PODCAST: A bed that makes itself and Game of Thrones pirates
If you’re feeling a little poorer than you did before the recession, you should. The Federal Reserve says the median net worth of the American household is down 40 percent since 2007. The index of Small Business Optimism is out, and the headline could read small businesses are slightly less optimistic. The National Federation of Independent Businesses says its index fell by a tenth of a percent last month.
A European Commission spokesman admitted this morning that officials are holding talks on what to do if Greece leaves the Euro after this weekend’s elections.
A little less inflation to worry about, especially when it comes to the cost of imported goods. The government said today, import prices posted the biggest drop in two years, energy and food costs are down.
Shares in the Dutch navigation company TomTom rose 12 percent in Amsterdam today with word that Apple Computer will use TomTom maps. Google maps is the default in many Apple products, but that’s about to change.
About the same number of people steal the popular HBO series Game of Thrones by swiping it online as watch it legit via paid cable TV subscription. That according to the online news site TorrentFreak. Fans have been offering to pay HBO if it were to start some online only video service — one guy started a petition — but HBO sees subscription cable TV as its lifeblood. Turns out Australians are especially into pirating the show, in part because episodes get to TVs Down Under one painfully long week after they premier in the U.S.
A Spanish company has developed a smart bed that makes itself. It turns a messy bed into a perfect bed in about 50 seconds. No word yet on how much it’ll cost or how soon I can get one.
How would you like to skip traffic on your way to work, and also be paid for it? A new project out of Stanford and backed by the U.S. Department of Transportation is experimenting with just that in an effort to reduce city congestion. The program works by giving drivers that commute during off-peak times a chance to win up to $50 added to their paycheck.
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