All Posts Tagged With: "California"
Gmail account deactivated; stupid that it happened and stupid that Google obliged.
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Mon, Sep 28 2009 | 0 Comments
A federal judge ordered Google to deactivate an email account of someone who was sent a confidential email by accident by a bank. The order was issued by the U.S. District Court Judge James Ware. He is a district court judge in the northern district of California.
Along with the order to deactivate the account, the judge also ordered that the gmail account user be identified and that the court be given his or her contact information, even though the Gmail account user has not been accused of any wrong doing in the case.
The ruling stems from a monumental error by the Wilson, Wyo.-based Rocky Mountain Bank. On Aug. 12, the bank mistakenly sent names, addresses, social security numbers and loan information of more than 1,300 customers to a Gmail address. When the bank realized the problem, it sent a message to that same address asking the recipient to contact the bank and destroy the file without opening it. No one responded, so the bank contacted Google to ask for information about the account holder.
In keeping with its privacy policy, Google told the bank it would have to get a court order to obtain such data. The bank then filed papers asking a court to order Google to disclose the information and deactivate the account.
When the bank tried to file its papers under a seal, the U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Whyte did not allow that to happen. It was earlier in the week that the case went from Whyte to Ware.
What do you do when an email account is given information that it was obviously never supposed to get? i think that the user in this situation should at least be notified as to what is going on with his or her account (and the bank, along with the U.S. District Court should hope that the user is not a consumer rights activist or read the Consumerist on a regular basis.). I suppose the bank should have tried to shut down the email that was sent, but should the email account really have been turned off completely?
What do you all think?
I’m not so sure myself. I don’t think that the account should have been turned off.
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Tags: social security numbers, northern district of california, social security
Public school cuts that students will definitely notice
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Tue, Jun 30 2009 | 0 Comments
Budget cuts in the nation’s public schools means that many states are having to find ways to limit what it spends on public schools in their budgets. I find it ironic in a way because it seems like taxes have increased at the same time that budget cuts for public education is being introduced. However, in places where homes are being appraised for much less, property taxes are much less and therefore, schools have less money to work with.
So where will your children be feeling the pinch?
Many schools will be saying goodbye to band and other music programs. At many schools, extracurricular activities like band and art clubs may be eliminated. Many curriculums are being cut down to the minimums because of teachers being laid off. This has been going on for years in many of the more rural areas of the country. At the same time, most (if not all) states have a requirement for a fine art class in high school. So, some of these classes will have to stick around.
Classes will become more crowded. In California alone 27,000 teachers have been laid off with more expected to be soon. This accounts for 15% of California’s public teacher pool. And fewer teachers means bigger classes. Many classes are having to bump up the number of kids to a class. Some classes are even going from 20 to a class to 30 to a class. This is what the San Jose Unified School District is doing and it will end up saving the district nearly $6 million for the year.
Summer programs will be, if they haven’t already been, cut. Summer programs in places where budget deficits have led to more cuts in schools, like California which is suffering from a $24 billion budget gap. Parents who usually enroll their children in some kind of public funded summer program will now have to find child care for their children. This also means cutting summer school. So when a high school senior needs that “one more credit” to graduate he or she will be out of luck.
Finally, bus services will be hurt. The number of schools that cut bus transportation routes for the 2009-2010 school year rose to 23%, up from 14% the year prior. If a school decides to cut bus routes, it can obviously save thousands of dollars (per school). However, many students (again, in more rural areas) may be finding themselves without a way to get to school. I can see where this would lead to serious truancy issues.
I think that it is important to cut money from other areas than public schools. Personally, the money should come out of anywhere else first.
Related posts:Cuts from the public school system that everyone will notice
Tags: budget deficits, budget deficit, public education
The Best Places in America to Starve
Michael Bowler | RSS | Tue, May 12 2009 | 2 Comments
On the boot heels of a Lucrative Investing article about the top 25 areas in America to succeed in business, an article must supplement that and provide the best places in America to go broke due to the high cost of living and failing economy. There are a few things that this writer finds rather symbolic, ironic even, about these locations, some due to the locations involved in the previous article, which you will see if you read both articles, and some are from personal connections.
One thing that the intuitive reader will notice is that in the previous article, a lot of suburbs and rural areas were credited as the best places to prosper. In this article, conversely, major cities are picked on. That is primarily caused by a more demanding economy, with most of these cities totaling well over one million residents.
Thanks to real estate prices that are ‘through the roof’, pun intended, high costs of living, and the highest unemployment rates in the nation next to Detroit, Los Angeles tops our list. Despite being home to the President of the United States, with high real estate prices, high cost of living that is barely under LA and New York City, and almost 10% unemployment, Chicago comes in second. Miami comes in third, despite having three of its close suburbs on the positive list from yesterday’s article.
Residents of The Big Apple have to try to curb the high costs of living, exorbinant living expenses, as even rent in many Manhattan condos can draw blood, only with a median income of $69,500. That may seem reasonable, but remember, so many television personalities live in New York City, like all sorts of nationally syndicated newscasters and the Olsen twins. Naturally, that brings the salary for “normal” people much lower. Coupled with an 8.8% unemployment rate, that brings frenzy to the streets of New York, and puts them at number four. Providence, Rhode Island is fifh on the list, primarily due to the fact that business activity is scarce. Few businesses are quick to branch out into Rhode Island, few universities there come out with top workforce prospects, and venture business capital cannot be easily obtained. Median salary is around 56,000. That obviously means many people are under 30,000 a year, with which it is hard to provide for a family.
The most ironic thing about this list is the fact that some larger cities that are on this list, namely Miami, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, have suburbs that made it near the top of the list on yesterday’s article about productive areas. The suburbs are thriving, but as soon as you hit the city limits, you theoretically hit poverty central. Unfortunately, this is the pattern of a large recession. These cities will bounce back like they always do. When the economy bounces back, it will bounce back as quickly as it declined, and these cities will thrive once again.
Full list (ties are designated with matching numbers):
19. Boston, Massachusetts
19. Warren, Michigan
18. San Francisco, California
17. Jacksonville, Florida
16. St. Louis, Missouri
15. Orlando, Florida
13. Memphis, Tennessee
13. Tampa, Florida
12. Portland, Oregon
11. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
10. San Diego, California
9. Newark, New Jersey
8. Cleveland, Ohio
7. Long Island, New York
6. Riverside, California
5. Providence, Rhode Island
4. New York, New York
3. Miami, Florida
2. Chicago, Illinois
1. Los Angeles, California
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Tags: tennessee, michigan, recession
The Most Financially Productive Areas to Live
Michael Bowler | RSS | Mon, May 11 2009 | 0 Comments
Even in the worst economic situation since the Carter administration, Forbes magazine often likes to reveal whatever positive sides it can, much like I do. In an article written from expertly executed research campaigns and quotes from successful entrepreneurs, they found the most lucrative and financially prosperous places in the United States to set up residence. They based these findings on four factors: cultural amenities, business friendly environments, knowledgeable and productive workforces and generous salaries.
Joshua Onysko, an entrepreneur and owner of Pangaea Organics, opened his skin care business when he moved to Boulder, Colorado, which he did, aside for the personal benefits, due to the business benefits. The business benefits include a strong venture capital environment, similar start-up businesses all throughout the area, and talented workforce candidates from nearby University of Colorado. While other businesses are contracting, Onysko’s endeavors are expanding. He has reported a 225% increase since 2005 which is still increasing.
Factors that can put an area on this list of profitable areas can include pending and active patents, venture capital funding, self employment businesses, start-ups and small businesses with a high rate per capita. This basically covers anything that displays quality business activity, indicating profitability, success and a desire to live in relative prosperity. This places Boulder, Colorado, at number one on the list.
The basic Miami area, especially Doral and Kendall, Florida, suburbs about 15 miles out, one north, one south, offer a great environment for more active businesses like golf courses and beaches. They also have one of the largest amounts of small businesses in the country per capita, clinching the number two spot and number 25 spot in this list. Following a close third is Fairfax, Virginia, exhibiting one of the best public school systems in the country, a median salary that barely misses a six figure total, a large amount of small corporations, and a main highway that leads right to McLean, Virginia, right outside of Washington D.C. McLean is one of the corporate capitals of the nation due to the presence of Capital One, Bearingpoint, Booz Allen Hamilton, Cardinal Bank, Freddie Mac, Gannett, Mars, MicroStrategy, NVR, Sunrise Senior Living, and USA Today.
Mountain View, Calfornia comes in fourth due to its proximity to San Jose and San Francisco combined with the amount of start up businesses and venture capital. Nearby Cupertino, just east of San Francisco, comes in a close fifth due to much of the same criteria. Coral Gables, Florida (9), Evanston, Illinois (18) and Newton, Massachusetts (6) tend to produce patents, start-ups, and venture capital due to their proximity in relation to major research universities. Santa Fe, New Mexico, though only number 24 on the full list of 25, is unique to the list due to the entertainment venues it provides, with related sole-proprietors and skilled workers. Columbia, Maryland, on the other side of Washington D.C. from Fairfax and 20 minutes from corporate Baltimore, came in at number seven. (Nearby Rockville, North Potomac, Germantown, Silver Spring and Potomac placed 8, 13, 17, 20 and 23, respectively.) As a native of that area of Maryland, this author is aware of the advantages in Columbia and, as an entrepreneur, takes advantage of them. There a lot of small to medium sized businesses in Columbia, Meriweather Post Pavilion, a major music and entertainment venue, and lots of venture capital.
As is made obvious, contrary to the current economic state, there is still a bright side to business and personal finance, especially if you live in California, Florida, Colorado, New Mexico, or the mid-atlantic region (Maryland and Virginia) of the country. The bottom line of these findings are easy to decipher. Any business can still succeed, even if a drastic measure like locational placement change must occur, and with strong business centers in nearly every portion of the country, the economy still has a strong core.
Since all locations were not listed, here is the full list:
25. Kendall, Florida- A southern suburb of Miami, parallel to Key Biscayne
24. Santa Fe, New Mexico- Northern New Mexico, northern part of the state
23. Potomac, Maryland- Just on the Maryland side of D.C.
22. Sugar Land, Texas- A southwest suburb of Houston
21. Tustin, California- South of Los Angeles and east of Long Beach
20. Silver Spring, Maryland- A Washington D.C. suburb, nearly directly inside the border
19. Davis, California – Between Sacramento and the Bay area
18. Evanston, Illinois – North of Chicago, on the shore of Lake Michigan
17. Germantown, Maryland- A northwest suburb of D.C.
16. Aliso Viejo, California- Between Laguna Beach and Laguna Hills
15. Sandy Springs, Georgia- A suburb north of Atlanta
14. Santa Monica, California- North of Los Angeles, on the beach
13. North Potomac, Maryland- Farther out than Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Potomac
12. Hillsborough, California, north of San Francisco and San Jose
11. Bellmont, California- South of Hillsborough, right between S.F. and S.J.
10. Foster City, California- South of San Francisco
9. Coral Gables, Florida- A southwest suburb of Miami
8. Rockville, Maryland- Another D.C. suburb but farther inside Maryland
7. Columbia, Maryland- Directly between Baltimore and D.C.
6. Newton, Massachusetts- A suburb west of Boston
5. Cupertino, California- South of San Francisco and west of San Jose
4. Mountain View, California- South of Palo Alto on the bay peninsula
3. Fairfax, Virginia- A western D.C. suburb
2. Doral, Florida- Another Miami suburb
1. Boulder, Colorado- Northwest of Denver, in the mountains
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Tags: sole proprietorships, patents, Forbes
FDA issues warning about pistachios
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Mon, Mar 30 2009 | 0 CommentsFirst it was peanuts, now pistachios…perhaps there won’t be any nuts left by the end of 2010.
The FDA has issued a warning to not eat pistachios until it can find out where a strain of salmonella came from exactly. This time they believe it came from pistachios at California-based Setton Farms, the country’s second largest pistachio processor. They have voluntarily issued a recall of about 1 million pounds of pistachios.
Related posts:The recalled nuts represent a small fraction of the 60 million pounds of pistachios that the company’s plant can process each year and an even smaller portion of the 278 million pounds produced in the state in the 2008 season, according to the Fresno-based Administrative Committee for Pistachios.
California alone is the second-largest producer of pistachios in the world.
The FDA learned about the problem last Tuesday, when Kraft Foods Inc. notified the agency that it had detected salmonella in roasted pistachios through routine product testing. Kraft and the Georgia Nut Co. recalled their Back to Nature Nantucket Blend trail mix the next day.
The Peanut scare last year has not hindered peanut sales this year
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Tags: pistachio, Pistachios, FDA
