Ticket to Ride for Mac Review
The board game favorite comes to Mac
Despite the shift to a digital display, Ticket to Ride looks exactly as you’d hope, with the distinctive visuals pulled directly from the now-classic board game and perfectly presented in this new Mac release. And the menus are as stylish as they are functional, getting you to where you need to go while staying era-appropriate. Luckily, they get you right into the game itself, which is the real draw here.
Deciding which routes to complete is a necessary part of the game--and often the hardest choice.
Good news! The care and love put into the art style and menus is equaled and then some by the Mac interpretation of the actual game. There’s a reason why the Ticket to Ride board game has spun off an entire genre of rail-building games: it’s a lot of fun. The card collecting and spending is fast paced, yet tactical, and getting those last four green cards to finish off your lengthy train requires forward planning--but the hasty rhythm of play never lets anyone get bored.
When playing alone, the opponent AI is smart, capable, and definitely offers a challenge even to more experienced players, and those looking for a quick diversion can knock out a game in about 10–15 minutes. The best way to learn a new board game is simply to play, though a little guidance can be helpful. Luckily, the tutorial strikes the right balance, imparting only the basics before letting you loose in a game. It offers strategic tips without holding your hand the entire time.
Not completing a route you promised you would hurts big when it comes to counting points.
Of course, after getting the hang of things, there’s no sense in continuing to play with robots when you can hop online and play with pals. Finding some buds is easy with a Days of Wonder account, even if they’re playing on an iPad or PC. Everything works great, and there’s little to no lag time between turns. As far as online board games go, it’s hard to beat.
The bottom line. It doesn’t unseat the traditional board game experience, but Ticket to Ride for Mac is another great way to experience this modern favorite.
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MyTunes Pro HD Review
For those who use their iPad as a central music hub, MyTunes Pro HD serves as a way to play and organize tunes, with a couple of basic features in the free download, including a simple player, DJ-style transitions between tracks, and custom album artwork options. Several other features are available via a $9.99 in-app purchase, though they can be used free for up to 10 minutes a day to give you a taste before you buy -- but I can't see why anybody would be compelled to pay for the app's premium content. Most prove to be flashy but insubstantial gimmicks that generally make music sound worse.
Among the myriad features provided by the premium unlock, the only worthwhile one is a deep set of equalizer (EQ) options. The WOW HD feature seems useful at first, with eight presets -- all with the intent of enhancing audio quality -- tweaked for different outputs, including various types of speakers, headphones, and your car. It also lets you define your own custom tunings. My ears can't tell why the WOW HD presets are supposed to sound best in their related environment, though, and the custom tunings (including sliders for space and vocal prominence) tend to produce disappointing and unnatural sounding results. Also, none of the app's effects can be applied to iTunes purchases.
The premium bundle also boasts Party and Workout Mixers, and the program automatically generates playlists to fit the moods of certain party types, or to track the rise and fall of your workout’s intensity. The party playlists make little sense, supposedly following the flow of a typical party (from BBQ to… breakup?), but I never noticed any particular groove. The workout mixes are even worse. You set the duration and starting and ending BPMs for four workout sections, but the time-shifted tracks are digital abominations. They sound like a fast-forwarding CD.
The bottom line. MyTunes Pro HD is a serviceable MP3 manager for iPad listeners, but don’t spring for the extra premium content.
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N.O.V.A. 3 - Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance Review
Showing a bit more ambition than its predecessors, N.O.V.A. 3 aims to be slightly more than a shameless clone of Microsoft's Halo, adding in mechs and jetpacks to the sci-fi shooter along with a bit more personality and environmental variety. It's also quite the looker, with the universal app's gloss shining through brightly, especially on the new iPad.
But like most of Gameloft's shooters, it hasn't quite nailed the solo experience. While visually impressive and certainly lengthy for an App Store adventure, the campaign frequently drags thanks to repetitive objectives and enemy encounters, plus missions that stretch on and on. Curiously, the levels also feature irritating bugs, such as botched aiming, faulty grenade buttons, and enemies stuck in walls. It looks nice, but the campaign just isn't much fun, and the bugs don't help matters.
Luckily, as with last year's Modern Combat 3, Gameloft's latest comes alive online, as the 12-player battles capture the essence of a console or PC shooter on a much smaller screen. Whether on-foot, in a mech, or manning a jeep with teammates in tow, N.O.V.A. 3's tense deathmatches and objective-based battles overcome the clumsy controls and occasional spots of lag. Multiplayer combat easily outclasses the campaign, and for $7, you'll get a whole lot of action for very little.
The bottom line. N.O.V.A. 3's campaign is a buggy bore, but excellent online multiplayer saves this slick shooter.
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WSJ Confirms Larger Screen for Next iPhone
Still refuse to believe that the next iPhone will come with a larger screen? It may be time to cast aside your doubts, with a new report confirming that Apple will jump on current trends and increase the next iPhone screen to “at least four inches.”
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple is poised to finally release a bigger iPhone this year, a first since the iconic handset debuted in 2007. In keeping with current speculation, the report claims Cupertino’s next handset will “measure at least four inches diagonally compared with 3.5 inches on the iPhone 4S.”
There’s little doubt that the current trend leans toward larger smartphones, with Samsung leading the charge. The Korean manufacturer recently debuted its upcoming Galaxy S III handset with a massive 4.8-inch display, which could be putting pressure on Apple to do the same with the iPhone.
Apple is expected to only slightly increase the length of the next iPhone, which would be enough to squeeze a taller, four-inch display onto the front of the handset. While still dwarfed by giant Android screens, such a move would also allow HD videos to play back at proper 16:9 aspect ratio, without the black bars that currently fill in the top and bottom of the frame.
The report is light on further details, but claims “production is set to begin next month” for the new display, which likely puts the handset on target for a fall release.
Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter
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Best Case Scenario: Cygnett Alumni Case for iPad
Remember when hardcover books had canvas covers? Well, they don't make them like that anymore, and with ebooks rising in popularity you might as well outfit your iPad as an old book. Right? That seems to be the trend. Cygnett's Alumni canvas case for iPad feels exactly like one of those books, and protects your tablet, too.
I like the Alumni because of its bright, vibrant colors. I outfitted my iPad with the magenta-pink one, but there's also cyan-blue, jade-green, and straight-forward black. These are all color names that I made up because the colors are clearly more flamboyant than Cygnett suggests. The Alumni case also has a magnet on the inside flap that automatically activates the sleep and wake function, and a pocket on the inside for loose paper.
Like a hardcover book, there's a bit of bulk to a case like this. While it's not as thin as other iPad folios that we've reviewed, it covers the entire iPad--and then some. I appreciate that I don't have to worry about scuffing up my tablet, but the extra few centimeters of bulk doesn't bode well if you're carrying your laptop and iPad with you on a daily basis.
Another caveat of the case is that it does not prop up for typing or watching LOST. If you use your iPad case for more than business, you may want to consider another alternative.
The bottom line. Cygnett's Alumni case gives your iPad the look and feel of a old-timey hardcover book, but if your concern is bulk and function you may want to skip the aesthetic and go for something else.
Cygnett Alumni Case for iPad
$49.99
3.5/5
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Altec Lansing A3 Custom In-Ear Headphones Review
Custom earbuds offer sweet sounds--for a price.
Sure, you could buy the same celeb-endorsed headphones that everyone else has. But for the ultimate in quality and personalization, a pair of custom-made in-ear earbuds is hard to beat. Custom buds used to be the exclusive province of musicians and sound engineers, but they’re becoming more affordable.
The shell of the A3 is made from soft silicone. As such, they fit comfortably, and are ideal for extended listening sessions. But the silicone material isn’t perfect. It’s a bit tacky, so you’ll inevitably find bits of pocket lint, dust--and yes, earwax--adhering to the outside. Our advice: use one of the included cases, and clean them frequently.
Getting molds made only takes about five minutes. An audiologist injects molding material into your ears, you wait a few minutes for the mixture to harden, and then they pull out the molds, which precisely match your ears. It’s not as creepy as it sounds, honest.
When it comes to sound, Altec Lansing’s A3 delivers the goods. With 27 decibels of passive noise reduction, background noise fades away, without the annoying hiss of active noise-cancellation. What you have left is crisp, clean audio from three separate drivers in each ear. Bass is tight, and the sound is well balanced. Of course, a grand is a lot to drop on a pair of earbuds, but Altec also offers single- and dual- driver models for $499.95 and $749.95.
The bottom line. Custom in-ear headphones are the ultimate portable media experience. They’re not cheap (or as expensive as they used to be), but the sound is definitely rich.
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Crow iOS Review
Of the couple hundred apps to cycle through my iPhone’s home screen over the last few years, it’s the "visual showpiece" titles that I’ve had the most trouble deleting. And that’s not because I’m a bona fide Infinity Blade fanatic, nor am I a Rage HD die-hard. The truth of the matter is much simpler, and much… well, shallower: I treat many of those games like the app equivalents of fancy, hardcover coffee table books. They’re incredibly attractive talking points, but I too rarely revisit them on my own time.
After clearing Sunside Games' Crow in a little over an hour, I felt like I’d just skimmed through a slick (if not particularly thick) coffee table book. An admittedly gorgeous game, Crow's lavishly detailed environments and haunting audio design earn it plenty of points in the presentation department, but it suffers from stale gameplay that never really gets off the ground.
Propelled by a muddled “there are Ancients among us” plot, the titular Crow is urged across barren, breathtaking environments by a malevolent voice. The actual gameplay is split into two too-similar segments—exploration and combat—that both see your crow flying across restrictive playing fields. The exploration overworlds have you soaring and surveying until you come across your next objective, where the combat portions are “on-rails tapping” missions, meaning you steer your feathered hero into collectibles and occasionally attack baddies with gesture-based Crow Magicks.
But the exploration is too limited to feel compelling, and the combat too repetitive to be fun. There are under-explained “moral choices” after each of the game’s four boss battles, but their impacts are largely insignificant. Now, if you’re looking for a showpiece app to impress friends and family with the visual power packed into your smartphone, Crow could very well be the "coffee table app" that you’ve been looking for. However, for everyone else, there are plenty of other bird-based iOS games that are worth your time.
The bottom line. It’s gorgeous and haunting, but Crow is too rarely fun to recommend.
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Wednesday Recap: Simple, 1 Billion Angry Birds, iPod Class Action, Google+ 2.0
Seems like this is the kind of Wednesday that the term “hump day” was designed for. Apple kept us on our toes by releasing updates to OS X Lion and Safari today, and the rest of the tech world has been hard at work doing the same on what’s generally a ho-hum day of the week. In case you happen to be downloading those aforementioned updates and need some reading material, here’s the latest for Wednesday, May 9, 2012.
Video: Simple Aims to Be the Only Bank You’ll Ever Need
If you’re frustrated with your current bank, a new service called Simple aims to alleviate your pain and suffering -- assuming you have the patience to get through the company’s long waiting list, that is. However, if you’ve already managed to successfully acquire an invitation, Simple today released their iPhone app to the App Store. “Today, everyone expects their bank to have a mobile app,” the company notes. “However, too many banking apps feel like an afterthought. We took a different approach and put the mobile app first. With the Simple mobile app you can view your Safe-to-Spend balance, search and browse your entire transaction history, pay bills, deposit checks, and get help from our customer relations team. No matter where you are, you’ll have all the same tools that are available on the Simple website.” Judging from the demo video embedded below, Simple looks to be a pretty slick way to go -- though we’re not entirely sure we’d trust them with the amount of money the hipster in the video has on hand, at least not yet...
Simple iPhone App Video from Simple on Vimeo.
Rovio Racks Up 1 B-B-Billion Downloads for Angry Birds
Your momma may have taught you that there’s no reward for being angry, but apparently the same does not apply for virtual fowl. Rovio announced today that its Angry Birds games have now collectively been downloaded more than a billion times. An impressive landmark, to be sure, but the mobile gaming giant claims “this is only the beginning of our story” and asks that we keep our eyes peeled for what’s coming up next from Rovio. Um… even more Angry Birds? Seems logical...
Google+ Gets “Sense and Soul” Update on iOS Before Android
Seems as if Google is going to continue to ignore the iPad with many of its iOS apps, but at least it’s trying to pretty up the ones it already has. The Google Official Blog announced a new update to the Google+ iOS app today, which brings “sense and soul” along with a more attractive UI and full-bleed photos and videos. “But you know what’s really cool?” the blog asks. “Content so immersive it remakes your mobile device into a rich carousel of beloved memories and breaking news. That’s the Google+ experience we aspire to, and today’s release helps us get closer.” The version 2.0.0.5888 update is rolling out now, and it’s kind of significant, considering that the search giant won’t be offering the same look and feel with its Android app for a few more weeks -- although it does tease “a few extra surprises” to come, when it finally does arrive.
iPod Antitrust Lawsuit Gains Class Action Status
Ars Technica is reporting that an iPod-related lawsuit dating back to 2004 has finally been blessed with class action status. The antitrust lawsuit covers customers who purchased an iPod between September 12, 2006 and March 31, 2009, with owners just starting to be notified about the updated status. The suit came about as a result of RealNetworks’ efforts to free music purchases made through iTunes from being played exclusively on iPods -- a problem that is no longer an issue now that Apple offers DRM-free music for its entire catalog. But that isn’t about to stop the attorneys from seeking out due compensation for those afflicted by the problem over the aforementioned 2.5 years -- if you’re one of them, keep your eyes peeled for a notification about the class action, which you can choose to opt out of entirely, should you so desire.
Pocket God Comics 2.0 Brings UI Improvements, Issue No. 16
Bolt Creative has released Pocket God Comics 2.0 today, featuring issue number 16 with “Gem Cell Research: Part 2 of 4,” a “sharktastic, laserific” edition. The app also gets itself a sweet new design with Featured, Just Added and Top Titles buttons now on the menu. But what about part two of “Gem Cell Research”? Turns out the only way to fix it is with a laser, and the only laser around is the one on the Laser-Shark -- which, as you can imagine, will lead to all kinds of hilarity as the girls try to catch it. The app also includes free extras such as No. 16 of The Pygmy Peril Newsletter, an exclusive remastered version of the first Pocket God animated short and much more! The 16.2MB update is now available for existing users, and can be purchased for a mere 99 cents for new users in the App Store.
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Scarface iOS Review
Cuban refugee Tony Montana emigrated to the United States in 1980. He soon dealt, murdered, and swindled his way to the top of Miami's booming cocaine industry. Before an infamous last stand alongside his little friend, Montana's reckless determination earned him all the pleasures of a king. It's a shame, then, that Scarface for iOS rejects the spirit of Brian De Palma's classic film, road-blocking anyone looking to dedicate time and hard work in pursuit of the virtual dream.
The home-building mechanic here is standard fare for the free-to-play realm. Your empire begins as a small, bare plot of land. As you earn cash and move “product,” you can populate your home with businesses that generate income over time. Unfortunately, some of the more profitable stores take days of real time to refill, grinding your play time to a halt. Upgrading structures to become more efficient is a slow process as well, but cocaine can be applied to speed up the construction, naturally.
For extra drugs and dough, Tony can perform various missions at several nicely rendered locations around Miami. Actions consist of tapping a target, waiting a few seconds, and collecting the bits of cash and experience that pop out. Each completed task will prompt a low-fidelity signature Tony Montana line from the film, but they’re recycled and quickly become an annoyance. The rewards for these crimes are meager, making the already inert missions even less compelling; and you’ll soon find yourself with nothing left to do but wait for two days, or otherwise head to the in-game store to score virtual cocaine in exchange for real cash. "The world is yours," it seems, but only if you pay to take shortcuts.
The bottom line. Economic balance issues aside, the barely-there gameplay cripples what might have been a fitting tribute to the classic gangster film.
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The Week's Best Deals for Your Mac and iOS Device, 64GB iPhone 4S only $299
Deals, get your red hot smoking Apple deals right here, right now. We've got Macbooks, we've got cases, we've got armbands, we've got a real mixed veggie platter, so get on board. Oh, yeah, and we have what the headline's talking about too.
Mac
Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.4GHz Dual-core Intel i5
Apple-certified, this beauty is less than one year old and packs some muscle under the hood. Nab it now for $1,019 or $180 off.
Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.8GHz Dual-core Intel i7
Slightly kickier version of the above laptop. $250 more on the price tag takes it up to $1,269, but that's still $230 off the original price.
15.4" MacBook Pro quad-core Intel Core i7
Or opt for a new machine and get this baby for $1,771.99 with a price cut of $427. Now that's some savings!
64GB iPhone 4S
Were pretty sure we've never seen anything quite like this. Fry's is taking a big discount to the 64GB model of the 4S, dropping $100 from Apple's price and rolling this big boy out for $299.
LaunchBar 5.2
Sure, Command-Space gets you Spotlight search, but like many Apple products, it's a little weaker than it could be. Put some kick-butt power into those two keystrokes and do it for 50% off meaning $17.49 gets you the sheer awesomeness of LaunchBar.
Compartments
Keep track of all your belongings with this lovely cataloging software 60% off making it just $6. Dropbox support means if your computer burns up along with your house, you still have lists ready for the insurance company.
iOS Accessories
USB Charging Adapter for iPad
Use the coupon code MLC510FN and you'll be rocking the power supply for your hungry hungry iPad for a mere $3.99 with free shipping.
Luxury iPad 2 / iPad 3 (The New iPad) Bluetooth Keyboard Carbon Case
nbipad10 is the coupon code you'll need for this deal that nabs you this sleek keyboard case for $30, down from the usual $90. Sweet.
Universal Car Mount for Portable DVD Player or iPad
Take the worry out of your kids dropping the iPad in the backseat when fighting over who gets to hold it while they watch the movie with this mount. $6.37 plus free shipping is a lot less than a new iPad.
3D Hollowed Out Hard Case for Apple iPhone 4S iPhone 4
Try out this case that we're sure will catch people's eyes. The hollowed out areas are sure to show off your iPhone's beauty. Originally $6, your price? $3.
iPad Programming Course
Learn how to make your fortune as an iOS developer busting out apps for the best tablet on the market. A 50% discount starts you on your path for only $50.
Waterproof Case for Apple iPhone 4, 4S
Take your phone with you on that boating trip without being in a constant panic about water damage to your baby. Typically $40, you're looking at $9.58, howzaboutthat?
Pretty Darn Cheap
Action Fitness Armband and Screen Protector
Get your workout on with this armband and screen protector for a mere $7. Instead of jogging in place to the tune of $35, you get the big time deal.
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B Baby Broccoli
"The wildsalad branding has been extended to wrap itself around their new product of B Baby Broccoli.
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Rabbit Children EP
CDs may be on the wane but the decline in use has created an opportunity for bands to stand out.
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Using Package Innovation as the Ultimate Game Changer
All too often, consumer product companies focus on their product offerings when it comes to innovation. But think about it: how many ground-breaking products entered the marketplace over the past year?
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The Taste of Love
My Sim Design was asked to redesign the Taste of Love Donut package.
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Anthem Wine
The Anthem bottle represents the proprietors' passion for detail and the wine making process in a beautiful and contemporary package.
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Limited Edition Silver Bullet
"Since its release in 1978, Coors Light drinkers have affectionately referred to their beer as The Silver Bullet.
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Orée du Bois
Talk about typography! I love this label design. The beauty is in the simplicity of the layout and the focal point of the decorative type.
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Crit* Prometheus Springs
Prometheus Springs is a new brand of ‘elixir’ that blends capsaicin, the chemical component that gives chilli its heat (and believed to have numerous health benefits), with fruit, pepper and lychee wasabi to create an unusual and fiery range. Based around the theme of alchemy, the packaging solution fuses the high quality, traditional design cues of serif typography, a simple natural colour palette and oval layout with layers of archaic symbolism.
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People Living In Tiny Houses Go To Drastic Lengths To Save Money
The tiny house lifestyle isn't for the faint of heart, but for some homeowners, it's completely changed the way they look at spending and saving forever.
Take Steven Harrell, founder of TinyHouseListings.com. Trading his overpriced loft and meals out for a life on the water in Wilmington, N.C. enabled him and his wife to make a substantial down payment on a house when a baby came on board a year later.
"It created a much less stressful lifestyle and helped me realize the benefits of having a disposable income," Harrell told Business Insider. "Being able to save so much money has been a nice motivator for not going out and purchasing things."
Recently, Harrell asked fans on Facebook whether they'd made any drastic changes to their finances since adopting the tiny house lifestyle. What they had to say just might surprise you:
"(I've been) seeing my possessions as rocks on my burial cairn, instead of things that define me. I want to downsize enough to fit in a tiny self-built home."
—Nina
"Started a garden, a compost pile and moved my mother in…trying to save up to buy our own tiny house!"
— Charlene
"Bought cheap off-grid land and a cheap converted 1968 schoolbus to live in while building an earthbag house."
—Susan
"We rent a small house that is less than two miles from my husband’s office and never more than 10 miles from both of my jobs. We own one small hatchback that gets 26-30 mpg. We also compost, have a small garden (kale, broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers) and recycle enough to ensure we take out one bag of trash every 2-3 weeks ..."
—Abigail
"I quit my job to work closer to home. I plan on biking to work."
—Ann
"I own a 6500 sq ft. school house. I’m downsizing to live in only 1 of the classrooms, 650 sq ft. and heating it with only wood next winter."
— Johnny
Don't miss: 10 signs that your neighborhood's property values are declining >
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This Is What A Share Of Facebook Stock Looks Like (FB)
Even in this electronic age, even for Facebook, you can still get a paper stock certificate issued.
You covet it, don't you?
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SPOTTED: The Most Insane Swedish Supercar Money Can Buy
Over the last week, we have seen a number of cars and yachts from the principality of Monaco. But we haven't really had anything up to this level.
Our friends over at Carstalker sent in this shot of what appears to be a Koenigsegg CCXR on the Grand Prix course.
Low and wide, it cannot be mistaken for anything else on the road. And with over 1,000 horsepower in certain trims, it is one of the rawest and fastest cars on the road today.
Have you spotted a rare or unusual car/plane/train/boat/industry person in your travels? Did you take a photo? Do you like sharing?
If you answered yes to these questions, please send the picture to tokulski@businessinsider.com with the subject line "Spotted." Be sure to include where you saw it to be considered for our Photo of the Day.
Take a look at the last Photo of the Day >
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Today The Most Far-Right Party To Be In A European Legislature Since The Nazis Entered Greek Parliament
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece swore in 300 legislators for just one day before it dissolves Parliament and calls new elections, among them 21 lawmakers from Golden Dawn — arguably the most far-right party to be involved in a European national legislature since Nazi-era Germany.
Formerly a shadowy fringe group, Golden Dawn vehemently rejects the neo-Nazi label, insisting it is a nationalist patriotic party, but its meteoric rise from a largely marginalized outfit a few years ago to one that won nearly 7 percent in recent elections has alarmed many in Greece and in Europe.
In the traditional Parliamentary swearing-in ceremony Thursday, Golden Dawn legislators refused to stand as two Muslim deputies took their oaths on the Quran instead of the Bible.
"Beginning today Golden Dawn is officially in Parliament to speak the language of truth and to express all Greeks," said Ilias Kassidiaris, who was elected into Parliament and is also the party spokesman.
But the party, like all others, will be tested once more at the ballot box next month. The May 6 election left no party with enough votes to form a government after Greeks furious over the handling of the country's financial crisis deserted the two formerly dominant parties, the socialists and conservatives. They turned instead to smaller groups to the right and left of the political spectrum, including those on the extremes.
Coalition talks collapsed after nine days, leaving no other option but a repeat election. A caretaker government has been appointed, to be led by a senior judge, and the newly sworn-in Parliament is to be dissolved Friday so an election can officially be called, expected for June 17.
Golden Dawn gained from both a protest vote from people angered by increasing hardship ensuing from austerity measures imposed in return for billions of euros in international rescue loans, and from a backlash against an illegal immigration problem that has spiraled out of control.
"People say they are trouble, they might hit people and do other things, but there are some people that were helped by Golden Dawn," said Athens resident Mattheos, who would not give his surname. "They are not right about everything, about land mines on the border, but they are right about one thing - immigration."
Golden Dawn campaigned on an anti-immigration platform, promising to expel all illegal immigrants and clean up crime-ridden neighborhoods, while also delivering care packages of food and clothing to needy Greeks. It also advocated planting land mines along Greece's border with Turkey to stop any more illegal immigrants entering the country.
While rejecting the neo-Nazi label, some of its members have openly admired some of Hitler's policies, saying he worked to better the lot of his people. Party leader Nikolaos Michaloliakos caused a backlash in Greece earlier in the week when he claimed Nazi concentration camps did not use ovens and gas chambers to kill prisoners during the Holocaust.
Its members have also been blamed for violent racist attacks in the center of Athens and elsewhere.
"We are now in a world in which we should not be afraid. We will face the problem face to face. We will deal with it with democratic means, with dialogue," said Mike Matsas, head of the Jewish Youth of Athens. "I think people and society, with their sanity, will understand sooner or later what they (Golden Dawn) are and will take appropriate measures."
In the run-up to the last election, there was a backlash against the party in Greece and abroad. Since their strong showing at the polls, politicians and civil rights groups have criticized them as an extremist party with no place in Parliament.
"The Golden Dawn party is a dark stain on European politics. For the first time in over six decades a seemingly long hidden Nazi ideology returned to power," said Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress. "The Golden Dawn party is not a far-right wing party, it represents a neo-Nazi vision and ideology that many believed was isolated. Their political rise should have sent shock-waves through Europe and we expect politicians to openly reject this new-old danger."
The party has been sidelined by Greece's politicians.
Michaloliakos, who came to prominence a few years ago when he gave a fascist salute during his first appearance as a newly-elected member of the Athens City Council, was not invited to power-sharing talks in the aftermath of the May 6 vote.
None of the other parties sought out Golden Dawn's support, and Greek President Karolos Papoulias, who brokered the last efforts at breaking the political deadlock, didn't invite Michaloliakos to negotiations over a potential technocrat government. Michaloliakos then stayed away from the final meeting called to decide on a caretaker government, where constitutionally all parties with parliamentary representation must be invited.
"We haven't seen that brand of a far-right party entering a national parliament but I wouldn't divorce it from a broader trend," said Matthew Goodwin, an associate fellow at Chatham House, explaining that extremist right-wing groups have been on the rise since the 1980s, long before the current financial crisis, and don't just try to win seats in legislatures but have active cells, defense leagues and other grassroots activities.
Opinion polls in recent days have shown a distinct fall in support for Golden Dawn, although it might still gain above the 3 percent threshold needed to enter parliament.
"The party of Golden Dawn is small and will probably decline in its electoral influence," said political science professor Dimitri A. Sotiropoulos. "If it has an influence, this will not be in terms of affecting parliamentary politics of our country. It will be an influence on matters of foreign policy."
Greece's 16-member caretaker Cabinet, led by Council of State head Panagiotis Pikrammenos, a 67-year-old judge, was also sworn in Thursday to lead the country to next month's election.
Giorgos Zanias, a senior Finance Ministry official and top negotiator in the nation's huge debt write down deal concluded earlier this year, has been appointed caretaker finance minister. Veteran diplomat Petros Molyviatis was named foreign minister, a post he also held in 2004-06.
The temporary government will not be able to take any internationally binding decisions, and its sole aim is to lead the country into the new elections.
____
Karel Janicek in Prague, Vanessa Gera in Warsaw and Annita Mordechai in Athens contributed.
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The Story Of An Injured Lieutenant Who Was Arrested After Going To The Hospital Is Ridiculous
One of our readers ROS sends us a link to Emily Miller’s article in the Washington Times.
It's about Lt. Augustine Kim who was traveling between his parents’ house and his own home in South Carolina when he stopped at Walter Reed for an appointment. This was two years ago when Walter Reed was still in DC.
Apparently, there was a clerical error in regards to his driver’s license that he straightened out over the phone the next day. But the officers asked Kim if they could search his car:
The lieutenant agreed because his guns were properly locked in a case in the trunk, in compliance with federal firearm transport laws. Mr. Kim was handcuffed and told to sit on the curb during the search.
He recalled that the officers inspected the collection and "were upset about the fact that I had the AR-15, which D.C. considers to be an ‘assault weapon." The model of rifle is illegal in the District, but not in his home state.
The officers then told Mr. Kim he was in violation for the carrying firearms outside the home (in his vehicle) in the District. The nation’s capital does not acknowledge the right to bear arms, so there are no carry rights.
“I told them I had been under the impression that as long as the guns were locked in the back, with the ammunition separate, that I was allowed to transport them," Mr. Kim told me in an interview.
"They said, ‘That may be true, however, since you stopped at Walter Reed, that made you in violation of the registration laws. It is illegal to possess a firearm anywhere in D.C. other than the home.'"
So they hauled his ass off to jail facing $20,000 in fines and up to 20 years in prison on the four felony charges.
The veteran spent a “few hours in the drunk tank,” then was moved to the central jail. It was cold on the steel slab, so he asked the police guard for a blanket. "He was surly with me and sarcastic. He said, ‘Oh you want blankets? Well they’re back ordered,'" Mr. Kim recalled. "I remember thinking, we treated detainees in Afghanistan better than this." He didn’t get much sleep that night.
So, for some reason, the prosecutor offered Kim a deal and Kim accepted one misdemeanor charge of one unregistered gun. But the MPD won’t return his guns to him:
On Monday, MPD spokesman Gwendolyn Crump said the department "notified the respondent’s attorney last week of his right to a hearing concerning the return of weapons." Mr. Gardiner said that he did not receive a letter. The spokesman did not respond to my inquiry about the date the letter was sent.
Why does he need a hearing? The prosecutor released the property, so it’s not theirs. They need to just give back the injured veteran’s property, that they confiscated wrongly in the first damn place.
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Here's What Happened When We Went To The 'Battleship' Premiere At The Intrepid Air, Sea & Space Museum
Hasbro has a summer blockbuster hopeful on its hands with the new film "Battleship" starring Taylor Kitsch, Rihanna, Alexander Skarsgård and Brooklyn Decker.
Last night, the director of the film, Peter Berg, along with the marketing team at Subway restaurants gave an exclusive screening of the film to the members of the Wounded Warrior Project aboard the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum at Pier 86 in New York City. And we got in on the action.
Berg talked a bit about the film and his hopes for a "Battleship" future. Will you see the movie when it comes out this Friday?
Welcome to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum at Pier 86.
Subway restaurants sponsored the event along with the brains behind "Battleship."
Tony Pace, the Sr. Vice President, Global Chief Marketing Officer of the SUBWAY®Brand was on hand to talk about the partnership.
Photographers and reporters are escorted to the top of the hanger to wait for Peter Berg, the director of the film.
Here's what the Intrepid Museum is all about: "Intrepid is dedicated to the exhibition and interpretation of history, science and service as related to its home aboard the USS Intrepid, a National Historic Landmark."
We get close-ups on all the planes and helicopters around the hanger.
For all of the ships and aircrafts featured at the Intrepid Museum, the crafts used in "Battleship" don't even compare.
But the look of the film is all accurate according to Berg.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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Genius Banker Behind Google IPO: There May Never Be Another Deal Like Facebook
Lise Buyer, a whipsmart former technology analyst turned IPO whisperer who helped Google prep for its 2004 public offering, thinks Facebook may be the last fast-growth tech stock individual investors will be able to bet on for a long while.
The reason, she told Fortune's Dan Primack: the recently passed JOBS Act allows companies to stay private until they have 2,000 shareholders.
Under the old rules, companies had to start disclosing their financials like a public company after they had 500 shareholders—so companies like Google and Facebook decided they might as well go public.
The changes are good news for early investors and employees, who will reap more of the gains:
[We] can expect early investors and high-net-worth folks to hold on through the entire growth phase, since by the time a company has 2,000 shareholders, it is much more likely to exhibit growth patterns associated with more mature entities.
It's a smart argument. But with the growth of secondary markets which allow for the trading of private shares, and deals in which later-stage investors cash out employees and angel investors, that's been happening anyway.
It's a far cry from the '90s, when individual investors could place wild bets on Internet companies which were going public with double-digit headcounts and barely any revenues, let alone profits.
UPDATE: We asked Buyer to expand on her thoughts, and she shared the following:
It isn't that there won't be rapidly growing technology IPOs, but rather there won't likely be deals of this size and stature at this point in a company's evolution. Very few companies ran into the 500-shareholder rule; it was only the behemoths like Google and Facebook. Most tech IPOs will not be affected; it's only the very large, consumer brand-name standouts, those that might have bumped in to the 500-shareholder rule, that are no longer likely to share the wealth with smaller individual investors.
So hold out hope. There may be interesting tech IPOs in the future—just not ones whose names you recognize.
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Big Investors Still Don't Think Anyone Is Going To Leave The Euro
In his latest Sunday Start note, Morgan Stanley strategist Joachim Fels describes the mood and opinions of big investors at a recent event in Florence.
The gist: Most investors still aren't betting on anyone quitting the Euro.
Fels writes:
However, the beautiful historic setting didn’t fail to make an impression on most participants: while many worried about the potentially catastrophic consequences of a Greek exit from the euro (rightly so in my view), very few actually believed that a divorce would actually materialise over the next several years. In a poll on the four scenarios for the future of Europe that Elga Bartsch and I described in the recent Global Macro Analyst , only 5% thought ‘European Divorce’ would be the likely outcome.
True, despite the setting, the rosy ‘European Renaissance’ scenario also only got few votes (10%). However, 40% thought a ‘Matrimonio all’Italiana’ scenario of fiscal union with continuing economic divergences as between Italy’s north and south would materialise. In fact, in the discussion, some participants warned against underestimating the ‘power of politics’, i.e. the possibility that there would be a big leap towards fiscal federalism at some stage. Many others, however, felt that it would probably require a much bigger crisis first to get there. Unsurprisingly, our ‘Staggering on’ scenario – basically, muddling through with a lot of help from the ECB – received 45% and thus the most votes.
We're a little surprised that the "European Divorce" scenario is so low.
To some extent, it seems like a lot of the optism (if it oculd be called that) is just based on the idea that the alternate scenario (divorce) would be do disastrous. This sounds like a lot of the thinking regarding the fiscal cliff in the US, as well... a crisis will be averted because to not avert it would be such a disaster. We'll see if that actually holds up.
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Talking About Greece Leaving The Eurozone Is No Longer Taboo
This started last week, but it's now becoming a hot trend: It's no longer taboo to talk about Greece leaving the Eurozone.
The FT is running a story about how central bankers are now, increasingly discussing it openly.
Bloomberg is also quoting various finance officials around Europe saying the same thing, that a Greece exist is not desirable but possible.
The recent cover from Der Spiegel, titled Akropolis Adieu, also shows how the idea of Greece leaving the Euro has permeated mainstream thinking.
Bottom line: Between Greece bickering internally, and serious people in Europe talking about how the Eurozone could handle a Grexit, the country's position is looking more and more tenuous.
The two main things keeping it in: Eurozone membership is extremely popular in Greece. AND people think that an actual departure would be horrible for Greece and the rest of Europe, possibly leading to the collapse of the Eurozone altogether.
The fact that its departure would be such a nightmare seems to be why people still don't think it will happen.
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Horrible Eurozone Industrial Production Numbers
And it gets worse!
And from DJ FX Trader:
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