousand dollars every month.
Getting started
The first thing you need to do is to signup with a blog publishing site that will cater to your requirements. While choosing a blog site look for the various options available with them. A good blog site should offer you with HTML editing as well as FTP support. It should provide you with various customized blog layout, designs and colors.HTML editing is a must otherwise you will not be able to put up any banners and popup into your blog.
Another very basic but yet very important factor in determining how much money you eventually earn from your blog is the subject of your blog. The subject of your blog will determine how much traffic your blog can generate and ultimately how much money you earn from your blog. Blog names are also extremely important, as a good blog name will help search engines deliver traffic to your blog. Therefore, you should take considerable time while conceptualizing the subject and the name for your blog.
A little help for selecting the subject and name of your blog
Try to look for subjects or topics that pay more from per click among others. Check out google adwords and adsense to know how much each clicks on a subject costs.
Heading to a good start
Now you have created a blog, you should start advertising you blog. Submit it to various search engines, refer it to your friends, post your blog address at every appropriate place you find on the net, any place where it will get noticed like classifieds, discussion forums etc.
Different ways you can earn money from your blog
One of the best ways of making money of your blog is google adsense. Create a google adsense account and register your blog with it. Google adsense then allows you to place ads on your blog. They will place any ad that has keywords related to your blog. Once a user happens to open your blog and click on the advertisement, you will earn money on it.
There is also the blogads service that offers certain amount of flexibility over the type of ads appearing on your blog. This service is not based on a pay-per-click system, meaning it will earn you money based on the number of times your blog is being viewed and not on the number of times the ads have been clicked. This is because they pay for the space of their ads on your blog for a certain period. Their sign up options are free and after joining, you can determine the type of ads to be put up on your blog as well as the advertising charges. Once your offering is announced to companies, consequently, they will contact you for an ad space on your blog.
Another ways to make a earning from your blogging activities is to become an affiliate partner to another company. There are a lots of popular affiliate program available over the internet which provides commission to its partners for every click on the ad placed on their blog. You will also get a percentage from the sale of their product made with the help of your blog. There are plenty of affiliate programs available on the internet with varied commission percentages to choose from. Some affiliate programs even offer profit sharing.
If you are blogging for a specific cause, you can still take advantage of it in a positive way. You can earn money blogging for a genuine cause. You can ask people to give donations for a specific cause, though most of it will go to you. To assist you in getting payment you can use the PayPal donation button and put on your site.
You can also earn money while blogging about unique merchandise and then offering them up for sale simultaneously in your blog. There are people who would gladly spend for merchandise that are custom-made, unique and totally out of this world. Edit your blog headline into a catchy one, create your very own logo and then offer up these kinds of items with your logo in it. It will be a sort of brand tag.
The gist
Do not just concentrate on any one of these way of money–earning opportunity. Combine these methods properly and wisely and earn more.
In the end
As the blogosphere develops, evolves and takes with it lots of internet users, so as earning opportunities increase by blogging. Just think, you will enjoy blogging as a hobby and earn in the outset too! Isn’t it great?
eric seiger
Keith Olbermann suspended after donating to Democrats - Simmi <b>...</b>
Olbermann has been suspending indefinitely after violating NBC's ethics policies.
Fox <b>News</b> Ratings on Election Night Beat Networks - NYTimes.com
The Fox News Channel's midterm election coverage attracted more viewers than any of the broadcast networks' coverage, according to the Nielsen Company.
Great, great <b>news</b>: Pelosi might stay on as House minority leader <b>...</b>
Great, great news: Pelosi might stay on as House minority leader.
eric seiger
Keith Olbermann suspended after donating to Democrats - Simmi <b>...</b>
Olbermann has been suspending indefinitely after violating NBC's ethics policies.
Fox <b>News</b> Ratings on Election Night Beat Networks - NYTimes.com
The Fox News Channel's midterm election coverage attracted more viewers than any of the broadcast networks' coverage, according to the Nielsen Company.
Great, great <b>news</b>: Pelosi might stay on as House minority leader <b>...</b>
Great, great news: Pelosi might stay on as House minority leader.
eric seiger
After analyzing your article you have to recognize what I surely have written here apple pear hybrid fruit . This one is being written after you have a proposal from you.
ReplyDelete