Link via The Patients Doctor.

Asustek wasn’t too happy about these reports and is threatening legal action against media outlets. From DigiTimes:

You know the old joke about the dog that chases cars – “What would he do if he caught one?�? I was reminded of that when I read that Hamas won an election victory. I imagine a room full of Hamas leaders looking at each other behind closed doors and saying, “Oh crap, we won.�?

And I imagine the Israeli leaders sitting around behind closed doors and saying, “It just got a lot easier to find the people we want to kill.�?

I have to think it will be difficult for Hamas to reconcile the whole “destroy Israel�? platform with “We’ll all be at the Parliament building at noon talking about how to do it.�?

I’m writing this on Thursday the 26th. I predict that Hamas will start softening their position by the time you read this. Or maybe they’ll wait a few weeks just to make it seem like they thought about it. But it’ll happen.

Silicon Valley is the epicenter of the universe for technology startups. There is a ‘force field’ of energy there that I haven’t found anywhere else. They have some of the best technology universities in the world. Sand Hill Road is home to the largest venture capital firms. And, they have a pool of startup talent that is unrivaled anywhere. It is a powerful combination.

Boston fits the description well too. Great universities like MIT, Harvard, BC, BU, Northeastern. Top notch VCs like Polaris, Matrix, North Bridge, Highland, General Catalyst, and others. And startup talent from DEC, AltaVista, Lycos, Lotus, PTC, Akamai, Groove, and others.

I have been part of successful startups in Silicon Valley and Boston. There are incredibly bright people, plenty of money, and all the supporting infrastructure in both places. The difference is scale and pace.

Silicon Valley has the highest concentration of ‘Type A’ personalities I have ever seen in my life. They compete at everything…all the time. This competitive atmosphere pushes you beyond what you thought was possible. It inspires innovative thinking that you didn’t think you were capable of. I call it a ‘force field’ of c”

Washington: India has emerged as the 12th wealthiest nation in the world with its GDP touching $785.47 billion (Rs 35,34,615 crore) in 2005, calculated by the World Bank.

US was the wealthiest nation with GDP of $12.46 trillion, according to a list of 15 wealthiest countries prepared by the World Bank in terms of their gross domestic product.

The GDP figures have been adjusted to reflect purchasing power.

While India was way down compared to China, positioned fourth with a GDP of $2.23 trillion, it was wealthier than Mexico, Russia and Australia.

The first nine countries had GDP of more than a $1 trillion.

The United States was followed by Japan with $4.51 trillion and Germany $2.78 trillion.

Britain, France and Italy occupied fifth, sixth and seventh ranks with GDP of $2.19 trillion, $2.11 trillion and $1.72 trillion, respectively.

Next came Spain, Canada, Brazil and South Korea with their GDP estimated at $1.124 trillion, $1.115 trillion, $794.10 billion and $787.62 billion, respectively.

There was no African country among the 15 richest nations, while India was the only”

After entering my credit card details into Google Checkout, I tried to use the service on DVD Empire but it didn’t work – I wasn’t offered Google Checkout in the end, but was asked to create a new account or login with an existing DVD Empire one. I tried the service once more with Buy.com, and as this video demonstrates, while there was a Google Checkout button this time, the whole thing resulted in an error anyway. Not a successful start for this Google service, but perhaps this is just the typical Google launch day syndrome (or there’s no support outside the US).

Now, the Google Account is getting more powerful with every new service Google adds. It looks like Google aims to become the software layer”

Stocks are volatile, which is another way of saying they’re likely to experience wide swings in value. However, over long periods of time, there’s good reason to believe stocks also will appreciate dramatically faster than any other type of asset. That makes it easier to attain your long-term wealth goals.

When you buy a share of stock, you are buying a piece of the issuing company. Admittedly, it’s probably a small piece, but that share you purchased gives you the right to participate in the company’s wealth (or fiscal decline) and vote on matters of some importance—directors, company auditors, and some shifts in corporate policy.

In some cases, you are also entitled to dividends—payments of cash or stock to shareholders. Some companies also provide their shareholders with perquisites, such as tickets to the company’s theme parks or discounts on its merchandise.

Because companies tend to grow and prosper over time—and because a share of stock allows you to participate in the prosperity—stock prices, in the aggregate, tend to appreciate over long periods of time. However, individually, some companies prosper; others fail. If you buy a share in a loser, you could lose all, or a significant portion, of your “