Tuesday, September 28, 2010

By Andrew Liszewski
If you’ve ever been frustrated by an ATM that only distributes 20 or 50 dollar bills, be thankful you didn’t stumble across one of these GOLD to go machines in the middle of the night. First installed in Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Palace hotel earlier this year, the ingot shaped machines only distribute gold coins and bars in 1 gram, 5 gram, 10 gram and 1 ounce units. The ATMs accept cash or credit cards and are each connected to the internet allowing them to monitor and update gold prices every 10 minutes so they accurately reflect the international markets. The machines will first be rolled out in Florida and Las Vegas not surprisingly, and the company hopes to have many more installed next year in other markets where people like to make expensive impulse purchases.
[ CNBC - ATMs That Sell Gold Bars Are Coming Soon to America ] VIA [ Slashdot ]

By Andrew Liszewski
Even though I’m sure there are hundreds of iPhone, Android and WebOS apps that will let you keep track of your budget, if you’re completely lacking in a smartphone of any kind, you can always opt for this little masterpiece of industrial design. At the beginning of the month you can set your budget for six different categories including food, apparel, transportation, entertainment, personal care and miscellaneous, which is perfect for those of you still living at home who don’t have to worry about housing costs I guess.
As the month progresses you enter your purchases under each category, which allows you to track how much you’ve spent, and how much of your budget is left. The calculator is just $19.98 from Things You Never Knew Existed, which you’ll probably want to enter under the ‘misc.’ category since it really doesn’t seem that entertaining.
[ Monthly Budget Calculator ] VIA [ The Red Ferret Journal ]
Thursday, August 13, 2009

By David Ponce
It’s no secret Apple fetches some healthy margins for its products. How healthy, exactly? Check out the above graphic, showing Apple averages 40%, with RIM far behind in second place at 20.7%. Of course, they don’t have the highest revenues since margins aren’t everything, Nokia still sells a lot of phones ($17billion in the first half of the year) but with an 11.3% margin they still managed a lower operating profit than Apple.
[ Ismashphone ] VIA [ BoingBoing Gadgets ]